Tudor History

A tumultuous period in English history  with long-lasting religious implications, the Tudor period spanned 1485 to 1607, from the founding of the dynasty by Henry VII to the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Header image: Shutterstock.com

Portrait of Henry VIII

The Tudors on screen: Television and film dramas about the Tudor dynasty
A painting depicting Saint Peter being crucified upside-down

7 tortuous saints' deaths from history
Portrait of Henry VIII (C), Prince Edward (L) and Jane Seymour (R)

Was Henry VIII really a hopeless romantic?
Jane Seymour portrait

9 little known facts about Jane Seymour
Sir Walter Raleigh

Why was Sir Walter Raleigh executed?
An extract from the Westminster Tournament Roll showing John Blanke

John Blanke: The black trumpeter at the heart of the Tudor court
Portrait of Anne of Cleves

8 little known facts about Anne of Cleves
Portrait of Henry VIII

3 times Henry VIII almost died without providing a male heir
Remains of the Mary Rose in the museum

What caused the Mary Rose to sink?  The most popular theories
Illustration of the Mary Rose

13 facts about the Mary Rose: Henry VIII's favourite warship
Portrait of Mary Queen of Scots

Mary Queen of Scots: The legitimate heir to the English throne?

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche (1833).

Nine facts about the 'Nine Days Queen'
Portrait of Catherine Howard

Guilty or innocent? The 'crimes' of Catherine Howard
Mary and Joseph are registered in the census at Bethlehem

The 12 days of Tudor Christmas
A photograph of the Mary Rose ship in Portsmouth

Listen to The Mary Rose and the People of Tudor England

Henry VIII and Henry VIII

The lives of Henry VII and Henry VIII: Never the twain shall meet
A laughing fool

Act the fool: Famous court jesters and fools from history
Portrait of a Young Woman c. 1540–1545 from the Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger

Did Catherine Howard cheat on Henry VIII?
Margaret Beaufort

The kingmaker Lady Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudor dynasty
The Gunpowder Plot conspirators

Penny for the guys: What happened to the Gunpowder Plot conspirators?

The princes in the tower

The mystery of the 'princes in the tower': What really happened?
A group of African musicians from the painting, the Engagement of St Ursula and Prince Etherius

Black Tudors: The fascinating lives of Africans living in Tudor England
A photograph of cannon windows on old galleon ship

What if the Spanish Armada had succeeded?
Burning at the stake, one of the most a brutal forms of capital punishment, has a long history as punishment for crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft in Europe.

That takes guts: 7 gory execution methods from Tudor England

Guilty or innocent?: The crimes of Anne Boleyn

Guilty or innocent?: The crimes of Anne Boleyn
Lady Jane Grey

What if Lady Jane Grey had kept the throne?
A witch holding candle close up

Witchcraft in the times of Henry VIII and beyond
The 'Darnley' portrait of Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I and the Tudor succession crises: 1558 - 1603