Tudor
The Tudor kings and queens make fascinating subjects for historical research papers. They reigned from 1485 to 1603, years when England experienced some of the most important-and most violent-changes in its history. The Tudor helped transform England into a formidable power that would preside over one of history's most extensive empires. This topic would make a great history research paper.
There were technically five Tudor kings and queens.
- Henry VII (1457-1509)
- Henry VIII (1491-1547)
- Edward VI (1537-1553)
- Mary I (1516-1558)
- Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
Tudor Kings and Queens Lines
The line begins with Henry VII (1457-1509), who was of Welsh royal heritage. Despite his tenuous claims to the English throne, in 1485 he defeated the York king Richard III. He then restored stability and power to a monarchy weakened by the brutal War of the Roses-in which the Houses of Lancaster and York battled for the crown. Henry VIII (1491-1547) ascended to the throne upon his father's death. He is well known for his six marriages, for ending the religious dominance of the Catholic Church (which refused to grant him divorce), and for establishing the Church of England. Edward VI (1537-1553), Henry VIII's sickly son, was England's first Protestant-raised monarch. A Regency Council governed throughout his reign because he died at age 16. Upon Edward's death Protestant interests crowned Lady Jane Grey but after just nine days she was replaced by Mary I (1516-1558). "Bloody Mary" executed masses of Protestants in her campaign to return England to Catholicism. Yet after she died, Elizabeth I (1533-1603), upheld Protestantism and guided England onto the age of colonialism. The unmarried "Virgin Queen" (after whom Virginia was named,) was the last of the Tudor monarchs.