Editing Henry VII of England (section)

==Ancestry and early life==
Henry VII was born on 28 January 1457 at [[Pembroke Castle]], in the English-speaking portion of [[Pembrokeshire]] known as [[Little England beyond Wales]]. He was the only child of [[Lady Margaret Beaufort]], who was 13 years old at the time, and [[Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond]] who, at 26, died three months before his birth.{{Sfn|Rogers|Turvey|2000}} He was probably baptised at [[St Mary's Church, Pembroke]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.henrytudortrust.org.uk/tudor-pembroke.html|title=Tudor Pembroke &#124; Ymddiriedolaeth Harri Tudur &#124; Henry Tudor Trust|website=www.henrytudortrust.org.uk}}; {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CcR5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT21|title=Henry VII: The Maligned Tudor King|first=Terry|last=Breverton|date=2016|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1445646060|via=Google Books}}</ref> though no documentation of the event exists.<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Wales – History – Themes – Pembroke The Main Street |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/normans/pembroke-the-main-street.shtml |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref> Henry's paternal grandfather, [[Owen Tudor]], originally from the [[Tudors of Penmynydd]], Isle of [[Anglesey]] in Wales, had been a page in the court of [[King Henry V]]. He rose to become one of the "Squires to the Body to the King" after military service at the [[Battle of Agincourt]].{{Sfn|Kendall|1973|p=13}} Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V, [[Catherine of Valois]]. One of their sons was Edmund, Henry's father. Edmund was created [[Earl of Richmond]] in 1452, and "formally declared legitimate by Parliament".{{Sfn|Williams|1973|page=17}}

The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised [[House of Beaufort]] bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. She was a great-granddaughter of [[John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster]] (fourth son of [[Edward III]]), and his third wife [[Katherine Swynford]]. Swynford was Gaunt's mistress for about 25 years. When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry's great-grandfather [[John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset|John Beaufort]]. Gaunt's nephew [[Richard II]] legitimised Gaunt's children by Swynford by [[letters patent]] in 1397. In 1407, [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]], Gaunt's son by his first wife, issued new letters patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings but also declaring them ineligible for the throne.{{Sfn|Kendall|1973|p=156}} Henry IV's action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an [[act of Parliament]],{{which|date=January 2024}} but it weakened Henry's claim.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-21 |title=John Beaufort |url=https://thehistoryjar.com/tag/john-beaufort/#:~:text=In%20September%201396%20a%20papal,Houses%20of%20York%20and%20Lancaster. |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The History Jar |language=en-US}}</ref> Nonetheless, by 1483 Henry was the senior male claimant heir to the [[House of Lancaster]] remaining after the deaths in battle, by murder or execution of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] (son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois), his son [[Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales]], and the other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret's uncle, [[Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Henry also made some political capital out of his Welsh ancestry in attracting military support and safeguarding his army's passage through Wales on its way to the Battle of Bosworth.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chrimes|1999|page=3}}; {{Cite book |last=Davies, Norman |title=The Isles – A History |pages=337–379}}</ref> He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from [[Cadwaladr]], in legend, the last ancient British king.{{Sfn|Mackie|1952|p=47}}

On occasion Henry displayed the red dragon.{{Sfn|Chrimes|1999|page=3}} He took it, as well as the [[Saint George's Cross|standard of St. George]], on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth.{{Sfn|Mackie|1952|p=54}} A contemporary writer and Henry's biographer, [[Bernard André]], also made much of Henry's Welsh descent.{{Sfn|Mackie|1952|p=47}}

[[File:Pembroke Castle - June 2011.jpg|thumb|400px|[[Pembroke Castle]] in South Wales, the birthplace of Henry VII]]
In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the [[Yorkists]]. He died shortly afterwards in [[Carmarthen Castle]]. His younger brother, [[Jasper Tudor]], the Earl of Pembroke, undertook to protect Edmund's widow Margaret, who was 13 years old when she gave birth to Henry.{{Sfn|Starkey|2006|p=4}} When [[Edward IV]] became King in 1461, Jasper Tudor went into exile abroad. Pembroke Castle, and later the [[Earldom of Pembroke]], were granted to the Yorkist [[William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (died 1469)|William Herbert]], who also assumed the guardianship of Margaret Beaufort and the young Henry.<ref>{{cite web |last=Marilee Mongello |title=Tudor Monarchs – Henry VII, one |url=http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/henry7.html |access-date=7 February 2013 |publisher=Englishhistory.net}}</ref>

Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when [[Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick]] (the "Kingmaker"), went over to the Lancastrians. Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick.{{Sfn|Williams|1973|page=19}} When Warwick restored Henry VI in 1470, Jasper Tudor returned from exile and brought Henry to court.{{Sfn|Williams|1973|page=19}} When the Yorkist Edward IV regained the throne in 1471, Henry fled with other Lancastrians to [[Brittany]]. He spent most of the next 14 years under the protection of [[Francis II, Duke of Brittany]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vFOoAwAAQBAJ&dq=Henry+VII+Brittany+1471&pg=RA1-PA111|chapter=Rooms with no view|title=Royal Exiles: From Richard the Lionheart to Charles II|publisher=[[Amberley Publishing]]|last1=Soden|first1=Iain|date=2013|isbn=978-1445612034}}</ref> In November 1476, Francis fell ill and his principal advisers were more amenable to negotiating with King Edward. Henry was thus handed over to English envoys and escorted to the Breton port of [[Saint-Malo]]. While there, he feigned stomach cramps and delayed his departure long enough to miss the tides. An ally of Henry's, Viscount {{ill|Jean du Quélennec|fr|Jean du Quélennec}}, soon arrived, bringing news that Francis had recovered, and in the confusion Henry was able to flee to a monastery. There he claimed sanctuary until the envoys were forced to depart.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CcR5DAAAQBAJ&dq=Henry+VII+November+1476&pg=PT45|title=Henry VII: The Maligned Tudor King|isbn=978-1445646060|publisher=[[Amberley Publishing]]|date=2016|last1=Breverton|first1=Terry}}</ref>