The Tudors (2)

Tudor Dynasty

Two important dates mark the start and the end of the Middle Ages in England: 1066 and 1485. 1066 is the year when William and the Normans conquered and settled in England. 1485 is the year when the War of the Roses ended. It was a war that started in 1455 between two important English families, the York and the Lancaster. It was a war of dynasty because both families wanted to put their heir on the throne of England. It was called the war of the Roses because the symbol of both families was a rose: a white rose for the York and a red rose for the Lancaster. The war ended when Henry of the House of Lancaster won and became king with the name of Henry VII. So a new dynasty started: the Tudor dynasty. Henry wanted to have peace in his reign so he decided to marry Elizabeth of York just to stop any contrast definitively. They had four children: Arthur, the heir, Margaret, Henry and Mary. To have peace in Europe, Henry decided to create alliances with the noble families of Europe through marriages. He made his heir Arthur marry Catherine of Aragon from Spain. Spain was the strongest and the richest nation at those times so it was an important ally for England. Then, Henry made his daughter Margaret marry James IV of Scotland because the relationship with that nation had always been difficult. Her daughter Mary married the king of France Louis XII. In a first moment, Henry was not involved in his father’s strategies. However, his life was destined to change. Arthur suddenly died in 1502, seven years before his father, so Henry became the legitimate heir on the throne of England. Henry was very different from his brother. While Arthur received the typical strict education to become a king, Henry was free to follow his inclinations. While Arthur learnt about economy, politics, strategies and diplomacy, Henry studied languages to improve his culture.

He loved music, he liked poetry and he composed some poems, too. He appreciated art and he became the patron of many artists of the time. He practiced a lot of sport and he took care of his physical aspect. In other words, he embodied the typical Renaissance prince according to Baldassar Castiglione, the author of Il Cortegiano. In this book, the author described the characteristic of a perfect courtier, a noble, very intelligent and cultured man that was also handsome. In other words, he was a man of culture and of good manners that had a perfect mind in a perfect body. When Henry VII died, his son Henry became king with the name of Henry VIII. He was a fervent Catholic and for his attack to Martin Luther he got the title of “defender of the faith”. He married his brother’s widow , Catherine of Aragon, and they had a daughter, Mary. However, Henry wanted a male heir, so he asked the Pope Clement VII to divorce. The pope refused for two reasons: first because Catholic church didn’t and doesn’t accept divorce and second because Catherine was Spanish And Spain was the greatest economical support of the Church and the Pope didn’t want to go against Spain. As a consequence, in the Act of Supremacy in 1534, Henry declared himself as a Supreme Head of the Church of England, giving birth to the Anglican Church. From that moment on, the nation was divided into two groups, Catholics and Protestants who started to be in conflict. Besides, Henry divorced from Catherine and married Anne Boleyn who gave him a daughter, Elizabeth. Their marriage wasn’t happy, so Henry accused her of treason , she was put into prison and then killed. Henry married Jane Seymour and they had a son, Edward. Jane died a year later for the consequences of childbirth so Henry married three more times. When he died, his successor was his son, 9-year-old Edward VI, but he ruled only for six years because he had health problems and he died very young. He didn’t have the time to marry and he didn’t have children, so he was succeeded by his half sister Mary. When she became queen, she was married to the king of Spain Philip II. Once on the throne, she started the persecution of the Protestant (she was Catholic) and she had the nickname of Bloody Mary. She died without children and her half sister, Elizabeth became queen with the name of Elizabeth I. She was 25 and she ruled for 45 years, giving stability to a country divided between Catholics and Protestants. She had a strong personality, she had received a very good education and she could speak French, Spanish and Italian. She was intelligent and an excellent speaker; besides, she was a political genius. She loved culture, literature, music and, above all, theatre. Not by chance, during her reign, drama became the typical literary genre of the time thanks also to Shakespeare. As a consequence, a lot of poems, literary works and paintings were dedicated to her and all this contributed to create her myth. She totally devoted herself to England and to her people. She never married because she didn’t want to put the nation and herself under the control of a foreign king. As a consequence, she used to say that “The Queen was married to her people”. She also got the name of “Virgin Queen”. Elizabeth was so interested in her people that frequently she had royal progresses, i.e. tours around the nation to show her person and to see directly people’s conditions in order to improve them.

That is why, she was really loved. As a matter of fact, she brought England among the stronger nations in Europe, she defended her nation and preserved peace since she totally devoted herself to the English welfare. From a political point of view, Elizabeth was a good and illuminated monarch. Even though she was a woman, she was very determined because her role imposed her to be strong. Not by chance, she is remembered as one of the best English monarchs of all the times. She was able to create stability and, thanks to her tolerance, she created a balance between Catholics and Protestants. That is why she was called the Queen of the middle way. This peace gave England the opportunity to become a powerful nation both in commerce and foreign affairs. In particular, she wanted to reduce the power of Spain. To do this, she asked two seamen, Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake, to secretly stop in the Atlantic Ocean the Spanish ships coming from the American colonies with the intent to steal all their treasures. The strategy worked and briefly Spain became weaker while England became stronger and richer. This led to the war. Spain wanted to attack Britain from the sea and sent its fleet, the Invincible Armada, into the English Channel. The Spanish ships were 130 but the English ones were faster and better equipped so they were able to defeat the Spanish ones, thanks also to the storms that destroyed parts of them.

During her reign, two important acts were passed: the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity. The former proclaimed the Queen its “Supreme Governor”, not “Head of the Church “ as her father had done because she didn’t want to break totally with Rome. The latter stated that the Book of Common Prayer should be used in England by both Catholics and Protestants, marking the same origin of both religions since she had a tolerant position in religious affairs. During her reign, Elizabeth had to face some other problems. One of this was the contrast with Scotland and Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland and her cousin. Mary was the grand-daughter of Henry VIII’s sister, Margaret, and next in succession after Elizabeth. Mary’s supporters were the Catholics who wanted to illegitimate Elizabeth and proclaimed Mary the real Queen of England in order to restore Catholicism. For years, Parliament asked Elizabeth to imprison and execute Mary for treason, but she refused because Mary was her relative, a queen and a woman. However, when Elizabeth found out the latest plot against her, organized with the support of France and Spain, she took the decision and Mary was executed. Mary queen of Scotland had a son, James, who became king with the name of James VI after his mother ‘s death. When Elizabeth I died without heir, James became also the king of England with the name of James I. With him, a new dynasty started on the throne of England: the Stuart dynasty.