Year 13 attend Tudor Conference and Meet Tracy Borman!
Tracy Borman, a leading Tudor historian and author of sixteen books, delivered a fascinating lecture on Henry VII and how he established the Tudor dynasty at the Shaftesbury Theatre on Wednesday 27th November to our Year 13 History students.
Tracy started her lecture by providing an overview of the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III and some background information on the disappearance of the princes in the tower. She had just finished filming a television show for Channel 5 called ‘Princes in the Tower’ which airs on Tuesday 3rd December. The students were very excited to hear that during filming the team had uncovered new evidence about the princes’ disappearance and were very keen to see the programme when it airs next week.
Tracy reminded the students that Henry VII had won his crown on the battlefield at the Battle of Bosworth and the first decision he made to establish the dynasty was to back date his reign to the day before the battle so that all those who fought against him could be tried for treason. He then married Elizabeth of York which successfully united the Houses of York and Lancaster. Within eight months his first son Arthur was born which further established the dynasty. It was after the birth of Arthur that he decided to then coronate Elizabeth.
Tracy explained that Henry had a weak claim to the throne and that he faced many threats-most notably the pretenders to the throne; Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel. Perkin Warbeck was a real thorn in Henry’s side and attracted a huge amount of international and domestic support. He was eventually executed whereas Lambert Simnel was made to work in the royal kitchen as a turn spit suggesting he posed perhaps less of a threat.
Henry knew that he needed to further strengthen his position and he did this through a number of marriage alliances. His son Arthur was married to Catherine of Aragon leading to a successful alliance with Spain which continued after the death of Arthur when Catherine then married Henry VIII. Henry VII also created married alliances for his daughters Mary and Margaret who married the kings of France and Scotland respectively. He also recognised the need for public displays of kingship and the importance of crown wearings. It is believed he spent up to the equivalent of £3 million on his wardrobe in the first part of his reign.
Tracy believed that Henry’s greatest achievement was his financial management as this allowed him to create successful marriage alliances but also to create a secure and stable country. After the deaths of Arthur and Elizabeth in quick succession Henry became very insular, paranoid and suspicious. After a few weeks of mourning he had changed in appearance and character and became much more of a miser and was accused of bleeding the county dry though his hated ministers Empson and Dudley. Despite his unpopularity and reputation as a miser at the end of his reign he ensured his son Henry VIII was able to succeed the throne peacefully which had not happened since 1421 which is further testament to the success of Henry VII in establishing the Tudor dynasty.
After Tracy’s excellent lecture which served as a brilliant revision of the reign of Henry VII the Year 13 students then had a series of lectures on examination technique and how to tackle the interpretation and essay questions.
The day was a huge success and the students really benefited from attending all the lectures.
