England Under the Tudors: Dynasty, Religion, and Power (1485-1603)

The Tudor Age (1485 – 1603)

Beginning of the Tudor Age

In August 1485, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, claimed the English throne. He landed in South Wales and three weeks later defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth.

In the 15th century, the English nobility was less numerous than in other countries on the continent and was unified; there were no gentlemen with independent territorial domains as in previous eras. As in other Western European societies, during the 14th century, the English nobility challenged the monarchy. Nevertheless, the administration and royal authority in England were much stronger and were centralized much earlier than on the rest of the continent.

In addition, the loyalty of the nobility to the monarchy was assured for more than a hundred years (the Hundred Years' War took place between 1339 and 1453). But when the English were expelled from France, the most powerful nobles began to fight among themselves for the succession to the throne. Between 1455 and 1485, the Wars of the Roses developed between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, the two largest landowning families of the kingdom.

Los Tudor y la Nueva Monarquía Absoluta

En 1485, Enrique VII, heredero de la Casa de Lancaster y de la Casa de York, resultó vencedor en la Guerra de las Dos Rosas y fundó la dinastía Tudor. Su objetivo más importante fue concentrar y reforzar, de nuevo, el poder de las instituciones centrales de la monarquía, debilitado por los enfrentamientos entre los nobles. Bajo su administración, los dominios reales se extendieron y los ingresos de la corona se triplicaron. El Parlamento dejó de ser convocado con frecuencia. Finalmente, el poder absoluto del rey se consolidó cuando Inglaterra se enfrentó a la Iglesia Católica de Roma, y Enrique VIII se convirtió en la cabeza de la Iglesia reformada inglesa, llamada Anglicana.

Henry VIII (1509 – 1547)

Henry VIII of England and Ireland was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. He was the first English monarch to be educated under the influence of the Renaissance. Following the deaths of his brother Arthur in 1502 and his father in 1509, Henry VIII succeeded to the throne. He had been betrothed to his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. The young king himself at first took little interest in politics, and for two years affairs were managed by Richard Foxe and William Warham. There was early talk of potential issues with the marriage to Catherine of Aragon (around 1514), though the main crisis came later. Cardinal Wolsey's fate, however, was sealed by his failure to obtain a divorce for Henry VIII from the papal court. The king's hopes of male issue had been disappointed, and by 1526 it was fairly certain that Henry VIII could have no male heir to the throne while Catherine remained his wife.

The second half of Henry's reign was dominated by two issues very important for the later history of England and the monarchy: the succession and the Protestant Reformation, which led to the formation of the Church of England. Henry had married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, in 1509. Catherine had produced only one surviving child - a girl, Princess Mary, born in 1516. By the end of the 1520s, Henry's wife was in her forties and he was desperate for a son.

The Tudor dynasty had been established by conquest in 1485 and Henry was only its second monarch. England had not so far had a ruling queen, and the dynasty was not secure enough to run the risk of handing the Crown on to a woman, risking disputed succession or domination of a foreign power through marriage.

Henry had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn, the sister of one of his former mistresses, and tried to persuade the Pope to grant him an annulment of his marriage on the grounds that it had never been legal (due to Catherine's previous marriage to his brother Arthur). However, a previous Pope had specifically granted Henry a dispensation to marry his brother's widow in 1509. In May 1529, Cardinal Wolsey failed to gain the Pope's agreement to resolve Henry's case in England. All the efforts of Henry and his advisers came to nothing; Wolsey was dismissed and arrested, but died before he could be brought to trial.

Since the attempts to obtain the divorce through pressure on the papacy had failed, Wolsey's eventual successor, Thomas Cromwell, turned to Parliament, using its powers and anti-clerical attitude to decide the issue. The result was a series of Acts cutting back papal power and influence in England and bringing about the English Reformation. In 1532, Thomas Cranmer was promoted to Archbishop of Canterbury and, following the Pope's confirmation of his appointment, in May 1533 Cranmer declared Henry's marriage invalid; Anne Boleyn was crowned queen a week later. An effect of the English Protestant Reformation was the Dissolution of the Monasteries, under which monastic lands and possessions were broken up and sold off. In the 1520s, Wolsey had closed down some of the small monastic communities to pay for his new foundations (he had colleges built at Oxford and Ipswich). In 1535-36, another 200 smaller monasteries were dissolved by law. As a result, Crown revenues doubled for a few years.

Henry's second marriage had raised hopes for a male heir. Anne Boleyn, however, produced another daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and failed to produce a surviving male child. Henry got rid of Anne on charges of adultery and treason, and she was executed in 1536. In 1537 her replacement, Henry's third wife Jane Seymour, finally bore him a son, who was later to become Edward VI. Jane died in childbed, 12 days after the birth in 1537.

Cromwell had proved an effective minister in bringing about the royal divorce and the English Reformation. The Pilgrimage of Grace, an insurrection in 1536, called for Cromwell's dismissal (the rebels were suppressed) but it was Henry's fourth, abortive and short-lived marriage to Anne of Cleves that led to Cromwell's downfall. Despite being made Earl of Essex in 1540, three months later he was arrested and executed. Henry made two more marriages, to Katherine Howard (executed on grounds of adultery in 1542) and Catherine Parr (who survived Henry to die in 1548). None produced any children. Henry made sure that his sole male heir, Edward, was educated by tutors sympathetic to Protestantism rather than Catholicism because he wanted the anti-papal nature of his reformation and his dynasty to become more firmly established.

Edward VI (1547 – 1553)

Eduardo VI de Inglaterra fue rey de Inglaterra y de Irlanda desde el 28 de enero de 1547 hasta el día de su muerte.

Eduardo, el tercer monarca de la dinastía Tudor, fue el primer gobernante inglés protestante, aunque fue su padre Enrique VIII el que rompió las relaciones entre la Iglesia de Inglaterra y la Iglesia católica.

Fue durante el reinado de Eduardo cuando la Iglesia de Inglaterra inició su proceso de transformación hacia una forma moderada de protestantismo que se conocería en adelante como anglicanismo.

Eduardo nació en Hampton Court el 12 de octubre de 1537, siendo el único hijo varón superviviente del rey Enrique VIII de Inglaterra y de su tercera esposa, Juana Seymour, que murió días después.

Enrique VIII había tenido dos esposas previas a las que rechazó por ser incapaces de darle un hijo varón. Ambos matrimonios fueron anulados y las hijas de estos matrimonios, María e Isabel, fueron declaradas ilegítimas en su momento, aunque un Acta de Sucesión posterior las incluyó en la línea sucesoria después de Eduardo.

Eduardo fue un niño considerado enfermizo, pero ello no impidió que recibiera una esmerada educación.

Su padre, Enrique VIII, murió el 28 de enero de 1547. Nombró en su testamento a 16 tutores, que debían actuar como un consejo de regencia hasta la mayoría de edad de Eduardo (fijada a los 18 años). Entre estos tutores destacó el tío del rey, Edward Seymour, Duque de Somerset.

El 13 de marzo de 1547, Eduardo VI ratificó la voluntad de su padre, nombrando un consejo de regencia. Sin embargo, el Duque de Somerset pronto obtuvo preeminencia sobre los demás tutores. Dejó de ser considerado “uno entre iguales” y se le permitió actuar con poderes ampliados, convirtiéndose en “Lord Protector”, la persona que realmente regía los destinos de Inglaterra.

Una de las primeras acciones del Duque fue intentar forzar una alianza matrimonial con Escocia mediante la guerra (conocida como 'Rough Wooing'). A finales de 1547, las tropas inglesas entraron en Escocia.

El Duque de Somerset no podía enfrentarse eficazmente a la alianza entre Francia y Escocia, y su propia posición se volvió insegura. Su hermano, Thomas Seymour, intentó derrocarlo. La conspiración falló y Thomas Seymour fue ejecutado por traición en 1549. Ese mismo año, Francia declaró la guerra a Inglaterra. La popularidad del duque cayó y fue sustituido por John Dudley, Conde de Warwick (más tarde nombrado Duque de Northumberland).

Lord Warwick no se nombró “Lord Protector” y, en cambio, promovió que Eduardo fuera declarado mayor de edad antes de tiempo (aunque formalmente no lo sería hasta los 16 o 18 según distintas interpretaciones). En 1550, Lord Warwick consiguió la paz con Francia, retirando las tropas de Escocia y devolviendo Boulogne a cambio de dinero.

El ascenso de Warwick coincidió con un impulso hacia un protestantismo más radical en Inglaterra, con la introducción del Book of Common Prayer.

Lord Warwick quería aumentar su prestigio y poder, para ello, consiguió que Eduardo lo nombrara Duque de Northumberland. Warwick también orquestó la caída definitiva y ejecución del anterior Lord Protector, el Duque de Somerset, en 1552.

Eduardo, que en 1553 estaba gravemente enfermo (probablemente de tuberculosis), fue persuadido (principalmente por Northumberland) para alterar la sucesión establecida por su padre. Como se había criado como protestante, no deseaba que le sucediera su hermana mayor María (católica). Influenciado por Northumberland, fijó su atención en Lady Juana Grey, nieta de la hermana menor de Enrique VIII, María Tudor, y convenientemente casada con Guildford Dudley, hijo de Northumberland.

Se estableció una nueva línea de sucesión en el"Legajo para la Sucesió", y la corona pasaría a manos de Juana Grey y sus herederos varones. Eduardo VI designó a Lady Jane Grey como su sucesora. Sin embargo, la exclusión de María e Isabel contradecía el Acta de Sucesión de 1544, donde se restauraba a ambas en la línea sucesoria tras Eduardo.

Cuando Eduardo VI estaba a punto de morir, se intentó atraer a María a Londres, probablemente para capturarla. Sin embargo, María fue advertida, eludió la trampa y huyó a East Anglia, donde reunió apoyos. Lady Jane Grey fue proclamada reina de Inglaterra el 10 de julio de 1553, tras la muerte de Eduardo VI (el 6 de julio) a los 15 años de edad. Pero el pueblo y la nobleza mayoritariamente apoyaron el derecho legítimo de María. Los apoyos a Jane Grey se debilitaron rápidamente y fue destronada nueve días después, cuando María I entró triunfalmente en Londres. Juana Grey fue encarcelada y más tarde ejecutada.

Queen Mary I (1553 – 1558)

Once queen, Mary decided to reimpose Catholicism and marry Philip II of Spain. Neither policy was popular. Philip was Spanish and therefore distrusted, and many in England now had a vested interest in the prosperity of the Protestant church, having received Church lands and money after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

In 1554, Mary crushed a rebellion led by Sir Thomas Wyatt. Wanting to press her advantage, she married Philip and proceeded with the restoration of Catholicism. She sought to submit England once again to papal authority and revived the old heresy laws. In this process, she condemned nearly 300 religious dissenters (mostly Protestants) to be burned at the stake in the Marian Persecutions, earning her the nickname 'Bloody Mary' from Protestant historians.

This led to widespread disillusionment with Mary, deepened by a failed war against France (entered into at Philip's urging) which resulted in the humiliating loss of Calais in January 1558, England's last possession on the French mainland.

Regarding Mary's phantom pregnancies, three months after her marriage, Mary began to suspect she was pregnant, noting abdominal swelling. However, doctors eventually attributed the swelling to dropsy or another ailment. No child arrived, and time passed. Mary died on November 17, 1558, possibly from influenza or uterine cancer.

Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603)

Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch, was born in Greenwich on September 7, 1533. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. When Elizabeth was only two years old, her mother was beheaded on charges of adultery and treason ordered by her father, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and removed from the line of succession for a time.

In 1553, her half-sister Mary became queen. Mary was determined to restore Catholicism in England and saw her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth as a direct threat. Elizabeth was briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1554 following Wyatt's rebellion, though her involvement was never proven.

In November 1558, after the death of her half-sister Mary, Elizabeth ascended the throne. Some view Elizabeth's 45-year reign as a golden age in English history. Therefore, between 1559 and 1563, her first priority was to establish the Religious Settlement, returning England to Protestantism. She helped establish a Church of England that, while Protestant in doctrine, retained some traditional structures and allowed for a degree of tolerance (the 'via media' or middle way).

Elizabeth chose a group of capable administrators to aid her rule, including William Cecil, Lord Burghley as her chief advisor and Secretary of State, and Sir Francis Walsingham, head of intelligence and her 'spymaster'. Her reign saw England expand its foreign trade and exploration; in 1580 Sir Francis Drake became the first Englishman to successfully circumnavigate the globe. The arts flourished in England during this period, with figures like William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe creating enduring poetry and drama.

The queen was also keen to cultivate a public image and connect with her subjects. She undertook numerous regional visits, known as 'progresses', during her reign, often riding on horseback rather than traveling in a carriage.

At the beginning of her reign, Elizabeth's foreign policy was characterized by a cautious relationship with Philip II of Spain, who had briefly been her brother-in-law and had even proposed marriage to her shortly after her accession (which she politely declined).

However, trouble was not far off. In 1568, Elizabeth's cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots (daughter of King James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise), a Catholic with a strong claim to the English throne (as great-granddaughter of Henry VII), fled Scotland and sought refuge in England after being forced to abdicate.

Mary, Queen of Scots, had been married briefly to Francis II of France. While Mary resided in France during that time, her mother, Mary of Guise, from a powerful French Catholic noble house, ruled Scotland as regent, defending Catholic interests. During England's earlier conflicts with France, Mary's status and claim to the English throne (which she and her husband asserted) posed a threat, and her mother allowed French troops to be stationed in Scotland.

Faced with the potential threat from the Franco-Scottish alliance, Elizabeth and Philip II initially found some common ground despite their religious differences. Later, in 1559-1560, Elizabeth cautiously supported the religious revolution led by John Knox, the Protestant leader in Scotland, which sought to eliminate French and Catholic influence there. Elizabeth sent an army and a fleet to aid the Scottish Protestant Lords, leading to the Treaty of Edinburgh which largely removed French influence.

Despite pressure from her advisors, especially Lord Burghley, Elizabeth consistently refused to marry and provide a direct heir. She had a close, lifelong relationship with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and skillfully used the possibility of marriage for diplomatic purposes, but she maintained her independence throughout her life. She famously insisted she was 'married' to her country. By the 1570s, she became known as the 'Virgin Queen'.

With the help of Francis Walsingham's network, Elizabeth kept Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in England under constant surveillance for 19 years. Mary became the focus of numerous Catholic plots aimed at deposing Elizabeth. Despite the discovery of these conspiracies, Elizabeth remained cautious and reluctant to execute her cousin, an anointed queen. However, in 1586, Walsingham uncovered the Babington Plot, which provided clear evidence directly implicating Mary in a conspiracy to assassinate Elizabeth. Mary, Queen of Scots was tried for treason and beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in February 1587.

Mary's execution infuriated Catholic Europe, particularly Philip II of Spain. The following year, in the summer of 1588, Philip II launched a great fleet, known as the Spanish Armada, in an attempt to invade England, overthrow Elizabeth, and restore Catholicism. Ever a popular queen, Elizabeth rallied the country against this common enemy. In a famous speech to the troops gathered at Tilbury, she declared: ‘I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king – and of a king of England too.’

Aided partly by English naval tactics (including the use of fireships) and significantly by severe storms ('the Protestant Wind'), the English Navy, featuring commanders like Lord Howard of Effingham, Sir Francis Drake, and John Hawkins, defeated the Spanish Armada.

Finally, Elizabeth I died childless at Richmond Palace on March 24, 1603, at the age of 69. She was buried in Westminster Abbey alongside her half-sister Mary I. Having named no successor herself but having previously indicated her preference, she was succeeded by the Protestant King James VI of Scotland (son of her executed cousin Mary, Queen of Scots), who became James I of England, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England and beginning the Stuart era.