19. Henry VII

According to the chronicler Vergil, ‘Henry VII's (1485-1509) spirit was distinguished, wise and prudent; his mind was brave and resolute and it never, even at moments of great danger, deserted him’. He was the last king to win the crown on the battlefield in one of the most significant moments in English history. But history does not remember him as a warrior but as a rather grey miser, as Vergil added, ‘all his virtues were obscured by avarice’. He was the only Tudor to be omitted from Shakespeare’s plays yet by combining the white and red roses of York and Lancaster he brought an end to over 30 years of brutal civil war, to create a new flourishing hybrid, the Tudor rose, consolidating perhaps the most famous dynasty in English history. CHARACTERS Henry VII – King of England Elizabeth of York – Queen of England Prince Arthur – son of Henry and Elizabeth Prince Henry – son of Henry and Elizabeth, future Henry VIII Princess Katherine – daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Margaret Beaufort – Mother of Henry VII Edmund Tudor – Father of Henry VII Jasper Tudor – Uncle of Henry VII Owain Tudor – Grandfather of Henry VII Catherine of Valois – Grandmother of Henry VII, former Queen of England and wife of Henry V John de Vere, earl of Oxford – general loyal to Henry VII William Stanley – general sometimes loyal to Henry VII Henry Percy, the earl of Northumberland Edward Plantagenet, earl of Warwick – son of George, duke of Clarence Lambert Simnel – pretender to the throne, impersonated Edward Plantagenet Perkin Warbeck - pretender to the throne, impersonated Richard of Shrewsbury Margaret of Burgundy – sister of Edward IV, Richard III, duke of Clarence, aunt of Edward Plantagenet and Richard of Shrewsbury John de la Pole – cousin of Edward Plantagenet John Fisher – bishop of Rochester Edmund Dudley and Richard Empson – financial agents of Henry VII John Morton – financial agent and Archbishop of Canterbury Francis II, duke of Brittany Ferdinand II of Aragon Isabella of Castile Catherine of Aragon – wife of Prince Arthur Maximilian – Holy Roman Emperor James IV of Scotland Gerald Fitzgerald, earl of Kildare and Lord Deputy of Ireland Erasmus – Dutch philosopher and scholar of the Renaissance John Colet – scholar and Renaissance humanist Christopher Columbus – Italian explorer and navigator John Cabot – Italian explorer and navigator Vergil - Chronicler Edward Hall - Chronicler William Shakespeare - playwright Edward III – King of England (1327-77) Henry IV – King of England (1399-1413) Henry V – King of England (1413-22) Henry VI – King of England (1422-61, 70-71) Edward IV – King of England (1461-70, 71-83) Edward V – King of England (1483) Richard III – King of England (1483-85) John of Gaunt – son of Edward III George, duke of Clarence – brother of Edward IV and Richard III Richard of Shrewsbury – son of Edward IV Richard, duke of York – Yorkist claimant and father of Edward IV Owain Glyndwr – Welsh leader during War of Independence Elizabeth Woodville – Queen of England, wife of Edward IV Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham – one-time ally of Richard III CREDITS John Dowland – Mistress Nichols Alman Lachrimae Byrd – Ave Verum Corpus Jergonda – hand mans rope Falconbeard – short toed eagle call Hazure – seagull Jordishaw – stabbing sound Tim Kahn – footsteps liamg sfx – battle cry 4 soundmary – wild horses running