The Tudor Dynasty was a family lineage that lasted over 100 years (1485-1603) and played a key role in England's History. During the time of the Tudors' reign Catholicism was replaced with Protestantism as England's official religion and the English fleet was greatly increased from 5 ships in the beginning of Henry VII, the founder of the dynasty, to 60 at the end of his reign. With 6 reigning monarchs over the 100 plus year period, England saw radical changes in its society and the dynasty ended with a golden age that Queen Elizabeth helped usher in. |
The Ruling Monarchs
The Tudor dynasty started with the end of the war between the House of York and the House of Tudors and with the marriage between Elizabeth of York and Henry VII. Born on January 28th, 1457 Henry VII was not a normal king because he was not sure of his destiny at birth. His claim was that he was the descendant of Katherine Swynford who was a mistress of John of Gaunt who was the son of Edward III of England. The children she bore were later legitimized. During the reign of Henry II he bore four children, one who was Henry VII who the future king of England, and restored political stability to England. His son Arthur who was supposed to be heir to the throne died before Henry, which made Henry VII the next king of England. |
Henry VIII
Henry VIII was the second ruling monarch in the house of Tudor in which he served 38 years as King of England. During his reign he was wedded to Catherine of Aragon, the offspring of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon, who was originally supposed to be the wife of his brother but he died early so Henry VIII was required by agreements with the Spanish and English to wed her. Catherine was pregnant four times but delivered a stillborn child on her first pregnancy, their second child Henry died several weeks after birth, miscarried again in 1514 but gave birth to a girl Mary in 1516. Due to this lack of a male heir Henry wanted to have an annulment, a writ saying that the marriage was not legitimate in the first place therefore it is null and void. He went to the papacy but he denied his claim and so in return Henry created the Anglican church and closed all Catholic monasteries in England making England the first official protestant nation in England. Henry then had a divorce from Catherine and married five other times after and had an important female heir who would change the history of England forever. Her name was Elizabeth. |
The Reign of Mary and Elizabeth
After the death of Edward VI, Mary I (Bloody Mary) reigned as the queen of England. During her five-year period of control, Queen Mary I shared many disagreements with her half-sister Elizabeth I over religious reforms. Mary, who had been raised a Catholic, enforced Catholic laws and worked to restore the power of the pope in England. Elizabeth, a Protestant, was therefore imprisoned in the Tower of London by her sister Mary during a Protestant rebellion, out of fear of her involvement and contribution. Although two months after the death of Mary, Elizabeth Tudor was crowned Queen Elizabeth I at the age of 25 at Westminster Abbey in London. At the time of Elizabeth’s rise to queen of England, she had to withstand various Catholic plots against her. This was largely due to the fact that though she was welcomed by many English lords, she was very much Protestant and aimed to establish greater religious tolerance. At the beginning of Elizabeth’s rule, she accepted guidance from Secretary of State Sir William Cecil and annulled her sister’s pro-Catholic legislation. Elizabeth also founded a permanent Protestant Church of England and supported reformers of Calvinism in Scotland. Regarding diplomatic relations, she also performed a policy of separating England’s enemies in an effort to weaken them and uniting England’s allies in an effort to strengthen them. During her reign, the pope refused to take Elizabeth’s legitimacy into account and she faced opposition from Spain, who was at the time a Catholic nation that was at the height of its power. This rivalry between Spain and England in turn led to a Spanish invasion of England that failed to accomplish its intended result. Though the Spanish Armada was the greatest naval force of its time, it was terminated by storms and a strong English navy. England’s superiority at sea eventually led to Elizabeth’s encouragement of discovery. As a whole, the reign of Elizabeth was long and prosperous. The stability of her rule managed to contribute to the occurrence and progress of the English Renaissance, where England experienced a great development in art including literature from prominent authors like William Shakespeare. Elizabeth died in 1603 as the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Throughout her reign, she never married to protect her power as queen and at the time of her death, she had already helped England become a major world power.
After the death of Edward VI, Mary I (Bloody Mary) reigned as the queen of England. During her five-year period of control, Queen Mary I shared many disagreements with her half-sister Elizabeth I over religious reforms. Mary, who had been raised a Catholic, enforced Catholic laws and worked to restore the power of the pope in England. Elizabeth, a Protestant, was therefore imprisoned in the Tower of London by her sister Mary during a Protestant rebellion, out of fear of her involvement and contribution. Although two months after the death of Mary, Elizabeth Tudor was crowned Queen Elizabeth I at the age of 25 at Westminster Abbey in London. At the time of Elizabeth’s rise to queen of England, she had to withstand various Catholic plots against her. This was largely due to the fact that though she was welcomed by many English lords, she was very much Protestant and aimed to establish greater religious tolerance. At the beginning of Elizabeth’s rule, she accepted guidance from Secretary of State Sir William Cecil and annulled her sister’s pro-Catholic legislation. Elizabeth also founded a permanent Protestant Church of England and supported reformers of Calvinism in Scotland. Regarding diplomatic relations, she also performed a policy of separating England’s enemies in an effort to weaken them and uniting England’s allies in an effort to strengthen them. During her reign, the pope refused to take Elizabeth’s legitimacy into account and she faced opposition from Spain, who was at the time a Catholic nation that was at the height of its power. This rivalry between Spain and England in turn led to a Spanish invasion of England that failed to accomplish its intended result. Though the Spanish Armada was the greatest naval force of its time, it was terminated by storms and a strong English navy. England’s superiority at sea eventually led to Elizabeth’s encouragement of discovery. As a whole, the reign of Elizabeth was long and prosperous. The stability of her rule managed to contribute to the occurrence and progress of the English Renaissance, where England experienced a great development in art including literature from prominent authors like William Shakespeare. Elizabeth died in 1603 as the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Throughout her reign, she never married to protect her power as queen and at the time of her death, she had already helped England become a major world power.
Interesting Facts
- The Tudor dynasty began when Owen Tudor married Catherine of Valois, who was the widow of Henry VI, and they then had Edmund Tudor and their grandson Henry Tudor.
- Henry VII later became the first Tudor King of England when he defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which was the last battle of the Wars of Roses between the House of York and the House of Lancaster. This then resulted in the creation of the House of Tudor.
- The rhyme "Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived" can be used to remember the ending of the marriages of King Henry VIII.
- Though Edward VI was the only male heir of Henry VIII, he died of tuberculosis at age 15.
- Aware of his poor health, Edward VI tried to switch his succession from the Catholic Mary I, to his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey ('Queen for Nine Days'), who famously ruled as queen of England for only nine days after his death.
- Mary I enforced a strict law that resulted in the burning of over 300 Protestants, which made her very unpopular and resulted in her nickname "Bloody Mary."
- After her death, which was believed to have been from cancer, Mary’s body was buried at Westminster, while her heart and bowels were buried at St. James.
- Queen Elizabeth was known as the “Virgin Queen” because she never married for the sake of protecting her authority.
- Queen Elizabeth I was followed by a scandal when Robert Dudley, her favorite courtier and maybe lover, was suspected of arranging the murder of his wife Amy Robsart so that he could marry Elizabeth.
- In 1562, Queen Elizabeth almost died of Smallpox, which left several scars on her face that she was able to cover up with a large amount of white make-up. This was very fashionable at the time.
- In 1586, Elizabeth’s trusted spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham set a trap for Queen Mary of Scotland by having encouraged her involvement in a plot to kill Elizabeth that would result in her punishment for treason.
- Under the reign of Elizabeth, Sir Francis Drake made a circumnavigation (sailed all the way around) the world and Sir Walter Raleigh made an expedition to the coast of North America.
- The Tudor dynasty is famous for many things including Henry VIII and his six wives, the development of religious ideas and the exploration of different countries.
- After the Tudor dynasty, the throne of England was then passed to the Protestant King James VI of Scotland who became King James I of England and started the Stuart dynasty.
Video: Click below to view an informative video about the history of the Tudors Dynasty and end of The War of the Roses.
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Sources
"About Henry VII TUDOR (King of England)." About Henry VII TUDOR (King of England). N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2015.
"About Henry VIII TUDOR (King of England)." About Henry VIII TUDOR (King of England). N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2015.
Alchin, Linda. “Facts About the Tudors.” The Tudors Website, Siteseen Ltd, 2014. Web. 5 May 2015.
“Click Here to Play:The Tudor Dynasty.” The Tudor Dynasty. Web. 5 May 2015.
History.com Staff. “Elizabeth Crowned Queen of England.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 5 May 2015.
"Mary Tudor." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 05 May 2015.
"About Henry VII TUDOR (King of England)." About Henry VII TUDOR (King of England). N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2015.
"About Henry VIII TUDOR (King of England)." About Henry VIII TUDOR (King of England). N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2015.
Alchin, Linda. “Facts About the Tudors.” The Tudors Website, Siteseen Ltd, 2014. Web. 5 May 2015.
“Click Here to Play:The Tudor Dynasty.” The Tudor Dynasty. Web. 5 May 2015.
History.com Staff. “Elizabeth Crowned Queen of England.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 5 May 2015.
"Mary Tudor." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 05 May 2015.