ABSTRACT
Henry VII gained his crown on Bosworth Field, in the battle that ended the Wars of the Roses. As the first ruler of the Tudor dynasty, he shared the problems that had faced Henry IV and Edward IV, the first Lancastrian and the first Yorkist. He needed to unify a realm that had been split by past quarrels, convince his subjects that he was entitled to the throne, and reestablish sound central government, which had inevitably suffered during the dynastic conflicts of the last quarter century.
