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Richard, Henry V (Catharine, m. Anne
Duke of York | his widow, Mortimer, great-
| Henry VI married granddaughter of
--------------------- Owen Tudor, Lionel, Duke of
| | a Welsh gentleman) Clarence; their
Edward IV Richard III | son was
| Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richard,
--------------------------- Richmond, m. Margaret Duke of York
| | | Beaufort, a descendant
+Edward V +Richard, Elizabeth of John of Gaunt, Duke
Duke of York of York, of Lancaster, see
m. Henry VII pages 161, 172
(of Lancaster) |
Henry (Tudor) VII (formerly
Earl of Richmond), m. Elizabeth of
York, thus uniting the House of
Lancaster (Red Rose) and York
(White Rose) in the new royal
House of Tudor
Inherited the title Duke of York from his uncle Edward. See No. 5. +The Princes murdered by Richard III.
328. Condition of the Country; Power of the Crown.
Henry, it is said, had his claim to the throne printed by Caxton, and distributed broadcast over the country (S306). It was the first political appeal to the people made through the press, and was a sign of the new period upon which English history had entered. Since Caxton began his great work, the kingdom had undergone a most momentous change.
The leading nobles, like the Earl of Warwick (SS296, 303), were, with few exceptions, dead. Their estates were confiscated, their thousands of followers either buried on the battlefield or dispersed throughout the land (S316). The small number of titled families remaining was no longer to be feared. The nation itself, though it had taken comparatively little part in the war, was weary of bloodshed, and ready for peace on any terms.
The accession of the Welsh house of Tudor (S39) marks the beginning of a long period of almost absolute royal power. The nobility were too weak to place any check on the King. The clergy, who had not recovered from their dread of Lollardism (SS255, 283) and its attacks on their wealth and influence, were anxious for a strong conservative government such as Henry promised. The House of Commons had no clear united policy, and though the first Parliament put certain restrainst on the Crown, yet they were never really enforced.[1] The truth is, that the new King was both too prudent and too crafty to give them an opportunity. By avoiding foreign wars he dispensed with the necessity of summoning frequent Parliaments, and with demanding large sums of money from them.
[1] At the accession of Henry VII, Parliament imposed the following checks on the power of the King: (1) No new tax to be levied without consent of Parliament; (2) No new law to be made without the same consent; (3) No committal to prison without a warrant specifying the offense, and the trial to be speedy; (4) Criminal charges and questions of fact in civil cases to be decided by jury; (5) The King’s officers to be held responsible to the nation.
