CHAPTER 28
In taking the throne of England, Henry presented himself as fulfilling ancient Welsh prophecies that one day the line of Cadwallader, the last truly British King, would be restored to the throne. The traditional history of Wales and even England at that time stated clearly that, long before the Roman invasions of the island, the Cymry, led by Brutus, came from Troy. Brutus became Britain’s first King, and after his death his line carried on ruling over the entire island. Even during Roman times, the royal line of Brutus, in theory if not always in practice, still ruled over much of Britain. After the Romans left Britain for good, the old line reasserted itself, although King Arthur’s unfortunate death at the Battle of Camlan left the Britons in disarray. Disunity meant that bit by bit the Anglo-Saxons gradually took over the bulk of the island, eventually replacing the diadem of Brutus with a sovereign crown of their own.
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, Uther Pendragon, symbolically if not actually the father of King Arthur, adopted a golden Dragon as his personal emblem. If this story is true, then this ‘dragon’, which was carried into battle, was very likely a carnyx, a type of animal-headed, bronze trumpet of a kind that the pre-Roman British had used in battle. Arranged in groups, these instruments gave out a frightening roar that was intended to unsettle the enemy even before the start of any actual fighting. Aware of the potency of this dragon symbol and its connections with Merlin’s prophecies that one day the Britto-Welsh would regain the sovereignty of the island, Henry used the draig goch banner as a recruiting sergeant on his long march through Wales from Haverford West en route to London.
Henry was not the only one to fight under a symbolic banner representative of a carnyx. His opponent Richard III used the symbol of the White Boar both as a personal badge and on his banner. The reasons for his choosing a boar are obscure, and it has been suggested that a pun on the word ‘Ebor’ – short for Eboracum, the Latin name for York – was intended. There is, however, another possible explanation. We now know from the archaeological discovery of several Dark Age helmets that the boar was a prominent symbol used by the Anglo-Saxons. Not only that, but, although they could be dragon-like, the bell of a typical carnyx was more usually made to look like a boar’s head. Indeed, I have seen one such instrument on display in Edinburgh in the National Museum of Scotland. Thus, the Red Dragon banner of Henry Tudor and the White Boar banner of Richard III can be understood as both symbolizing carnices or battle-horns. As such, they are stand-ins for Geoffrey’s conflicting red (Welsh) and white (English) ‘dragons’ whose ongoing struggle was prophesied by Merlin.
There was, of course, a calculated risk in Henry’s strategy of linking his cause with the Red Dragon symbol. For although the draig goch banner was highly attractive to the Welsh, it would do nothing to draw the English to his cause, and may well have had the opposite effect. In fact, at the start of battle Henry’s army numbered only about 5,000, of which about half were Welsh, with most of the others either Scottish, French or Breton. It should, therefore, have been relatively easy for Richard, who on paper at least could command forces well in excess of these numbers and who was a far more experienced soldier to put down the Tudor rebellion. In the event, his deep unpopularity with the country at large counted against him. Of the major Lords who promised and were obliged to give support, only the Duke of Norfolk showed up in time. Meanwhile, Lord Stanley, whose intervention on Richard’s side would have decided the day in his favour, kept his men out of the fight until near the end. When he did intervene, it was to rescue Henry and ensure Richard’s defeat.
One good reason for Stanley changing sides was that he was married to Henry’s mother Margaret, but an equal one was that Richard was holding his eldest son hostage and had threatened to kill him if the father did not fight for him. Stanley’s response to being blackmailed in this way was to reply that he had other sons. Nevertheless, the threat was enough to ensure that Stanley’s men killed Richard. Stanley then took pleasure in placing Richard’s circlet – a lightweight crown – on his stepson’s head. Henry rewarded his stepfather with the title of Earl of Derby.
To cement his hold on power, Henry VII married Edward IV’s daughter Elizabeth, thereby bringing together the two rival houses of Lancaster and York. To symbolize this union, the family adopted the ‘Tudor’ rose (double blooms with five red petals on the outside and five white within) to be their badge. This, of course, was a symbolic reference to the connection between the red and white roses and the rambling briar that is the royal house of Britain. However, this was only part of the story. The accession of the Tudors was not just a change of dynasty but also of national consciousness. In his attitudes Henry was still profoundly Welsh, which is to say ancient British, and this carried over to his children and grandchildren.
One result of Henry’s victory at Bosworth was that the ancient prejudice that had disbarred the Welsh nobility from holding high office in England was reduced, if not entirely removed. He also remembered with affection how his erstwhile gaoler, Sir William Herbert, had more or less fostered him when he was a small boy. He was deeply upset that the old Earl had been beheaded by Warwick, but as the latter was dead by this time, there was no way of taking revenge. Accordingly, soon after his marriage, Henry took his new wife to Abergavenny. There, they attended Mass in St Mary’s Abbey, and he was able to pay his respects to the surviving family.
This was to be the start of a renewed relationship between the Royal family and the Herberts: one that would endure for centuries. They, of course, also had family ties with the new Queen, Elizabeth of York, for Mary Woodville, her maternal aunt, was married to Sir William Herbert’s eldest son, William the 2nd Earl of Pembroke. She died in 1481, but their daughter, Elizabeth Herbert, was a first cousin of this Queen Elizabeth. Had her father William come over to Henry’s side in 1485, he would have been well rewarded, but after Mary’s death he married his second wife, an illegitimate daughter of Richard III.
An ineffectual leader, in 1479 he was forced to give up the Earldom of Pembroke in exchange for the far less lucrative Earldom of Huntingdon. If he had been expecting Henry VII to give him back the Pembroke title, he was disappointed as this went back to the latter’s uncle Jasper. Instead, William Herbert II found himself left on the fringes of the new court and still relatively poor.
However, not all was lost to the Herberts; although like Jesse’s tree the beheading in 1469 of the 1st Earl of Pembroke had left but a stump, the illegitimate cadet branch growing out of its side was fruitful. Without any of the benefits of his half-brother, Sir William Herbert of Ewyas now set about restoring the family fortunes. He accepted the postion of gentleman usher to Henry VII and, in 1509, was appointed Constable and Porter of Abergavenny Castle. He then made two relatively good marriages, the first of these bringing Castleston Castle into the possession of the family. This created a launching platform for his eldest son, another William Herbert, of whom more will be said later.
Henry VII’s identification with Uther Pendragon went further than placing a dragon on his banner: just as Uther had called his firstborn son Arthur, so did Henry. The unspoken narrative was that, having restored the true line of Brutus to the throne of England, his son would then build on the firm foundations he had established and create a new golden age. In the event, Prince Arthur predeceased his father so that when Henry VII died in 1509, he was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII. This was to have profound consequences for both Wales and England.