Prince Arthur: The Tudor King Who Never Was

by Sean Cunningham

During the early part of the sixteenth century England should have been ruled by King Arthur Tudor, not Henry VIII. Had the first-born son of Henry VII lived into adulthood, his younger brother Henry would never have become King Henry VIII. The subsequent history of England would have been very different; the massive religious, social and political changes of Henry VIII’s reign might not have been necessary at all.In naming his eldest son Arthur, Henry VII was making an impressive statement about what the Tudors hoped to achieve as rulers within Britain. Since the story of Arthur as a British hero was very well known to all ranks of the Crown’s subjects, the name alone gave the young prince a great deal to live up to. Arthur’s education and exposure to power and responsibility, not to mention his marriage to a Spanish princess in Catherine of Aragon, all indicate that the young prince was being shaped into a paragon of kingship that all of Britain could admire.This book explores all of these aspects of Prince Arthur’s life, together with his relationship with his brother, and assesses what type of king he would have been.

Genres: Tudor Period, History, Nonfiction, Biography, Historical, European History

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 2016

About the author

Sean Cunningham is a Principal Records Specialist at The National Archives. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has published widely on late medieval and early Tudor England.

Reviews

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

From baptism to funeral, Price Arthur's life was public, full of symbolism, and filled with people placed around him for very well thought out alliance building reasons by King Henry VII.

Mostly using employment records and receipts, Cunningham traces Arthur's life as best he can with little to go on, but is still able to show just how planned out everything about his life was, as we see Henry VII using every second to prep his oldest son for ruling, anticipating someday a smooth transition of power. It illustrates just how much of a Plan B young Prince Henry was, as well as just how completely different the whole world might be today if one teenage boy hadn't died...

Cunningham doesn't get too far in the weeds of did-they or didn't-they with Arthur and Catherine - rightly pointing out much of the evidence we have is highly tainted by the political needs of the time, but he does dig into Arthur's death, making a strong case of it being a sudden illness rather than a long term one. He also makes a strong case than the Spanish entourage might have brought some diseases with them, which I found to be a fascinating new theory that deserves more attention.

Great biography that does a lot with very little - Prince Arthur might have had a short life, but it was at a pivotal time, and both his life and death affected quite a lot.

[Leah Toole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was exactly what I needed as research for my Historical Fiction about Arthur. I found some great nuggets of information and insight.
However, the few errors I found (including Arthur's birth month being wrong one time😬), as well as the book's repetitiveness throughout, leaves me with no other choice than to score it thusly.

[Judi Moore · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t usually review a book if I don’t like it. It seems unfair to the author, who has spent many hours on the work. But in this case I do feel a word of warning is warranted.

Books about Prince Arthur are thin on the ground, so alternatives to this book are rare. Indeed, I could only find one other on Amazon and they wanted fifty quid for that. So I do not have anything much to compare this book with.

Sean Cunningham’s academic credentials are first class. He is an archivist. Therein lies, perhaps, ones of the problems with this book. It extrapolates the life of boy prince (and his bride) through extant lists: joinery costs is a favourite, another is the pageantry and household expenses of his wedding and funeral, a third is the list of retainers who at various times surround Arthur and/or Catherine.

Cunningham has a definite idea about why Arthur was sent away by his family as a toddler, and yet further away when he was invested as Prince of Wales. The reader has Cunningham’s theory of why Henry VII did this explained to her many times as the book unfolds.

Even the illustrations, whilst pleasant in themselves, do not deepen the reader’s knowledge of what Prince Arthur and his bride were like. The only picture of Arthur is a small replica of a stained glass window (very difficult to pick out much from that). The only picture of Catherine describes her as ‘wife of Henry VIII’: she looks about 40.

There appear to be no surviving letters from or to Arthur and Catherine, Arthur’s parents, siblings, friends – indeed, anyone at all! He was being trained as a king, a negotiator, a diplomat, a peacemaker – did he correspond with nobody? Apparently not. Nor does it appear that anybody wrote about him. Tucked away in the Welsh Marshes he was, nevertheless, a force to be reckoned with. But nothing so much as an invitation to his neighbours to come and share a meal appears to have survived. The boy remains a ghost. Even more oddly, Catherine of Aragon never comes into focus either, despite later becoming queen of England and the mother of a queen.

Historians such as Bethany Hughes, Lucy Worsley, John Man, Michael Wood, Jack Weatherford et al have upped the ante with historical writing. It is not enough now simply to lay out the facts one has amassed and derive one’s thesis from them. Some focus and a bit of sparkle needs to be injected: a story needs to be made of the researched facts. Sadly that has not happened with this book.

There are some errors, for example some of the information in the extensive family tree is missing and some is wrong. There is also some confusion in the text: eg the same people are from time to time (with no discernible reason for the change) referred to with different titles. As everyone is called Margaret, Catherine, Henry or Edward this can make one’s head swim.

As this is pretty much the only history of Prince Arthur’s life you may still feel a need to engage with it. Although this is a reasonably recent publication (2017) one can only hope that something more readable and informative is produced soon to supersede it.

[Heidi Malagisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new dynasty is born out of war and bloodshed. Hope is restored to the land as the remains of the Houses of York and Lancaster are united when Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York. It was not until the birth of their eldest child and heir, Prince Arthur, that the union was truly complete. Arthur was the hope for the nation, but when he tragically died shortly after marrying Catherine of Aragon, he was replaced by his younger brother who would become King Henry VIII. Arthur’s life was indeed very short, but his legacy and untimely death altered the course of history forever. Arthur tends to be a footnote in history, between Henry VII’s and Henry VIII’s reigns, but what was this young prince like? Why did his death leave such a large hole in the plans for the future of the Tudor dynasty? What was his relationship like with his family and those closest to the prince? These questions and more are explored in Dr. Sean Cunningham’s brilliant biography, “Prince Arthur: The Tudor King Who Never Was”.

I had heard about this book from my friends in the Tudor community for a while now and it sounded so intriguing. In my studies of the Tudor dynasty, I have often treated Prince Arthur as a footnote, but I have felt that there was more to his story than his birth, his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and his death.

To understand the significance of Prince Arthur and his birth, Cunningham briefly explains how the Tudor dynasty began at the end of the Wars of the Roses. To secure the dynasty, the birth of a male heir was essential. His name itself was seen as a way to connect the Tudors with legendary kings of England’s past. The prince’s baptism was as glamorous as his parents’ coronations and wedding, emphasizing the role that his parents expected their son would play as he grew up.

The bulk of this biography is focused on the education and the political moves that Arthur made while he was Prince of Wales. It may have seemed a bit harsh for his parents to send him away at a young age, but as Cunningham explains thoroughly, this was part of a long-term strategy for Henry VII. Although we don’t know much about Arthur’s character, the way he was raised and how he held control in his northern realm showed us a glimmer of what his reign might have been like if he did live long enough to be the second Tudor king.

It was his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, who would be Henry VIII’s first wife, that was the pinnacle of his young life. Normally, the wedding night would not have been a point of intense focus. However, since it was critical to Henry VIII’s divorce case against Catherine, Cunningham explored as much of that night and what we know as possible. Finally, Cunningham tackles the confusing issue of what killed the prince.

Overall I found this book very enlightening and extremely well researched. Prince Arthur was the most prominent Tudor child born to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, yet he has never been a focal point for Tudor historians. Cunningham has taken every minute detail of his short life to craft this insightful biography of a prince whose death shaped the course of history forever. This is a masterpiece of a biography. If you would like to learn more about the life of the firstborn Tudor prince, I highly recommend you read, “Prince Arthur: The Tudor King Who Never Was” by Sean Cunningham.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Britain is the way it is now because Arthur died.”

[Alec · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to make one thing clear: despite my two star rating, I did like this book, and I think that if you already have an interest in the early Tudors that reading it would be worth your time. Cunningham provides an enlightening window into the life of the eldest of Henry VII's children, often shrouded by the larger-than-life personality of his brother Henry VIII, and the sheer lack of surviving evidence. It is clearly, chronologically structured and offers solid, if sometimes slightly cautious, interpretations of the little surviving documentation.
However. The chronological nature of the work naturally leads to a significant amount of repetition, as characters have to be introduced and then reintroduced later on, when they appear in the records. This means that aspects such as Arthur's relationships with people such as his uncle Jasper Tudor are vaguely mentioned and then glossed over. There is also an entire, very tedious chapter, which reads as a list, theorising about Arthur's relationships with members of his household and the aristocracy which could well have been inserted into previous chapters when those people were previously mentioned. Cunningham also has a habit of focusing on the other notable figures in Arthur's life instead of on Arthur himself. For example, principally discussing Catherine of Aragon and going into great speculative depth, and then glossing over Arthur's only real period of intensive interaction with his father Henry VII in a few sentences.

[Carol-Ann Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only recently become interested in Prince Arthur, in part thanks to Gareth Streeter's recent work, and thought to get a balanced view check out the only other book I'm aware of focused on the first Tudor Prince.

This book is full of detail and doesnt just focus on Arthur but also explores his place in Tudor England and his father's hope for him. Often Arthur is overlooked and only comes to prominence years after his death during his younger brothers Great Matter and whilst there are some gaps they can be filled with plausible conclusions.

It's nice to see Prince Arthur being brought back into the limelight.

[Gabrielle Lomax · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched and written although it was annoying when the author drifted into issues unrelated to Prince Arthur's life. I also found it disappointing that Arthur's death wasn't discussed or researched further and that the author basically dismissed all proposed causes such as tuberculosis (which killed both Henry VII and Edward VI) and came to the conclusion that Arthur died of an unknown illness - very helpful!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this book due to a historical podcast. I was very excited (and surprised) that our local library had it.
There is not a lot about Arthur and the author reminds us constantly that only a few moments of his short life were recorded.
Which would explain the necessity to ‘plump’ out areas that had this reader a little bored.
However, it does make you think what would Britain, and possibly the world, be like now if Arthur had survived to be King.

[elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The death of Arthur and the ascension to the throne of his brother Henry VIII was a pivotal point in English history, but little is known about Arthur besides he died as a teenager and my not have consummated his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Ferdinando and Isabella). This book tries to fill in some of the pieces of Arthur's life. If you are interested in this period of history, I highly recommend this book!

[Elizabeth McLennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book intrigued me because not alot is know about Prince Arthur except as Henry VIII older brother and precious husband of his wife. I was really interested to read how Arthur's upbringing could have changed history if he had survived. If you are interested in Tudor history I definitely suggest you read it.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting for the information about Arthur & Catherine as well as the contrast between Arthur's education and Henry's. A little too much detail and repetition to really enjoy. I skimmed several pages.
I would love to read an alternative history speculating about England with a King Arthur II but haven't been able to find more than one. Suggestions welcome.

[Paul Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too granular for the general reader but a valuable addition to the extensive Tudor historiography. We shall never know for certain how he died or whether his brief marriage to Catherine was cinsummated. The only answer to the latter question was whatever realpoltik required. Quite a few typograohical errors had crept into my 2016 imprint of the book.

[Annika Hipple · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book caught my interest because of its "what if" aspect. What if Prince Arthur, the eldest child of Henry VII, had survived to become king after his father? Arthur had been groomed from infancy to be a king and to cement the rule of the Tudor dynasty that his father had worked so hard to establish. His sudden death, at age 15, destroyed all of Henry VII's planning and ultimately brought Arthur's younger brother to the throne as Henry VIII. His kingship followed a very different path from what Arthur's probably would have. As a result, while Arthur's life was too short for him to achieve much of anything, his death dramatically changed the course of English history.

Unfortunately, despite its compelling premise, the book itself simply wasn't all that interesting. I found Cunningham's writing style rather simplistic, with mostly short sentences and long paragraphs that didn't flow all that well. There was also quite a bit of repetition of information, though some of it was presented out of order (people introduced fully only after they'd been mentioned in passing several times, for example the first Marquis of Dorset, whose relationship with Henry VII is discussed several times before Cunningham thinks to mention that Dorset was a half-brother to Henry's queen, Elizabeth of York).

I also found some of Cunningham's discussion of family relationships a bit odd. Early on, he says: "As Earl of Richmond, [Henry VII] was the last nobleman to share the blood of the Lancastrian kings (his father, Edmund, had been a half-brother to Henry VI)." While it is true that Edmund was a half-brother to Henry VI, this was through his mother, Catherine de Valois, the widow of Henry V -- not through the Lancastrian line. Henry Tudor's Lancastrian claim came through his mother, Margaret Beaufort, who did indeed share the blood of all the Lancastrian kings, since both she and they were descended from John of Gaunt.

Later, Cunningham discusses the Yorkist claim to the throne, saying "Richard, Duke of York had inherited the Mortimer estates and the dormant Mortimer claim to the crown through dual descent from Edward III." He notes that Anne Mortimer, sister of the last Mortimer Earl of March, was both a descendant of Edward III and married to another descendant, Richard, Earl of Cambridge. Cunningham says, "It was this dual ancestry to Edward III that led to Roger Mortimer being proclaimed in parliament as Richard II's heir in 1385." The problem here is that the Mortimer claim was not a dual one. The Mortimers were descended from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Edward III's second surviving son. Richard, Earl of Cambridge, was descended from the fourth son, Edmund, Duke of York. Therefore, it was Richard, Duke of York (son of Anne Mortimer and Richard of Cambridge) and not his Mortimer ancestors who united the the two lines and could claim dual descent from Edward III. Cunningham emphasizes the Mortimer claim (which was the senior one) at various points, but his explanation of the Yorkist ancestry is somewhat confused overall.

On the subject of ancestry, I quibble with Cunningham's calling Elizabeth of York the "last heir" of the Yorkist kings, since although her brothers were presumed dead, she did have several surviving younger sisters who presumably would have been viewed as Yorkist heirs in the event of Elizabeth's death.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography of the eldest son of Henry VII, who died at the age of 15. This was a very comprehensive biography of the life and times of Prince Arthur. There was also, at the end, a brief what if. If he hadn't died so young and had succeeded his father, England would have had its first King Arthur and the country now would look much different. Cunningham argues that Arthur's death is a pivotal moment in British history and shouldn't be overlooked. His comments do give you pause for thought.

[David Santiuste]

Sean Cunningham makes a persuasive case for Prince Arthur's significance. It's an engaging read - cautious when necessary, but very insightful.