The Royal Image and Diplomacy: Henry VII’s Book of Astrology (British Library, Arundel MS. 66)

Abstract

• One of the most intriguing manuscripts associated with Henry VII of England, British Library, MS. Arundel 66 combines astronomical tables and works of so-called judicial astrology with a short collection of political prophecies. As an informal note added at the end of one of its texts suggests, the volume was probably completed by a certain John Wellys on 30 June 1490. The present essay is an attempt to read the selection of political prophecies and interpret the manuscript’s pictorial contents in the light of events surrounding peace negotiations between England and France in 1489-90 and as a reflection of a use of renewed Plantagenet and Lancastrian claims to the French throne and a mythical royal ancestry in the early Tudor propaganda.