| THE TUDORS (1485 -1603)
It was one of the most exciting times in British history.The Tudors ruled over England , Wales and part of England
http://www.brims.co.uk/tudors/quiz.htm |
Henry Vll (r. 1485-1509)
Henry Tudor became King Henry VII of England and Wales after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. This battle saw the end of the Wars of the Roses which had brought trouble to England.
Henry Vlll (r. 1509-1547)
Henry Vlll is probably the most well known of the Tudor kings. He was a very selfish person and by the end of his life everyone was afraid of him, mainly because of his ruthless behaviour toward anyone who didn't agree with him.He had 6 wives.
King Edward Vl (r. 1547-1553)
Edward VI became king at the age of nine upon the death of his father, Henry Vlll. He was known as 'The Boy King'. His mother was Jane Seymour, Henry Vlll's third wife.
Edward was a sickly child. Edward died at the age of 16 in 1553.
Lady Jane Grey (r. nine days in 1553)
Jane’s father was Henry Grey and her mother was Lady Frances Brandon, who was the daughter of Henry VIII’s sister Mary and the great grand-daughter of Henry VII. Lady Jane Grey ruled for only 9 days before Mary I had her arrested and executed.
Queen Mary l (r. 1553-1558)
Mary I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon and was a committed Catholic. When she came to the throne she promised to return England to Rome and Catholicism.Why is Mary l called Bloody Mary?
She is known as Bloody Mary because of the numbers of people who were executed for being Protestants. Mary burned nearly three hundred Protestants at the stake when they refused to give up their religion.
Queen Elizabeth I ( 1558-1603)
Elizabeth I - the last Tudor monarch - was born at Greenwich on 7 September 1533, the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
When Elizabeth came to the throne, she was 25. She became queen on her half-sister's death in November 1558. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and was very well-educated (fluent in six languages).
The Six Wives of Henry VIII | |||
Wife Number One.Catherine of Aragon
| Wife Number Two…Anne Boleyn | ||
Catherine of Aragon was the youngest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. She was married to Henry’s brother Arthur but he died in 1501. Catherine married Henry in 1509 but only one child, a girl, Mary, survived. Henry believed that he did not have a male heir because he had married his brother’s wife. He had found a passage in the Bible to back his belief. Henry had also fallen in love with Anne Boleyn. Catherine refused to give Henry a divorce, so he began the Reformation in England. This meant he could divorce Catherine in 1533. She died three years later.
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Anne Boleyn was born in 1501. At the age of fourteen she was sent to the French Court. When she returned to England she caught the King’s attention. Henry married Anne in 1533 after she became pregnant. Henry was annoyed when she gave birth to Elizabeth in September 1533. Anne became pregnant twice more but the babies were born dead. She was charged and found guilty of adultery in 1536 and beheaded the same year.
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Wife Number Three..Jane Seymour
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Wife Number Four…Anne of Cleves
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Jane Seymour was a quiet shy girl who Henry married just 11 days after the death of Anne Boleyn. He was 45 years old, Jane was 28. Henry was delighted when she gave birth to a son, Edward, in October 1538. Henry was very upset when Jane died a month later. On his deathbed, Henry requested to be buried next to Jane.
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Anne of Cleves was the 24 year old daughter of the Duke of Cleves. Henry agreed to marry her having only seen her painting. When he saw her face to face he was horrified and tried to find a way out of the marriage but could not. He married Anne in 1540 and divorced her the same year.
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Wife Number Five...Kathryn Howard | Wife Number Six…Katherine Parr | ||
Henry married 15 year old Kathryn in 1540, he was 49.Kathryn Horward found life with Henry boring and had many younger friends. Katherine's actions led to her being accused of adultery and subsequently executed in 1542.
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Henry married twice widowed Katherine Parr in 1543. She was a good stepmother to the King's three children. She was also an excellent nursemaid and looked after Henry when he was sick. After Henry's death she married Edward's uncle, Thomas Seymour. Katherine Parr died in childbirth in 1548.
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Tudor Fun & Games
The Tudor kings and queens encouraged archery . It was the law that every fit man over 24 should be able to shoot a target 220 yards away. They had to practise on Sunday after church . There were cross bows and long bows. The best bows were yew and the three strings were made of hemp . Arrows were made of birch oak ash and hornbeam . They were tipped with grey goose feathers.
People played other games like ours. Bowls was a favourite and some towns had bowling alleys. They used to play games like hockey the sticks were curved and the ball was wooden. Young men played it in the street. The favourite game was football . Any number could play and there was no referee. Villages challenged each other and nearly every match ended with cracked heads and other injuries.
The tudors also liked to go to bull and bear baiting rings. A bull or bear was chained to a stake. Then dogs were let in to tease them and fights began. Cock fighting was also popular.
All countrymen enjoyed hunting, wealthy Tudors hunted deer on horseback while ordinary men hunted rabbits and other smaller things on foot. They also fished and enjoyed falconry. Noblemen liked to fence and tennis was enjoyed by the rich. 
People liked to watch plays. During Elizabeth's reign the first real theatres were built in England. At first actors travelled from town to town and performed in the streets or outside inns. Then they began to build theatres. 
The Globe Theatre was built on the River Thames. It was circular and had seats around the walls which cost two pence or three pence if you had a cushion. These seats were sheltered from the weather. The rest of the people were crowded into the yard or floor. The floor or pit cost one penny. People in the pit moved about, leaned over on the stage and even talked while the play was going on. The stage was a platform that jutted out into the pit. They did not have many props or much scenery and an actor had to walk on to stage and tell people were the story was set so that they could imagine it. Women did not act so men and boys had to play the female parts. 
William Shakespeare lived during Elizabeth's reign. He is still the world's most famous writer.He wrote lots of plays which have been translated into many languages and are still performed today all over the world. His most famous plays include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.
