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Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome welcome to Not Just the Tudors from History Hit,

the podcasts in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs,

from Holbein to the Huguenots, from Shakespeare to Samarise,

relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft.

Not in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors.

When Richard the Third of England was hacked down in the mud at the Battle of Bosworth Field on the 22nd of August 1485,

into the chaos strode Henry Tudor, claiming the crown by right of conquest.

But let's be clear, by blood, his claim was wafer thin.

He was descended from the Beaufort line,

which was illegitimate and formerly barred from succession.

His title rested less on ancient inheritance than on the sharp edge of a sword,

and the loyalty of men who had gambled everything on his victory.

But Henry was not the only man or boy or frankly person who might have worn the crown.

At the time Henry the 7th seized power, there were 18 Plantagenet descendants with stronger hereditary

claims. His reign was consequently defined by the systematic elimination of rivals.

What became of Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, the last undisputed, legitimate

...