Page 4 - Leighton News June 2016
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Henry Tudor - Claim to the Crown
On the 7th August 1485 Henry Tudor landed at Dale in the Wars of the Roses. Richard III was killed with a pole axe
Pembrokeshire – an area now known as Milford Haven. He by Rhys ap Thomas and so terminated the Plantagenet rule
had left Honfleur near Le Havre in France on the 1st August; of England and Wales which had lasted over 300 years.
seven days at sea sailing around the Scillies to the furthest
point on the south Wales coast. Travelling with him in seven The battle of Bosworth field was greatly assisted by the
ships were a small army of 2,000 men. It was to be Henry’s support of Welsh troops encouraged by the significance of
second attempt to seize the English throne; the first attempt Henry’s Welsh ancestry. These supporters remained very
two years earlier had ended in ignominious retreat. It was to aware of their ancient British heritage; a strand to this
be literally a do or die attempt against what he knew would heritage was the belief that one day a leader would appear
be a much larger opposing force. who would free Britain from the English and ensure that
Britons would once again rule the land. The victor became
The March from Pembroke to Long Mountain Henry VII and ushered in the Tutor dynasty which ended
Dates in August 1485 with the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.
15th Newport But there have always been major reservations about
Henry’s right to claim the throne. The Welsh ancestry was
13th & 14th Machynlleth Long Mountain 16th from his paternal grandfather Owen Tudor. Owen had
12th Aberystwyth Newtown married Catherine the widowed queen of Henry V, the hero
of Agincourt; their son Edmund Tudor, Earl of Rochester,
was Henry’s father.
10th Owen Tudor was a descendant of a prominent family from
Anglesey and although a nobleman, detractors made it plain
9th that as a courtier he was only a servant to the monarch.
8th Henry’s grandmother, Catherine, while being the sister of
the king of France, had no claim of a blood lineage to the
7th - Rhys ap Thomas leaves English crown.
7th Camarthen
Going into battle Henry marched under a under a
new banner with the Red Dragon of
By sailing to Wales rather than the shorter cross channel Cadwaladr — a Welsh symbol
route Henry had an element of surprise against his foe. He for hundreds of years —
was also able to gather additional supporting troops in Wales superimposed on a white and
sympathetic to his cause; after landing, the troops first green background which were
moved up the coast towards Aberystwyth. Setting off on the the Tudor family colours. The
same day from Carmarthen was Rhys ap Thomas with his dragon was incorporated in his
own troops; they joined forces at Newtown. Henry’s march royal coat of arms.
through Wales took eight days – a distance of 134 miles
with stopping points along the way. Although this section of Margaret Beaufort was the real driving force behind
the march is referred to as Dale to Welshpool, the final Henry’s accession to the throne. His remarkably determined
encampment before crossing into England was actually on his mother was married to Edmund aged ten and gave birth
‘Cefn Digoll’ – what we usually call Long Mountain. to Henry, her only child, when she had just turned fourteen.
Edmund died of plague before Henry was born.
Long Mountain has a continuous history of human
occupation. The route from Forden to Vennington is marked Margaret was able to trace her ancestry back to Edward III a
on maps as a Roman Road; while it may have been used as hundred years before – and so could the contestants in the
such it is not very straight and more likely to have been two sides of the Wars of the Roses. Edward’s fourth son was
already in use by earlier inhabitants. The highest point of the Duke of Lancaster and his fifth son was the Duke of
1,339 feet at the Beacon Ring is the site of an ancient hill York. Both of Henry Tudor’s parents were supporters of the
fort offering a vantage point to the valley below. Iron Age house of Lancaster.
settlements have been found near the top road; a field next to
our cover picture was the subject of a recent archaeology dig. At the time of Henry Tudor’s birth in 1457, a Lancaster
descendant Henry VI had been king for thirty five years –
From Long Mountain the army travelled to Shrewsbury, he had inherited the throne when he was only nine months
Newport in Shropshire and then on to Warwickshire and a old. Conflicts raged between York and Lancaster about the
small market town east of Leicester called Bosworth. The rule of the kingdom and loss of French territories. The king
ensuing battle was the last of the 30 year period known as the was an extremely pious man but regarded as incapable of
ruling the kingdom properly. He was deposed by his Yorkist
cousin who became Edward IV in 1461. Henry Tudor was
four years old at the time.
Henry Tudor - Claim to the Crown
On the 7th August 1485 Henry Tudor landed at Dale in the Wars of the Roses. Richard III was killed with a pole axe
Pembrokeshire – an area now known as Milford Haven. He by Rhys ap Thomas and so terminated the Plantagenet rule
had left Honfleur near Le Havre in France on the 1st August; of England and Wales which had lasted over 300 years.
seven days at sea sailing around the Scillies to the furthest
point on the south Wales coast. Travelling with him in seven The battle of Bosworth field was greatly assisted by the
ships were a small army of 2,000 men. It was to be Henry’s support of Welsh troops encouraged by the significance of
second attempt to seize the English throne; the first attempt Henry’s Welsh ancestry. These supporters remained very
two years earlier had ended in ignominious retreat. It was to aware of their ancient British heritage; a strand to this
be literally a do or die attempt against what he knew would heritage was the belief that one day a leader would appear
be a much larger opposing force. who would free Britain from the English and ensure that
Britons would once again rule the land. The victor became
The March from Pembroke to Long Mountain Henry VII and ushered in the Tutor dynasty which ended
Dates in August 1485 with the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.
15th Newport But there have always been major reservations about
Henry’s right to claim the throne. The Welsh ancestry was
13th & 14th Machynlleth Long Mountain 16th from his paternal grandfather Owen Tudor. Owen had
12th Aberystwyth Newtown married Catherine the widowed queen of Henry V, the hero
of Agincourt; their son Edmund Tudor, Earl of Rochester,
was Henry’s father.
10th Owen Tudor was a descendant of a prominent family from
Anglesey and although a nobleman, detractors made it plain
9th that as a courtier he was only a servant to the monarch.
8th Henry’s grandmother, Catherine, while being the sister of
the king of France, had no claim of a blood lineage to the
7th - Rhys ap Thomas leaves English crown.
7th Camarthen
Going into battle Henry marched under a under a
new banner with the Red Dragon of
By sailing to Wales rather than the shorter cross channel Cadwaladr — a Welsh symbol
route Henry had an element of surprise against his foe. He for hundreds of years —
was also able to gather additional supporting troops in Wales superimposed on a white and
sympathetic to his cause; after landing, the troops first green background which were
moved up the coast towards Aberystwyth. Setting off on the the Tudor family colours. The
same day from Carmarthen was Rhys ap Thomas with his dragon was incorporated in his
own troops; they joined forces at Newtown. Henry’s march royal coat of arms.
through Wales took eight days – a distance of 134 miles
with stopping points along the way. Although this section of Margaret Beaufort was the real driving force behind
the march is referred to as Dale to Welshpool, the final Henry’s accession to the throne. His remarkably determined
encampment before crossing into England was actually on his mother was married to Edmund aged ten and gave birth
‘Cefn Digoll’ – what we usually call Long Mountain. to Henry, her only child, when she had just turned fourteen.
Edmund died of plague before Henry was born.
Long Mountain has a continuous history of human
occupation. The route from Forden to Vennington is marked Margaret was able to trace her ancestry back to Edward III a
on maps as a Roman Road; while it may have been used as hundred years before – and so could the contestants in the
such it is not very straight and more likely to have been two sides of the Wars of the Roses. Edward’s fourth son was
already in use by earlier inhabitants. The highest point of the Duke of Lancaster and his fifth son was the Duke of
1,339 feet at the Beacon Ring is the site of an ancient hill York. Both of Henry Tudor’s parents were supporters of the
fort offering a vantage point to the valley below. Iron Age house of Lancaster.
settlements have been found near the top road; a field next to
our cover picture was the subject of a recent archaeology dig. At the time of Henry Tudor’s birth in 1457, a Lancaster
descendant Henry VI had been king for thirty five years –
From Long Mountain the army travelled to Shrewsbury, he had inherited the throne when he was only nine months
Newport in Shropshire and then on to Warwickshire and a old. Conflicts raged between York and Lancaster about the
small market town east of Leicester called Bosworth. The rule of the kingdom and loss of French territories. The king
ensuing battle was the last of the 30 year period known as the was an extremely pious man but regarded as incapable of
ruling the kingdom properly. He was deposed by his Yorkist
cousin who became Edward IV in 1461. Henry Tudor was
four years old at the time.
