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Henry VII (28 January 1457 - 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lor d o f I r e l and from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his d e at h i n 1 5 09. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.
Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, was a descendant of John of Gaunt, f o u n d e r of the House of Lancaster and son of King Edward III. Henry's fa t h e r , E dmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, a half-brother of Henry VI of E n g l a n d and a member of the Welsh Tudors of Penmynydd, died three months b e f o r e h is son Henry was born. During Henry's early years, his uncle Hen r y V I w a s f ighting against Edward IV, a member of the Yorkist branch of t h e H o u s e of Plantagenet. After Edward retook the throne in 1471, Henry T u d o r s p ent 14 years in exile in Brittany. He attained the throne when h i s f o r c es, supported by France, Scotland, and Wales, defeated Richard I I I a t t h e B attle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the R o s e s . H e was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of b a t t l e . He cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of E d w a r d I V.
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1457 - 1509 (52 years)