Henry VII. and Elizabeth of York. From their monument in Westminster Abbey. BOOK IV. THE HOUSE OF TUDOR. A.D. 1485-1603. CHAPTER XIII. HENRY VII. A.D. 1485-1509. § 1. Introduction. § 2. Accession of HENRY VII. His Coronation, Marriage, and Settlement of the Government. § 3. Discontents. Invasion of Lambert Simnel, and Battle of Stoke. Coronation of the Queen. § 4. Foreign Affairs. Peace of Estaples. § 5. Perkin Warbeck. Execution of Lord Stanley. § 6. Farther Attempts of Perkin. Cornish Insurrection, and Battle of Blackheath. § 7. Perkin again invades England, is captured, and executed. Execution of Warwick. § 8. Marriage and Death of Prince Arthur. Marriage of the Princess Margaret. Oppression of Empson and Dudley. § 9. Matrimonial Intrigues of Henry. Death and Character of the King. § 10. Miscellaneous Occurrences. § 1. THE accession of the Tudors to the English throne is nearly coincident with the proper era of modern history. The final important change in the European populations had been effected by the settlement of the Turks at Constantinople in 1453. The improvement in navigation was soon to lay open a new world, as well as a new route to that ancient continent of Asia, whose almost fabulous riches had attracted the wonder and cupidity of Europeans since the days of Alexander the Great. Hence was A.D. 1485. ACCESSION OF HENRY VII. 243 to arise a new system of relations among the states of Europe. The commerce of the East, previously monopolized by the Venetians and Genoese, began to be diverted to the Western nations; its richest products to be rivaled by those of another hemisphere. The various European states, having consolidated their domestic institutions, were beginning to direct their attention to the affairs of their neighbors. The invasion of Italy by Charles VIII. of France, in the reign of Henry VII., is justly regarded as the com-. mencement of the political system of Europe, or of that series of wars and negotiations among its different kingdoms which has continued to the present day. The house of Tudor, lifted to the throne by the civil wars, and strengthened by the very desolation which they had occasioned, was enabled to play an effective part upon the Continent, and to lay the foundation of that European influence which England still commands. Besides the advantages derived from commerce, the intercourse of nations is beneficially felt in their mutual influence upon opinion and the progress of society. Europe, first cemented into a whole by the conquest of the Romans, derived a still firmer bond of union from its common Christianity. In the darkness of the middle ages that sacred tie had been abused for the purposes of secular avarice and ambition; and Rome, by the power of superstition, ruled once more over the prostrate nations. The seeds of a reformation, choked in England by political events, were carried to the Continent, whence this country received the fruits which had found their first nurture in her own bosom. The distinguishing historical feature of the reign of the Tudors is the progress and final establishment of the Reformation. That great revolution was accompanied with an astonishing progress in manners, literature, and the arts; but above all it encouraged that spirit of civil freedom, by which, under the house of Stuart, the last seal was affixed to our constitutional liberties. § 2. The victory which the Earl of Richmond gained at Bosworth was entirely decisive; Sir William Stanley placed upon his head the crown which Richard wore in battle; and the acclamations of "Long live Henry the Seventh!" by a natural and unpremeditated movement, resounded from all quarters of the field (Aug. 22, 1485). Henry was now in his 30th year. He had, as we have already seen, no real title to the crown; but he determined to put himself in immediate possession of regal authority, and to show all opponents that nothing but force of arms, and a successful war, should be able to expel him. He brought to the throne all the bitter feelings of the Lancastrians. To exalt the Lancastrian party, to depress the adherents of the house of York, were the favorite objects of his pursuit; and through the whole . course of his reign he never forgot these early prepossessions. His first command after the battle of Bosworth was to secure the person of Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, son of the Duke of Clarence, who had been put to death by his brother Edward IV. Henry immediately afterward set out for the capital. His journey bore the appearance of an established monarch making a peaceable progress through his dominions, rather than of a prince who had opened his way to the throne by force of arms. The promise he had made of marrying Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV., seemed to insure a union of the contending titles of the two families; but, though bound by honor as well as by interest to complete this alliance, he was resolved to postpone it till the ceremony of his own coronation should be finished, and till his title should be recognized by Parliament. Still anxious to support his personal and hereditary right to the throne, he dreaded lest a preceding marriage with the princess should imply a participation of sovereignty in her, and raise doubts of his own title by the house of Lancaster. On the 30th of October Henry was crowned at Westminster by Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury. The Parliament, which assembled soon after, seemed entirely devoted to him. It was enacted "That the inheritance of the crown should rest, remain, and abide in the king;" but whether as rightful heir, or only as present possessor, was not determined. In like manner, Henry was contented that the succession should be secured to the heirs of his body; but he pretended not, in case of their failure, to exclude the house of York, or to give the preference to that of Lancaster. In the following year he applied to papal authority for a confirmation of his title. The Parliament, at his instigation, passed an act of attainder against the late king himself and many of the nobility. Henry bestowed favors and honors on some particular persons who were attached to him; but the ministers whom he most trusted and favored were not chosen from among the nobility, or even from among the laity. John Morton and Richard Fox, two clergymen, persons of industry, vigilance, and capacity, who had shared with him all his former dangers and distresses, were called to the privy council; Morton was restored to the bishopric of Ely, Fox was created Bishop of Exeter. The former, soon after, upon the death of Bourchier, was raised to the see of Canterbury. At the beginning of the following year the king's marriage was celebrated at London (Jan. 18, 1486), and that with greater appearance of universal joy than either his first entry or his coronation. Henry remarked, with much displeasure, this general favor borne to the house of York. The suspicions which arose from it not only disturbed his tranquillity during his whole reign, but bred disgust toward his consort herself, and poisoned all his domestic enjoyments. A.D. 1485-1487. LAMBERT SIMNEL. 245 § 3. In the course of this year an abortive attempt at insurrection was made by Lord Lovel and some other noblemen; but though Henry had been able to defeat this hasty rebellion, raised by the relics of Richard's partisans, his government was become in general unpopular, the effects of which soon appeared by incidents of an extraordinary nature. There lived in Oxford one Richard Simon, a priest who possessed some subtlety, and still more enterprise and temerity. This man had entertained the design of disturbing Henry's government by raising a pretender to his crown; and for that purpose he cast his eyes on Lambert Simnel, a youth of 15 years of age, who was son of a baker, and who, being endowed with understanding above his years, and address above his condition, seemed well fitted to personate a prince of royal extraction. A report had been spread among the people, and received with great avidity, that Richard, Duke of York, second son of Edward IV., had escaped from the cruelty of his uncle, and lay somewhere concealed in England. Simon, taking advantage of this rumor, had at first instructed his pupil to assume that name, which he found to be so fondly cherished by the public; but hearing afterward a new report, that the Earl of Warwick had made his escape from the Tower, and observing that this news was attended with no less general satisfaction, he changed the plan of his imposture, and made Simnel personate that unfortunate prince. Simon determined to open the first public scene of it in Ireland, which was zealously attached to the house of York, and bore an affectionate regard to the memory of Clarence, Warwick's father, who had been their lieutenant. Thomas Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, the deputy of the island, and other persons of rank, gave attention to Simnel; and the people in Dublin, with one consent, proclaimed him king by the appellation of Edward VI. (May 2, 1487). The whole island followed the example of the capital, and not a sword was any where drawn in Henry's quarrel. The king's first act on this intelligence was the seizure of the queendowager, the forfeiture of all her lands and revenue, and the close confinement of her person in the nunnery of Bermondsey; and he next ordered that Warwick should be taken from the Tower, be led in procession through the streets of London, be conducted to St. Paul's, and there exposed to the view of the whole people. The expedient had its effect in England; but in Ireland the people still persisted in their revolt, and Henry had soon reason to apprehend that the design against him was not laid on such slight foundations as the absurdity of the contrivance seemed to indicate. John, Earl of Lincoln, son of John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, and of Elizabeth, eldest sister of Edward IV., whom Richard III. had declared heir to the throne, was engaged to take part in the |