Kings vs Queens. Gender and the monarchy.

Henry VII of England

Henry VII was the King of England and Lord of
Ireland from 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the
first monarch of the House of Tudor.
Son of Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor, he
spends 14 years in exile in Brittany when Edward IV
takes the throne in 1471.
Being supported by the forces of France, Scotland
and Wales, he defeated Richard III at the Battle of
Bosworth Field, becoming the last king to win his
throne on the battlefield.
He is attributed administrative, economic and
diplomatic initiatives along with the restoration of
power and stability of the English monarchy after the
civil war.
With his policy he supported the wool industry in England and with his confrontation
with the Netherlands he obtained lasting benefits for the English economy.
Paying attention to details, he focused on getting new income and thanks to the new
taxes he managed to stabilize the government's finances.
After the reign of almost 24 years, he is peacefully succeeded by his son Henry VIII.

Henry VIII.
Henry VIII was the King of England from 1509 until his
death in 1547.
Son of Elizabeth of York and Henry VII of England, he
assumes the throne after the death of his father.
He was known primarily for his six marriages and particularly
for his efforts to annul the first. This search for the annulment
of his first marriage led him to initiate the English
Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal
authority.
He appoints himself Supreme Head of the Church of England
and is excommunicated for dissolving convents and
monasteries.
He is also known as the "father of the Royal Navy" for his investment in the marine
forces which increased his number to more than 50 ships by establishing the navy
board.
Henry was known for his changes to the English Constitution, the introduction of divine
law, for expanding royal power, using charges of treason and heresy, stifling dissent,
and executing the condemned without a formal trial.
He was a spender who used the proceeds from the dissolution of the monasteries and the
acts of the Parliament of the Reformation. He converted into real income that money
that was paid to Rome and yet, he remained on the brink of bankruptcy because of his
personal extravagance and his numerous, costly and fruitless wars.
His contemporaries described him as "one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the
English throne" and described his reign as "the most important in the history of
England."
He was succeeded by his son Edward VI.

Edward VI.
Edward VI was King of England and Ireland from
1547 until his death in 1553.
The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, he was
crowned at the age of nine as the first monarch to be
raised a Protestant.
His reign was characterized by economic and social
problems that unleashed riots and rebellions
throughout 1549.
Under his reign is the transformation of the Church
of England into a recognizable Protestant body as
Protestantism is established in England along with
reforms that include the abolition of clerical celibacy
and the mass, and the imposition of compulsory
services in English.
At the age of fifteen he falls ill and after it is discovered that his illness was terminal, a
succession plan is drawn up to prevent England from returning to Catholicism, so he is
succeeded by his cousin Lady Jane Gray.
Lady Jane Gray.
Lady Jane Gray or better known as "the queen of the nine
days", was an English noblewoman and de facto queen of
England from July 10 to July 19, 1553.
She is the daughter of Henry Gray, 1st Duke of Suffolk
and Lady Frances Brandon. she marries Lord Guildford
Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.
She was known for having an excellent humanistic
education and being one of the youngest scholars of her
time.
Edward VI names her as her successor in her will since
she was the only one who maintained a committed
Protestant attitude and would support the Reformed Church of England.
After the death of Edward VI, she awaits her coronation at the Tower of London but the
support she had from her, she soon changes sides and the Privy Council of England
proclaims Mary queen.
A month after the proclamation of Mary I as queen, Lady Jane Gray's father-in-law, the
Duke of Northumberland is accused of treason and executed.
She is kept prisoner and found guilty of high treason for which she is sentenced to death
along with her husband since she was considered a threat to the crown when her father,
Henry Gray, became involved in Wyatt's rebellion against the queen's intention. Maria I
de married with Philip II of Spain.
She was executed with her husband on February 12, 1554 at the age of 17.

Mary I.
Mary I, better known as "Bloody Mary" by her
Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and
Ireland from 1553 until her death in 1558.
She is known for her attempt to reverse the English
reform begun during her father's reign and her
intention to restore property confiscated by the
previous two reigns to the church. Although
parliament thwarted her attempt to give back to the
church what had been taken from her, she Maria had
more than 280 religious dissidents burned at the
stake in her 5-year reign.
She was the only daughter of Henry VIII and
Catherine of Aragon who survived to adulthood.
After the death of Eduardo and against Lady Jane Gray, she gathered forces in East
Anglia to thus assume the throne.
In 1554 she married Philip II of Spain and became queen consort of Habsburg Spain in
1556.
After her death in 1558, she is succeeded by Elizabeth I who reverses the
reestablishment of Roman Catholicism.

Elizabeth I.
Elizabeth I was queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603. She
was the last of the five monarchs of the Tudor house. Her reign became known as the
Elizabethan era.
She is the daughter of Henry VIII and Ana Bolena, second wife executed when Isabel
was almost 3 years old. Her mother's marriage to Henry VIII was annulled and she was
declared illegitimate.
During the reign of Mary I, she was imprisoned for almost a year on suspicion of
supporting the Protestant rebels.
She assumes the throne after the death of her half-sister, Mary I, and sets out to rule
with good advice. And one of her first actions was to establish an English Protestant
church of which she would proclaim herself supreme governor.
Despite her multiple courtships, Elizabeth never married or had children, so she was
succeeded by her cousin James VI of Scotland.
Her government stood out for being more moderate compared to those of her
predecessors. One of her mottos was "video et taceo" ("I see and keep silent").
Regarding the religious, she remained tolerant and avoided systematic persecution.
In 1570 the Pope declared her illegitimate and freed her subjects, and although there
were several attacks against her, all were unsuccessful.
In the mid-1580s, war with Spain was inevitable. The victory over the Spanish Armada
in 1588 gave him one of the greatest military victories in the history of England.
Famous for her virginity, she grew a cult around her that was celebrated in portraits,
contests, and literature of the time.
The period of her reign is characterized by the flowering of English drama driven by
playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and by the
seamanship of adventurers such as Francis Drake.
The economic and military problems she had to face towards the end of her rule
weakened her popularity, but her 44 years on the throne helped to forge stability and a
sense of national identity.