How France Created the Tudor Dynasty

Wedding of King Charles VIII and Duchess Anne of Brittany

But for Anne of France, daughter of the Valois king Louis XI, the infamous Tudor dynasty in England would never have seen the light of day. Henry Tudor owed his throne to her. A fact he never denied. Without Anne, there would have been no Henry VIII, his six ill-fated wives, Anne Boleyn or her daughter Elizabeth I.

To understand how this truly astonishing event came about, rewind to Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI. She was married off to the tyrant Henry V who died shortly after she gave birth to Henry VI.

She chose as her second husband, a Welshman, Owen Tudor. They had two sons, Edmund born in 1430 and Jasper born 1431. The brothers were born in Hertfordshire England.

In 1484 Edmund’s son, Catherine’s grandson, Henry Tudor, turned up at the French Court. He was twenty-seven. He was there to ask Anne, as Regent of France, to help him take the English throne from Richard III.

His timing was perfect. Richard III was persona non grata in France.

In January 1484, the Estates General convened in Tours to decide who should act as Regent of France until Charles VIII came of age. Anne of France aka Anne of Beaujeu aka La Grande Dame, was chosen.

William of Rochefort, Chancellor of France, President of the of the Meeting, opened the debate by praising his fellow countrymen for their devotion to their rulers.

...to give evidence to the English. Look, I pray you, at the events which, after the death of King Edward, happened in this country...his children...murdered with impunity and the crown transported to the assassin...our prince, not yet an adult, who, with the unanimous applause of his subjects, obtained the crown.

Rochefort was a highly respected lawyer who had confidence in his source. It was thought to be Lord of La Roche, Philip Pot who made diplomatic missions to England. It wasn’t. Rochefort heard it first-hand from Dominic Mancini*, a monk.

Henry had other positives going for him apart from not being Richard III.

Richard III was a Yorkist. Henry was a Lancastrian who fought for his half-brother, Henry VI and his queen, Margaret of Anjou, a first cousin of Anne's father Louis XI. Henry’s grandfather, Owen Tudor and his father, Edmund, died fighting for Margaret.

More importantly, Brittany, which in 1484 was an enemy of France, was seeking to ally itself with Richard III who declared he would never give up English territories in France. Henry Tudor said if he were king, he would return them.

Needing England on her side, Anne helped Henry who did after all have Valois blood in his veins. He was family.

She supplied him with ships, French troops and money to pay mercenaries for his invasion of England. When he defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, Henry took the throne as Henry VII.

Anne of France and her husband, Château de Langeais

Anne of France was a shrewd statesman. A very early Miss Jean Brodie, she too educated la crème de la crème. She steered daughters from the aristocracy into marriages with rich, powerful, influential men useful to France. Among Anne’s pupils, Diane de Poitiers was the power behind the throne of Henry II, Anne’s niece Louise of Savoy was the power behind the throne of François I and Margaret of Austria ruled the Netherlands.

Anne could be ruthless on behalf of France. She removed her young brother Charles VIII from their mother Charlotte and from Château Amboise his childhood home where he was born and brought up. She considered her mother too ineffective to rear a king. Mother and son never saw each other again. Nor did mother and daughter.

To annexe Brittany to France, Anne broke off Charles engagement to Margaret of Austria and forced him to marry Duchess Anne of Brittany. She also broke off Anne’s engagement to Margaret’s father Maximilian. The wedding was a secret, hole in the corner affair.

* Wheels within wheels.

Rochefort met the monk Dominic Mancini days before the Meeting in Tours.

Mancini was in England before the death of Edward IV in April 1483. He witnessed the events leading up to the accession of Richard III and wrote an account of his testimony.

Mancini knew John Argentina, the doctor who treated the boy king Edward V in the summer of 1483. Argentina was one of the last people to see Edward V and his younger brother Richard alive after their incarceration in the Tower of London on the order of Richard III. He told Mancini that young Edward ‘believed that death was staring him in the face.’

Post by Pamela, photography by Mark.