 In 1485 , Henry Tudor became King of England upon defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth . In an effort to strengthen the Tudor claim to the throne and emphasise his family 's Welsh , that is to say Romano @-@ British , ancestry , Henry had royal genealogists trace his lineage back to the ancient British rulers and decided on naming his firstborn son after the legendary King Arthur . On this occasion , Camelot was identified as present @-@ day Winchester , and his wife , Elizabeth of York , was sent to Saint Swithun 's Priory ( today Winchester Cathedral Priory ) in order to give birth there . Born at Saint Swithun 's Priory on 20 September 1486 at about 1 am , Arthur was Henry and Elizabeth 's eldest child . Arthur 's birth was anticipated by French and Italian humanists eager for the start of a " Virgilian golden age " . Sir Francis Bacon wrote that although the Prince was born one month premature , he was " strong and able " . Young Arthur was viewed as " a living symbol " of not only the union between the House of Tudor and the House of York , but also of the end of the Wars of the Roses . In the opinion of contemporaries , Arthur was the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor . 
