The History of King Henry the Seventh

Once the crown was placed on his head, it also instilled fears in his mind. For greater security, he instituted a guard of fifty archers under the command of a Captain, to surround his body, under the name of the Yeomen of the Guard Original: Satellitii Inferioris. This refers to the establishment of the Yeomen of the Guard, a permanent royal bodyguard that remains the oldest British military corps in existence.. However, so that he might be thought to have done this more for the sake of increasing his majesty and in imitation of the custom he had observed in parts across the sea Specifically the French court, where such guards were common., rather than out of fear—as if he distrusted his own affairs—he ordained this as a permanent institution, to be retained even by his successors.

On the seventh of November, the King began the Parliament Original: Comitia Regni, literally the "Assembly of the Kingdom." of his realm, which he had summoned immediately after his arrival in London. His counsels and aims in calling the Parliament so hastily were chiefly three. First, that the Kingdom might be confirmed in his person by the votes of the Estates. Second, that the condemnations and proscriptions The "Acts of Attainder" which stripped individuals of their titles and property for treason. of those who had stood on his side (which were many) might be rescinded, and whatever hostile acts they had committed in his cause might be exempted from punishment and full pardon granted to them. On the other side, he intended that the chief and most powerful of his enemies should be condemned by the judgment of the Estates. Third, that men of lower condition who had adhered to Richard Richard III, whom Henry defeated at Bosworth. (lest perhaps they should provide material for new unrest) might receive a general pardon, such as usually issues from the King at the end of a Parliament. He was not unmindful of how much danger threatens a King from his subjects when the greater part of them are conscious that danger threatens them from the King.

There was also another not insignificant cause for the Parliament: namely, that he himself, as a prudent and moderate Prince, considered it suitable to his affairs that, without delay, it should be made manifest to his people that he intended to reign by the rule of his laws, though he had entered "by the edge of the sword" By right of conquest in battle.. Furthermore, he wished to accustom his subjects to revere and recognize him as King, whom they recently regarded as an enemy and exile. Regarding the settlement of the Crown—besides the fact that he held fast to the point that no mention at all should be made of his bride (indeed, not permitting even the smallest thing, that the children born of her should succeed first before all others)—he otherwise managed the matter with great wisdom and moderation. For he did not urge that a statute be written by way of declaration or recognition of his right; just as, on the other hand, he did not wish it to be enacted as a new law. Rather, he insisted on a middle path: a simple settlement, and that in covered and ambiguous words: namely, that the inheritance of the Crown should rest, remain, and abide in the King, etc. that the inheritance of the Crown should rest, remain, and abide in the King, etc. Original: ut Hereditas Coronae resideret, remaneret, & continuaretur in Rege, &c. These words could be pulled in either direction. They have this in common: that the Crown should be established in him. But whether this was by a pre-existing right (which was called into question) or because he was, in fact, in possession of the Crown (which no one denied), was left undecided, so that it might receive either interpretation.

Moreover, in the limitation of the lineage admitted to the succession, he did not wish it to extend beyond his own person and the heirs of his body, omitting mention of heirs general Heirs general would include distant relatives or those through other lines; by specifying "heirs of his body," he kept the succession strictly to his own direct descendants., but he subjected that to the decision of the law, such as could be drawn from the aforementioned words. So it was that this settlement savored more of a personal favor granted to him and his children than a total disinheriting of the House of York The rival royal house of his wife, Elizabeth of York.. And by such tempering...