Tudor dynasty facts for kids
The Tudor dynasty was a series of kings and queens of England. This line of rulers started in 1485 and lasted until 1603.
History
The dynasty started when Henry VII defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. This was the final stage of the Wars of the Roses. Henry Tudor then became the king of England. Arthur, Prince of Wales, was the oldest son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. He married Catherine of Argon. She was the daughter of Ferdinand II of Argon and Isabella I of Castle). Arthur died in 1502 and did not become King. When Henry VII died in 1509, Arthur's brother, Henry VIII married Catherine and became king.
During her marriage to Henry VIII, Catherine had six children. Only one of these children, Mary, survived. When Catherine became too old to have any more children, Henry divorced her. He then married a new wife, Anne Boleyn. Henry and Boleyn also had a daughter, Elizabeth. Anne Boleyn was executed in 1536. Shortly after, Henry VIII married Jane Seymour of England. She had one son, Edward VI of England, who would later become king himself at the age of 9. Jane died in 1537. Her death was caused by medical problems caused by Edward's birth
Henry married three other wives before his death in 1547. Edward, his only living son, became King after Henry died.
In 1553, Edward became ill. He created the "Devise for Succession.". He said that his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, would be Queen after he died. Lady Jane was queen for only nine days.
Henry's daughter, Mary I of England, was the next ruler of the Tudor dynasty. Mary was a strong believer in Catholicism. As Queen, Mary did many things against hundreds of Protestants. Because of all the executions while she was Queen, she was given the nickname "Bloody Mary"
After Mary's death in 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth I of England became queen. Unlike Mary, Elizabeth was a Protestant. Elizabeth never married or had children. Because she never married, Elizabeth is often called the "Virgin Queen". She was well liked by most of the people of England.
The dynasty ended when Elizabeth died. She had not named a person to be ruler after her death. When she died, James I became King of England. He was the son of Elizabeth's cousin, Mary Stuart. This started the Stuart dynasty.
Religion in England
During the Tudor period, there were many changes in religion. Henry VIII was a Catholic. When the Pope said he could not divorce Catherine, Henry left Catholicism and named himself as head of the Church. The Church was now Protestant. Edward VI was raised a Protestant. He closed all Catholic churches. Mary I was a strong Catholic. She had been raised in Spain because of her Spanish mother, Catherine of Argon. She shut down the Protestant churches and burnt about 300 people for being Protestant. Those people were later called martyrs. Elizabeth was Protestant. When she became queen, the Anglican Church was started. Since then, religion in England has been much calmer.
Rulers of the Tudor dynasty
This is a list of the rulers of the Tudor dynasty:
- Henry VII of England (1485-1509)
- Henry VIII of England (1509-1547)
- Edward VI of England (1547-1553)
- Lady Jane Grey (uncrowned) (1553) (deposed, died 1554)
- Mary I of England (1553-1558)
- Elizabeth I of England (1558-1603)
Images for kids
-
King Henry VII, the founder of the royal house of Tudor
-
Catherine of Aragon: marriage was annulled - by the Church of England - for not producing a male heir to the Tudor dynasty
-
Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, Henry VIII's chief minister responsible for the Dissolution of the Monasteries
-
Henry VIII of England: Henry's quarrels with the Pope led to the creation of the Church of England
-
Thomas Cranmer, Henry's first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, responsible for the Book of Common Prayer during Edward VI's reign
-
The title page of Archbishop Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer, 1549
-
A small boy with a big mind: Edward VI, desperate for a Protestant succession, changed his father's will to allow Lady Jane Grey to become queen
-
Mary I of England, who tried to return England to the Roman Catholic Church
-
Elizabeth I at her coronation on 15 January 1559
-
Mary, Queen of Scots, who conspired with English nobles to take the English throne for herself
-
Pope St. Pius V, who issued the Papal bull excommunicating Elizabeth and relieving her subjects of their allegiance to her
-
The Spanish Armada: Catholic Spain's attempt to depose Elizabeth and take control of England
![]() | Hypatia |
![]() | Agnodice |
![]() | Aglaonice |
![]() | Mary the Jewess |