Innholdsfortegnelse for The Tudors i The Tudors

For many years the exact location of this battle was lost to history. The visitor centre was sited on Ambion Hill, where the battle was thought to have been fought. However, after this was challenged by a number of independent historians, in 2004 the Battlefields Trust began a major survey to find evidence that would pinpoint the exact location of the clash. A wide variety of techniques were used, including place-name and soil analyses, a careful study of source materials and an extensive metal-detecting survey. This established that the marsh, which so many of the sources mentioned, had actually been some 2 miles south west of the traditional site. By 2010, metal detectorists had uncovered a large scatter of medieval cannon balls in the area, together with a number of…

WHAT’S THE STORY? Arguably England’s most famous monarch, the larger-than-life Tudor King is known for his over-indulgence, his lifelong obsession with siring a son and his six wives – two of whom he sent to their deaths. But Henry – the second son who was never meant to be King – was far more than the obese, womanising monarch of film and fiction. He was the father of the English Reformation – the man who severed England from the Roman Catholic Church and permanently changed the nature, and role, of parliament. Henry began his rule as a great Renaissance King. He presided over a court that embraced the new ideas, art, architecture, learning and music of the era. But, as age, injury and ill-health took their toll, he became a…

During June 1520, Henry and his court travelled to France in the hope of forging an alliance with its King, Francis I. The two men had long been rivals, both personally and politically. Francis, three years younger than Henry, was also revered as a great Renaissance ruler and the meeting was a chance for both to display the wealth and grandeur of their respective courts, as well as their personal talents. On 8 June, Henry arrived at the designated meeting point – a valley near Calais known as the Golden Dale – accompanied by 500 horsemen and some 3,000 foot soldiers, and with no expense spared in terms of wealth displayed. When the two Kings met for the first time, “they embraced each other in great friendship and then, dismounting,…

1100 The first royal to be married in Westminster Abbey was Henry I in 1100. It has hosted over a dozen royal weddings since, most recently that of Prince William and Kate Middleton. 1328 Edward III chose York Minster for his wedding to Philippa of Hainault in 1328, even though it was still being built and had no roof. The king got a white wedding of sorts, as it snowed during the ceremony. 1464 Edward IV kept his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville a secret, as she was a widow and commoner. The exact date of their 1464 wedding is still debated. 1503 Henry VII considered a marriage between James IV of Scotland and his daughter, Margaret – a five-year-old. She was bethrothed (by proxy) in 1502, when she was 12…

The 16th century witnessed unprecedented upheaval in the religious beliefs and practices both in England and across Europe. Henry VIII’s desire for an annulment from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, sparked religious turmoil in his kingdom because in order to secure it he had to reject papal authority and make himself head of a new Church of England. But by the time of Henry’s death, England was still a Catholic country. Only during the reign of his son, Edward, and later his younger daughter Elizabeth, did the kingdom fully adopt the new Protestant ideas that were sweeping across Europe. Mary’s short reign was sandwiched in between the two, and she temporarily restored England to the Roman Catholic fold. But the burning of the Protestant ‘heretics’ evoked widespread revulsion and…

FAMILY PLANNING Mary knew that to prevent her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth from succeeding her, she needed to marry a Catholic and produce an heir to secure a Catholic succession. As soon as her coronation was out of the way, Mary made it clear that her first priority was to find a husband. Although her councillors assumed that she would consult them on such a weighty matter as marriage, Mary had already made up her mind. As with her faith, so her choice of husband was inspired by her mother’s homeland. He was Philip of Spain, son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Already inclined to favour Philip because of his Spanish blood, Mary fell madly in love with him upon first seeing his portrait. She refused to listen to…

Across the water, a single burning light moved through the midnight darkness. Then another, and another. Eventually, eight were seen. For the lookouts of the Spanish Armada, it was the sight they’d been dreading. The Spanish knew exactly what these flames were. The English had taken eight ships, packed them with pitch, rags and old timber, daubed the masts and decks with tar and silently sailed them towards the Armada, as it lay anchored off Calais. They’d then set them alight before escaping in boats towed behind the vessels. The Spanish intercepted two of the blazing ships, but the others drifted on, right into the heart of the fleet. Fear took hold of the Spaniards. Fear that the floating infernos would set their own vessels on fire or, worse still,…

1 28 MAY Lisbon The Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia. 2 END OF MAY Plymouth English troops and ships concentrate at Plymouth, under the command of Lord High Admiral Charles Howard. 3 19 JUNE Corunna The Armada makes a month-long stop at Corunna to resupply. It sets sail again on 21 July and, on 29 July, the Armada is sighted from the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall. 4 31 JULY Off the coast of Plymouth The two fleets face each other in the water – the English take a westward position, upwind of the Spanish, while the Armada adopts a crescent formation. At around 9am, the English open fire. The fighting draws to a close by 1pm. 5 2-5 AUGUST Along the…

More than 400 years have passed since the death of the last Tudor monarch, yet our fascination with the dynasty shows no sign of abating, and Tudor history continues to reign on our TV screens. From the imposing figures of Henry VIII and the Virgin Queen, to the dirt and hardship of the streets, it seems we can’t get enough of our Tudor forbears. The 117-year period was one of immense change, full of larger-than-life characters, when the rich lived a life of luxury and comfort, and the poor scraped a living as best they could. But danger lurked around every corner – from religious persecution and foreign invasion, to death from disease, poverty… or the executioner’s blade.…

For nearly 1,000 years, religion in England adhered to the teachings of the Catholic church, led by the Pope in Rome. But by the 16th century, challenges were being made to the authority – and greed – of the Catholic church, starting in 1517 with a German monk named Martin Luther. The criticisms and ideas preached by Luther and his followers (known as Protestants because they were protesting against the Pope) spread throughout Europe, but it wasn’t until the 1530s, during the reign of Henry VIII, that England felt its impact. Convinced that he would never sire a son while he remained married to Catherine of Aragon, and angered by the Pope’s refusal to annul the union, Henry took advantage of the ongoing religious debates and made himself head of…

Hunger, cold and disease were commonplace for the Tudor poor, and a growing population combined with rising prices only served to make life even harder. Aware that something had to be done to combat vagrancy levels, Elizabeth I introduced a number of laws that made caring for the poor a community responsibility and everyone was expected to play their part. CLOTHING DRESSING DOWN HEADDRESS FRAME This copper frame would have been hidden beneath fabric to create the style of headdress known as a gable. All but the very poorest women covered their hair somehow CHILD’S MITTEN This hand knitted mitten was found in the Finsbury area of London. Knitting became very popular in the 16th century SHIRT AND BREECHES Known as ‘slops’, this would have been worn by a Tudor…

Although Henry had won the throne at Bosworth, it was by no means certain that he would be able to maintain it. Enough disgruntled Ricardians remained, particularly in the North, to make rebellion a distinct possibility. Henry strengthened his support by marrying Elizabeth of York – the daughter of Edward IV – and placed the 15-year-old Earl of Warwick, Edward’s nephew, in ‘protective custody’ in the Tower of London. He craftily dated his reign from the day before Bosworth, thus ensuring that anyone fighting for Richard at Bosworth was technically guilty of treason. As it happened, the only significant execution after Bosworth was that of Sir William Catesby, one of Richard’s close associates. Henry preferred to ensure the loyalty of potential opponents by taking bonds from them – sums of…

Born the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York on 28 June 1491, Henry Tudor was never destined for the throne. With his older brother, Arthur, already in line for the throne, it is probable that young Henry was destined for a career in the church. Little detail is known of Henry’s childhood, but he would have received an education fit for a prince with theology, languages, philosophy, music, arithmetic and literature all featuring. His schooling was administered by some of the leading tutors of the day, including Poet Laureate John Skelton, and Thomas More, who would later become Henry’s key counsellor. The Renaissance scholar Erasmus described Henry as possessing “a lively mentality which reached for the stars, and he was able beyond measure to bring to perfection…

Henry’s court was designed to reflect the magnificence and pre-eminence of the King and, unlike his father, Henry happily lavished money on creating a court that was the talk of Europe. But his was also a court of intrigue and danger, and it was the job of Henry’s closest advisors to guide him in the many decisions he, as monarch, was required to make on a daily basis. Thomas Wolsey was the first chief minister of Henry’s reign. The son of an Ipswich butcher, Wolsey was a self-made man who, after graduating from Magdalen College, Oxford, was ordained into the clergy. Wolsey’s administrative skills and devotion to the crown saw him become Henry’s most influential advisor. Between 1515 and 1529, Wolsey’s power was unparalleled. As Lord Chancellor Cardinal, his influence…

On 2 May 1536, Anne Boleyn was arrested at Greenwich Palace and conveyed by barge to the Tower of London. Arriving at the Court Gate in the Byward Tower – not Traitors' Gate – she was in a fragile state. Falling to her knees, she beseeched God to help her, protesting that she was not guilty of the crimes for which she had been convicted. She would have been aware that it was rare for anyone accused of treason to escape condemnation and death. The lords who had brought her committed her to the custody of Sir William Kingston, the Constable of the Tower, who conducted her to her lodging. “I was received with greater ceremony the last time I entered here,” she observed, recalling how she had come to…

HENRY VIII As might be expected for the long-awaited son that he had gone to so much trouble (and so many marriages) to beget, Henry lavished excessive care upon Edward from the moment of his birth. He ordered that “this whole realm’s most precious jewel” should be raised primarily in newly built apartments at Hampton Court, well away from the perpetual sickness that plagued the capital. A strict regime of care, hygiene and security was put in place to protect the infant prince’s health and welfare. No detail was overlooked. A rare glimpse of the Prince’s bedchamber at Hampton Court is provided by a reference to the making of “a frame of scaffold polls over the Prince’s bed to keep away the heat of the Sun”. All of the King’s…

CAUGHT ON CANVAS Robert Dudley commissioned a pair of portraits of the Queen and himself for display at Kenilworth Castle during Elizabeth’s 19-day visit in 1575. This preparatory sketch – and another in black chalk – are all that survive of the works. When Elizabeth I ascended the throne in 1558, she was the most eligible woman in Europe and, before long, had some of the most powerful men in the world clamouring for her hand in marriage. With her father’s auburn hair and her mother’s dark eyes and olive complexion, Elizabeth was widely reputed to have been physically attractive, described by the Venetian ambassador Giovanni Michiel in 1557 as “tall and well formed, with a good skin, although sallow. She has fine eyes and above all a beautiful hand…

On 19 August 1588, Elizabeth addressed her troops at Tilbury. Wearing a man’s breastplate and mounted on a white horse, she delivered one of the most famous speeches ever made by a British monarch: “I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects… I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king and of a king of England too – and take foul scorn that Parma or any other prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm.” When Elizabeth made that speech, the ships of the Armada were hundreds of miles away, approaching the northern coast of Scotland on their retreat to Spain. That…

The Spanish Armada was just one episode in an undeclared war that ran from 1585 until 1604. Throughout that period, England continued to support Dutch rebels against Spain, while the Spanish supported rebellions against English rule in Ireland. Both sides intervened in the French Wars of Religion (1562-98), with the English supporting the Huguenots (Protestants) and the Spanish, the Catholics. The defeat of the Armada is not the key moment in the road to England’s naval supremacy that it is cracked up to be. In 1589, the English launched an Armada of their own. Led by Drake and Sir John Norris, its aims were to destroy ships in northern Spain, land at Lisbon in order to raise a Portuguese revolt and, finally, to seize the Azores. It achieved none of…

WESTMINSTER ABBEY All of the Tudor monarchs were crowned in Westminster Abbey. The coronation of Elizabeth I in 1559 marked a change to the service as, for the first time, English was introduced to the previously all-Latin ceremony THE THAMES As the largest port in the country, London relied on the Thames for communication, trade, drainage and water supply. Its waters supported a thriving fish supply and walruses were reportedly found in the river up to 1456!…

FOOD OF KINGS Isotope analysis of his bones and teeth revealed that, after becoming King, Richard’s diet changed considerably. It appears that once he had the crown, he drank more wine, and ate more indulgent foods including heron and swan. BACK PAIN Richard’s remains confirmed that he suffered a severe curvature of the spine, caused by scoliosis. The condition would have caused him to stand with one shoulder higher than the other, and combat in armour would have likely been exruciating. After his death at Bosworth, Richard III’s body was taken to Greyfriars Friary in Leicester and buried in the church there. But when the friary was dissolved in 1538, its buildings were demolished and Richard’s tomb was lost. Some even said that his bones were unceremoniously dumped in the…

From the beginning of his reign, Henry was viewed as the ultimate Renaissance ruler: educated, handsome, fearless, artistic, virtuous. He was Europe’s ‘golden king’ who ascended the throne as the Renaissance swept across Europe with new ideas on education, religion and the arts. Determined to banish the impression of a thrifty English court instigated by his father, Henry VIII surrounded himself with the country’s brightest lights – handsome young men like himself who jousted, hunted, danced, spoke several languages (Henry himself spoke Spanish, French and Latin) and played music. Court festivities were grand, lavish, and carried out on a huge scale, while contemporary sources rave about the qualities of the Tudor King. Venetian Ambassador Giustinian, writing in 1515, describes Henry as “most excellent in his personal endowments, but… likewise so…

Today, we associate royal weddings with great public celebrations, a grand procession, a magnificent ceremony in Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral or St George’s Chapel at Windsor, and a public appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. But this is not a tradition leading back down the centuries to England’s most married monarch, Henry VIII, and beyond. The modern royal wedding, as we know it, dates only from 1840, when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert. Prior to that, royal weddings were usually private affairs, solemnised in the royal chapels with little public fanfare. KATHERINE OF ARAGON Henry VIII’s six weddings were all private. When, not quite 18, he became king in 1509, it was a matter of political and dynastic necessity that he marry and beget an heir as soon…

37 The age at which Mary became queen, making her the oldest Tudor monarch to take the throne NEXT IN LINE Following Edward’s early death, and the brief coup that led to Lady Jane Grey being installed as queen, Mary rallied her supporters and claimed the throne. Mary I is not the best known of the Tudors. Her brief reign, and that of her brother Edward, tend to be overshadowed by the looming presence of her father, Henry VIII, and his more famous daughter, Elizabeth I. If Mary is referred to at all, then it is as ‘Bloody’. It is certainly true that her obsession with returning England to the Roman Catholic faith led her to send hundreds of Protestants to the flames. But was she really as bloody as…

PLACES TO VISIT HATFIELD HOUSE, HERTFORDSHIRE Visit the house where Elizabeth spent many childhood years, and see the spot where she heard the news of her accession. www.hatfield-house.co.uk ALSO LOOK OUT FOR ▸ Step inside the reconstructed Globe Theatre, London ▸ Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, where Elizabeth visited Dudley ▸ See the Tower of London, where the Queen was imprisoned BOOKS ELIZABETH’S BEDFELLOWS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF THE QUEEN’S COURT by Anna Whitelock A fascinating insight into the ‘private’ life of Elizabeth I. THE MARRIAGE GAME by Alison Weir Alison Weir’s story of Elizabeth’s relationships with her suitors makes for some exciting historical fiction. ALSO LOOK OUT FOR ▸ Elizabeth: Apprenticeship by David Starkey ▸ Terrifying Tudors from the Horrible Histories range, by Terry Deary ▸ The Children of Henry VIII…

It would be a mistake to think that Philip of Spain had long wanted an open war with Elizabeth of England. On the contrary, he’d spent years trying to avoid one. For much of the first half of the 16th, century England and Spain had been allies against their common enemy, France. In 1554, Philip married Mary Tudor and the pair jointly ruled England as King and Queen. But the marriage was not a success. It produced no heirs and the English resented being a minor part of Philip’s large empire. Matters were made worse when England was dragged into Philip’s war with France and ended up losing Calais. When Mary died in 1558, Philip ceased to be King of England, so he proposed marriage to his wife’s successor, the…

The Armada battle had barely started when one Spanish ship, the Nuestra Señora del Rosario, was involved in two collisions that immobilised her, forcing the Spaniards to leave her behind. That night, to ensure that the English didn’t blunder into the Armada in the darkness, Francis Drake was given the task of leading the fleet with a lantern on the stern of his ship, the Revenge. At one stage, the light vanished only to reappear a little later. Admiral Howard gave chase to catch up with it but, as dawn broke, he realised that Drake was nowhere to be seen. The light he was following came not from the Revenge but from the Armada. To avoid being overwhelmed, he beat a hasty retreat. Where had Drake gone? It seems that…