Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Should HENRY VII have been King of England and by extension were the Tudors the rightful rulers of England between 1485 and 1603? Furthermore, should Henry’s descendants still hold the throne today, or ought the crown to have gone to the descendants of George, Duke of Clarence, who was the brother of Edward IV? It’s a debate I see in the comments under my videos about the Wars of the Roses and the Tudors all the time, with some claiming that Henry took the throne by conquest (and so that’s that) and others maintaining that the true heirs are George’s descendants via his daughter, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, who was ultimately beheaded on the orders of Henry VIII.
It all hinges on what you believe constitutes a true right to the throne. Henry Tudor, the former Earl of Richmond, didn’t have a strong blood claim on the crown as he descended from Edward III’s third son, John of Gaunt, via an originally illegitimate line which was specifically barred from inheriting the realm. He only made his way to the crown by winning the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and deposing and killing Richard III in the process. However Richard had arguably usurped the throne too, taking it from his nephews Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury (the so-called Princes in the Tower) while his brother and the boys’ father had taken it not once, but twice, from Henry VI, who ultimately died in the Tower of London under very fishy circumstances. Go further back and you see that Henry VI’s grandfather, Henry Bolingbroke (aka Henry IV) had forcibly taken the crown from his cousin Richard II and if you travel all the way back to 1066, you have to concede that England was taken from the Anglo-Saxons by force by William the Conqueror, an illegitimate Frenchman. So does having the ‘right’ blood really matter that much? Is it not just a case of the winner takes it all? After all, if blood is all that matters then Henry’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, had a better claim than him, as did his wife, Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV. As for who should hold the throne now, does the fact that every monarch since Henry VII has Edward IV’s blood in their veins not trump the claims of the descendants of his brother? In this video from History Calling we unpick this complicated line of succession and ask did the victory of Henry VII at Bosworth reset the succession rules of English, later British history, or should we looking for a new royal family?
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
THE WARS OF THE ROSES PLAYLIST youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0EVv2DJZOZT5ZyQwSJ4o7oZ
TUDOR MONARCHS’ PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0FD_vatnjVq9egboPYy8Kg0
THE LIFE OF HENRY VII (part 1)
youtu.be/ITszgOAAjuc
THE LIFE OF HENRY VII (part 2)
youtu.be/HsRIuVNR9UU
LIFE OF MARGARET BEAUFORT, PART 1
youtu.be/bLoIgu-t_Us
LIFE OF MARGARET BEAUFORT, PART 2
youtu.be/86i3a_G7gl4
WHAT HAPPENED TO EDWARD V AND RICHARD DUKE OF YORK?
youtu.be/WQ6FIe4dLTo
CAN DNA IDENTIFY THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER?
youtu.be/awBM-t-cFQo
GEAR USED
Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (for video editing): amzn.to/3S6IoRK
DJI Drone: amzn.to/39hROZm
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3rTWScL
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/3vaVxjU
Memory Card: amzn.to/3KeLZZs
Microphone: amzn.to/3rYtjH8
LEARN MORE:
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Prime video or Audible trial. They are available from the following links:
PRIME VIDEO: amzn.to/3LW7ykg
AUDIBLE: amzn.to/44MvlMi
AUDIBLE PLUS & AUDIBLE PREMIUM PLUS: amzn.to/42rh3PF
READ MORE:
Chris Skidmore, Bosworth: the birth of the Tudors (London, reprint, 2014). amzn.to/3sfYcF7
S.B. Chrimes, Henry VII (New Haven & London, 2013). amzn.to/3cc59Bh
Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King’s Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (Cambridge, 1992) available at amzn.to/3EgInG7
BUY OR RENT:
Britain’s Bloody Crown Presented by Dan Jones (2016) amzn.to/2TPep8i
The White Queen (TV show, 2013) amzn.to/2VcbQO5
The King in the Carpark (2013). Documentary about the discovery of Richard III’s skeleton in 2012. amzn.to/3C0loMF
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
Should HENRY VII have been King of England and by extension were the Tudors the rightful rulers of England between 1485 and 1603? Furthermore, should Henry’s descendants still hold the throne today, or ought the crown to have gone to the descendants of George, Duke of Clarence, who was the brother of Edward IV? It’s a debate I see in the comments under my videos about the Wars of the Roses and the Tudors all the time, with some claiming that Henry took the throne by conquest (and so that’s that) and others maintaining that the true heirs are George’s descendants via his daughter, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, who was ultimately beheaded on the orders of Henry VIII.
It all hinges on what you believe constitutes a true right to the throne. Henry Tudor, the former Earl of Richmond, didn’t have a strong blood claim on the crown as he descended from Edward III’s third son, John of Gaunt, via an originally illegitimate line which was specifically barred from inheriting the realm. He only made his way to the crown by winning the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and deposing and killing Richard III in the process. However Richard had arguably usurped the throne too, taking it from his nephews Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury (the so-called Princes in the Tower) while his brother and the boys’ father had taken it not once, but twice, from Henry VI, who ultimately died in the Tower of London under very fishy circumstances. Go further back and you see that Henry VI’s grandfather, Henry Bolingbroke (aka Henry IV) had forcibly taken the crown from his cousin Richard II and if you travel all the way back to 1066, you have to concede that England was taken from the Anglo-Saxons by force by William the Conqueror, an illegitimate Frenchman. So does having the ‘right’ blood really matter that much? Is it not just a case of the winner takes it all? After all, if blood is all that matters then Henry’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, had a better claim than him, as did his wife, Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV. As for who should hold the throne now, does the fact that every monarch since Henry VII has Edward IV’s blood in their veins not trump the claims of the descendants of his brother? In this video from History Calling we unpick this complicated line of succession and ask did the victory of Henry VII at Bosworth reset the succession rules of English, later British history, or should we looking for a new royal family?
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
THE WARS OF THE ROSES PLAYLIST youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0EVv2DJZOZT5ZyQwSJ4o7oZ
TUDOR MONARCHS’ PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0FD_vatnjVq9egboPYy8Kg0
THE LIFE OF HENRY VII (part 1)
youtu.be/ITszgOAAjuc
THE LIFE OF HENRY VII (part 2)
youtu.be/HsRIuVNR9UU
LIFE OF MARGARET BEAUFORT, PART 1
youtu.be/bLoIgu-t_Us
LIFE OF MARGARET BEAUFORT, PART 2
youtu.be/86i3a_G7gl4
WHAT HAPPENED TO EDWARD V AND RICHARD DUKE OF YORK?
youtu.be/WQ6FIe4dLTo
CAN DNA IDENTIFY THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER?
youtu.be/awBM-t-cFQo
GEAR USED
Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (for video editing): amzn.to/3S6IoRK
DJI Drone: amzn.to/39hROZm
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3rTWScL
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/3vaVxjU
Memory Card: amzn.to/3KeLZZs
Microphone: amzn.to/3rYtjH8
LEARN MORE:
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Prime video or Audible trial. They are available from the following links:
PRIME VIDEO: amzn.to/3LW7ykg
AUDIBLE: amzn.to/44MvlMi
AUDIBLE PLUS & AUDIBLE PREMIUM PLUS: amzn.to/42rh3PF
READ MORE:
Chris Skidmore, Bosworth: the birth of the Tudors (London, reprint, 2014). amzn.to/3sfYcF7
S.B. Chrimes, Henry VII (New Haven & London, 2013). amzn.to/3cc59Bh
Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King’s Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (Cambridge, 1992) available at amzn.to/3EgInG7
BUY OR RENT:
Britain’s Bloody Crown Presented by Dan Jones (2016) amzn.to/2TPep8i
The White Queen (TV show, 2013) amzn.to/2VcbQO5
The King in the Carpark (2013). Documentary about the discovery of Richard III’s skeleton in 2012. amzn.to/3C0loMF
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
