the TUDOR TUTOR

Meet the Tudors

The Tudor dynasty began with HENRY VII, whose oldest son Arthur was supposed to be the next king before he kicked the bucket at age fifteen. Henry’s second son, the future HENRY VIII, then became the heir to the throne.

As you may recall, Henry VIII was on a fierce mission to create a male heir. The only surviving one was to become EDWARD VI after his father’s death.

Fifteen is an unlucky age for males in this family: When EDWARD VI was that age, he too died and his cousin LADY JANE GREY became queen for a short blip (nine days, to be exact). Edward’s half-sister Mary wasn’t taking that lying down, and she soon became MARY I.

Mary died childless and her half-sister became ELIZABETH I. Yes, that Elizabeth, with the cupcake-paper neck ruff and the pasty complexion.  Elizabeth, too, died childless and what with all this family’s bad luck in the health and reproductive departments, there were no other Tudors to step in. The crown went to James VI of Scotland (whose great-great grandfather was Henry VII, back at the top of this page). He became James I of England, and the Stuart dynasty began.