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Descendants of Henry VII of England

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The Descendants of Henry VII of England, founder and first monarch of the House of Tudor, have undoubtedly left the most level of notoriety than any other ruling house in English and British history, and greatly influenced European history as a whole. Henry married three times, having issue by all three spouses. His first wife was Elizabeth of York, Princess of England, eldest daughter of the Yorkist Edward IV of England and his wife Elizabeth Woodville. She was followed by her younger sister, Cecily of York, Princess of England, and finally his third and final spouse was Ferdinand of Aragon, Infante of Granada, illegitimate son of Ferdinand II of Aragon.

This article will deal with the issue of Henry VII and in turn their senior heirs.

Background of Henry VII

He was born Henry Tudor on the 28 January 1457 in Pembroke Castle, the first and only child born posthumously to Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond and his 13-year-old widow Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Claim to the English throne

Henry's claim to the throne of England came from his mother, who was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (fourth son of Edward III of England) and his third wife Katherine Swynford. Katherine had been John's mistress for around 25 years, and by the time they had married in 1396, they already had 4 children together, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset which not only made Henry's claim delicate as it came via a woman, but also because it was of illegitimate descent. In theory, the Portuguese and Castilian royal families had a better claim as descendants of Catherine of Lancaster, the daughter of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile. Henry's rise to the throne derived from the unpopularity of Richard III, then King of England and the promise he made to marry the eldest daughter of Edward IV - Richard III's niece - and put a stop to what would come to be known as the Wars of the Roses by uniting the claims of York and Lancaster.

Descendants by Elizabeth of York, Princess of England

Henry married firstly to Elizabeth Plantagenet of York, Princess of England on 18 January 1486. The couple had 1 child:

Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales

Descendant	Image	Birth	Marriages	Death
Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales 1486–1502		20 September 1486 Winchester Cathedral Priory son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York	Catherine of Aragon14 November 1501 no children	2 April 1502 Ludlow Castle aged 15