Henry VII established the Tudor dynasty by conquest, defeating and killing Richard III on the field of battle in 1485, effectively putting an end to the aristocratic struggle known as the Wars of the Roses. A Lancastrian claimant to the throne himself, Henry Tudor then married Elizabeth of York, joining the two rival houses and bolstering his right and that of his descendants to the crown. In striking contrast to his predecessors, Henry VII kept his throne and was able to introduce control by the king of the kingdom’s affairs. Some historians credit him with laying the groundwork for a later revolution in government. At the same time, Henry VII maintained many of the traditions of prior royal households, including the appointment of outstanding medical personnel. However, England was frankly underdeveloped in most areas of medical progress compared to continental Europe; in other kingdoms, such as Sicily, Castile, and Aragon, rulers had already established institutions with disciplinary powers over physicians and surgeons. During the period of aristocratic infighting that had afflicted England for three lifetimes, kings had lacked the authority and power to act in a similar fashion.

What changed with the arrival of the Tudors was the actual strength of the English monarchy itself. Sir George Clark has argued that only a strong sovereign could set up medical control independent of the universities, and that under Henry VII the chances for regulation of medical affairs were greater than ever before. The king, familiar with medical provision in France and the Low Countries, demonstrated his intention to improve the English medical scene in his will, which contained detailed stipulations for the foundation of three large hospitals, in London, York, and Coventry. He modeled his bequest on the statutes of the famous Santa Maria Nuova in Florence.

However, the very power of the first Tudor kings precipitated political crisis with which all English subjects, especially those at court, had to deal. If any new administration, not to mention a new dynasty, brings the unknown, the government of Henry VII surely made its share of unsettling innovations; that of his successor shattered established tradition and practice. Henry VIII married six times, broke with the Roman Catholic Church, and set up an independent national church with himself as its head.