Tudor fact of the day: 506 years ago today, in 1509, Henry VII died. He was Dad of HenryVIII and first of the Tudor Dynasty. Henry was born into a posh Welsh family with distant ancestory to the royals (though through a royal mistress which only seems to count if you’re the king).

Having spent much of his life beefing with the Yorkists, he spent ages in exile in France (probably shitting his pants because he was basically a walking dead man walking). His mum however campaigned to put him on the throne as an alternative to Richard III. She must have had balls of steel because she was married to a member of the House of York and was basically treasoning it right up. Richard III had been ‘minding’ the throne as ‘Protector of the Realm’ until his nephew came of age ( one of the princes ion the tower, remember them?! they were put there as it was a palace at the time and they were to be kept safe until the eldest could take the throne but that went tits up).

Anyway, back to Henry. He basically rallied troops and came home to beat the living shit out of Richard at the battle of Bosworth, (who by this time was actual King as his nephews had been murdered in dodgy circumstances) . He then ‘won the throne by battle’, the first British monarch to do so. Because the Yorkists were utterly pissed off by all of this AND still had claim to the throne, he played a blinder and married Elizabeth of york, who had a massive claim to the throne, therefore cementing his claim.

Though you would think this would be the most unhappy household ever, the two became great lovers. They were both smoking hot (by Tudor standards), happy and successful. Their marriage was the birth of the Tudor Rose, shoving the red rose of House Lancaster onto the white rose of House York.

He died leaving the throne to his second son Henry VIII and was buried with his wife in Westminster Abbey.