What problems did Henry face during his rule?.
Henry the seventh faced many problems during his rule; he was surrounded by enemies, troublemakers and rivals. The main problem was that many people were attempting to commit treason and replace the monarch. A few of these people were the "pretenders" to the throne. These were people who would say that they were one of the Princes in the tower and claim to be the rightful owner of the throne. These people were usually Yorkist supporters and they would gather many more supporters and rise up against the King. Being a Lancastrian, he was hated by half of his population. There were two main "pretenders", Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. Both of them brought huge risings and troubled the King. Lambert Simnel was the first to rebel and did not have a very effective campaign but he was still punished. He was ordered to work in the royal kitchens to turn meat above the fire; this was a very embarrassing job. The second rebel, Warbeck caused huge problems and was executed in 1499 and used as a detour to other troublemakers. Henry also taxed nobles and had many other efficient ways in ruling which were not appreciated by many people. This extended his list of enemies of nobles and foreign monarchs.
Henry also faced enormous financial problems. A lot of money was wasted during the large civil war; The Wars of the Roses. As well as the civil war, England was involved in many foreign campaigns which were very costly. He managed to stop all of these wars by forbidding private armies and also taxed nobles for breaking rules. He realised that a richer King was a more powerful King.
Despite all these problems, he managed to have a son to be his heir and he managed to stay alive until his children had grown up.
2. Do you think that source B (page 20) is a reliable source?.
I do not believe that Source B is a reliable source because it was painted after his wife had died and he was probably desperate for another wife.
