Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, was born in 1457, the son of Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort. His father having died nearly three months before he was born, and his mother being only 14 years old, Henry was brought up by his uncle Jasper Tudor, the earl of Pembroke.

With the Lacastrians badly defeated at the battle of Tewkesbury in May 1471, Jasper Tudor and the young Henry Tudor sought refuge in the duchy of Brittany. The House of York seemed to have become so firmly established that it seemed that Henry Tudor would remain in exile until his death.

Richard III's usurpation of the throne provided Henry Tudor's chance by dividing the House of York. Henry, duke of Buckingham, rebelled in 1483 and Henry was invited to rally Lancastrian support for Buckingham's rebellion. Before Henry could land in England, Buckingham's rebellion had failed.

Richard III had declared his intention to invade France. When Henry Tudor promised to marry Elizabeth of York, uniting the Houses of Lancaster and the Yorkist opposition to Richard III, his cause was supported by France.

In 1485, Henry landed at Mill Bay in Milford Haven, Wales, and started his advance eastwards to London. Thanks to the desertion of Richard III by Henry's stepfather Thomas, Lord Stanley (afterward created the 1st earl of Derby), in favour of Henry, Richard III's initially superior forces were defeated at the battle of Bosworth on August 22nd, 1485, the last of the Plantagenet kings being killed in the battle.

Henry based his claim to the throne by inheritance, on the grounds that he was a descendant of John of Gaunt (1340-1399) through his mother, Margaret, the Countess of Richmond, and by the judgment of God given in battle (conquest).

Henry VII was crowned on October 30th, 1485, with parliament recognising his title in early November. He married Elizabeth of York on January 18th, 1486.

Descended from the Beauforts, (illigitimate descendants of John of Gaunt, the ancestor of the House of Lancaster, Henry claimed to be the Lancastrian heir.

Henry usurped the throne after defeating Richard III, last of the Plantagenet kings, at the battle of Bosworth.

Henry had no right to the throne by birth, but claimed it by right of conquest and descent from the early British kings. The were at least six male members of the House of Plantagenet still living with a stronger hereditary claim to the throne than Henry VII. With such tentative claims to the throne, Henry VII sought an alliance by the marriage of his son, Arthur, with one of the two major European powers, France or the newly emerged Spain. Henry would not trust France with which England had been at war for almost 200 years so he negotiated with Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.