Henry Tudor was born at Pembroke Castle in January 1457. He was the son of Edmund Tudor the Earl of Richmond and Margaret Beaufort. Edmund Tudor was the son of Catherine of France who had been married to Henry V, King of England. Edmund Tudor's father was not Henry V, but Owen Tudor who Catherine married after Henry V's death. Henry Tudor's real claim to the throne was on his mother's side, Margaret of Beaufort, who was directly descended from Edward III's son John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster through his marriage to Catherine Swynford. Henry's early years were spent with his uncle Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke. After the Lancastrians were defeated in 1471 when Henry VI and the Prince of Wales were killed, Henry found himself head of the Lancastrian family. As it was unsafe for him to remain in England, Henry and Jasper Tudor fled to Brittany to wait for a chance to claiming the English throne.

Previous monarch: Richard III

Next monarch: Henry VIII

• J R Lander,The War of the Roses,
• Byran Bevan,Henry VII: The First Tudor King,
• Neville Williams,Henry VII,
• Peter Potter,Data Donation,
• Jasper Ridley,The History of England,1981
• Alison Plowden,The House of Tudor,1976
• Neville Williams,The life and time of Henry VII,
• Derek Wilson,The Tower (1078 - 1978),
• S.B.Chrimes,Henry VII,1972