The Tudor period saw the introduction of parish records and that makes it much easier to follow the Lanyon family. It’s a time of great success and wealth but by the start of the 17th century we can see the senior line diminishing and the cadet branches flourishing.
After the Wars of the Roses and a generation of unrest the country needed a period of stability and Henry VII set out to provide it and refill the royal coffers. In 1497 Henry demanded exceedingly high taxes from the Cornish, to wage war in Scotland against an imposter to the throne, Perkin Warbeck. Warbeck claimed to be Richard Duke of York, one of the ‘Princes in the Tower’ and a claimant to Henry’s throne. The Cornish didn’t want to wage war on the Scots and when Henry suspended the Stannary Parliaments the Cornish rebelled. They marched to London and fought at the Battle of Blackheath. The Cornish lost the battle but the Stannary Parliaments were reinstated.
Henry’s son Henry VIII was desperate for a male heir and his wife Catherine of Aragon was unable to provide it. Ultimately this led to the break with Rome and the formation of the Church of England with Henry as its head. The dissolution of the monasteries enriched the king and many of his favourites.
The Reformation was the most crucial event of the Tudor period and it shaped British history for centuries afterwards. In Cornwall it led to the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549 which wasn’t successful.
The Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588, but Spain continued to send ships to spy and in 1595 Spanish ships landed and attached Mousehole, Paul, Penzance and Newlyn in Cornwall.
The Lanyons 