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THE
TUDORS
Coordonator, Absolvent,
Prof. Goldis Mladin Cristina
Cristina
Royal House of Tudors
 Table of Contents
Argument
Chapter I: Introduction
1.1 The Dynasty
1.2 Ascent to the Throne
Chapter II: Rulers
2.1 Henry VII
2.2 Henry VIII
2.3 Edward VI
2.4 Lady Jane Grey
2.5 Mary I
2.6 Elizabeth I
Chapter III:
3.1 Religion during the Tudors time
3.2 Culture during the Tudors time
3.3 International Relations during the Tudors time
Chapter IV:
4.1 Conclusion
Bibliography
Argument
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 The Dynasty

The five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty are among the most well-known figures in Royal history. Of Welsh origin, Henry VII
succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York to found the highly successful Tudor house.
Henry VII, his son Henry VIII and his three children Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I ruled for 118 eventful years.
During this period, England developed into one of the leading European colonial powers, with men such as Sir Walter Raleigh
taking part in the conquest of the New World. Nearer to home, campaigns in Ireland brought the country under strict English
control.

Culturally and socially, the Tudor period saw many changes. The Tudor court played a prominent part in the cultural Renaissance
taking place in Europe, nurturing all-round individuals such as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and Cardinal Wolsey.

The Tudor period also saw the turbulence of two changes of official religion, resulting in the martyrdom of many innocent believers
of both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. The fear of Roman Catholicism induced by the Reformation was to last for several
centuries and to play an influential role in the history of the Succession.
 Ascent to throne
It shows the petals of a red rose enfolding the petals of a white rose. The
red rose was the symbol of the House of Lancaster and the white rose
was the symbol of the House of York. Henry VII was the first Tudor
king and a Lancastrian. He married Princess Elizabeth of York. Their
marriage was the literal union of both houses, symbolized by the new
'Tudor Rose'. Also, the Wars of the Roses were thus called because they
represented the 15th century struggle between Lancaster and York for
the throne of England.

The Tudors were able to establish England as a world power. They did
so by positioning their country as a peace-maker between the dueling
powers of France and Spain/the Holy Roman Empire. They also gave
England a century of dynastic stability. With the exception of Lady Jane
Grey's brief reign and Catholic attempts to place Mary, queen of Scots
on Elizabeth I's throne, most Tudor monarchs came to the throne - and
remained on the throne - unchallenged. This lengthy period of peace
allowed England a much-needed respite from the Lancastrian-Yorkist
wars. Government ran more efficiently; royal power replaced that of
aristocrats and there was a uniform system of justice and taxation
throughout the country. And, as always in times of peace, the arts
flourished.
Rulers
Henry VII
Henry VII was the founder of the Tudor dynasty, unifying the warring factions in the Wars of the Roses.
Although supported by Lancastrians and Yorkists alienated by Richard III's usurpation, Henry VII's first task was
to secure his position. In 1486 he married Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV, thus uniting the
Houses of York and Lancaster.
Henry's reign (1485-1509) was troubled by revolts, sometimes involving pretenders (such as Perkin Warbeck and
Lambert Simnel) who impersonated Edward V or his brother. With this in mind, n 1485, Henry formed a personal
bodyguard from his followers known as the 'Yeomen of the Guard' (the oldest military corps in existence today).
Henry strengthened the power of the monarchy by using traditional methods of government to tighten royal
administration and increase revenues (reportedly including a daily examination of accounts).

Royal income rose from an annual average of £52,000 to £142,000 by the end of Henry's reign. Little co-operation
between King and Parliament was required; during Henry's reign of 24 years, seven Parliaments sat for some ten
and a half months.
Henry used dynastic royal marriages to establish his dynasty in England and help maintain peace. One daughter,
Margaret, was married to James IV of Scotland (from whom Mary, Queen of Scots and her son, James VI of
Scotland and James I of England, were descended); the other daughter married Louis XII of France.
Rulers
Henry VIII
From his father, Henry VIII inherited a stable realm with the monarch's finances in healthy surplus - on his
accession, Parliament had not been summoned for supplies for five years. Henry's varied interests and lack of
application to government business and administration increased the influence of Thomas Wolsey, an Ipswich
butcher's son, who became Lord Chancellor in 1515.
Wolsey became one of the most powerful ministers in British history (symbolised by his building of Hampton
Court Palace - on a greater scale than anything the king possessed). Wolsey exercised his powers vigorously in
his own court of Chancery and in the increased use of the Council's judicial authority in the court of the Star
Chamber.
Wolsey was also appointed Cardinal in 1515 and given papal legate powers which enabled him to by-pass the
Archbishop of Canterbury and 'govern' the Church in England.
Henry's interest in foreign policy was focused on Western Europe, which was a shifting pattern of alliances
centred round the kings of Spain and France, and the Holy Roman Emperor. (Henry was related by marriage to all
three - his wife Catherine was Ferdinand of Aragon's daughter, his sister Mary married Louis XII of France in
1514, and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was Catherine's nephew.)
The second half of Henry's reign was dominated by two issues very important for the later history of England and
the monarchy: the succession and the Protestant Reformation, which led to the formation of the Church of
England.
Rulers
Edward VI
Edward VI became king at the age of nine upon the death of his father, Henry VIII, and a Regency was created. Although he
was intellectually precocious (fluent in Greek and Latin, he kept a full journal of his reign), he was not, however, physically
robust.

His short reign was dominated by nobles using the Regency to strengthen their own positions. The King's Council, previously
dominated by Henry, succumbed to existing factionalism. On Henry's death, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford and soon to be
Duke of Somerset, the new King's eldest uncle, became Protector.

During Edward's reign, the Church of England became more explicitly Protestant - Edward himself was fiercely so. The Book of
Common Prayer was introduced in 1549, aspects of Roman Catholic practices (including statues and stained glass) were
eradicated and the marriage of clergy allowed. The imposition of the Prayer Book (which replaced Latin services with English)
led to rebellions in Cornwall and Devon.

Despite his military ability, Seymour was too liberal to deal effectively with Kett's rebellion against land enclosures in Norfolk.
Seymour was left isolated in the Council and the Duke of Northumberland subsequently overthrew him in 1551. Seymour was
executed in 1552, an event which was only briefly mentioned by Edward in his diary: 'Today, the Duke of Somerset had his head
cut off on Tower Hill.'

Northumberland took greater trouble to charm and influence Edward; his powerful position as Lord President of the Council was
based on his personal ascendancy over the King. However, the young king was ailing. Northumberland hurriedly married his son
Lord Guilford Dudley to Lady Jane Grey, one of Henry VIII's great-nieces and a claimant to the throne.

Edward accepted Jane as his heir and, on his death from tuberculosis in 1553, Jane assumed the throne.
Rulers
Lady Jane Grey
The accession of Lady Jane Grey as Queen was
engineered by the powerful Duke of
Northumberland, President of the King's Council, in
the interests of promoting his own dynastic line.

Northumberland persuaded the sickly Edward VI to

name Lady Jane Grey as his heir. As one of Henry
VIII's great-nieces, the young girl was a genuine
claimant to the throne. Northumberland then married
his own son, Lord Guilford Dudley, to Lady Jane.

On the death of Edward, Jane assumed the throne and

her claim was recognised by the Council. Despite
this, the country rallied to Mary, Catherine of
Aragon's daughter and a devout Roman Catholic.

Jane reigned for only nine days and was later

executed with her husband in 1554.
Rulers
Mary I
Mary I was the first Queen Regnant (that is, a queen reigning in her own right rather than a queen through marriage
to a king). Courageous and stubborn, her character was moulded by her early years.

An Act of Parliament in 1533 had declared her illegitimate and removed her from the succession to the throne (she
was reinstated in 1544, but her half-brother Edward removed her from the succession once more shortly before his
death), whilst she was pressurised to give up the Mass and acknowledge the English Protestant Church.
Mary restored papal supremacy in England, abandoned the title of Supreme Head of the Church, reintroduced Roman
Catholic bishops and began the slow reintroduction of monastic orders.

Mary also revived the old heresy laws to secure the religious conversion of the country; heresy was regarded as a
religious and civil offence amounting to treason (to believe in a different religion from the Sovereign was an act of
defiance and disloyalty).

As a result, around 300 Protestant heretics were burnt in three years - apart from eminent Protestant clergy such as
Cranmer (a former archbishop and author of two Books of Common Prayer), Latimer and Ridley, these heretics were
mostly poor and self-taught people.

Apart from making Mary deeply unpopular, such treatment demonstrated that people were prepared to die for the
Protestant settlement established in Henry's reign.

The progress of Mary's conversion of the country was also limited by the vested interests of the aristocracy and gentry
who had bought the monastic lands sold off after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and who refused to return these
possessions voluntarily as Mary invited them to do.
Rulers
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I - the last Tudor monarch - was born at Greenwich on 7
September 1533, the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne
Boleyn. Elizabeth succeeded to the throne on her half-sister's death in
November 1558. She was very well-educated (fluent in six languages),
and had inherited intelligence, determination and shrewdness from both
parents.

Her 45-year reign is generally considered one of the most glorious in

English history. During it a secure Church of England was established.
Its doctrines were laid down in the 39 Articles of 1563, a compromise
between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

Elizabeth herself refused to 'make windows into men's souls ... there is
only one Jesus Christ and all the rest is a dispute over trifles'; she asked
for outward uniformity.

Most of her subjects accepted the compromise as the basis of their faith,
and her church settlement probably saved England from religious wars
like those which France suffered in the second half of the 16th century.
Although autocratic and capricious, Elizabeth had astute political
judgement and chose her ministers well; these included Burghley
(Secretary of State), Hatton (Lord Chancellor) and Walsingham (in
charge of intelligence and also a Secretary of State).
Rulers
Elizabeth I
However, Elizabeth's reign was one of considerable danger and difficulty for many, with threats of invasion from
Spain through Ireland, and from France through Scotland. Much of northern England was in rebellion in 1569-70.
A papal bull of 1570 specifically released Elizabeth's subjects from their allegiance, and she passed harsh laws
against Roman Catholics after plots against her life were discovered.
In 1588, aided by bad weather, the English navy scored a great victory over the Spanish invasion fleet of around
130 ships - the 'Armada'. The Armada was intended to overthrow the Queen and re-establish Roman Catholicism
by conquest, as Philip II believed he had a claim to the English throne through his marriage to Mary.

During Elizabeth's long reign, the nation also suffered from high prices and severe economic depression,
especially in the countryside, during the 1590s. The war against Spain was not very successful after the Armada
had been beaten and, together with other campaigns, it was very costly.

Though she kept a tight rein on government expenditure, Elizabeth left large debts to her successor. Wars during
Elizabeth's reign are estimated to have cost over £5 million (at the prices of the time) which Crown revenues
could not match - in 1588, for example, Elizabeth's total annual revenue amounted to some £392,000.

Despite the combination of financial strains and prolonged war after 1588, Parliament was not summoned more
often. There were only 16 sittings of the Commons during Elizabeth's reign, five of which were in the period
1588-1601. Although Elizabeth freely used her power to veto legislation, she avoided confrontation and did not
attempt to define Parliament's constitutional position and rights.
Religion during Tudors time
Religious change is the best-known impact of the
Tudor era on English history. Henry VIII’s ex-
communication by the Pope in 1533 led to him
establishing his own Church of England. He ensured
that his son, Edward VI, was educated in Protestant
values, but when Edward died at just 15, the
succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary I led to
outbreaks of religious violence.

Mary tried to revive Catholic power and around 300

Protestants were burned as heretics during her reign.
Her half-sister, Elizabeth I, brought forward a
compromise agreement in 1563 which secured the
Church of England and helped avoid a large-scale
religious war. British monarchs today still hold the title
“Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the
Church of England,” which dates from Tudor times.
Culture during the Tudors times

In the early years of the Tudor period, England produced few books or manuscripts; ideas and literature were
typically imported from Europe. However, by Elizabeth's death in 1603 the picture had changed significantly.
Henry VIII enjoyed music and literature and became a patron of the arts, while Elizabeth I continued her father’s
cultural pursuits, encouraging theater and the arts. Literary figures like William Shakespeare thrived under her
influence -- Elizabeth personally attended the first performance of his play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
International Relations during
the Tudors times
Difficult relations with Europe marked much of the Tudor
period. Henry VIII spent large periods of his reign at war
with France, and invested heavily in his navy to increase
English prestige. His daughter, Elizabeth I, spent much of
her reign under threat of war from both France and Spain,
and in 1588 a combination of the English navy and stormy
weather prevented a Spanish invasion led by 122
warships. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s reign also saw the
beginnings of England’s imperial expansion, as ships
captained by men like Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake
explored the globe, setting the scene for the establishment
of English colonies in North America in the 1600s.
Conclusion
The Tudors are the most famous English
royal dynasty, their name remaining at the
forefront of European history.

The Tudors are also important for their

actions, as much as their reputations. They
ruled England during the era when Western
Europe moved from the medieval to the early
modern, and they instituted changes in
government administration, the relationship
between crown and people, the image of the
monarchy and the way people worshipped.

They also oversaw a golden age for English

writing and exploration.
Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty#The_age_of_intrigues_and_plots:_Elizabeth_I

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_rose

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty#Ascent_to_the_throne