116-567: The Savernake Horn is a horn made of 12th-century elephant ivory decorated with 14th-century enamelled silver gilt mounts; it belonged to the Seymour family since at least the Elizabethan period , and is associated with Savernake Forest in Wiltshire, England. It is an olifant/oliphant horn, a hunting horn made from an elephant (olifant) tusk, and is also known as the "Bruce Horn" as it
232-655: A conspicuous part. His son Sir George Francis Seymour (1787–1870), admiral of the fleet, began his naval career by serving under Nelson ; in 1818 he became Sergeant-at-arms in the House of Lords, a post which he retained till 1841, when he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral and appointed a lord of the admiralty; his eldest son, Francis George Hugh Seymour (1812–1884), succeeded his cousin Richard Seymour-Conway as 5th marquess of Hertford in 1870. Lord Hugh Seymour's younger son, Sir Horace Beauchamp Seymour ,
348-666: A cost of £24,000. However, as France was becoming more concerned with the Italian Wars , the French were happy to agree to the Peace of Étaples . Henry had pressured the French by laying siege to Boulogne in October 1492. Henry had been under the financial and physical protection of the French throne or its vassals for most of his life before becoming king. To strengthen his position, however, he subsidised shipbuilding, so strengthening
464-540: A family of country gentry who, like most holders of manorial rights, traced their ancestry to a Norman origin. One or two had been knighted in the wars of France, but their names had never emerged from the herald's visitation-rolls into historical celebrity. They increased their boundaries by fortunate alliances with heiresses, and the head of the family married into a collateral branch of the lordly line of Beauchamp. After that event, two instances are quoted of Seymours serving as high sheriff of Wilts. Through Margaret Wentworth,
580-535: A few thousand troops, but was soon captured and executed. When the King's agents searched the property of William Stanley ( Chamberlain of the Household , with direct access to Henry VII) they found a bag of coins amounting to around £10,000 and a collar of livery with Yorkist garnishings. Stanley was accused of supporting Warbeck's cause, arrested and later executed. In response to this threat within his own household,
696-540: A fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer . Henry VII introduced stability to the financial administration of England by keeping the same financial advisors throughout his reign. For instance, except for the first few months of the reign, the Baron Dynham and the Earl of Surrey were the only Lord High Treasurers throughout his reign. Henry VII improved tax collection in
812-421: A growing reputation for shrewd decisiveness". On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. Historians have compared Henry VII with his continental contemporaries, especially Louis XI of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon . By 1600 historians emphasised Henry's wisdom in drawing lessons in statecraft from other monarchs. In 1622 Francis Bacon published his History of
928-485: A king in conversation with a bishop, and a forester alongside, possibly indicating the making of an historic appointment of Forester. The horn was noted by William Camden (1551–1623) who stated it then belonged to the Seymour family, possibly an heirloom inherited from their Sturmy ancestors, hereditary Wardens of Savernake Forest , though was probably made for the Earl of Moray in the fourteenth century and looted by
1044-411: A lieutenant-general; by his second wife, a daughter of Alexander Popham of Littlecote House , he had six sons, the eldest of whom, Popham, on succeeding to the estates of his mother's cousin, Edward, Earl of Conway , assumed the name of Conway in addition to that of Seymour. Popham was killed in a duel with Colonel Kirk in 1669, and his estates devolved on his next brother, Francis, who likewise assumed
1160-579: A place called Woundy (now Undy ), near Caldicot in Monmouthshire, from the Welsh . Woundy and Penhow , at the latter of which he made his residence, were the property of Sir Richard St. Maur at the end of the 13th century, but they were lost by the family through the marriage of Sir Richard's great-great-granddaughter, the only child of John St. Maur , who died in 1359. John St. Maur's younger brother Roger married Cecily de Beauchamp (d. 1393), one of
1276-541: A plan to seize the throne by engaging Richard quickly because Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester . Though outnumbered, Henry's Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. Several of Richard's key allies, such as Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland , and also Lord Stanley and his brother William , crucially switched sides or left
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#17328018732051392-426: A small French and Scottish force, landing at Mill Bay near Dale, Pembrokeshire . He marched toward England accompanied by his uncle Jasper and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford . Wales was historically a Lancastrian stronghold, and Henry owed the support he gathered to his Welsh birth and ancestry, being agnatically descended from Rhys ap Gruffydd . He amassed an army of about 5,000–6,000 soldiers. Henry devised
1508-495: A son John Seymour (died 1464). He died at Wolfhall in 1427. The Seymour family (anciently de St. Maur ) is earliest recorded seated at Penhow Castle in Glamorgan in the 12th century. The parish church of Penhow is dedicated to St Maur. Roger Seymour (c. 1367/70 – 1420), who married Maud Esturmy ( alias Esturmi, etc.), a daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Esturmy (died 1427), of Wolfhall in Wiltshire, Speaker of
1624-456: A spouse for Henry VII's heir-apparent. The marriage did not take place during his lifetime. Otherwise, at the time of his father's arranging of the marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the future Henry VIII was too young to contract the marriage according to Canon Law and would be ineligible until age fourteen. Henry made half-hearted plans to remarry and beget more heirs, but these never came to anything. He entertained thoughts of remarriage to renew
1740-707: A treaty with France at Etaples that brought money into the coffers of England, and ensured the French would not support pretenders to the English throne, such as Perkin Warbeck. However, this treaty came at a price, as Henry mounted a minor invasion of Brittany in November 1492. Henry decided to keep Brittany out of French hands, signed an alliance with Spain to that end, and sent 6,000 troops to France. The confused, fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts, which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions, at
1856-498: A year at a time. Their chief task was to see that the laws of the country were obeyed in their area. Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors, never more so than under Henry's reign. Despite this, Henry was keen to constrain their power and influence, applying the same principles to the justices of the peace as he did to the nobility: a similar system of bonds and recognisances to that which applied to both
1972-509: Is equally true that Henry VII was diligent about keeping detailed records of his personal finances, down to the last halfpenny; these and one account book detailing the expenses of his queen survive in the British National Archives, as do courtiers' accounts and many of the king's own letters. From these accounting books, the evidence is clear that, until the death of his wife, Henry was a more doting father and husband than
2088-501: Is not known precisely where Cabot landed, but he was eventually rewarded with a pension from the king; it is presumed that Cabot perished at sea after a later unsuccessful expedition. Henry VII was one of the first European monarchs to recognise the importance of the newly united Spanish kingdom; he concluded the Treaty of Medina del Campo , by which his son Arthur, Prince of Wales , was married to Catherine of Aragon . He also concluded
2204-480: Is unusual that he did not remarry. His son Henry was the only male heir left after the death of his wife; the death of Arthur therefore created a precarious political position for the House of Tudor. During Henry VII's lifetime the nobility often criticised him for re-centralising power in London and, later, the 16th-century historian Francis Bacon was ruthlessly critical of the methods by which he enforced tax law. It
2320-783: The Baltic Sea during the war with Russia. In 1856 he was in command of the China station, and conducted the operations arising out of the affair of the lorcha Arrow ; he destroyed the Qing Chinese fleet in June 1857, took Canton in December, and in 1858 he captured the forts on the Pei Ho (Hai River), compelling the Chinese government to consent to the Treaty of Tientsin . In 1864 he
2436-569: The Burgundian Netherlands in retaliation for Margaret of Burgundy's support for Perkin Warbeck. The Merchant Adventurers , the company which enjoyed the monopoly of the Flemish wool trade, relocated from Antwerp to Calais . At the same time, Flemish merchants were ejected from England. The dispute eventually paid off for Henry. Both parties realised they were mutually disadvantaged by the reduction in commerce. Its restoration by
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#17328018732052552-545: The Duke of Somerset is the head. The family was settled in Monmouthshire in the 13th century. The original form of the name "Seymour", which was resumed by the dukes of Somerset from early in the 19th century to 1923, seems to have been St. Maur, of which William Camden says that Seymour was a later corruption. It appears that about the year 1240 Gilbert Marshal , Earl of Pembroke , assisted William St. Maur to wrest
2668-505: The Low Countries had long-lasting benefits to the English economy. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. He stabilised the government's finances by introducing several new taxes. After his death, a commission found widespread abuses in the tax collection process. Henry reigned for nearly 24 years and was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII . Henry VII
2784-594: The Magnus Intercursus was very much to England's benefit in removing taxation for English merchants and significantly increasing England's wealth. In turn, Antwerp became an extremely important trade entrepôt (transhipment port), through which, for example, goods from the Baltic, spices from the east and Italian silks were exchanged for English cloth. In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip
2900-720: The Spitfire , and afterwards of the Amethyst , he captured a great number of prizes from the French in the English Channel . In 1809 he was created a baronet (see Culme-Seymour baronets ). Seymour became a rear-admiral in 1832, and died two years later while in chief command on the South American station. His son, Sir Michael Seymour (1802–1887), entered the navy in 1813, and attained the rank of rear-admiral in 1854, in which year he served under Sir Charles Napier in
3016-656: The Tower of London . Despite such precautions, Henry faced several rebellions over the next twelve years. The first was the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers , abetted by Viscount Lovell , which collapsed without fighting. Next, in 1487, Yorkists led by Lincoln rebelled in support of Lambert Simnel , a boy they claimed to be Edward of Warwick (who was actually a prisoner in the Tower). The rebellion began in Ireland, where
3132-535: The Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Scotland (the first treaty between England and Scotland for almost two centuries), which betrothed his daughter Margaret Tudor to King James IV of Scotland. By this marriage, Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. Though this was not achieved during his reign, the marriage eventually led to the union of the English and Scottish crowns under Margaret's great-grandson, James VI and I , following
3248-628: The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). Vindicating the Lancastrian cause, he cemented his claim by marrying the Yorkist heiress, Elizabeth of York , daughter of Edward IV. Henry restored power and stability to the English monarchy following the civil war. He is credited with many administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. His supportive policy toward England's wool industry and his standoff with
3364-606: The crusade . Later on, Henry had exchanged letters with Pope Julius II in 1507, in which he encouraged him to establish peace among Christian realms, and to organise an expedition against the Turks of the Ottoman Empire . Henry VII was much enriched by trading alum , which was used in the wool and cloth trades as a chemical fixative for dyeing fabrics. Since alum was mined in only one area in Europe (Tolfa, Italy), it
3480-566: The navy (he commissioned Europe's first ever – and the world's oldest surviving – dry dock at Portsmouth in 1495) and improving trading opportunities. John Cabot , originally from Genoa and Venice, had heard that ships from Bristol had discovered uncharted newfound territory far west of Ireland. Having secured financial backing from Florentine bankers in London, Cabot was granted carefully phrased letters patent from Henry in March 1496, permitting him to embark on an exploratory voyage westerly. It
3596-731: The Earl of Pembroke, undertook to protect Edmund's widow Margaret, who was 13 years old when she gave birth to Henry. When Edward IV became King in 1461, Jasper Tudor went into exile abroad. Pembroke Castle, and later the Earldom of Pembroke , were granted to the Yorkist William Herbert , who also assumed the guardianship of Margaret Beaufort and the young Henry. Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"), went over to
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3712-565: The English in the mid-16th century. The horn was sounded in 1940 by King George VI when he visited Savernake Forest. In 1975, the 8th Marquess of Ailesbury , hereditary warden of Savernake Forest, sold the horn and it was subsequently bought by the British Museum for £210,000. Seymour family Hertford branch: Thre House of Seymour , Semel or St. Maur , is the name of an old English family in which several titles of nobility have from time to time been created, and of which
3828-728: The Handsome , Duke of Burgundy. Philip had been shipwrecked on the English coast, and while Henry's guest, was bullied into an agreement so favourable to England at the expense of the Netherlands that it was dubbed the Malus Intercursus ("evil agreement"). France, Burgundy, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and the Hanseatic League all rejected the treaty, which was never in force. Philip died shortly after
3944-522: The House of Commons and hereditary Warden of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire. Following his wife's inheritance, he moved his principal seat from Undy to Wolfhall. His son and heir was Sir John Seymour (c. 1395/1402 – 1464), of Wulfhall in Savernake Forest, and of Hatch Beauchamp. He served as Member of Parliament in 1422 and Knight of the Shire for Wiltshire in 1435, 1439, and 1445 He
4060-552: The House of Commons. He was appointed to the lucrative post of treasurer of the navy; and in 1667 he moved the impeachment of Lord Clarendon , which he carried to the House of Lords . In 1672 he was elected speaker, an office which he filled with distinction until 1679, when, having been unanimously re-elected to the chair, the king refused to confirm the choice of the Commons. On the accession of James II , Seymour courageously opposed
4176-428: The King instituted more rigid security for access to his person. In 1499, Henry had the Earl of Warwick executed. However, he spared Warwick's elder sister Margaret, who survived until 1541 when she was executed by Henry VIII. For most of Henry VII's reign Edward Story was Bishop of Chichester . Story's register still exists and, according to the 19th-century historian W.R.W. Stephens, "affords some illustrations of
4292-695: The Lancastrians. Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick. When Warwick restored Henry VI in 1470, Jasper Tudor returned from exile and brought Henry to court. When the Yorkist Edward IV regained the throne in 1471, Henry fled with other Lancastrians to Brittany . He spent most of the next 14 years under the protection of Francis II, Duke of Brittany . In November 1476, Francis fell ill and his principal advisers were more amenable to negotiating with King Edward. Henry
4408-883: The Marches for his son Arthur, which was intended to govern Wales and the Marches , Cheshire and Cornwall . He was content to allow the nobles their regional influence if they were loyal to him. For instance, the Stanley family had control of Lancashire and Cheshire, upholding the peace on the condition that they stayed within the law. In other cases, he brought his over-powerful subjects to heel by decree. He passed laws against "livery" (the upper classes' flaunting of their adherents by giving them badges and emblems) and "maintenance" (the keeping of too many male "servants"). These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats. However, his principal weapon
4524-805: The Ottoman Empire, and selling it to the Low Countries and in England. This trade made an expensive commodity cheaper, which raised opposition from Pope Julius II, since the Tolfa mine was a part of papal territory and had given the Pope monopoly control over alum. Henry's most successful diplomatic achievement as regards the economy was the Magnus Intercursus ("great agreement") of 1496. In 1494, Henry embargoed trade (mainly in wool) with
4640-576: The Plantagenets was suspected of coveting the throne. Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius , the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. Amateur historians Bertram Fields and Sir Clements Markham have claimed that he may have been involved in the murder of the Princes in the Tower, as the repeal of Titulus Regius gave
4756-506: The Princes a stronger claim to the throne than his own. Alison Weir points out that the Rennes ceremony, two years earlier, was plausible only if Henry and his supporters were certain that the Princes were already dead. Henry secured his crown principally by dividing and undermining the power of the nobility, especially through the aggressive use of bonds and recognisances to secure loyalty. He also enacted laws against livery and maintenance ,
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4872-580: The Protector by his second marriage became extinct, and the dukedom reverted to the elder line, the 6th baronet of Berry Pomeroy becoming 8th duke of Somerset. Henry Seymour (1729–1805), a son of the 8th duke of Somerset's brother Francis, was elected to the House of Commons in 1763; in 1778 he went to France, and fixing his residence at Prunay , near Versailles , he became the lover of Madame du Barry , many of whose letters to him are preserved in Paris. He
4988-471: The Yorkist claimant, Edward IV . After Edward retook the throne in 1471, Henry spent 14 years in exile in Brittany . He attained the throne when his forces, supported by France , Scotland and Wales , defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field . He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle, defending it two years later at the Battle of Stoke Field to decisively end
5104-548: The Yorkist heiress Margaret Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury suo jure . He took care not to address the baronage or summon Parliament until after his coronation, which took place in Westminster Abbey on 30 October 1485. After his coronation Henry issued an edict that any gentleman who swore fealty to him would, notwithstanding any previous attainder, be secure in his property and person. Henry honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York and
5220-438: The alliance with Spain; Joanna, Dowager Queen of Naples (a niece of Queen Isabella of Castile), Queen Joanna of Castile , and Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Savoy (sister-in-law of Joanna of Castile) were all considered. In 1505 he was sufficiently interested in a potential marriage to Joanna of Naples that he sent ambassadors to Naples to report on the 27 year-old Joanna's physical suitability. The wedding never took place, and
5336-607: The arbitrary measures of the Crown; and at the revolution he adhered to the Prince of Orange. In 1691 he became a lord of the treasury, but losing his place three years Later he took an active part in the Tory opposition to William's Whig ministers; and in later years he was not less hostile to those of Queen Anne, but owing to the ascendancy of Marlborough he lost all influence for some time before his death, which took place in 1708. Seymour
5452-483: The avaricious and parsimonious character of the king". It seems that Henry was skilful at extracting money from his subjects on many pretexts, including that of war with France or war with Scotland. The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose. Unlike his predecessors, Henry VII came to the throne without personal experience in estate management or financial administration. Despite this, during his reign he became
5568-577: The battlefield. Richard III's death at Bosworth Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses. To secure his hold on the throne, Henry declared himself king by right of conquest retroactively from 21 August 1485, the day before Bosworth Field. Thus, anyone who had fought for Richard against him would be guilty of treason and Henry could legally confiscate the lands and property of Richard III, while restoring his own. Henry spared Richard's nephew and designated heir, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln , and made
5684-516: The border by her father: he would never see her again. Margaret Tudor wrote letters to her father declaring her homesickness, but Henry could do nothing but mourn the loss of his family and honour the terms of the peace treaty he had agreed to with the King of Scotland. Henry VII died of tuberculosis at Richmond Palace on 21 April 1509 and was buried in the chapel he commissioned in Westminster Abbey next to his wife, Elizabeth. He
5800-476: The construction of King's College Chapel, Cambridge , started under Henry VI, guaranteeing finances which would continue even after his death. Henry VII's policy was to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. Up to a point, he succeeded. The Treaty of Redon was signed in February 1489 between Henry and representatives of Brittany. Based on the terms of the accord, Henry sent 6,000 troops to fight (at
5916-606: The daughter and heiress of Sir William Esturmy (died 1427), of Wulfhall. They were also hereditary Wardens of the royal forest of Savernake . The house was still known as the Lodge in 1623, in which year the parish register of Great Bedwyn records the baptism of the 1st Earl's great-granddaughter Frances Seymour, which was performed "at the Lodge in the Great Parke by Henrie Taylor, Vicar of Great Bedwin". William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset (1587–1660), grandson, inherited
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#17328018732056032-450: The daughters and eventual co-heiresses of John III de Beauchamp, 2nd Baron Beauchamp (1306-1343), feudal baron of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset, who brought to her husband the greater part of her father's extensive estates in Somerset , Devon , Buckinghamshire , and Suffolk . The eldest son of this marriage was Sir William St. Maur (d. 1390), or Seymour (the modernised form of the name appears to have come into use about this date), who
6148-411: The death of Henry's granddaughter Elizabeth I . Henry also formed an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1493–1519) and persuaded Pope Innocent VIII to issue a papal bull of excommunication against all pretenders to Henry's throne. In 1506, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller Emery d'Amboise asked Henry VII to become the protector and patron of the Order, as he had an interest in
6264-636: The design of Burlington (demolished in 1824). In 1746, one year before the death of the 3rd Earl, who had no son, it was apparent that on his death the Earldom of Ailesbury would become extinct and his other Earldom of Elgin would pass to a distant cousin and heir male . The former Seymour estates however he was free to dispose of as he pleased. He persuaded the king to create him Baron Bruce of Tottenham , with special remainder to his younger nephew Hon. Thomas Brudenell (1739–1814), 4th son of George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan (1685–1732) by his wife Elizabeth Bruce, to whom he also bequeathed his estates with
6380-601: The envoys were forced to depart. By 1483, Henry's mother was actively promoting him as an alternative to Richard III , despite her being married to Lord Stanley , a Yorkist. At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry pledged to marry Elizabeth of York , the eldest daughter of Edward IV. She was Edward's heir since the presumed death of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower , King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York . With money and supplies borrowed from his host, Francis II of Brittany, Henry tried to land in England, but his conspiracy unravelled resulting in
6496-403: The estate of Langley in Buckinghamshire, where he lived till his death in 1686. In 1681, his son Henry, at the age of seven years, was created a baronet. Sir Edward Seymour, 4th Baronet (1633–1708), speaker of the House of Commons , was elected member of parliament for Gloucester in 1661, and his influence at Court together with his natural abilities procured for him a position of weight in
6612-532: The estate, St Katherine's, was built 0.6 miles (1 km) north of the house in 1861 by T.H. Wyatt for the marchioness, Mary Caroline (née Herbert). Seymour, William. 1972. Ordeal by Ambition: An English Family in the Shadow of the Tudors . New York: St. Martin's. Strickland, Agnes, and Antonia Fraser. 2011. Agnes Strickland's Lives of the Queens of England . New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509), also known as Henry Tudor ,
6728-400: The estates on the death of his grandfather the 1st Earl, his father having predeceased the latter. His grandson, William Seymour, 3rd Duke of Somerset (1652–1671) inherited at the age of 8 and died aged 19 when his heir became his uncle John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset (1629–1675). However, the heir to his estates in Hampshire, namely Netley Abbey (where the 1st Earl had died) and Hound ,
6844-400: The event exists. Henry's paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor , originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd , Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of King Henry V . He rose to become one of the "Squires to the Body to the King" after military service at the Battle of Agincourt . Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V, Catherine of Valois . One of their sons
6960-434: The execution of his primary co-conspirator, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham . Now supported by Francis II's prime minister, Pierre Landais , Richard III attempted to extradite Henry from Brittany, but Henry escaped to France. He was welcomed by the French, who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for a second invasion. Henry gained the support of the Woodvilles, in-laws of the late Edward IV, and sailed with
7076-438: The expense of Brittany) under the command of Lord Daubeney. The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany. According to John M. Currin, the treaty redefined Anglo-Breton relations. Henry started a new policy to recover Guyenne and other lost Plantagenet claims in France. The treaty marks a shift from neutrality over the French invasion of Brittany to active intervention against it. Henry later concluded
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#17328018732057192-576: The famous Protector in the reign of Edward VI ; his third son was Thomas Seymour , Baron Seymour of Sudeley; and his eldest daughter Jane was third wife of King Henry VIII, and mother of Edward VI. The Protector was married twice; and, probably owing to the adultery of his first wife whom he repudiated about 1535, his titles and estates were entailed first on the issue of his second marriage with Anne , daughter of Sir Edward Stanhope. The Protector's eldest surviving son by his first marriage, Sir Edward Seymour (died 1593), knight, of Berry Pomeroy, Devon ,
7308-412: The gentry and the nobles who tried to exert their elevated influence over these local officials. All Acts of Parliament were overseen by the justices of the peace. For example, they could replace suspect jurors in accordance with the 1495 act preventing the corruption of juries. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. By 1509, justices of
7424-517: The great lords' practice of having large numbers of "retainers" who wore their lord's badge or uniform and formed a potential private army. Henry began taking precautions against rebellion while still in Leicester after Bosworth Field. Edward, Earl of Warwick , the ten-year-old son of Edward IV's brother George, Duke of Clarence , was the senior surviving male of the House of York. Before departing for London, Henry sent Robert Willoughby to Sheriff Hutton in Yorkshire, to arrest Warwick and take him to
7540-418: The historically Yorkist nobility, headed by the powerful Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare , proclaimed Simnel king and provided troops for his invasion of England. The rebellion was defeated and Lincoln killed at the Battle of Stoke . Henry showed remarkable clemency to the surviving rebels: he pardoned Kildare and the other Irish nobles, and he made the boy, Simnel, a servant in the royal kitchen where he
7656-462: The increased taxes. Henry also increased wealth by acquiring land through the act of resumption of 1486 which had been delayed as he focused on defence of the Church, his person and his realm. The capriciousness and lack of due process that indebted many would tarnish his legacy and were soon ended upon Henry VII's death, after a commission revealed widespread abuses. According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil , simple "greed" underscored
7772-562: The marriage incurred the displeasure of Queen Elizabeth; they were imprisoned in the Tower of London , and the fact of their marriage, together with the legitimacy of their two sons, was denied. The eldest of these sons was Edward Seymour (1561–1612), styled Lord Beauchamp notwithstanding the question as to his legitimacy, who in 1608 obtained a patent declaring that, after his father's death he should become earl of Hertford. He, however, died before his father, leaving three sons, one of whom, William, became 2nd duke of Somerset; and another, Francis,
7888-401: The means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henry's final years. Following Henry VII's death, Henry VIII executed Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley , his two most hated tax collectors, on trumped-up charges of treason. Henry VII established the pound avoirdupois as a standard of weight; it later became part of the Imperial and customary systems of units. In 1506 he resumed
8004-415: The mother of Jane Seymour, a descent from the blood-royal of England was claimed from an intermarriage with a Wentworth and a supposed daughter of Hotspur and lady Elizabeth Mortimer, grand-daughter to Lionel duke of Clarence. Few persons dared dispute a pedigree with Henry VIII., and Cranmer granted a dispensation for nearness of kin between Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour – rather a work of supererogation, since
8120-404: The name of Conway, and having been created Baron Conway in 1703 was the father of Francis Seymour Conway (1719–1794), created Marquess of Hertford in 1793, and of field-marshal Henry Seymour Conway . The eldest son of the Protector's second marriage, Edward Seymour (1537–1621), was relieved by act of parliament in the reign of Queen Mary from the attainder passed on his father in 1551, and
8236-421: The negotiations. Henry's principal problem was to restore royal authority in a realm recovering from the Wars of the Roses. There were too many powerful noblemen and, as a consequence of the system of so-called bastard feudalism , each had what amounted to private armies of indentured retainers ( mercenaries masquerading as servants). Following the example of Edward IV, Henry VII created a Council of Wales and
8352-488: The nobility of the Middle Ages . In 1502, Henry VII's life took a difficult and personal turn in which many people he was close to died in quick succession. His first son and heir apparent, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died suddenly at Ludlow Castle , very likely from a viral respiratory illness known at the time as the " English sweating sickness ". This made Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York , heir apparent to
8468-508: The other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret's uncle, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset . Henry also made some political capital out of his Welsh ancestry in attracting military support and safeguarding his army's passage through Wales on its way to the Battle of Bosworth. He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr , in legend, the last ancient British king. On occasion Henry displayed
8584-481: The parties could not be related within the forbidden degree. Although the royal kindred appears somewhat doubtful, yet it is undeniable that the sovereign of England gained by this alliance one brother in-law who bore the name of Smith, and another whose grandfather was a blacksmith at Putney. During the next three or four generations the wealth and importance of the Seymours in the western counties increased, until in
8700-415: The peace were key enforcers of law and order for Henry VII. They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a smaller tax bill for law enforcement. Local gentry saw the office as one of local influence and prestige and were therefore willing to serve. Overall, this was a successful area of policy for Henry, both in terms of efficiency and as a method of reducing the corruption endemic within
8816-409: The physical description Henry sent with his ambassadors of what he desired in a new wife matched the description of his wife Elizabeth. After 1503, records show that Henry VII never again used the Tower of London as a royal residence; all royal births under Henry VIII took place in palaces. Henry VII falls among the minority of British monarchs that never had any known mistresses and, for the times, it
8932-436: The possibilities for such family indulgences greatly diminished. Henry became very sick and nearly died, allowing only his mother Margaret Beaufort near him: "privily departed to a solitary place, and would that no man should resort unto him." Further compounding Henry's distress, within months of her mother's death, his older daughter Margaret, who had previously been betrothed to King James IV of Scotland, had to be escorted to
9048-588: The proviso that he should adopt the additional surname of Bruce, thus having created a new noble family bearing doubly the Bruce name, to continue the custodianship of the Seymour lands. On the 3rd Earl's death in 1747 his 8 year old nephew Thomas Brudenell duly became Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Baron Bruce of Tottenham , having inherited the barony, the estates and the Wardenship of Savernake Forest. In 1776 King George III created him Earl of Ailesbury . In 1814 he
9164-407: The realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. He was supported in this effort by his chancellor, Archbishop John Morton , whose " Morton's Fork " was a catch-22 method of ensuring that nobles paid increased taxes: those nobles who spent little must have saved much, and thus could afford the increased taxes; in contrast, those nobles who spent much obviously had the means to pay
9280-424: The rebuilding. Being childless and faced with the dukedom passing by law to his first cousin once removed and heir male the 5th Duke, who was seated at Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire, he bequeathed the unentailed Seymour estates to his niece Elizabeth Seymour, the wife of Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury (1656–1741), and thus the Seymour estates passed to the Bruce family. Elizabeth Seymour's son and heir
9396-628: The red dragon. He took it, as well as the standard of St. George , on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. A contemporary writer and Henry's biographer, Bernard André , also made much of Henry's Welsh descent. In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists . He died shortly afterwards in Carmarthen Castle . His younger brother, Jasper Tudor ,
9512-578: The reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII Sir John Seymour of Wolf Hall became a personage of note in public affairs. He took an active part in suppressing the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 ; and afterwards attended Henry at the Field of the Cloth of Gold , and on the occasion of the emperor Charles V's visit to England in 1522. The eldest of his ten children was Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset ,
9628-748: The shire for Hampshire in 1384 and again in 1390, and also eight times for Wiltshire and twice for Devon between then and 1422. He was elected Speaker of the House of Commons in 1404. He was appointed High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1418. He held a number of public posts and served several times as an ambassador abroad. He married Joan Crawthorne, the widow of Sir John Beaumont of Shirwell and Saunton in North Devon, by whom he had no male progeny, only two daughters and co-heiresses including Maud Esturmy, wife of Roger II Seymour (c.1367/70-1420), feudal barony of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset, by whom she had
9744-478: The throne. Henry IV's action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an act of Parliament , but it weakened Henry's claim. Nonetheless, by 1483 Henry was the senior male claimant heir to the House of Lancaster remaining after the deaths in battle, by murder or execution of Henry VI (son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois), his son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales , and
9860-454: The throne. The King, normally a reserved man who rarely showed much emotion in public unless angry, surprised his courtiers with his intense grief and sobbing at his son's death. His concern for the Queen is evidence that the marriage was a happy one, as is his reaction to Queen Elizabeth's death the following year, when he shut himself away for several days, refusing to speak to anyone. Henry VII
9976-517: The wedding took place in 1486 at Westminster Abbey. He was 29 years old, she was 20. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt . Henry married Elizabeth of York with the hope of uniting the Yorkist and Lancastrian sides of the Plantagenet dynastic disputes, and he was largely successful. However, such a level of paranoia persisted that anyone (John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, for example) with blood ties to
10092-470: Was Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury (died 1747), of Houghton House in the parish of Maulden , in Bedfordshire, who in 1721 rebuilt Totnam Lodge to the design of his brother-in-law the pioneering Palladian architect Lord Burlington . Henry Flitcroft was the executant architect. The 3rd Earl added wings to Burlington's block in the 1730s, and also built in 1743 a Banqueting House in the park to
10208-410: Was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor . Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort , was a descendant of John of Gaunt , son of King Edward III , and founder of the House of Lancaster , a cadet branch of the House of Plantagenet . Henry's father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond ,
10324-411: Was Edmund, Henry's father. Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and "formally declared legitimate by Parliament". The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. She was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (fourth son of Edward III ), and his third wife Katherine Swynford . Swynford
10440-413: Was Gaunt's mistress for about 25 years. When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort . Gaunt's nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunt's children by Swynford by letters patent in 1397. In 1407, Henry IV , Gaunt's son by his first wife, issued new letters patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings but also declaring them ineligible for
10556-430: Was a Speaker of the House of Commons , a Knight of the Shire and an hereditary Warden of the royal forest of Savernake Forest . He was the son of Geoffrey Sturmy (died 1381) and nephew and heir of Sir Henry Sturmy of Wolfhall . He inherited in 1381 and was knighted by October 1388. He held the post of hereditary warden of Savernake Forest from 1381 to 1417 and from 1420 until his death in 1427. He served as knight of
10672-537: Was a half-brother of King Henry VI of England (also a Lancastrian) and a member of the Welsh Tudors of Penmynydd . Edmund died three months before his son was born. Henry was then raised by his uncle Jasper Tudor , a Lancastrian, and William Herbert , a supporter of the Yorkist branch of the House of Plantagenet. During Henry's early years, his uncles and the Lancastrians fought a series of civil wars against
10788-459: Was a scarce commodity and therefore especially valuable to its landholder, the Pope. With the English economy heavily invested in wool production, Henry VII became involved in the alum trade in 1486. With the assistance of the Italian merchant banker Lodovico della Fava and the Italian banker Girolamo Frescobaldi , Henry VII became deeply involved in the trade by licensing ships, obtaining alum from
10904-446: Was also High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1431–1432. He was succeeded by John Seymour (died 1491), his grandson and heir; and then Sir John Seymour (1474–1536), the eldest son, knighted in 1497 after the Battle of Deptford Bridge , the father of Queen Jane Seymour (1508–1537). John's eldest son and heir was Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset , (c. 1500 – 1552), uncle of King Edward VI and Lord Protector of England. In 1536 he
11020-585: Was an attendant on the Black Prince , and who died in his mother's lifetime, leaving a son Roger St Maur (c. 1366-1420), who inherited his grandmother's estates and added to them by his marriage with Maud Esturmy, daughter of Sir William Esturmy (died 1427) of Wolf Hall, Wiltshire . According to Agnes Strickland : Sir John Seymour, of Wolf-hall, Wiltshire, and Margaret Wentworth, daughter of Sir John Wentworth, of Nettlestead, in Suffolk. The Seymours were
11136-468: Was born on 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle , in the English-speaking portion of Pembrokeshire known as Little England beyond Wales . He was the only child of Lady Margaret Beaufort , who was 13 years old at the time, and Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond who, at 26, died three months before his birth. He was probably baptised at St Mary's Church, Pembroke , though no documentation of
11252-443: Was created Viscount Beauchamp of Hache and in 1537 was created Earl of Hertford . In 1531 he had served as Sheriff of Somerset and during this time he probably resided at Hache Court. Thomas Gerard in his "Description of Somerset" (1633) wrote as follows: The Duke was executed in 1552 for felony on the order of his nephew King Edward VI, and was attainted by Parliament shortly thereafter when all his titles were forfeited. It
11368-403: Was created Baron Beauchamp and earl of Hertford in 1559. In 1560 he secretly married Lady Catherine Grey , second daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk , and sister of Lady Jane Grey , claimant of the crown as great-granddaughter of Henry VII, on whose death Catherine stood next in succession to the throne after Queen Elizabeth under the will of Henry VIII . On this account both parties to
11484-573: Was created Baron Seymour of Trowbridge in 1641. The latter had at first taken an active part in the opposition in the House of Commons to the government of Charles I, having been elected member for Wiltshire in 1620. He represented the same constituency in both the Short and the Long Parliaments ; and he refused to pay ship money in 1639. When, however, the popular party proceeded to more extreme measures, Francis Seymour refused his support, and
11600-418: Was father of Sir Edward Seymour (died 1613) who was created a baronet in 1611; and the baronetcy then descended for six generations from father to son, all of whom were named Edward, until, in 1750, on the failure of heirs of the Protector by his second marriage, Sir Edward Seymour, 6th baronet of Berry Pomeroy, succeeded to the dukedom of Somerset. The 3rd baronet, in whose time the family seat at Berry Pomeroy
11716-513: Was his sister Elizabeth Seymour, wife of Thomas Bruce, 2nd earl of Ailesbury, which were soon sold in 1676 to the Marquess of Worcester. John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset (1629–1675), uncle, inherited the estate in 1671 on the death of the 3rd Duke, and in 1672 he rebuilt Totnam Lodge and redesigned the deer park, which at that date included long tree-lined walks and a deer "chase". He died in 1675, aged 46, only three years after having started
11832-493: Was in charge of roasting meats on a spit. In 1490, a young Fleming , Perkin Warbeck , appeared and claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury , the younger of the "Princes in the Tower". Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy . He led attempted invasions of Ireland in 1491 and England in 1495, and persuaded James IV of Scotland to invade England in 1496. In 1497 Warbeck landed in Cornwall with
11948-421: Was not less arrogant than his relative the proud Duke of Somerset; but he was described by Burnet as the ablest man of his party, the first speaker of the House of Commons that was not bred to the law; a graceful man, bold and quick, and of high birth. Sir Edward Seymour was twice married. By his first wife he had two sons, Edward, 5th baronet, whose son Edward became the 8th duke of Somerset, and William, who became
12064-587: Was plundered and burnt by the Roundheads , had a younger brother Henry (1612–1686), who was a close personal attendant of Prince Charles during the Civil War, and bore the prince's last message to his father, Charles I , before the latter's execution. Henry Seymour continued his service to Charles II in exile, and at the Restoration he received several valuable offices from the king. In 1669 he bought
12180-410: Was presented to Thomas Lord Bruce. It is owned by the British Museum . The silver gilt mounts each contain sixteen compartments, one for each carved facet on the horn. The internal rim of the upper band depicts sixteen hawks preening themselves. The outward faces of both bands show engravings of animals of the chase, including the mythical unicorn and a lion. In the centre of the upper band is depicted
12296-406: Was probably Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (1539–1621), son and heir of the 1st Duke, of nearby Wulfhall , who in about 1575 built the first Tottenham House , then known as Totnam Lodge, and enclosed its surrounding land to form a deer park . The Seymours were hereditary Wardens of Savernake Forest, which office together with most of their Wiltshire estates had been inherited by marriage to
12412-526: Was promoted to the rank of admiral. Admiral Sir Edward Hobart Seymour was the nephew of Sir Michael Seymour (1802–1887). Wilhelmina, Duchess of Cleveland (1819–1901), in her 1889 work The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages wrote about the Esturmy family, which held the estates of Tottenham, Wulfhall and the Savernake Forest. Sir William Esturmy (c. 1356 – 1427) )
12528-465: Was rewarded by being raised to the peerage; he voted in the House of Lords against the attainder of Strafford, and in 1642 he joined Charles at York and fought on the royalist side throughout the Great Rebellion. He died in 1664. His grandson Francis, 3rd baron, succeeded to the dukedom of Somerset in 1675; and on the death of his nephew Algernon, 7th duke of Somerset, in 1750, the male line of
12644-731: Was shattered by the loss of Elizabeth, and her death affected him severely. Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. Accordingly, he arranged a papal dispensation from Pope Julius II for Prince Henry to marry his brother's widow Catherine, a relationship that would have otherwise precluded marriage in the Church. After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. Catherine's mother Isabella I of Castile had died and Catherine's sister Joanna had succeeded her; Catherine was, therefore, daughter of only one reigning monarch and so less desirable as
12760-543: Was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII (reigned 1509–47), who would initiate the Protestant Reformation in England. His mother died two months later on 29 June 1509. Amiable and high-spirited, Henry was friendly if dignified in manner, and it was clear that he was extremely intelligent. His biographer, Professor Stanley Chrimes, credits him – even before he had become king – with "a high degree of personal magnetism, ability to inspire confidence, and
12876-489: Was succeeded by his son Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury (1773–1856). Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury (1773–1856) in 1818 added stables to the design of Thomas Cundy II . In 1821 he was granted three further titles, Viscount Savernake , Earl Bruce and Marquess of Ailesbury . In 1823–26 he enlarged and re-modelled the house, again to designs of Thomas Cundy. George Brudenell-Bruce succeeded to his father's titles in 1856. A large church for
12992-569: Was the Court of Star Chamber . This revived an earlier practice of using a small (and trusted) group of the Privy Council as a personal or Prerogative Court, able to cut through the cumbersome legal system and act swiftly. Serious disputes involving the use of personal power, or threats to royal authority, were thus dealt with. Henry VII used justices of the peace on a large, nationwide scale. They were appointed for every shire and served for
13108-552: Was the father of Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour , Baron Alcester. A younger branch of the great house of Seymour is said to have settled in Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth, from which Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet (1768–1834) claimed descent. Sir Michael, like so many of his name, was an officer in the navy, in which he rendered much distinguished service in the last decade of the 18th century. He lost an arm in Howe's action on 1 June 1794; and between 1796 and 1810 as commander of
13224-457: Was thus handed over to English envoys and escorted to the Breton port of Saint-Malo . While there, he feigned stomach cramps and delayed his departure long enough to miss the tides. An ally of Henry's, Viscount Jean du Quélennec [ fr ] , soon arrived, bringing news that Francis had recovered, and in the confusion Henry was able to flee to a monastery. There he claimed sanctuary until
13340-502: Was twice married, and in addition to children by both wives he left an illegitimate daughter, Henriette Felicity , who married Sir James Doughty-Tichborne , by whom she was the mother of Roger Tichborne , impersonated in 1871 by the famous impostor Arthur Orton . Lord Hugh Seymour (1759–1801), a younger son of Francis Seymour-Conway, marquess of Hertford, was a distinguished naval officer who saw much active service especially under Lord Howe , in whose famous action on 1 June 1794 he took
13456-407: Was widely known and there is evidence that his outwardly austere personality belied a devotion to his family. Letters to relatives have an affectionate tone not captured by official state business, as evidenced by many written to his mother Margaret. Many of the entries show a man who loosened his purse strings generously for his wife and children – and not just for necessities. After Elizabeth's death,
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