History - The Tudors

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Year

AD
1450	In 1450 Richard, Duke of York challenged the government failed and then succeeded in taking control in 1452 when Henry went mad. Henry VI’s allies under Queen Margaret and the Duke of Somerset continued to oppose the Duke of York when the King regained his sanity
1453	The end of the Hundred Years war, the English are driven out of France as they run out of men and money to continue the fight
1455	The Duke of York defeats the Lancastrians at St Albans
1460	The Yorkist's led by the Earl of Warwick seized London in 1460 and captured Henry VI. The Duke of York claimed the throne but was only recognised as heir to the throne. He marched north but was killed in battle at Wakefield. The Lancastrians marched on Northampton, defeated the Earl of Warwick and liberated the now mad again King Henry.
1461	The Yorkist's declared the Duke of York’s son Edward as King Edward IV and he defeated the Lancastrians just outside York in April 1461 leaving Henry VI and other Lancastrians as fugitives.
1470 – 1471	The conspiracies continued and the Earl of Warwick fled to France where with Lancastrian allies and the French King Louis they backed Warwick in an attempt to regain the throne. This he managed and ruled in Henry VI’s name leaving Edward to flee to Holland. Edward returned in 1471 and defeated Warwick at Barnet and the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury. By now all the leading Lancastrians were dead including Edward, Prince of Wales and Henry VI who was in the Tower of London.
1483	Edward IV dies suddenly, leaving his brother Richard Duke of Gloucester as regent for the young Edward V. However, Richard had his own plans and he captured the young Edward, claimed the throne and is then thought to have had his nephews murdered in the Tower of London, though some think that this was done at the command of the Lord Thomas Stanley, Henry Tudor's stepfather.
1485	The murder of the young princes focused opposition to Richard and they looked to the last Lancastrian leader Henry Tudor to lead an invasion force against the King. In 1485, at Bosworth Field, Richard was defeated and killed by Henry’s forces under the command of the Earl of Oxford. Henry claimed the throne by right of conquest and was proclaimed King Henry VII on the field of battle.
1486	Henry helped heal the rift between the Houses of Lancaster and York finally in 1486 when he married Elizabeth of York daughter of Edward IV
1503	James IV of Scotland marries Margaret daughter of Henry VII
1509	Henry VII dies and is replaced by one of England’s most colourful kings Henry VIII who is perhaps best remembered for marrying six times in his attempt to produce a male heir to the throne. His six wives were: - 1. Katherine of Aragon – married in 1509 and divorced in 1533 2. Ann Boleyn – married in 1533 (while still married to Katherine) and beheaded in 1536 accused of adultery 3. Jane Seymour – married in 1536 died after childbirth in 1537 4. Ann of Cleves – married in 1540 and divorced the same year 5. Catherine Howard – married in 1540 and beheaded in 1542 again accused of adultery 6. Catherine Parr – married 1542 she survived Henry who died in 1547
1513	James IV of Scotland invaded England in 1513 where he met and was heavily defeated and killed by the Earl of Surrey at the Battle of Flodden Field.
1536 – 1540	Henry VIII dissolved all the remaining monasteries making him highly unpopular as they played a central part in peoples lives
1547 – 1553	On Henry’s death in 1547 his son (by Jane Seymour) became King Edward VI at the age of nine. Government was first entrusted to Duke of Somerset and later the Earl of Warwick
1553	Edward died at the age of 15 in 1553, Lady Jane Grey was nominated by Edward VI as his successor as he claimed his half sisters Mary and Elizabeth were illegitimate. Mary did not take kindly to this and began a rebellion in Norfolk claiming herself Queen, her support grew and she took the throne in 1553, Lady Jane Grey was executed.
1553 – 1558	Mary was the daughter of Katherine of Aragon and was determined to return England to Catholicism. Mary married Phillip II of Spain. Mary had 300 people burnt at the stake for heresy including Archbishop Cranmer of Canterbury. In France, England lost it’s final possession, Calais in 1558
1558	Elizabeth I, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, took the throne on Mary’s death in 1558
1559 – 1587	Mary was married to Francis, King of France in 1558 and before her marriage she signed away Scotlands sovreignty declaring that if she died before her husband, Scotland would come under control of the French crown. Luckily for Mary, in 1560 Francis died and his mother Catherine De Medici forced Mary to return to Scotland which, she had not visited since the age of 5. On her return she was immediately embroiled in a conflict re religion in Scotland, Mary was actively Catholic in private but didn’t oppose the Protestant religion. Her major problem was her choice of husband, Henry Lord Darnley (her cousin) was not like by many Scottish noblemen and this issue was brought to a head when Mary married Darnley in 1565. This also upset Queen Elizabeth. In March 1566 Scottish nobles broke into Queen Mary’s private chambers and killed her Italian secretary. Although Mary tried her best to reconcile the nobles, things only got worse and on 10^th February 1567, Darnley now King Henry of Scotland was strangled and blown up in a house near Edinburgh. Mary married again 3 months later to another unpopular suitor James, Earl of Bothwell (even though he was suspected of killing Darnley !). The nobles raised an army to challenge Mary who surrendered to them. She was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle and on 24^th July 1567 was forced to abdicate, her one year old son James was crowned James VI. Mary did manage to escape Lochleven 11 months later and raised an army but she was heavily defeated at the Battle of Langside in May 1568. Mary fled south and asked Queen Elizabeth to help her escape but Elizabeth instead had her imprisoned for the next 19 years. In 1587 Mary was executed in Fotheringhay Castle after being found guilty of treason, she was 44 years old.
1569 – 1586	Elizabeth was under almost constant threat from her opponents who tried to replace her with Mary Queen of Scots. In 1569 the Duke of Norfolk was imprisoned in the Tower, in 1571 the Ridolfi Plot, in 1583 the Throckmorton Plot and finally in 1586 the Babington Plot were all uncovered and all had the same aim - to replace Elizabeth with Mary and re-establish Catholicism across England.
1578 – 1580	In 1577 Francis Drake left Plymouth on a 3 year voyage that took him round the world, he was knighted on board the Golden Hind by Queen Elizabeth in April 1581.
1588	Spain declared war on Elizabeth in 1585 when Spain became angry over her support for the Dutch Protestant rebellion against Philip of Spain and her authorisation of raids to be carried out on Spanish trade and colonies. In 1588 Philip launched the Spanish Armada: 130 ships and 19,00 troops against England. The Armada harboured in Calais prior to their attack. This allowed the English under the command of Admiral Howard and his lieutenants Sir Francis drake and John Hawkins to send fireships into the Spanish ships inflicting heavy damage. Further damage was inflicted in a battle near Gravelines. Weather conditions then conspired against the Spanish and they were forced to return to Spain via Scotland and Ireland, many of the ships were shipwrecked in the storms as they battled their way back to Spain. Further attempts were made in 1596 and 1597 but these too were stopped by storms.
1603	Queen Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudors died in Richmond Palace on 24 March 1603. She refused to name her successor but James VI of Scotland was crowned James I of England

Richard assembled his forces at Leicester; he was determined to give battle and on the 21st the royalist army moved west and camped the night around Ambion Hill near Sutton Chaney. Richard mustered about 9,000 to 10,000 men organised in two battles: the Vanward under the Duke of Norfolk and the Rearward under the Earl of Northumberland. Richard also had the use of a significant amount of artillery but was denied the opportunity to use them to much effect.
Early on the morning of the 22nd Richard deployed his troops just south west of Ambion hill and awaited the arrival of Henry's rebel army.	Click the map above for an interactive re-enactment of the battle
Henry's force was under the command of the Earl of Oxford, who was to demonstrate a brilliant tactical move that threw the Royalist army into confusion and exposed Norfolk's rear to attack by Sir William Stanley. Henry would not know until the last minute whether the Stanleys would take his side or not.
Richard recognised the threat to Norfolk's position and immediately attacked Henry in person who had moved forward to meet Sir William.
As Richard engaged Henry's lifeguard, killing his standard bearer, Sir William's troops entered the fray forcing Richard into the marsh where he was killed fighting hard to the bitter end.
Triumphant, Henry moved to a local high spot, now called Crown Hill, where it is said that Richard's crown was placed upon his head by Lord Thomas Stanley.
It is unsure if the Stanleys always intended to fight on Henry's side or whether Sir William just took the opportunity to ensure the fight ended in their favour. Certainly Lord Thomas did not take any active part in the battle, but they were in the perfect positions to allow Oxford to attack Norfolk's flank. It is worth noting that when Richard threatened to execute Lord Strange Lord Thomas replied that he had other sons. Was he referring to his step-son Henry?
Regardless of whether the battle was decided by the treachery of the Stanleys or by the brilliance of the Earl of Oxford the outcome was the same; Henry Tudor was crowned King Henry VII of England. He married Elizabeth of York to unite the houses of Lancaster and York and established a dynasty that would preside over some of the most important events in English history.

Battle of Bosworth	Henry VIII	Mary and Elizabeth	Armada
Tudor Exploration	Golden Hind		Build a Tudor House

The Battle of Redemore, Bosworth - 22nd August 1485
The Battle of Redemore, or more commonly known as Bosworth Field, was fought between Henry Tudor, the Lancastrian claimant to the the throne, and King Richard the Third, last of the Plantagnet kings.
click for more	Although not the last battle of the Wars of the Roses it traditionally marks the end of the medieval period and the beginning of the Tudor period. The battle is considered to be one of the most important in English history. It is significant in that it was the last battle in which an English King died and was the last time a charge of mounted knights took place on English soil. After the battle Henry claimed the throne by right of conquest so it could be said that this was the last time that England was conquered.
	Henry landed with 2000 French mercenaries at Milford Haven in Wales on 7th August. He marched north east gathering support and arrived at Atherstone on the evening of 20th August with a force of around 5,000. In addition to this force Henry was counting on support from his step father Lord Thomas Stanley and Thomas' brother Sir William Stanley who between them commanded about 6,000 men. The Stanleys had swapped sides repeatedly throughout the Wars of the Roses but at this time they remained non-committal, probably because Lord Strange, a son of Thomas Stanley, was held hostage by Richard.