Tudor dynasty

A series of monarchs that ruled England and Ireland from 1485 until 1603. The Tudor kings and queens reigned as England developed into a powerful and influential state, an important center of Protestant resistance to papal authority, and a leader in Renaissance letters, science, and art. The Tudor line began with a Welsh squire, Owen Tudor, a member of the court of King Henry V. On the king's death Tudor married his widow, Catherine of Valois; his eldest son was Edmund Tudor, who in turn fathered Henry Tudor. During the War of the Roses, this Lancastrian nobleman defeated King Richard III in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field and then was enthroned as the first Tudor king, Henry VII.

The brother of this king, Henry VIII, began his reign in 1509. Henry married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, who gave birth to his first child Mary but failed to provide the new king with a male heir. Falling out of favor with Henry, Catherine was replaced by the king's mistress, Anne Boleyn. When Henry found himself unable to convince the pope to sanction his divorce from Catherine, he declared papal authority ended in his realm and founded the Church of England. He then married Anne Boleyn, who gave birth to a single daughter, Elizabeth. Anne ran afoul of powerful nobles allied with the king and was accused of treason and incest, which brought about her arrest and execution. Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, died giving birth to the king's sole male offspring, Edward.

At the age of nine, Edward VI succeeded his father in 1547. This young and sickly king died in 1553, leaving the throne to his half sister Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon. A loyal Catholic, “Bloody Mary” made futile attempts to return England to the Catholic Church, ordering the seizure and execution of several Protestant nobles and clergymen. Mary died in 1558 without an heir, which brought the accession of her half sister Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn. Devoted to the memory of her mother, Elizabeth felt determined to reign in the religious conflict and political intrigue that plagued the Tudor court since the time of Henry VII.

Elizabeth restored the Church of England and encouraged playwrights, musicians, and poets at her court. Talented men such as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Ben Jonson flourished during the Elizabethan Age, when England was also home to a leading scientific philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon. During her reign England began to colonize North America, and the English captain Sir France Drake led the first voyage of English ships around the world. She also defeated the attempt by her cousin, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, to overthrow her, and regretfully ordered Mary's execution in 1587. In the next year, an immense armada of Spanish warships was sent by the king of Spain, scattered by storms in the English Channel, marking the rise of English power on the continent and the beginning of a steady decline in the power of Spain.

With Elizabeth remaining unmarried and childless, the Tudor dynasty came to an end with her death in 1603. The throne passed to James I, the king of Scotland and the first monarch of England's Stuart dynasty.

See Also: Edward VI; Elizabeth I; England; Henry VIII