What is the Tudor period?

Answer 1

"The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor (Welsh: Tudur) was an English royal dynasty that lasted 118 years, beginning in 1485. The founder was Henry Tudor, a descendent of an illegitimate son of John of Gaunt, the first Duke of Lancaster, the third son of Edward III through his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort. Henry VII was also a descendent of Edward I through his great-grandmother, Margaret Holland, the wife of John Beaufort, the son of John of Gaunt. Henry allied himself with the Lancastrian King Henry VI of England, though later pledged allegiance to the Yorkist Edward IV of England after his return to the throne in 1471. , was responsible for modernising national government. Despite failed attempts during his reign to re-introduce Roman Catholicism, Henry VIII was succeeded by his devoutly Protestant son, Edward VI, who attempted to cement the Protestant religion by introducing the Book of Common Prayer. His successor, the devoutly Catholic Mary I, overturned these attempts, and burned hundreds of Protestants at the stake for heresy. Her attempts, however, were also overturned when Elizabeth I re-introduced Protestantism during her long forty-five-year reign between 1558 and 1603." None of Henry VIII's children had any children of their own. After Elizabeth I's death in 1603, the crown passed to Henry VII's great-grandson, James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England. The Tudor dynasty was succeeded by the House of Stuart. "The Tudor dynasty was descended from the powerful and successful Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffydd, through his daughter Gwenllian Rhys, who married Ednyfed Fychan, seneschal of Gwynedd under Llewelyn the Great. The family first gained recognition in 1428-9, when Owen Tudor contracted a secret and illegal marriage to Catherine of Valois, the widow of Henry V.[1] The couple had three sons, two of whom, Jasper and Edmund, became prominent. Owen Tudor was punished for marrying the queen dowager, but his children by Catherine were recognised by Henry VI. Jasper Tudor was created Earl of Pembroke, and Edmund was created Earl of Richmond. Henry VI arranged Edmund's marriage to Margaret Beaufort, a wealthy heiress and a direct descendent of John of Gaunt, the first Duke of Lancaster, through an illegitimate son by Katherine Swynford. Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII of England, was the issue of this marriage. Edmund remained firmly loyal to the Lancastrian Henry VI during the Wars of the Roses, and died, imprisoned by Edward IV at Carmarthen Castle, on November 1, 1456. His son, Henry, was born two months later in 1457; and when Edward IV became king in 1461, he granted the infant's wardship to William, Lord Herbert, one of his major Welsh supporters. Henry lived under Edward IV until 1470, when Henry VI was restored. Henry Tudor was granted an audience with the restored king, and spent time with his Lancastrian uncle Jasper Tudor. Edward IV was once again restored in 1471, and Henry Tudor went into exile. However, Margaret Beaufort's marriage to a prominent Yorkist, Thomas Stanley, the first Earl of Derby, brought the Tudors influence at Court. Edward IV allowed Henry to inherit Margaret's estates when she died. Edward IV died in 1483. His son Edward became King Edward V, but both he and his brother Richard, Duke of York were presumably murdered and disposed of in the Tower of London. Their uncle, Edward IV's brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, seized power and declared himself Richard III of England. Henry Tudor, the last senior-surviving dynastic Lancastrian, fought Richard for the throne at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Henry won, and Richard was killed; Henry was declared Henry VII of England and claimed the throne by right of conquest (his claim through an illegitimate son of John of Gaunt was, at best, extremely weak). He also married Edward's eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, thus uniting the warring royal houses of Lancaster and York (also, any issue would be descended from a legitimate royal house through his wife). They were married on January 18, 1486. Henry's success took place in essence in a power vacuum: the fractious English nobility had bled itself close to death in the thirty years prior to his victory at Bosworth Field, allowing him to consolidate power and establish the monarchy on an entirely new basis. Henry, a shrewd and careful man, built up the powers of the lesser magnates, who depended on the crown for their advancement, at the expense of the traditional aristocratic houses."