HOW EFFECTIVELY DID HENRY TUDOR SECURE HOLD ON THE THRONE IN THE YEARS 1485-87?

Claims to throne

Henry = weak claim to throne - based through illegitimate line and through a women
John de la Pole - leading Yorkist claimant, during Richard III's reign = heir presumptive
Edward Plantagenet - nephew of Edward IV and Richard III - placed in tower in 1485 age 10
Princes in Tower (Richard and Edward) - disappeared during Richard III reign in 1483
Edward IV's daughters also had Yorkist blood, but couldn't rule in own right - could be passed onto children
Promised to marry Elizabeth York in 1485 to get supporters

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Henry's force = 5000 men - Richard around double
Nobility actions - Stanley's loyalties split = Thomas Stanley married Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort. Watched battle before joining Henry
Northumberland Earl = Henry Percy - troops didn't fight
Richard's actions = charged to kill Henry, became separated from group - Stanley's troops joined in to save Henry - Richard killed
Henry couldn't trust nobility e.g. Stanley's against Richard, Woodvilles supported Henry to remove Richard
Henry could present victory as one given by God, helped to enhance position - many supporters killed

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Coronation - oath (monarch swore to protect realm and laws)
Chosen and appointed by God
1st parliament - 1485 declared Henry king, punish opponents at Bosworth
Parliament declared Henry's reign began on 21st August 1485 - made Richard usurper and Henry rightful king (day before Battle of Bosworth)
Used parliament to cancel Titulus Regius (made Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville invalid and children (Elizabeth of York) illegitimate)
Would've made Henry's own marriage invalid - married in 1486
Children had both Yorkist and Lancastrian blood
Rewarded supporters - avoid granting too many titles/estates
Jasper Tudor (uncle) = Duke of Bedford in 1485
Thomas Stanley (stepfather) = Earl of Derby in 1485
Sir WIlliam Stanley = Lord Chamberlain of Royal Household
Yorkist supporters = John de la Pole swore loyalty = Royal Council
1486 = progresses in Midlands and North
Made parliament swear to oath = no men recruited illegally
Act of Resumption - take back all Crown's lands (1486)

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Lancastrian - enhance control of England, closest people to Henry e.g. Jasper Tudor and John de Vere - Chief Justice of Wales and Council
Stanley family = estates in Cheshire, Midlands and West
Hard-line supporters of Richard III = Staffords and Lord Lovell - 1486 = plots against Henry
Sanctuary at Colchester = Staffords tried to raise rebellion in Midlands, fled, removed by Henry
Lovell = rebellion in Yorkshire, suppressed by Jasper Tudor, fled to Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy

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