The Tudors

1547

EDWARD VI

1509

HENRY VIII

1485

HENRY VII

The Tudors

ELIZABETH I

1558

MARY I

1553

HENRY VII

• Founder of the Tudor dynasty
• Supported explorations (John Cabot)
• Supported scholars (Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More) - Humanism

FOREIGN POLICY

To give England economic and political stability he married:

• his son and heir to Catherine of Aragon
• his daughter to the king of France
• his other daughter to the king of Scotland

HENRY VIII

• He married his brother's widow Catherine of Aragon
• interested in poetry, theology, sport and music
• 1517: Martin Luther nailed his anti-catholic theses on the door of Wittenberg Castle Church SO Henry VIII attackd him and was appointed DEFENDANT OF THE FAITH

• Wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon (no male heir, a daughter Mary)
• The POPE refused
• Henry VIII --> ACT OF SUPREMACY 1534 --> he crowned himself "HEAD OF THE NEW PROTESTANT CHURCH OF ENGLAND" --> REFORMATION
• Thomas Cromwell, the king's cousellor, suppressed monasteries and confiscated their lands and money --> Those lands were then sold to the rising middle class
• Anne Boleyn gave him another daughter, Elizabeth I

• Anne Boleyn was imprisoned and executed for treason
• Jane Seymour gave him a heir, Edward

BUT

EDWARD VI

• 9 years old
• Religious services were held in English
• 1549 ACT OF UNIFORMITY -> he took the reformation forward by imposing "The Book of Common Prayer" to replace the old catholic practices

MARY I

• Henry VIII's daughter crowned herself queen and aimed to restore Catholicism In England
• got married to Philip II of Spain (vs France)
• COUNTER-REFORMATION
• period of persecution -> Bloody Mary
• Once ill, she left the throne to her sister Elizabeth I

ELIZABETH I, the Virgin Queen

• ENGLAND'S GOLDEN AGE (1558-1603)
• Political stability: unity and peace
• Religious tolerance: 1559 ACT OF SUPREMACY and UNIFORMITY
• Victory at sea: 1588 VS Philip II's Spanish Armada to restore Catholicism
• Encouraged sea explorers (Walter Raleigh, John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake) - powerful fleet + overseas trade
• Time of feasting and theatre
• In 1603 Elizabeth I died and was succeeded by James VI of Scotland, who united the thrones of Scotland and England, thus becoming the first Stuart monarch, James I

English ships sailing in good weather, everything is calm

The Armada Portrait reflects the efficacy of image for propaganda. It represents the Tudor Queen surrounded by symbols of imperial majesty.

Spanish ships being crashed against the rocks

All the pearls symbolise her chastity

Her hand is over the top of Latin America, on the globe. Symbol of colonial intention. England's striving for imperial power in the Americas. In the painting she's pointing to Virginia, which was named after her

DANGER FROM SCOTLAND

• Mary Queen of Scots
• Elizabeth's cousin had a claim to the English throne. She had a son and when she abdicated in his favor she fled to England asking for support
• She was found guilty of treason, arrested and executed

THE CHAIN OF BEING

• The Tudors received a general idea of order from the Middle Ages: universe as a chain of being.
• The chain of being consisted of fixed rings based on the hierarchy of existence
• The whole universe was governed by divine will --> social hierarchy was believed to be decreed by God, SO the belief in the Chain of Being meant that a monarchical government was ordained by God and inherent in the very structure of the universe.
• Man bound together all the levels of being

HUMANISM

• During the English Renaissance explorations were encouraged: new theories and beliefs -> sense of doubt and uncertainty
• Interest in the individual as the creator of their destiny
• Humanism (Erasmus of Rotterdam -> Oxford and Cambridge) -> human reason and knowledge
• Modern English, history and literature, classical studies

THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

• Later than in other European countries
• Greatly influenced by Italian culture and literature
• Wish to break with the old sources
• Literature and music instead of visual arts
• Distinctive features
• Protestant basis
• rejected balance and order in favor of a vivid language and baroque exuberance
• humanism (a more optimistic outlook on humanity)