ON THIS DAY - 21 April 1509

On This Day (21 April) in 1509, Henry VII died at Richmond Palace, aged 52, with his 17-year-old son Henry, succeeding him as Henry VIII.

Detail from 'King Henry VII', Netherlandish Artist, 1505 © National Portrait Gallery, London

The king's health had been failing since the New Year 1508, when the symptoms of tuberculosis he had first experienced in winter of 1506-07 had returned. Public appearances became increasingly limited, as he kept to his private apartments at Richmond. His breathing became increasingly difficult, and he found himself becoming weaker, sore with gout and malnourished. Whilst there was a degree of recovery by Easter, Henry continued to keep himself away from public view, with his son finding himself further in the public eye.

Having spent the start of 1509 with his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, at Hanworth Palace, Middlesex, Henry once again fell ill with the familiar symptoms of tuberculosis and asthma, coupled with quinsy. In addition to the accompanying mental deterioration of his physical symptoms, the king recognised that his end was imminent.

Detail from 'Richmond Palace from across the Thames', Anthonis van den Wijngaerde, 1562 ©Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The royal household moved back to Richmond at the end of February 1509, with his health continuing to deteriorate; by the end of March 1509, his beloved mother had joined her only son. His will was drawn up on 31 March, and on 16 April, public signs of the king's decline were made known, with releasing of prisoners and issuing of pardons.

📷 ‘Henry VII on his deathbed’ from Wriothesley’s Heraldic Collections, Vol 1: Book of Funerals c.1510 ©British Library

Henry's health deteriorated significantly on 20 April, and he finally died at 11 o'clock in the evening on 21 April 1509, in the privy chamber. His death was announced to the Privy Council in the evening of 23 April, and following arrests of perceived oppositions of the new regime, including chief financial agent Edmund Dudley, was announced publicly on 24 April.

Henry VII and Elizabeth of York tomb, Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey © Dean and Chapter of Westminster

Henry's funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 10 May 1509; he was buried alongside his wife, Elizabeth of York, in a vault beneath a magnificent tomb in the Lady Chapel the following day, on 11 May. She had been buried in a temporary tomb in a side chapel, until the Lady Chapel, which had been commissioned by Henry VII himself, had been completed.