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History of England: Tudor Age

1. Introduction Tudor Age is a name of period in history of England, dated between 14 ! and 1"#$% &asi'ally, it refers to the rule of (udor )ynasty in England% (he )ynasty 'alled also House of Tudor was a royal house of *elsh origin% (he role of 'reating this dynasty was signifi'ant as it put end on (he *ars of +oses, series of 'i-il wars 'aused by the ri-alisation between supporters of the .ouse of /an'aster 0+ed +ose as a symbol1 and supporters of the .ouse of 2ork 0*hite +ose as a symbol1% (udors reign ha-e been seen as su''essful and impro-ing the importan'e and strength of the 'ountry% (he (udors e3tended their power beyond modern England, a'hie-ing the full union of England and the 4rin'ipality of *ales in 1!45 and asserting English authority o-er the Kingdom of 6reland% 2. Henry VII (he (udor dynasty7s first representati-e was .enry 866, sir of 6reland and former king of England% .enry won the throne when he defeated +i'hard 666 at the &attle of &osworth 9ield in 14 !% .e was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle% .enry was able to establish himself as a 'andidate not only of the traditional /an'astrian supporters, but of supporters of the ri-al .ouse of 2ork% .is -i'tory was reinfor'ed by his marriage to Elizabeth of 2ork : the heir of her father, in that way they had symboli'ally united the former warring fa'tions under a new dynasty% .e was su''essful in restoring the power and stability of the English monar'hy after the politi'ally diffi'ult situation during the *ars of the +oses% .e was a fis'ally prudent monar'h who restored the fortunes by introdu'ing effi'ient me'hanisms of ta3ation% .e needed to deal with se-eral rebellions and he put a great effort at firming his reign, whi'h ended up with su''ess% .e founded a long;lasting dynasty and, after a reign of nearly 54 years, was pea'efully su''eeded by his son, .enry 8666% 3. Henry VIII .enry 866 died at 1!#<, lea-ing su''ession to his 1 years old son% =oon after king7s burial the new .enry 8666 suddenly de'lared that he would marry Catherine of >ragon : =panish prin'ess, a widow after his older brother% (he marriage was a de'ision made by .enry 866, who tried to maintain realtions between England and =pain before his death% =oon after the 'oronation, Catherine got pregnant, but the 'hild : a girl : was stillborn% >bout four months later, she again be'ame pregnant%?n @ew 2ear7s )ay 1!11, the 'hild : .enry : was born% >fter the grief of losing their first 'hild, the 'ouple were pleased to ha-e a boy and there were festi-ities to 'elebrate% Anfortunately, the 'hild died se-en weeks later% Catherine mis'arried again in 1!14, but ga-e birth su''essfully in 9ebruary 1!1" to a girl, 4rin'ess Bary% *hen it be'ame 'lear to .enry that the (udor dynasty was at risk, he 'onsulted his 'hief minister Cardinal (homas *olsey about the possibility of di-or'ing Catherine% >round this time, .enry 'ondu'ted an affair with Bary &oleyn, Catherine7s lady;in;waiting% 9ew years later, he enamoured in Bary7s sister, >nne &oleyn% >t first she resisted his attempts to sedu'e her, and refused to be'ome his mistress% 6t soon be'ame the King7s absorbing desire to annul his marriage to Catherine% *hen .enry 'onfronted Catherine in 1!5C, 'laiming that their marriage had ne-er been -alid : the ?ld (estament forbade marrying the wife of your brother% .enry7s se'retary, *illiam Knight, was sent to 4ope Clement 866 to sue for the annulment% (he mission did not su''eed ; the pope forbade .enry

to pro'eed to a new marriage% 6t 'ould be influential on su'h a de'ision that the Emperor Charles 8, a Catherine7s nephew resisted the annulment of his aunt7s marriage, as he had already imprisoned the 4ope on'e% >r'hibishop *olsey bore the blame% Con-in'ed that he was trea'herous, >nne &oleyn maintained pressure until *olsey was dismissed from publi' offi'e in 1!5<% .e then began a plot to ha-e >nne for'ed into e3ile and began 'ommuni'ation with Dueen Catherine and the 4ope to that end% 6n order to allow .enry to di-or'e his wife, the English parliament ena'ted laws breaking ties with +ome, and de'laring the king =upreme .ead of the Chur'h of England % &reaking the power of +ome in England pro'eeded slowly% 6n 1!$5, a lawyer who was a supporter of >nne, (homas Cromwell, brought before 4arliament a number of a'ts in'luding the =uppli'ation against the ?rdinaries and the Submission of the lergy, whi'h re'ognised !oyal Su"remacy o-er the 'hur'h% 9ollowing these a'ts, (homas Bore resigned as Chan'ellor, lea-ing Cromwell as .enry7s 'hief minister% &y Treasons Act 01!$41 it be'ame high treason, punishable by death, to refuse to a'knowledge the new order of things% >nne was 'rowned Eueen on 1!$$% (he Eueen ga-e birth to a daughter, 'hristened Elizabeth% +eje'ting the de'isions of the 4ope, 4arliament -alidated the marriage of .enry and >nne% Catherine7s daughter, Bary, was de'lared illegitimate% .owe-er, >nne with her strong personality and unlikness to be the subordinate and absolute obiedent, lost king7s affe'tion% >nne may ha-e had later pregnan'ies whi'h ended in mis'arriage or stillbirth% (homas Cromwell stepped in, 'laiming that >nne had taken lo-ers during her marriage to .enry, and she was tried for high treason, wit'h'raft and in'estF these 'harges were most likely fabri'ated, but she was found guilty, and e3e'uted in 1!$"% .enry married again, for the third time, to Gane =eymour, the daughter of a *iltshire knight% Gane be'ame pregnant, and in 1!$C produ'ed a son, who be'ame King Edward 86 following .enry7s death in 1!4C% Gane died of fe-er only a few days after the birth, lea-ing .enry de-astated% .e had been married three times more, with >nne of Cle-es,Catherine .oward and Catherine 4arr% >s a ruler .enry began his reign with hea-y relian'e on ad-isers and ended with 'omplete 'ontrol% .e tended to e3e'ute anyone disobiedient or in'on-ienient to his plans% 9inan'ially, the reign of .enry was a near; disaster% >lthough he inherited a prosperous e'onomy, .enry7s hea-y spending and high ta3es damaged the e'onomy, but his generosity make .enry traditionally 'ited as one of the founders of the +oyal @a-y% .e died in1!4C at the age of !" #. Ed$ard VI Apon .enry7s death, his young son as'ended the throne as Edward 86% .owe-er, sin'e he was in his minority, he largely ruled through his guardians% Edward =eymour, Edward7s un'le, Eui'kly seized 'omplete 'ontrol, and 'reated himself )uke of =omerset% .e aimed to unite England and ='otland by marrying Edward to the young ='ottish Eueen Bary, and aimed to for'ibly impose the English +eformation on the Chur'h of ='otland% =omerset fa'ed less manageable opposition from his younger brother (homas =eymour, who demanded the go-ernorship of the king7s person and a greater share of power% Asing Edward7s support to 'ir'um-ent =omerset7s opposition, (homas =eymour se'retly married .enry 86667s widow Catherine 4arr, who was taking 'are of 11;year;old /ady Gane Hrey and the 1$;year;old /ady Elizabeth% 6n 1!4 Catherine 4arr dis'o-ered (homas =eymour embra'ing /ady Elizabeth% >s a result, Elizabeth was remo-ed from Catherine 4arr7s household% 6n 1!4<, the Coun'il had (homas =eymour arrested on -arious 'harges, in'luding finan'ial fraud% =eymour was 'ondemned and beheaded on 5# Bar'h 1!4<% Edward fell under the influen'e of another noble, who remained his guardian until young king7s death% age% (hroughout his reign, Edward was manipulated by his guardians% .owe-er, he did ha-e his own influen'e, espe'ially in terms of religion% .e was de-outly 4rotestant, and thus brought England firmly into that religious 'amp%6n 1!4<, Edward ordered the publi'ation of the &ook of Common 4rayer, 'ontaining the forms of worship for daily and =unday 'hur'h ser-i'es% (he 'ontro-ersial new book was not wel'omed by either reformers or Catholi' 'onser-ati-es% 6t was during Edward7s reign that 4rotestantism was established for the first time in England with reforms that in'luded the abolition of 'leri'al 'eliba'y and the Bass

and the imposition of 'ompulsory ser-i'es in English% .e also remo-ed both of his sisters from the line of su''ession, 'hoosing instead to pass the 'rown to his 'ousin /ady Gane Hrey% %. &ary I >lthough te'hni'ally remo-ed from the su''ession by Edward7s law, Bary was -ery astute, and through a series of military and politi'al mo-es managed to seize the 'rown for herself% =he summarily had se-eral of her brother7s 'ounselors e3e'uted, as well as her unfortunate 'ousin Gane ; who has 'ome down to history as the 'ine (ays )ueen, due to the short length of her theoreti'al reign% )espite the fa't that she was at first lo-ed by her subje'ts, it soon be'ame 'lear that Bary7s main goal was to restore the Catholi' faith to England% 6n her determination to a'hie-e it and in order to se'ure her throne from 4rotestant threats, she had many 4rotestants burnt at the stake between 1!!! and 1!! % &e'ause of that she obtained her dark ni'kname of I&loody Bary%I =he further alienated her subje'ts by marrying her 'ousin, 4hilip 66 of =pain% (hey were not happy 'ouple, as 4hilip found her unattra'ti-e, and only spent a minimal amount of time with her% (he unfortunate Bary died 'hildless in 1!! % Bary7s reign, howe-er, introdu'ed a new 'oining system that would be used until the 1 th 'entury, and her marriage to 4hilip 66 'reated new trade routes for England% Eli+abeth I >fter the death of her sister, Elizabeth as'ended the throne and be'ame one of the most well; lo-ed monar'hs in all of English history% =he soon settled the religious Euestion with a number of 'ompromises and,managed to establish some sort of pea'e among her subje'ts% ?ne of her first mo-es as Eueen was the establishment of an English 4rotestant 'hur'h, of whi'h she be'ame the =upreme Ho-ernor% (his Elizabethan +eligious =ettlement later e-ol-ed into today7s Chur'h of England% 6t was e3pe'ted that Elizabeth would marry and produ'e an heir so as to 'ontinue the (udor line% =he ne-er did, nethertheless, she managed to keep England largely safe from e3ternal for'es, due to the fa't that she used the possibility of marriage to keep the other monar'hs of Europe at bay% >lthough 4hilip 66 0her former brother;in;law1 attempted to in-ade as a result of Elizabeth7s e3e'ution of the Catholi' Bary, Dueen of ='ots, his S"anish Armada was defeated in 1! , and England remained safe% .owe-er, Elizabeth is probably best known for her patronage of the arts% =hakespeare flourished during the latter part of her reign, and su'h was her influen'e that her entire reign 'ame to be known as the Eli+abethan Era, one of the ri'hest and most prosperous times in English history% Elizabeth was well;lo-ed by her subje'ts, although she had lost some of her prestige toward the end of her reign% .owe-er, the unfortunate traits of her su''essors the =tuarts would lead many in England to remember fondly the days when IHood Dueen &essI ruled o-er the kingdom% ,. Summary

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Clearly, the (udors were a powerful and influential family, whi'h , throughout many diffi'ulties and 'ompli'ations, establish England as a powerful, united and well;de-eloped 'ountry% (he (udors period showed leading the English people from Bedie-al era to 'reation of the English +eformation and +enaissan'e%