After
the defeat and the death of Richard III in the battle of Bosworth
Field, Henry, Earl of Richmond, was given the crown, but his
formal coronation as Henry VII took place six weeks later
in Westminster Abbey. Richard is the king who cried “My
kingdom for a horse” and is accused of having had his
nephew, Edward V, murdered.
Henry’s succession ended that long period of civil conflict,
the Wars of the Roses. He was the first of the Tudors and
the grandfather of three sovereigns, Edward VI, Mary I and
Elizabeth I.
Henry put his country in the race for New World possessions,
and one important result of his reign was the acquisition
of a claim to Newfoundland through his support of the Cabots. |
