The house of Tudor

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Introduction

I decided to write this essay, because, I am really interested in English history. The five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty are among the most well-known figures in Royal history. Of Welsh origin, Henry VII succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York to found the highly successful Tudor house. He was succeeded by Henry VIII, who is famous for his six wives. This dynasty ruled in Britain for 118 eventful years.

Henry VIII was followed to the throne by his children Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. (Another Tudor descendant, Jane Grey, was put on the throne after Edward VI's death but was overthrown after only nine days.) They increased the influence of the monarchy, established the Church of England, and made England a world power.

When Elizabeth I died in 1603, the Tudor dynasty ended. But the Stuarts, who succeeded the Tudors, were descended from Owen Tudor. Even the modern royal Windsor family can trace its ancestry back to the handsome Welsh squire who married Queen Catherine of Valois.

1.King Henry VII

1.1 The founding of dynasty

The founder of the royal Tudor dynasty was Henry VII's grandfather Owen Tudor, a well-born Welsh man who served as a squire of the body to England's King Henry V. The king died in 1422 and some years later his widow, Catherine of Valois, is said to have married the handsome Tudor, although it is possible they were never legally married.

Henry V was succeeded by his infant son, Henry VI. The new king (who became insane as an adult) was little more than a pawn in the so-called Wars of the Roses, a series of power struggles between the ruling House of Lancaster and the rival House of York. Owen Tudor was a staunch supporter of the king. In 1461 Tudor led an army into battle against Yorkists forces at Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire. The Yorkist side won; Tudor was killed; Henry VI lost his throne and the Yorkist claimant, Edward IV, became king.

1.2 Henry Tudor

Owen's son Edmund had married Margaret Beaufort, who was descended from King Edward III's son John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster. Edmund died while Margaret was pregnant with their first child, Henry, who was born on January 28, 1457 at Pembroke Castle in Wales. At first Henry was kept hidden in Wales by his uncle, Jasper Tudor. In 1471 Henry VI died - he may have been murdered - in the Tower of London, and Henry Tudor became the Lancastrian claimant to the throne. Fearing for his nephew's safety, Jasper Tudor smuggled him to Brittany (in France).

In 1483 Edward IV died suddenly and his young sons, Edward V and Richard, "disappeared" in the Tower of London. Their uncle, who had imprisoned the boys, swiftly crowned himself Richard III. Not surprisingly, he was an unpopular king. In 1485 Henry Tudor returned to Wales, raised an army, invaded England, and defeated Richard III at the battle of Bosworth Field. Richard died in the battle, and Henry Tudor became Henry VII, the first Tudor king.

In 1486 Henry married Richard's niece, Elizabeth of York, uniting the houses of Lancaster and York and ending the Wars of the Roses (although Henry did have to deal with Yorkist uprisings early in his reign).

An Elizabethan writer, Sir Francis Bacon, said that Henry VII was not an indulgent husband because "his aversion to the House of York was so predominant in him as it found place not only in his wars and councils but in his chamber and bed." Despite this supposed aversion, Henry and Elizabeth managed to have eight children. The first child, Arthur, died in his teens. Less than a year later Elizabeth died giving birth to her last child, who also died. Two other children had died young, so Henry VII was left with just three offspring: Margaret, who was already the queen of Scotland; Henry, the future king of England; and Mary, a future queen of France.

In 1509 Henry VII died of tuberculosis. He had brought law and order to England after years of chaos, and made the country important in the eyes of the world. He is not, however, the Tudor king best remembered today. That honour belongs to his infamous successor, the much-married Henry VIII.

1.3 King Henry VIII

Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491. His father and mother, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, were loving parents, although they saw little of their children. Henry, their second son, was styled the Duke of York. He had his own servants and minstrels, and a fool named John Goose. He even had a whipping boy who was punished when Henry did something wrong.

Henry VII loved entertainers, and the court attracted acrobats, jesters, magicians and musicians. Prince Henry enjoyed music and grew up to be an accomplished musician (although he did not write "Greensleeves," as legend suggests). At the age of 10 he could play many instruments, including the fife, harp, viola and drums.

Henry's older brother Arthur married a Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, when he was fifteen. Prince Arthur danced at his wedding and seemed to be in good health, but within a few months he was dead. Some historians think Arthur had tuberculosis.

Young Henry was now heir to the throne. He was guarded at all times and allowed to see few people. Henry was a very tall, athletic, handsome teenager. He kept his exuberant personality under control on public occasions because he feared his father's temper. He received little training for his future role as king, and would rely heavily on his counsellors in the early years of his reign.

In 1509 Henry VII died of tuberculosis and his son became King Henry VIII. He was 17.

Although most people today think of Henry VIII as a fat tyrant, in his youth he was admired for his intelligence, good looks, good nature and athletic ability. One of his contemporaries wrote that he was "one of the best men that lived in his time, in manners more than a man, most amiable, courteous and benign in gesture unto all persons."

But of course, Henry is remembered today for just one thing - well, six things. Six wives, to be exact. He was married to Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Katherine Parr.

1.4 Edward VI

The King's son

Edward VI was born on October 12, 1537. His parents were England's King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife. For more than a quarter century Henry had desperately wanted a son, and Edward's birth caused great rejoicing. But Queen Jane soon fell ill with childbed fever, and on October 24 she died.

Until the age of six Edward was raised by his nurse, Mother Jack, and other servants. During that time Henry took two wives in quick succession, but both marriages ended badly; Anne of Cleves was discarded because the king found her ugly, and Katherine Howard was executed for adultery. In 1543 Henry married Katherine Parr, who became a loving stepmother to Edward and his older half sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. She was a highly learned woman who personally oversaw Prince Edward's education.

Edward's tutors taught him geography, government, history, French, German, Greek, and Latin. He was also given lessons in etiquette, fencing, horseback riding, music and other gentlemanly pursuits. Perhaps most important to Edward was his study of the Scriptures. He became a devout Protestant even though his father, who had severed England's connection to the Roman Catholic Church, remained conservative and mostly Catholic in his beliefs.

Although Edward was serious and studious, at times he displayed a savage temper. According to one account, he once tore a living falcon into four pieces.

The Boy King

Somerset's brother, Lord High Admiral Thomas Seymour, was jealous of Somerset and schemed to put himself in power. The admiral was arrested and charged with treason. Somerset hesitated to sign his brother's death warrant, so Edward gave the council permission to have his uncle beheaded. Somerset himself later fell from the king's favour and lost his role as Protector. The duke of Northumberland took control of the king and council, and eventually Somerset, like his brother, was arrested and charged with treason. Under pressure from Northumberland, fourteen-year-old Edward signed Somerset's death warrant. Somerset was executed in 1552.

By this time Edward had completed his education and was participating in council meetings. It was decided that the king would take charge of the country at age sixteen. This was bad news for his sister Mary an ardent Catholic who refused to cooperate with Edward's religious reforms. However, Edward got along well with his other sister, Elizabeth, a moderate Protestant.

Edward suffered bouts of measles and smallpox in April 1552, and from that time his health declined. By the next spring it was obvious that the king was dying of consumption (tuberculosis). His father's will had specified that Mary should become queen if Edward died without children, but Northumberland had different ideas. He persuaded Edward to name the Protestant Lady Jane Grey as his successor. Lady Jane was the granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister Mary; she was also Northumberland's daughter-in-law, and through her Northumberland hoped to rule England.

On July 6, 1553 Edward whispered his last prayer and died. He was fifteen years old. He would be succeeded -- briefly -- by the unfortunate Lady Jane.

1.5 Jane Grey

The unhappy childhood

Lady Jane Grey was born in 1537, just two days before King Edward VI, and may have been his friend in childhood. Her father was Henry Grey, the marquis of Dorset (later the duke of Suffolk). Her mother was Frances Brandon, a niece of Henry VIII. At that time, Frances Brandon was third in the line of succession to the throne. Jane had two younger sisters, Katherine and Mary.

Jane's parents were, in her words, "sharp and severe" to her. She once told a visitor to her family home, Bradgate Manor, that her mother and father expected to do everything "as perfectly as God made the world, or else I am sharply taunted, so cruelly threatened that I think myself in hell." She said that her parents pinched her and abused her in other ways she would not name out of respect for them.

She found refuge in her studies, which she enjoyed so much that she cried when her lessons were over for the day. "Whatsoever I do else, but learning, is full of grief, trouble, fear, and whole misliking," she said.

Jane's parents had big dreams for their intellectual eldest daughter. They hoped she would marry her cousin Edward and thus become queen of England. When Jane was nine, her parents sent her to live with Henry VIII's widow, Katherine Parr, and Katherine's new husband, Thomas Seymour. Jane was happy with the Seymours, but Katherine soon died and Thomas Seymour was arrested, forcing Jane to return to her parents.

Once, on a visit to Henry VIII's daughter Mary, Jane openly disparaged Mary's Catholic beliefs. Although Mary was hurt, she later sent Jane a pretty velvet dress to wear to court. Jane, who thought fine clothes were sinful, tried to refuse the gift, saying it would be "a shame to follow my Lady Mary against God's word," but her parents insisted she wear it in the hope that it would impress the king. Many people expected Edward to marry Jane, but he wanted to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, or some other foreign princess.

By the time Jane was 15, her parents had abandoned their dream of marrying her to King Edward. Jane now believed that she was betrothed to the duke of Somerset's son, Lord Hertford. She was stunned when her parents informed her that she was instead to marry Guildford Dudley, the youngest son of the duke of Northumberland. Guildford was a handsome young man, one year Jane's senior, but it seems Jane didn't like him very much. She refused to marry him, and went on refusing until her mother literally beat her into submission.

The unwanted Crown

Jane married Guildford Dudley in May of 1553. The marriage was consummated the following month at Northumberland's command, but the couple continued to live apart. Jane's new mother-in-law visited her on July 3 and told her, "His Majesty hath made you heir to his realm." Jane said later that this unexpected news "greatly disturbed" her.

Three days later the king died. Northumberland kept the death secret for several days to prevent Edward's sister Mary from claiming the crown. But on July 9 Mary, who was in Norfolk, heard the news and proclaimed herself queen. On the same day Jane was taken to Northumberland's house and led to a throne. Everyone bowed or curtsied to her. Realizing what was happening, Jane began to shake. Northumberland made a speech announcing that Jane was the new queen, at which Jane fell on the floor in a brief faint. No one came to her assistance and she remained on the floor, sobbing.

Finally she got to her feet and announced, "The crown is not my right, and pleaseth me not. The Lady Mary is the rightful heir."

When her parents, husband, and father-in-law remonstrated with her, Jane dropped to her knees and prayed for guidance. She asked God to give her "such spirit and grace that I may govern to Thy glory and service, and to the advantage of the realm." Then she took her seat on the throne and allowed those present to kiss her hand and swear their allegiance to her.

The next day Jane made her state entry into London. Most people felt that Mary was the rightful heir to the throne, and very few cheers greeted Jane. She was taken to the Tower of London, as was traditional. She protested when the Lord High Treasurer brought her the crown, but after a while she agreed to wear it. When the treasurer said that another crown would be made for her husband, Jane was displeased. Despite Guildford's rage and tears, she insisted that she would not permit him to be king. For a few days Northumberland stayed close to Jane, bringing her documents to sign and generally telling her what to do. Despite Jane's objection to making Guildford king, Northumberland announced that both she and her husband would be crowned in two weeks. Then Northumberland left with an army to capture Mary, who was marching toward London with an army of her own. While he was gone the nervous royal council decided to proclaim Mary the rightful queen. The proclamation was made on July 19. The people of London were jubilant. Determined to save himself, Jane's father signed the proclamation making Mary queen, then went to his daughter's apartments and tore down her canopy of estate, telling her she was no longer queen. "Out of obedience to you and my mother I have grievously sinned," Jane said quietly. "Now I willingly relinquish the crown. May I not go home? "Her father left without answering her.

The bitterness of death

Jane remained in the Tower, where she and Guildford soon became prisoners. Her father and Northumberland were also arrested and brought back to the tower. Henry Grey was released after a few days. He and Frances did not write to Jane or try to save her life. Although Northumberland hastily converted to Catholicism and spoke of his desire to live and kiss Mary's feet, he was executed in August.

On November 13 Jane and Guildford were tried and sentenced to death. Jane wasn't worried, however, because she had been told that the queen would pardon her. Then, in February of 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt raised a revolt against Mary. He was quickly arrested, but his rebellion hardened Mary's heart against her enemies. She signed Jane and Guildford's death warrants. When Jane heard the news she said, "I am ready and glad to end my woeful days." The queen offered to reprieve Jane if she would convert to the Catholic faith, but Jane refused.

Jane's father had supported the rebels, and he too was sentenced to death. Now he wrote to Jane and asked for her forgiveness. She wrote back, "Although it hath pleased God to hasten my death by you, by whom my life should rather have been lengthened, yet can I patiently take it, that I yield God more hearty thanks for shortening my woeful days."

Queen Mary granted Guildford permission to meet with Jane one last time, but Jane refused to see her husband, saying that they would meet in a better place, where friendships were happy.

On February 11 Jane watched from a window as her husband walked to Tower Hill to be executed; later she saw his headless body being brought back to the Tower, at which she cried, "Oh Guildford! Guildford! Oh, the bitterness of death!" About an hour later, Jane too made the walk to Tower Hill. On the scaffold she knelt and recited the 51st Psalm, then blindfolded herself and asked the executioner to kill her quickly. Unable to find the block, she exclaimed, "What shall I do? Where is it?" A bystander helped her to the block. She put her head on it and said, "Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." The executioner killer her with one blow and held up her head, saying, "So perish all the queen's enemies! Behold the head of a traitor!"

1.6 Mary I

From Princess to bastard

"Bloody Mary" Tudor was born on February 18, 1516. She was the only surviving child of King Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Henry doted on Princess Mary when she was little, calling her "the greatest pearl in the kingdom." The princess received an excellent education, and was carefully sheltered.

In 1522 Henry arranged Mary's betrothal to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Charles was an adult, and Mary was just six years old; the marriage would take place when she was twelve. Mary had met Charles and liked the idea of marrying him. But in 1525 Charles broke off the engagement so that he could marry Princess Isabella of Portugal. That same year Henry sent Princess Mary to live in Wales, as was traditional for the king's heir.

The year 1527 started off well for Princess Mary. She returned to live at her father's court and celebrated her engagement to a son of the king of France. But Henry VIII's attitude toward Mary and her mother had started to change. He had decided that God disapproved of his marriage to Catherine; why else had the queen failed to produce healthy male children? And he was in love with the woman who was to become his second wife: Anne Boleyn.

Soon Mary learned that Henry wanted to annul his marriage to her mother. For this, the king needed the pope's permission. While he waited, he continued to treat Catherine as his queen and Mary as his heir. But Mary's legitimacy was now in doubt, making her less valuable on the marriage market. The French engagement was broken off and no other match was arranged for her, although her father's advisors considered marrying her to King Henry's illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy. (Fitzroy married someone else. He died young and without heirs.)

Henry grew increasingly angry with Catherine for resisting his attempt to end their marriage. Finally, in 1531, he sent Catherine away from court. After being shuffled between various castles and palaces, the queen ended up a prisoner at Kimbolton Castle, near Huntingdon. Realizing that the pope would never grant his divorce, Henry split from the Catholic church, established the Church of England, had his marriage declared invalid, and married Anne Boleyn. Anne gave birth to a daughter, Princess Elizabeth, in 1533.

Mary was now officially a bastard, called "the lady Mary," but, like her mother, she refused to accept her change in status. Henry was infuriated by his daughter's defiance and threatened to have her executed if she did not stop referring to herself as a princess. When Mary was eighteen, her household was disbanded and she was sent to live in Princess Elizabeth's household, where she was treated badly. Henry refused to see her, but he was not completely indifferent to Mary. Once, glimpsing her at a window, he nodded and touched his hat politely.

Catherine and Mary were not permitted to visit each other, and Catherine died in 1536 without seeing her daughter again. Now Mary was alone. Four months after Catherine's death, however, Mary's greatest enemy toppled from power when Anne Boleyn was arrested on false charges of adultery and executed. Anne had hated Mary and stated that she wanted her dead. With Anne gone, Henry treated his eldest daughter somewhat more kindly. His third, fourth, and sixth wives were all well-disposed toward Mary. (She got along less well with his teenaged fifth wife, Katherine Howard.) Although she never regained her former status or her father's affection, she was once again part of the royal family.

At first she got along well with the king's other children. As Elizabeth and Edward grew up, however, up their Protestant views put them at odds with Mary, who never swayed from her devout Catholicism. After Henry's death in 1547, Mary's nine-year-old half-brother became King Edward VI. As king, Edward scolded and bullied Mary about her beliefs. On his deathbed he disinherited her in favor of their teenaged cousin Lady Jane Grey.

Lady Jane Grey did not want to be queen, but that didn't stop her father and his supporters from trying to seize the throne for her after King Edward's death in 1553. Few people supported "Queen Jane," however. In the end even Jane's ambitious father abandoned her, and Mary was proclaimed queen. After a lifetime of sorrow and danger, the 37-year-old Mary Tudor was now the most powerful person in England.

The unhappy Queen

Soon after her accession, Mary began considering the possibility of marrying Prince Philip of Spain, the son of her former fiance, Emperor Charles V. It worried her that Philip was 11 years her junior because he was "likely to be disposed to be amorous, and such is not my desire, not at my time of life, and never having harbored thoughts of love." With difficulty the emperor's envoy convinced her that Philip was a stable, mature adult who would help protect her kingdom.

Mary's subjects were alarmed to learn of her engagement to the Spanish prince, fearing that England would become part of Spain. The queen, however, had no intention of turning the country over to Philip. He arrived in England on July 20, 1554, and met Mary for the first time on July 23. Mary liked Philip from the start, and he treated her kindly, although he probably found her unattractive. (The men who had accompanied him to England later described Mary as old, badly dressed, and almost toothless.) The wedding took place two days later. Two months later, Mary's doctors told her that she was pregnant.

In December a law was passed that allowed bishops of the Church of England to convict heretics and sentence them to death by burning. Almost 300 people were burned alive during Mary's reign with Mary's full approval, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary."

By the summer of 1555 it became obvious that Mary was no longer pregnant, if she had ever been. Mary was bitterly disappointed. Philip left England that August, promising Mary that he would soon return. Mary missed him desperately. Philip didn't return to England until March of 1557. During his absence he had become the king of Spain. After a few months in England he left to go to war; Mary never saw him again. She became depressed and paranoid. Tortured by loneliness and unhappiness, Queen Mary fell ill. She died on November 17, 1558 and was succeeded by her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I.

1.7 Elisabeth I

The unwanted Princess

Elizabeth I was born on September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace near London. Her father was England's King Henry VIII; her mother was the king's second wife, Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth had an older half-sister, Mary, who was the daughter of the king's first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

King Henry had moved heaven and earth to marry Anne Boleyn. He had parted from the Catholic Church, established the Church of England, and annulled his twenty-four year marriage to Queen Catherine - partly because he loved Anne, and partly because he wanted the male heir Catherine could not give him. Henry and Anne were convinced that their first child would be a boy. The new queen even had a document drawn up ahead of time that announced the birth of a prince. When the prince turned out to be a princess, her parents were dismayed.

Over the next few years Anne had three miscarriages, and Henry - who had become disenchanted with her even before Elizabeth's birth - decided to be rid of her. In 1536 he had Anne arrested on false charges of adultery. The Archbishop of Canterbury bowed to the king's will by declaring that Henry's marriage to Anne had never been valid. Like her half-sister Mary, two-year-old Elizabeth was now considered illegitimate. Anne was executed, and two weeks later the king married Jane Seymour.

In 1537 Queen Jane died after giving birth to a son, Edward. Elizabeth and Mary participated in his christening ceremony. As Edward grew older, he and Elizabeth became close; although they lived in separate households, they wrote to each other often.

When Elizabeth was four, Katherine Champernowne became her governess. The well-educated Champernowne - known as Kat Ashley after her marriage in 1545 - began teaching Elizabeth astronomy, geography, history, math, French, Flemish, Italian, Spanish, and other subjects. Elizabeth was an excellent student. Her tutor Roger Ascham later wrote, "She talks French and Italian as well as she does English. When she writes Greek and Latin, nothing is more beautiful than her handwriting."

In 1540 Elizabeth's father married Anne of Cleves. Repelled by what he perceived as his bride's ugliness, Henry quickly had the marriage annulled and instead married Anne Boleyn's first cousin Katherine Howard. Katherine was very young - about fifteen - and something of a featherbrain, but she was kind to Elizabeth, who was surely appalled when, in a repetition of the past, the queen was arrested and charged with adultery. This time the charges were true. Queen Katherine was beheaded in 1542, when Elizabeth was seven years old.

Katherine Howard's violent death seems to have had a lasting impact on Elizabeth. At the age of eight she met one of Prince Edward's classmates, Robert Dudley, and told him of an important decision she had made. "I will never marry," she said. It was a decision that would shape her life.

Thomas Seymour

In 1543 Elizabeth gained yet another stepmother when Henry married his sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr. Four years later Henry VIII died, leaving his crown to Edward. According to Henry's will, if Edward died without heirs he would be succeeded by Mary. If Mary died without heirs, Elizabeth would become queen.

Soon after Henry's death, Elizabeth received a marriage proposal from handsome Thomas Seymour, who was England's Lord Admiral and the brother of the late Queen Jane. Knowing that Seymour was simply seeking the power that marriage to the king's sister could bring him, Elizabeth turned him down. So Seymour proposed to the widowed Queen Katherine, who had been in love with him before her marriage to Henry VIII. Unaware of Seymour's previous proposal to her stepdaughter, Katherine happily accepted. They were quickly married, and the following year Elizabeth went to live with them at the royal Old Manor House in Chelsea.

Thomas Seymour still had designs on pretty red-haired Elizabeth. He took to visiting her bedroom in the morning before she was dressed. During these visits he sometimes tickled her or slapped her bottom; once he tried to kiss her. Elizabeth giggled and seemed to enjoy his attention, but Kat Ashley was disturbed by the Lord Admiral's behaviour, and the servants began to gossip. Queen Katherine was aware of what was going on, but saw it all as innocent romping. Once she even joined in the "joke," holding Elizabeth in the garden while her husband cut off Elizabeth's dress.

Hoping to further deceive his wife, Seymour told her that he had seen Elizabeth with her arms around a man's neck. Concerned, the queen questioned Elizabeth, who cried and insisted it wasn't true. Now Katherine began to suspect that her husband, not some mystery man, had been making advances to her stepdaughter. She started watching the Lord Admiral more carefully. One day Katherine went looking for him and Elizabeth and, according to one account, "came suddenly upon them, where they were all alone, he having her in his arms." Understandably upset, Katherine banished Elizabeth from the Old Manor House.

A few months later Katherine died after childbirth and Seymour resumed plotting to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth knew that she could not legally marry without the permission of the king's council, and she refused to be drawn into the Lord Admiral's schemes. In 1549 Seymour was arrested on charges of conspiring to marry Elizabeth and take over the government. Kat Ashley was also arrested, along with another of Elizabeth's employees, and Elizabeth herself was closely interrogated. She kept her wits about her and denied any involvement in Seymour's treasonous activities. In the end she convinced the Council of her innocence, and her servants were released from prison.

When Elizabeth heard that Seymour had been beheaded for his crimes she supposedly said only, "This day died a man of much wit and very little judgement." She had learned that she must keep her feelings to herself if she hoped to survive.

Perilous years

Elizabeth continued to get along well with her brother, King Edward, but in 1553 Edward died. On his deathbed he was persuaded by the duke of Northumberland to name Lady Jane Grey to succeed him. Lady Jane tried to refuse the crown, but Northumberland (who was her father-in-law) proclaimed her to be the new queen. Meanwhile, Henry VIII's daughter Mary was proclaimed queen by her supporters. Northumberland surrendered to Mary's forces. He and Jane Grey were imprisoned and later executed.

Queen Mary was determined to restore Catholicism as the country's official religion. She pressured Elizabeth to convert. Elizabeth obediently attended one Mass, but complained the whole time of feeling ill. Because this and Elizabeth's popularity with the English people, Mary grew wary of her half sister.

When Sir Thomas Wyatt led an uprising against Mary, the queen suspected that Elizabeth was involved. Elizabeth was taken to London and confined at Whitehall Palace. Eventually, although no evidence against her could be found, she was sent to the Tower, where Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, Jane Grey and so many others had awaited execution. When Elizabeth saw that she was being brought into the Tower via the Traitor's Gate, she panicked and begged to be brought through some other gate.

Told that she must enter this way, she cried, "Oh Lord, I never throught to come in here as a prisoner. I come in as no traitor but as true a woman to the Queen's Majesty as any as is now living; and thereon will I take my death." She sat down on the stairs and refused to move. When told that it wasn't healthy to sit in the rain, she replied tearfully, "It is better sitting here than in a worse place!"

One of her servants started to sob and Elizabeth told him angrily that he shouldn't cry, saying, "I thank God that I know my truth to be such that no man can have cause to weep for me!" With that she continued into the Tower.

Despite her very reasonable fears, she was released from the Tower two months later, on the eighteenth anniversary of her mother's death. She remained a prisoner, however. In 1555 she was moved under heavy guard to Hampton Court, where the queen was staying. Mary refused to see her, but Mary's new husband Philip of Spain met with Elizabeth and fell under her spell. At his encouragement Mary finally reconciled with Elizabeth.

Over 250 Protestants were burned at the stake during the reign of "Bloody Mary," and Elizabeth's failure to truly convert to the Catholic faith put her in constant danger, as did other people's conspiracies to overthrow Mary and place Elizabeth on the throne.

Finally, on November 17, 1558, Mary died and Elizabeth's years of peril came to an end. She was now the queen of England.

Gloriana

Elizabeth's advisors urged the twenty-five-year old queen to quickly marry some foreign prince and produce heirs so that the throne would not pass to Henry VIII's great-niece, Mary Stuart, the queen of Scotland. Elizabeth stood by her early decision never to marry. (One of the many proposals she rejected was from Mary's widower, Philip of Spain.)

Elizabeth had a romantic nature, and may already have been in love her childhood friend, Robert Dudley, whom she later made the Earl of Leicester. Although Elizabeth was a hard-working monarch, like her father she had a great appetite for entertainment. She enjoyed archery, dancing, hunting, riding, and tennis. Whatever she did, Leicester was usually nearby. He was given a bedroom near hers, and rumours about the nature of their relationship were rampant.

Leicester had a wife named Amy. In 1559, while Leicester was at court, Amy fell down the staircase of her country home, broke her neck, and died. She had been alone in the house at the time of her accident, and it was whispered that she had been murdered so that Elizabeth and Leicester could marry. But Elizabeth did not marry Leicester. Twenty years later he infuriated the queen by secretly marrying her cousin Lettice Knollys, but Elizabeth forgave him, and he remained her favourite until his death.

Elizabeth was glorified by poets and artists as Gloriana, the Virgin Queen. With the help of fine clothes, jewels and cosmetics, the vain queen maintained a glamorous image despite her advancing age. In her mid-fifties she fell in love with Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, son of Lettice Knollys. Essex was in his early twenties, good-looking, and extremely arrogant. Although he reigned as the queen's favourite for many years, he did not always show Elizabeth the deference she demanded. Once, when Elizabeth slapped him during an argument, Essex threatened to draw his sword on her. Elizabeth sent him to Ireland to quell a rebellion; while there, Essex ignored the queen's orders and pursued his own agenda. When he defied her by returning to England without permission, Elizabeth placed him under house arrest. After his release Essex attempted to lead an uprising against the queen, and the heartbroken Elizabeth had no choice but to sentence him to death. Essex was executed in 1601.

Two years later Elizabeth became very ill. Perhaps she did not want to live without Essex; when her doctors offered her medicine, she refused to take it. She died on March 24, 1603 at the age of 69.

Conclusion

dynasty european colonial

During this period from 1485 to 1603, England developed into one of the leading European colonial powers, with men such as Sir Walter Raleigh taking part in the conquest of the New World. Nearer to home, campaigns in Ireland brought the country under strict English control. Culturally and socially, the Tudor period saw many changes. The Tudor court played a prominent part in the cultural Renaissance taking place in Europe, nurturing all-round individuals such as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and Cardinal Wolsey. The Tudor period also saw the turbulence of two changes of official religion, resulting in the martyrdom of many innocent believers of both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. The fear of Roman Catholicism induced by the Reformation was to last for several centuries and to play an influential role in the history of the Succession.

The list of literature

IBurova. The Monarchs of England. «Норинт». Москва. 1997.

Джордж Маколей Тревельян. История Англии: от Чосера до крорлевы Виктории. «Русич». Смоленск. 2001.

Официальный сайт Букингемского дворца: www.royal.gov.uk.

Сайт, посвященный истории королевских династий мира: www.royalty.nu.

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