![Henry VII - Winter King and the first Tudor ( as seen on BBC ) Presented by author Thomas Penn. [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71GTrnsq-+L.jpg)
Author Thomas Penn explores one of England's most fascinating monarchs a man who went from upstart usurper to renaissance monarch and finally to Machiavellian schemer. This is the story of Henry VII and the birth of Tudor England. Henry VII was the founder of one of England's greatest royal dynasties,the Tudors. But he also violently stole a throne to which he barely held a claim. Thomas Penn's journey begins in Wales. In August 1485 Henry of Richmond landed here with a small group of fellow travellers and mercenaries. Just two weeks later, he achieved a miracle; a devastating victory against Richard III at the battle of Bosworth. At a stroke, Henry killed his enemy and became Henry Tudor, King Henry VII, a king out of nothing. Despite Henry's obscure origins, Thomas Penn will explore how he seemed born to rule in this murky and violent age - a master of realpolitik who was charming on the outside but savage underneath. His unexpected and unsettling reign, a quarter-century long, spanned a time in which the violent feuds of the Wars of the Roses give way to a glorious age of Renaissance. Henry trusted no one and relied on spies, subterfuge and the manipulation of hard cash to control his lands and secure the succession and the triumph of the Tudors. Thomas Penn will trace Henry's story through the places, documents and objects associated with him: Bosworth Field where a twist of fate ensured the death of Richard III rather than Henry; Westminster Abbey with its magnificent mausoleum to Henry and his beloved wife Elizabeth of York. By 1501 Henry might have believed he had laid the ghosts of civil war to rest. But the death of his first born son Arthur, and soon after that his wife, left him vulnerable, wrenching the dynasty off course. Now, his hopes would rest entirely on his second son, Prince Henry, the young boy who would become Henry VIII. This is the remarkable and revealing story of a dynasty's birth, of the founder of a family that would dominate and transform England. It goes right to the heart of what it was to be a Tudor.
M**M
History Rehashed
Having enjoyed Winter King, the 450 page book by Dr Thomas Penn, I found this video documentaryaccount of the life of Henry VII to be little more than a potted and brief rehash of some of the pointsmade in the book and already well known to students of the Tudor era.Henry VII, paranoid, avaricious and suspicious of everyone with whom he came into contact, createdan England where both commoner and nobility lived in fear, that comes over very well in this DVD,but we learned nothing new.I was also disappointed to find that this DVD is not subtitled and that would have helped as Dr Pennis such a soft spoken narrator.Released May 2018Approx 60 minutes viewingSadly No Subtitles
J**S
Missing details
Not an overly informative DVD. What happened at Bosworth is still debated but when Lord Stanley arrived at Bosworth he must have wondered whether to support his anointed king, Richard III or his stepson Henry Tudor. It seems more likely that on arrival Stanley either heard or saw that Richard had been killed and the decision had clearly been made for him.There is very little about how Henry settled onto the throne and very little mention of the pretenders that Henry had to deal with.Overall this DVD adds very little to other works on Henry VII
A**R
Interesting story
An interesting story, glad I viewed this
T**E
Not as good as I thought.
To be honest I was expecting it to be better. I found documentaries like Going Medieval, Medieval Battle 3D, Secrets of The Medieval Castle, England's Bloodiest Dynasty & Britain's Bloody Crown much more entertaining. They do actual demonstrations of how medieval people would have lived. With a documentary like this it would be better to just read a book!
J**D
... so often written about and dramatised that It was good to learn more about its prelude in the reign ...
The reign of Henry VIII is so often written about and dramatised that It was good to learn more about its prelude in the reign of Henry VII.
K**N
Good value
So good watched it 3 times
G**R
Ricardian rubbish
It’s Ricardian rubbish. The history is well known. Henry 7th whatever the motivations created a stable kingdom that enabled the country to move on dramatically in the ages that followed. What does anyone think that absolutist monarchs did.
L**A
A Stolen Crown
It could be well argued that the true Crown of England stopped with the Plantagenet Kings. Richard 111 that is in 1485. And it could be argued that Richard was right to seize the Crown from his perhaps illegitimate Nephews Edward and the younger Richard. The sons of Elizabeth Neville a true commoner.
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