The House of Tudors

A New Royal House

The Tudors helped England became the country that is

nowadays and they remained forever immortalized in
Shakespeares tragedies.
The Tudors or The House of Tudor was a European
royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the kingdom of
England and its realms, including the kingdom of Ireland for
about 118 years, from 1485 until 1603.The first monarch of
the Tudors was Henry VII, who came to the throne being the
the son of Lady Margaret Beaufort.
The two roses meant the simbolic unification of the two
rival houses, the White Rose of the York House and the Red
Rose of Lancaster House.

The Arhitect of a New Dinasty

Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland
after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in
August 1485, until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first
monarch of the House of Tudor.
Through the marriage of his children he succeeded in
making the Treaty of Medina del Campo in 1489 with Spain,
the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Scotland .He also formed
an alliance with Holly Roman Emperor Maximilian I.
Although Henry can be credited with the restoration
of political stability in England, and a number of
commendable administrative, economic and diplomatic
initiatives, the latter part of his reign was characterised by a
financial rapacity which stretched the bounds of legality.
According to the contemporary historianPolydore Virgil,
simple "greed" in large part underscored the means by
which royal control was over-asserted in Henry's final years.

The axe and the harp

Henry VIII is probably the most well
known of the Tudor kings due to his role in
the separation of the Church of England
from the Roman Catholic Church, act
through which he made himself the
supreme Head of the Church
The marriage of
with Catherine of Aragon made
ofHenry
England.

sure the strong links with Spain were retained, but the
problems for Henry began when it became clear to him
that
hisHenry
wife was
not
produce
a male
heir
toathe
When
came
toable
the to
throne
England
had
only
throne.
small
navy. During his reign Henry spent a great deal of
money building up a large fleet to defend the kingdom.
The ships used were called galleons, these were very
large ocean going ships, four times as long as they were
wide.
They had a special deck for cannons, but were broad,
slow and
not very manouvrable.

The Prince
and the
Pauper
Edward became king of England and Ireland on 28 January 1547 and
was crowned on 28 February at the age of nine. He was known as
The Boy King, his mother was Jane Seymour, Henrys third wife.
Edward was a sickly child and the country was run by his
protectors: firstly, the Duke of Somerset, his mothers brother, then by
the Duke of Northumberland. From the age of six, he begin his formal
education under Richard Cox and John Cheke , he learned
philosophy, French , Spanish, Italian and geometry, it is told that he
enjoyed writing Greek. From his childhood he was a protestant, he
favoured the religious reform, in 1549, Edward wrote a treatise on
pope as Antichrist.

Bloody
Mary

Mary I was the first Queen Regnant, the

eldest daughter of Henry VIII by his first wife
Catherine of Aragon. She was named after
Henrys favourite sister, Mary Tudor. She is
known as Bloody Mary because of the
numbers of people who were executed for
being Protestants. Mary burned nearly three
hundred Protestants when they refused to give
up their religion.

She was the only child of Catherine of Aragon and the

granddaughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella 1st
of Castile. She was born at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich,
London.

After Henrys divorce with Catherine, Mary was declared

illegitimate and sent to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth.
The relation between Mary and her father became very worse, but
with the help of Queen Jane, Mary came back to court. After the
marriage with his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, Henry returned Mary and
Elizabeth to the line of succession, after Edward, through the Act of
Succession in 1544.
At the age of 37 years Mary married Prince Philip of Spain, it
was unpopular in England as it was in Spain. At the beginning of
her reign she proclaimed that anyone will not be compel to follow
her religion but in short time she abolished Edwards religious laws.
Mary wanted England to reconcile with Rome, so under the Heresy
Acts numerous Protestants were executed in the Marian
Persecutions. The victims of the persecutions became lauded as
martyrs.

Gloriana and her Reign

Elizabeth I was the last Tudor monarch
Queen regnant of England and Ireland from
17 November 1558, until 24 March 1603,
when she died. The daughter of Henry VIII
and Anne Boleyn, born at Greenwich Palace,
on 7 September 1533.Elizabeths halfbrother Edward had become King when
Henry died and had changed the religion of
England to Protestantism, but when he died
the throne.
went to her half-sister, Mary, who was Catholic. Mary saw
Elizabeth, a Protestant, as a threat to her position and had her
imprisoned in the Tower of London

Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous

above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights
such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for
the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Sir
Francis Drake. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic
performer and a dogged survivor, in an age when government
was ramshackle and limited.

Conclus
ion

Five hundred years ago the world was a very different place.
We were only just realizing that America existed and we had no
idea about Australia. England (including the Principality of
Wales) and Scotland were separate kingdoms, each with their
own royal family.
During 118 years of Tudor rule, England became richer
than ever before. As the country became wealthier, towns grew,
beautiful houses were built and schools and colleges were set
up. Arts and crafts flourished too. England was home to great
painters, writers and musicians.

Religion in England changed depending on the views of

the monarch and people often felt confused. They were told to
change what they believed, how they worshipped God and
how they decorated churches.
In my opinion the Tudors epoch is the most lovely
period of the British history and will remain forever in this way.