Tudor London

Tudor London

Henry Tudor, who seized the English throne as Henry VII in 1485, and married Elizabeth of York, put an end to the Wars of the Roses. Henry VII was a resolute and efficient monarch who centralised political power in the crown. He commissioned the celebrated "Henry VII Chapel" at Westminster Abbey, and continued the royal practice of borrowing funds from the City of London for his wars against the French. He repaid loans on their due dates, which was something of an innovation. Generally however, he took little interest in enhancing London. Nonetheless, the comparative stability of the Tudor kingdom had long-term effects on the city, which grew rapidly during the 16th century. The nobility found that power and wealth were now best won by competing for favour at court, rather than by warring amongst themselves in the provinces as they had so often done in the past.

Nonetheless Tudor London was often tumultuous by modern standards. In 1497 the pretender Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, the younger brother of the boy monarch Edward V, encamped on Blackheath with his followers. At first there was panic among the citizens, but the king organised the defence of the city, the rebels dispersed, and Warbeck was soon captured and hanged at Tyburn.