Henry Tudor

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

528 years ago, Henry Tudor was crowned at Westminster Abbey - the first monarch of the Tudor Dynasty. (Image: 17th copy of 'The Whitehall Mural')

In 1485, the founder of the Tudor dynasty, Henry Tudor, was crowned King Henry VII at Westminster Abbey. The Tudor chronicler, Raphael Holinshed, recorded:

"...with great pompe he rowed unto Westminster, & there the thirtith daie of October he was with all ceremonies accustomed, anointed, & crowned king, by the whole assent as well of the commons as of the nobilitie, & called Henrie the seaventh of that name..."

His biographer, Thomas Penn, describes how this was the occasion that Henry was united with his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, whom he'd not seen for fourteen years. Margaret was said to have "wept marvellously".

Henry Tudor had claimed the crown of England after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field on the 22nd August 1485, and had actually been unofficially crowned with Richard's crown on the battlefield that day.

(Extract from "On This Day in Tudor History" by Claire Ridgway

On this day in 1485, Henry Tudor was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey. The Tudors went on to rule for the next 118 years, until the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. A relatively short period of time in the scheme of things but boy was it action packed!

Ava Gardner