Jemahl Evans

#WarsoftheRoses OTD in 1485 - #HenryVII was crowned King of England, following his victory over #RichardIII at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August. One of the most detailed chronicle accounts we have of the coronation comes from Raphael Holinshed whose Chronicles were first published in 1577 & revised in 1587. Holinshed is most famous today as the main source Shakespeare used for his history plays, including Richard III, & which Marlowe used for his play Edward II. Holinshed in turn had drawn on the ‘Little Device for the Coronation of Henry VII’ an official order of ceremonies from 1485 which replicated an identical document produced for Richard III’s coronation in 1483, & which even featured Richard’s name scratched out & replaced with Henry’s. According to Holinshed: Henry ‘with great pomp… rowed unto Westminster, & there the thirtith day of October he was with all ceremonies accustomed, anointed & crowned King, by the whole assent as well of the commons as of the nobility , & called Henry the seventh of that name...’ It is interesting that Holinshed highlights Henry’s coronation was with the assent of the Commons. This is misleading. The ceremony had been deliberately scheduled in advance of Henry’s first Parliament on 7 November to ensure the Commons could be presented with a fait accompli & never asked for their agreement. This contrasts with the alternative model from 1399 when the first Lancastrian King #HenryIV insisted that his predecessor #RichardII was deposed by Parliament & he himself was endorsed as King & crowned while Parliament was in session.