The Tudors

English House of Plantagenet vs. French House of Valois

1337-1453

Series of battles

People went home for the harvest and in winter

The Hundred Years War

House of Lancaster

War of the Roses

House of York

1455-1487, descendents of the House of Plantagenet fought for

control of England.

Elizabeth of York

Tudor Dynasty

Henry VII

Henry Tudor (House of Lancaster) seized the throne and married Elizabeth in 1485.

The Tudor Rose combines elemtns of both the Yorkist White and Lancasteran Red Roses.

Arthur, 1486-1502

Arthur, Prince of Wales

Katherine of Aragon

When Arthur died, 20 weeks after their wedding, Henry VII should have lost Katherine’s dowry. Instead, he held her in limbo, promising to marry her to the new heir, Henry, while simultaneously negotiating for other brides.

Katherine, age 23

Henry VIII

Henry, age 17

“Untrained to the exacting art of kingship,” Henry reigned from 1509 to his death in 1547.

According to the day’s standards, Henry was marrying his “sister.” At issue was whether Katherine and Arthur had consummated their marriage. She claimed they had not, leaving her free to marry Henry. When Henry took the throne, he married Katherine without obtaining the papal dispensation that would make the marriage legitimate.

Princess Mary daughter of Henry and Katherine

Between 1510 and 1518, Katherine had 6 children, three girls and three boys. Most were stillborn, one lived 7 days.

Only Mary, born in 1516, survived.

At the time, women did not inherit the crown.

By 1585, it was clear that 40-year-old Katherine was unlikely to produce a male child. In order to avoid a war when he died, he had three choices. Legitimize his bastard son – war would ensueMarry Mary off early and hope she produced a

son before he died – highly unlikelyPut Katherine aside and marry someone who

could have children

The King’s Great Matter

Born 1501, she was considered beautiful and well educated. Unlike her sister, she refused to become Henry’s mistress.

Anne was also a Protestant.

Anne Boleyn

A former monk, Martin Luther challenged the abuses of the Catholic Church and the Pope.

In 1517, he published his Ninety-five Theses.

His ideas spread throughout Europe.

Protestant Reformation

Translated the Bible into English.

Spent most of his life in hiding.

Argued that kings hold ultimate power, above and beyond that of the Pope.

William Tyndale

Unwisely opposed Henry’s divorce.

From 1527 to 1533, the Pope refused to annul Henry’s marriage to Katherine.

Ann refused to sleep with him unless he married her first.

In 1533, 5he Pope excommunicated Henry.

Henry declared himself head of the church and granted himself a divorce.

Katherine died in exile in 1536.

Divorce

Anne and Henry married Jan 25, 1533

She was called the King’s Whore

Their daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was born September 7, 1533

Anne suffered three miscarriages

On May 2, 1536, Anne was arrested for high treason

Henry’s Second Marriage

Anne was accused of having taken a series of lovers, including her own brother.

Despite a lack of evidence, all the men and Anne herself was convicted and sentenced to die.

Anne was beheaded on May 17, 1536.

I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that,…but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign

over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign

lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to

judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me.

O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.

Anne’s Death

Born in 1508, Henry married Jane 11 days after Anne’s beheading.

She was sympathetic to Katherine and brought Mary back to court.

On October 12, 1537, she had a son, Edward.

Nine days later she died.

Jane Seymour

Henry married Anne on the strength of this portrait.

When he met her, he didn’t like her.

Their marriage lasted from Jan 6 – July 9, 1540.

Anne gratefully accepted an annulment.

Anne of Cleves

At age 13, she had an affair with her music teacher.

She had another affair, with Francis Dereham, in 1528. They may have had a “precontract,” a form of marriage.

She was 17 to Henry’s 51 when they wed in 1540, 11 days after he put Anne of Cleves away.

Early in 1541, she is said to have had an affair with Thomas Culpepper. This led to blackmail.

Katherine Howard

In late 1541, her indiscretions became known. Although the “precontract” would have saved

her life, she said there was none and that she had been raped.

In 1541, a new law made it illegal to fail to mention previous sexual relationships when marrying a king. This made her guilty of treason.

She was beheaded on February 13.

Katherine Howard’s Downfall

Henry’s last wife was also his oldest, 29 when they married in 1543. And she was the only one who had been married before.

She may have been a Protestant.

After Henry’s death in 1547, she retired from court, married again, and may have died in childbirth.

Katherine Parr

Became king when he was 9 years old.

His reign was filled with economic and social problems, riots, and rebellions.

His regents (who ruled in his stead) created a truly protestant state.

Edward VI

On his deathbed – he was 16 - he arranged for the Protestant Lady Jane Grey to become queen.

Married to John Dudley, son of a powerful family, Jane was the granddaughter of Henry VII’s sister Mary and Edward’s cousin.

Nine days after her coronation as queen, the government decided to back Mary as queen.

The Nine-Days Queen

Convicted of treason, she was beheaded a few months later.

The oldest surviving child of Henry VIII, Mary remained a Catholic.

She went to war against Lady Jane and triumphed on August 3, 1553. She was wildly popular.

37 years old, she quickly married another Catholic, Philip of Spain. This was not a popular decision.

Mary I

Mary’s power rested in being Catholic. Under Catholicism, her mother’s marriage was valid and she was legitimate, eligible to rule. Under Protestantism, she was a bastard and could not be queen.

She proceeded to re-establish Catholicism in England and executed 300 Protestants who failed to convert.

Bloody Mary

In September 1554, Mary appeared to be pregnant. Arrangements were made for Elizabeth to view the birth and for Philip to become king.

In July 1555, her belly receded. She was not and had never been pregnant. Scholars debate the cause of this episode.

Philip returned to Spain. Elizabeth remained at Court. Arrangements were made for Mary Queen of Scots to ascend the throne at Mary Tudor’s death.

Mary’s “Pregnancy”

When Philip left, Mary again thought herself pregnant, and again was wrong.

She acknowledged Elizabeth as her heir.

She died November 17, 1558, from influenza, at the age of 42.

Mary’s Death

Born in 1533, she ascended the throne in 1558 at the age of 25.

She tolerated both Catholics and Protestants.

She never married and was known as the Virgin Queen. The state of Virginia is named after her.

Elizabeth I

1558 – 1603During her reign, arts,

poetry, exploration, and scholarship flourished. William ShakespearePiracy on the high seasColonized the AmericasDefeat of the Spanish

ArmadaExecution of Mary, Queen

of Scotts, rival claimant to the English throne

Elizabethan Era

Elizabeth named James Stewart, king of Scotland, as her heir. He was the Protestant son of rival claimant, Mary, Queen of Scotts.

Shakespeare continued to write during his reign.

He authorized the first official version of the Bible written in English.

James I