Editing House of Tudor (section)

== Henry VII ==
[[File:Enrique VII de Inglaterra, por un artista anónimo.jpg|thumb |upright|[[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]], the founder of the royal house of Tudor]]
Upon becoming king in 1485, Henry VII moved rapidly to secure his hold on the throne. On 18 January 1486 at [[Westminster Abbey]], he honoured a pledge made three years earlier and married [[Elizabeth of York]],<ref name="Williams25">{{Harvnb|Williams|1973|page=25}}.</ref> daughter of King Edward IV. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt. The marriage unified the warring houses of Lancaster and York and gave the couple's children a strong claim to the throne. The unification of the two houses through this marriage is symbolised by the heraldic emblem of the [[Tudor rose]], a combination of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.

[[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] and [[Elizabeth of York]] had seven children, four of whom survived early childhood:

* [[Arthur, Prince of Wales]] (born 1486, died 1502)
* [[Henry, Duke of York]] (born 1491, died 1547 as Henry VIII)
* [[Margaret Tudor|Margaret]] (born 1489, died 1541), Queen of Scots, who married [[James IV of Scotland]]
* [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary]] (born 1496, died 1533), Queen of France, who married [[Louis XII of France]]

Henry VII's foreign policy had an objective of dynastic security: he formed an alliance with Scotland with the marriage in 1503 of his daughter Margaret to James IV of Scotland, and with Spain through the marriage of his son Arthur to [[Catherine of Aragon]], cementing an alliance with the Spanish monarchs, [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] and [[Isabella I of Castile]]. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon at [[Ludlow Castle]], the traditional seat of the [[Prince of Wales]].<ref name="Kinney">{{Harvnb|Kinney|Swain|2001|p=335}}.</ref> However, four months after the marriage, Arthur died, leaving his younger brother [[Henry VIII of England|Henry]] as heir apparent. Henry VII acquired a [[papal dispensation]] allowing prince Henry to marry Arthur's widow; however, Henry VII delayed the marriage.

Henry VII limited his involvement in European politics. He went to war only twice: once in 1489 during the [[French–Breton War]] and the invasion of Brittany, and in 1496–1497 in revenge for Scottish support of [[Perkin Warbeck]] and for the Scottish invasion of northern England. Henry VII made peace with France in 1492 and the war against Scotland was abandoned because of the [[Cornish rebellion of 1497]]. Henry VII made peace with James IV in 1502 with the [[Treaty of Perpetual Peace]], paving the way for the marriage of his daughter Margaret.<ref name="Kinney"/>

One of the main concerns of Henry VII during his reign was the re-accumulation of the funds in the royal treasury. England had never been one of the wealthier European countries, and after the Wars of the Roses this was even more true. Through his strict monetary strategy, he was able to leave a considerable amount of money in the Treasury for his son and successor, [[Henry VIII]]. Although it is debated whether Henry VII was a great king, he certainly was a successful one if only because he restored the nation's finances, strengthened the judicial system and successfully denied all other claimants to the throne, thus further securing it for his heir.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 February 2012 |title=Henry VII |url=http://tudorhistory.org/henry7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005132626/http://tudorhistory.org/henry7 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |access-date=17 October 2013 |publisher=Tudorhistory.org}}</ref>