be after the
deaths of Ferdinand and Isabella, as the actual combination of their
territories with those which Philip was to inherit from Maximilian had
not been effected. In =1499= France gave a fresh shock to her
neighbours. Charles VIII. had died the year before, and his successor,
Louis XII., invaded Italy and subdued the duchy of Milan, to which he
had set up a claim. Naturally the powers jealous of France sought to
have Henry on their side. There had been for some time a negotiation
for a marriage between Henry's eldest son, Arthur, Prince of Wales,
and Catherine of Aragon, the youngest daughter of Ferdinand and
Isabella, but hitherto nothing had been concluded.

17. =Execution of the Earl of Warwick. 1499.=--Perkin had long been
eager to free himself from prison. In =1498= he was caught attempting
to escape, but Henry contented himself with putting him in the stocks.
He was then removed to the Tower, where he persuaded the unhappy Earl
of Warwick (see p. 343) to join him in flight. It is almost certain
that Warwick was guilty of no more, but Henry, soured by the repeated
attempts to dethrone him, resolved to remove him from his path. On
trumped-up evidence Warwick was convicted and executed, and Perkin
shared his fate.

[Illustration: King's College Chapel, Cambridge (looking east). Begun
by Henry VI. in 1441, completed by Henry VII. The screen built between
1531 and 1535.]

18. =Prince Arthur's Marriage and Death. 1501--1502.=--Warwick's death
was the one judicial murder of Henry's reign. To the Spaniards it
appeared to be a prudent action which had cleared away the last of
Henry's serious competitors. The negotiations for the Spanish
marriage were pushed on, and in =1501= Catherine, a bride of fifteen,
gave her hand to Arthur, a bridegroom of fourteen. In =1502= the
prince died, and the attempt to bind England and Spain together seemed
to have come to an end.

19. =The Scottish Marriage. 1503.=--Another marriage treaty proved
ultimately to be of far greater importance. Henry was sufficiently
above the prejudices of his time to be anxious to be on good terms
with Scotland. For some time a negotiation had been in progress for a
marriage between James IV. and Henry's daughter, Margaret. The
marriage took place in =1503=. To the counsellors who urged that in
the case of failure of Henry's heirs in the male line England would
become subject to Scotland Henry shrewdly replied that there was no
fear of that, as