In his television play Bus to Bosworth, Kenneth Griffith paints an entrancing picture of Henry Tudor rallying the men of Wales under the Red Dragon banner to defeat the hated Richard III. It was the revenge of the Welsh after the humiliations meted out by successive English monarchs over the previous two centuries.

While rich in Welsh connections – his father was descended from the royal house of Gwynedd and he was born in Pembroke Castle – Henry was first and foremost his own man.

His claim to English throne came via his mother’s membership of the House of Lancaster, which had been locked in a bloody struggle against the Yorkists since before Henry’s birth.

When Henry landed at Dale in Pembrokeshire in 1485, his force consisted mainly of French mercenaries and Lancastrian exiles. While some of the Welsh nobility lent their support as he progressed through Wales, others waited to see which way the wind blew.

His victory at Bosworth against Richard III – the Shakespearean villain who had usurped the boy king Edward V – was nearly a disaster for Henry. The powerful Stanleys, key among those who had remained uncommitted, waited on the sidelines until it became clear Henry had the upper hand.

It was a lesson Henry did not forget. Once crowned King of England he set about reducing the power of the nobility. He shrewdly married Elizabeth of York, ending that divisive feud and ensuring the Tudor succession would not be challenged.

So while their accession to the throne of England was not quite a Welsh takeover, the Tudors nevertheless put an end to the subjugation that Wales and its people had suffered for centuries.

According to Owen M Edwards, the Welsh “obtained the privileges of an equal race, and they were pleased to regard themselves as a dominant one.”