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HENRY VII.

1485-1509.

Born 1456 Elizabeth of York.

1. James Margaret 2. Lord Henry VIII. Mary=1. Louis XII IV.

Angus.

2. Charles
Brandon,
Duke of
Suffolk.

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POPES.-Innocent VIII., 1484. Alexander VI., 1492. Pius III., 1503. Julius II., 1503.

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Character of the

NEW line was thus raised to the throne of England. It was only indirectly that the new King represented the House of Lancaster. On his father's side he was sprung from the second marriage of the wife of Henry V., on his mother's reign, that of side from the illegitimate family of John of Gaunt, which had been expressly excluded from the throne. 1 In the lack of any other leader, however, he had been accepted as head of the Lancas

an usurper.

1 The exception does not occur in the patent of Legitimation in the Rolls of Parliament, but is added in the patent confirming the grant to John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, 1407.

PER. MON.

trians, but it was really a coalition between the Yorkists and Lancastrians which secured him his elevation. Richard had so shocked the feelings even of his own party, that they had been willing, as we have seen, to waive their old antipathies, and to assist Henry, provided always that he married the Princess Elizabeth of York. The new King therefore found some difficulty in stating on what grounds he claimed the throne. Lancastrian in feeling, but not purely Lancastrian in blood, and dependent upon the support of Yorkists, he could allege no hereditary claim,-to allege conquest, which seemed the other alternative, could not but be irritating to a proud nation like the English. Nor indeed would it have represented the fact. It would have been ridiculous to allege that the kingdom had been conquered at the battle of Bosworth, when the advantage had been secured chiefly by the accidental death of his rival. In fact, as he himself knew, he was accepted by the nation because they were wearied out of bloodshed, and because there seemed some chance that the great national feud might be healed by his accession. He consequently had himself declared King by the Parliament, which, though it was in fact subservient to the ruling power, retained much of the authority derived from its former greatness, and still presumably expressed the national wishes. The example thus set by Henry was followed by his successors, who, arbitrary though they were, preferred to give to their usurpations the sanction of what still professed to be the representation of the nation. None the less was his reign the reign of an usurper, the reign of one anxious to establish his dynasty, and working for that end without much regard for the national honour. It is plain, however, that he understood well the nature of the crisis, and the opportunity which was offered him for establishing a strong monarchy upon the ruins of the old nobility of England, which had been almost exterminated during the late wars. We find him therefore determined and cruel in the suppression and punishment of all insurrections on the part of any who could be dangerous to his dynasty;-avaricious and grasping, even violently and illegally so when he found himself strong enough, not merely for the sake of the money, though probably he liked that well enough, but because he knew what strength lay in the possession of large treasures, and because he saw that it might free him from the necessity of frequent Parliaments ;-determined to maintain order, and for that purpose, and as an additional support to the central authority, establishing his Court of the Star Chamber. In his relations with foreign countries, we see him risking little for mere

1485]

CHANGE In the MONARCHY

357

honour, but securing some solid advantages by those forms of intrigue which, arising in Italy, were gradually growing into that art of diplomacy which is so distinguishing a mark of modern European history; while his domestic policy was directed chiefly to depress still further the already broken nobility, while surrounding himself with new-made men who depended for their importance on Court favour.

Change in the

character of the monarchy.

His reign is in fact the completion of an entire change in the character of the monarchy which was begun by Edward IV. The constitutional growth of the nation, which had been advancing with rapid strides since the time of Edward I., was checked. In the place of national or feudal monarchy there had arisen a monarchy personal and nearly absolute; and many of the abuses of royalty already removed (such as the exaggerated power of the Privy Council and the use of arbitrary taxation under the form of benevolences) began to reappear. At the close of the Wars of the Roses there was no class of sufficient importance to withstand the power of royalty; the intermediate classes had disappeared. The King stood face to face with the commonalty; and that commonalty was not yet sufficiently powerful to act as a check upon its rival. The constitutional growth of England had depended upon the union of all classes, Church, Barons, and Commons. But the Wars of the Roses had destroyed the old nobility. That great war had been in its character a faction fight among the nobles themselves; it had scarcely touched the bulk of the nation. The processes of law went on as usual; industry continued, trade improved, wealth increased. But the two great factions mutually destroyed each other; at the close of that war there were scarcely any of the great families left. The Church had been unaffected by the war. Its wealth was untouched. But by the signs of the coming Reformation given by Wicliffe and his followers, and by the threatening attitude more than once assumed by the Commons, it had been completely terrified. To uphold its position it was ready to cling to any support. The strongest support was the Crown. All its influence was therefore withdrawn from the nation, and thrown on the side of the King; and from among its numbers, till the time of Cromwell and the Reformation, the ablest ministers of the new monarchy were drawn. It might be supposed, that with the undoubted growth in wealth and importance of the gentry and higher commons, that class would have been in a position to act the part which the baronial party had hitherto taken. But several causes prevented the House of Commons

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