Tudor Facts For Kids

Tudor is the dynasty of kings and queens that ruled over England and Ireland in 1485. There were five monarchs who ruled for more than a century. Of all the five, Henry VIII was certainly the most famous king. The last queen of this dynasty was Elizabeth I in 1603 after which the succession of kings and queens came to an end. Now let’s take a short look at Tudor facts for kids to know more about it.

Introduction

Date of Origin: August 22, 1485

Name of Founder/First Ruler: Henry VII

Name of Last Ruler: Elizabeth I

Ending Date: March 24, 1603

Basic Tudor Facts For Kids

The word ‘Tudor’ came from two words: ‘tud’ which means ‘territory’ and ‘rhi’ meaning ‘king’.
Tudor is the name of a family of Kings and Queens known as Tudor Dynasty.
Tudors came from the mother of King Henry VII. The name of his mother was Margaret Beaufort.
The dynasty ruled England and Wales (known as Kingdom of England) and also Ireland (not all but some parts of it).
The dynasty ruled for more than 100 years starting from 1485 and ended on 1603.
Tudors were basically Welsh people which means they came from the country of Wales. As a matter of fact, there was a King in Wales named ‘Rhys ap Tewdwr’ and this dynasty came from him.
During the period of more than 100 years (1485-1603), there were only six Tudor rulers who ruled the country.

First Tudor King

Henry VII was the very first king of this dynasty.
Henry VII fought only two wars during his rule; one in 1489 and other in 1496.
In 1492, Henry VII made a peace agreement with France.
Henry VII died before his son, Henry VIII, got married to Catherine.
The most popular Tudor king was Henry VIII.

Second Tudor King

Henry VIII was the second ruler of Tudor dynasty after his father Henry VII.
Henry VIII and his wife Catherine of Aragon became king and queen respectively on June 24, 1509. Both got married just 13 days before becoming new rulers.
When Henry VIII became a ruler, he did not have any interest in ruling the country. Instead he was more interested in playing sports or involving himself in luxuries of life.
During the first two years of his rule, Henry VIII allowed others to run the affairs of the country.
He was a friendly person in his younger years and never acted like a King rather always behaved like a gentleman.
Catherine was 6 years older than her husband Henry VIII.
The marriage of Henry VIII with Catherine was cancelled because Catherine did not give birth to a son who was to become the heir to the throne. Though a son was born but he died within almost 2 months after his birth.
Thomas Cranmer, who was Archbishop of Canterbury, cancelled the marriage of Henry VIII with Catherine.
After the divorce of Catherine and Henry VIII, Catherine was locked up for 3 years until she died.
Henry VIII got married to Anne Boleyn.
After giving birth to Elizabeth, Anne was put behind bars and after that she was sentenced to death in May 1536.
The third wife of Henry VIII was Jane Seymour.
In 1537, Jane gave birth to a son called Edward VI.
The fourth wife of Henry VIII was Anne of Cleves. The marriage took place in 1540.
Henry VIII divorced her fourth wife Anne in a peaceful way and also gave her several lands including Hever Castle and Richmond Palace.
The title of Anne of Cleves was ‘My Lady, the King’s Sister’.
Henry VIII pointed the finger at Thomas Cromwell for his failure to go on with Anne as a successful couple. As a result, he was so much annoyed at him that he cut off Cromwell’s head in July 28, 1540.
The fifth wife of Henry VIII was Catherine Howard.
Henry VIII gave her a title of ‘Rose without a Horn’.
Catherine Howard was sentenced to death on February 13, 1542 because she had unlawful relations with Thomas Culpeper (one of the courtiers of Henry VIII).
The sixth wife of Henry VIII was Catherine Parr. They were married in 1543.

Want to read more? Just have a look at:

Henry VIII Facts For Kids

Third Tudor King

In 1547, Edward VI became the third ruler of Tudor dynasty when his father (Henry VIII) passed away.
Edward VI was declared as King on January 20, 1547. At the time he was only 9 years old.
Edward VI was the son of Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour.
He was the first ruler of Tudor dynasty who was brought up as Protestant.

Fourth Tudor King

The fourth ruler of Tudor dynasty was Mary I.
Mary I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.
She got married to the Spanish Prince Philip on July 25, 1554.
She was also called ‘Bloody Mary’ because she burned down many Protestants.
During the rule of Mary I, a new system of coining was introduced. This system remained implemented till 18th century.
The first ambassador of Russia came in England during the time of Mary I. She was the first ruler to make new relations between England and Russia.
Mary I died on November 17, 1558. She was only 42 years old.

Fifth Tudor King

The fifth and last queen of Tudor dynasty was Elizabeth Tudor. She became queen and was known as Elizabeth I.
Elizabeth I was only 25 years old at the time of becoming queen of England.
She was also known as ‘Good Queen Bess’ or ‘The Virgin Queen’.
Anne Boleyn was the mother of Elizabeth I.

More Tudor Facts For Kids

Margaret Beaufort was the granddaughter was John Beaufort.
John Beaufort was an illegal son of John of Gaunt (who was the son of Edward III) and his lover Katherine Swynford. Though both of them got married in 1399 but all four children were born before their marriage.
After the death of Henry VIII, Anne became very poor because all the estates she owned at the time were taken away by Edward VI and eventually she died on July 16, 1557.
Catherine was the wife of Prince Arthur before marrying to Henry VIII. Prince Arthur was the elder brother of Henry VIII.

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