What were the Wars of the Roses? How did this lead to the Tudor dynasty? Find out in 11 minutes!

Music: Renaissance by Audionautix

THE TUDORS

The Tudor dynasty was a series of kings and queens of England. This line of rulers started in 1485 and lasted until 1603.

The dynasty started when Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. This was the final stage of the Wars of the Roses and made him King Henry VII of England. Arthur, Prince of Wales, was the oldest son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. He married Catherine of Aragon. She was the daughter of Ferdinand II of Argon and Isabella I of Castle). Arthur died in 1502 and did not become King.

Henry VIII
When Henry VII died in 1509, Arthur's brother, Henry VIII married Catherine and became king.

During her marriage to Henry VIII, Catherine had six children. Only one of these children, Mary, survived. When Catherine became too old to have any more children, Henry divorced her (breaking with Rome and become the head of the Church of England himself), so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Henry and Boleyn also had a daughter, Elizabeth. Anne Boleyn was executed in 1536.

Shortly after, Henry VIII married Jane Seymour of England. She had one son, Edward VI of England, who would later become king himself at the age of 9. Jane died in 1537. Her death was caused by medical problems caused by Edward's birth.

Henry married three other wives (Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr) before his death in 1547. Edward, his only living son, became King after Henry died.

In 1553, Edward became ill. He created the "Device for Succession.". He said that his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, would be Queen after he died. Lady Jane lived for only nine days as Queen.

Henry's daughter, Mary I of England, was the next ruler of the Tudor dynasty. Mary was a strong believer in Catholicism. As Queen, Mary did many things against hundreds of Protestants. Because of all the executions while she was Queen, she was given the nickname "Bloody Mary", which is a name for a modern cocktail today.

After Mary's death in 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth I of England became queen. Unlike Mary, Elizabeth was a Protestant. Elizabeth never married or had children. Because she never married, Elizabeth is often called the "Virgin Queen". She was well liked by most of the people of England.

The dynasty ended when Elizabeth died. She had not named a person to be ruler after her death. When she died, James I became King of England. He was the son of Elizabeth's cousin, Mary Stuart. This started the Stuart dynasty.


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