Tudors

The Tudor era lasted from 1485 – when Henry VII defeated the Yorkist king Richard III at the battle of Bosworth – until the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. Read everything you need to know about the Tudors, one of the best known periods in history, popularised by the likes of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I

Tudor

The Tudors: 51 moments that shaped the royal dynasty

William Cecil, also known as Lord Burghley, with Queen Elizabeth I. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Your guide to William Cecil, chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth I

Portrait of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII

Tudor

Anne Boleyn: your guide to the life and death of Henry VIII's second queen – plus 11 little-known facts

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A crowned Tudor rose. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Stringer via Getty Images)

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Why the Tudors grab us. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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MembershipaudioCatherine de' Medici: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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How the Tudors invented breakfast. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Tudor life

The Tudor dynasty is famous for its monarchs, including Henry VIII, Mary Tudor and her sister, Elizabeth I. But what was life like for those lower down the social scale? Here's everything you need to know…

English countrywoman (right) with a lady of the court. From ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’, 1572. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Tudor

Tudor women: what was life like?

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Black faces of Tudor England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A map of London dating from c1572. (Getty Images)

Tudor

Life in Tudor London

An illustration of Edmund Spenser’s poetic work ‘The Shepheardes Calender’. (Photo by Culture Club/Contributor/Getty Images)

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The dark side of Elizabethan England

Henry VIII's wives

We bring you the facts about King Henry VIII's six wives: Catherine of Aragon (m1509–33), who was the mother of the future queen Mary I; Anne Boleyn (m1533–6), whose daughter was the future queen Elizabeth I; Jane Seymour (m1536–7), the mother of Henry’s successor, Edward VI; Anne of Cleves (m1540); Catherine Howard (m1540–2) and and Catherine Parr (1543–7)

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Portrait of Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, 1536. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images)

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Henry VIII's six wives in a different light. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portrait of Anne of Cleves

Tudor

Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII's most successful queen?

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Rye House in Hertfordshire, which became the Parr family home in 1517, when Katherine was around five years old. (© James Schutte/Alamy Stock Photo)

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8 places associated with Henry VIII’s wives. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tom Hiddleston and Genden Phuntsok stand side by side in mountaineering clothes, surrounded by snow and steep, ice-covered peaks. They portray Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in Tenzing.

20th Century

“I wouldn’t recommend anyone attempt Everest”: Tenzing director Jennifer Peedom on Everest queues, reclaiming lost narratives and dropping Loki into a crevasse

Catherine of Aragon. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine Howard. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Catherine Howard

Painting of Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

Katherine Parr. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Katherine Parr

Jane Seymour. (Photo By DEA / G. NIMATALLAH/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Jane Seymour

A portrait of Anne of Cleves by Hans Holbein the Younger. (Photo by © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Anne of Cleves

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Tudor kings and queens

Everything you need to know about the five Tudor kings and queens: Henry VII (1457–1509); Henry VIII (1509–47); Edward VI (1547–53); Mary I (1553–58) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603)

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Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots

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Deadly rivals: Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Edward VI. The young monarch’s support for a trade venture through the North-East Passage laid the foundations for the Elizabethan age of exploration. (Photo by GeorgiosArt/Getty Images)

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Edward VI: boy king and religious zealot. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Who hijacked Henry VIII’s will?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Thomas Cromwell.

Tudor

The downfall of Thomas Cromwell

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Mary I: the forgotten trailblazer. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, observed by Queen Catherine (of Aragon), who is stood in the doorway. Anne has been playing the lute for the king, watched by a gathering of courtiers. Cardinal Wolsey, right of centre, looks on. Painting by Marcus Stone, 1870. Private collection. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Tudor

Grooms of the stoolWho were the men who changed Henry VIII’s underpants?

Painting of Henry VII

Henry VII

Elizabeth I portrait

Elizabeth I

Painting of Henry VIII

Henry VIII

Portrait of Mary Queen of Scots

Mary Queen of Scots

Edward VI. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Edward Vi

A 17th century Dutch portrait of Queen Mary I of England (1516-1558), eldest daughter of Henry VIII. She was nicknamed "Bloody Mary" for her persecution of English Protestants. The painting hangs in the Dutch Room of the Gardner Museum in Boston. | Located in: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. (Photo by Kevin Fleming/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

Mary Tudor

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William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) lived through one of the most turbulent yet thrilling eras of English history – a period of plague, riots and political and religious tensions – and went on to become one of history's most famous playwrights. His most famous plays include 'Macbeth', 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream', 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'The Tempest'

A portrait of William Shakespeare

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William Shakespeare: a guide to the life of England's greatest playwright

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Shakespeare: the historians’ view. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Globe Theatre illustration

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The Globe theatre fire of 1613: when Shakespeare’s playhouse burned down

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MembershipaudioCornwell on Shakespeare. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Shakespeare’s London: playing a dangerous game. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Laurence Olivier plays Richard III in the 1955 film adaptation of Shakespeare's play. In it, the controversial monarch is damned as everything from a "bottled spider" and "lump of foul deformity" to a "poisonous bunch-backed toad". (Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Why did Shakespeare revile Richard III?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The Reformation

The Reformation is the name given to the religious revolution that took place in the Western church in the 16th century. One of the most important events in world history, the Reformation tore apart the Christian world and created a new faith: Protestantism

Portrait of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach, 1543. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Tudor

Europe's holy war: how the Reformation convulsed a continent

Hans Holbein the Younger’s portrait of Henry VIII, c1537. Henry’s clash with the church was, says George Bernard, the most significant episode of the Tudor era and transformed England’s relationship with continental Europe. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)

Tudor

The LibraryHenry VIII and the scourge of papal power

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The 1618 Defenestration of Prague

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The 1618 Defenestration of Prague explained

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The Spanish Armada

We bring you everything you need to know about England's defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The victory over the fleet of Spanish ships, which was led by Medina Sidonia with the purpose of overthrowing Queen Elizabeth I, is considered one of England’s greatest military achievements

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A painting showing the defeat of the Spanish Armada

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The Spanish Armada: all at sea. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Spanish Armada defeated in the English Channel in July 1588, by Hendrick Cornelis Vroom, c1600. (Picture by DEA PICTURE LIBRARY/Getty Images)

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10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Spanish Armada

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A portrait of Elizabeth I, who, says Susan Doran, “confounded her Catholic enemies, imposed her will on the political scene, turned England into a strong Protestant state and presided over a glittering court culture”. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

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Elizabeth I: the great unifier. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The Spanish Armada: Tudor spin portrayed the events of August 1588 as a glorious English victory but, argues Robert Hutchinson, bad weather and bad tactics had more to do with the Spanish fleet's failure than Elizabethan derring-do. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

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The Spanish Armada: England's lucky escape. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Tudor exploration

The 'golden age' of exploration began in the 15th century and lasted more than 200 years, due to advancements in the practical skills of navigation that allowed explorers from Sir Francis Drake to Sir Walter Ralegh to thrive…

The arrival of Sir Walter Raleigh in Virginia

Tudor

What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island?

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A joint Franco-Native Indian raid left 56 residents of Deerfield, a small township in north-western Massachusetts, dead. (Alamy)

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America: Brave new world or accident?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Tudors at sea: 8 ways to survive a voyage. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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A coloured engraving from the 16th century depicting Walter Ralegh's arrival in Virginia. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)

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Tudors in America: how England's New World colonies came into being. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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