this video is brought to you by captivating history the tudor dynasty led england through some pivotal moments in the nation's history from the war of the roses to the english reformation to the renaissance within the tudor family itself however there were power struggles infidelities and marriages arranged for political gain and let's not forget the beheadings a popular and gruesome means of deposing one's enemies even if that enemy is a family member during the reign of the tudors between 1485 and 1603 the family put five of its members on the throne beginning with henry vii and ending with elizabeth the first the virgin queen they also changed the course of english history and sent a ripple effect through all of europe and beyond the tudors did not start as a royal family they didn't even start as english the family can trace their roots back to wales in the waning years of the 12th century a servant named edna fed phichan positioned himself to be invaluable to the princes of the welsh kingdom of gwyneth and the most trusted adviser to the king staunchly loyal to wales edna fed fought back king john of england's army and took the heads of a trio of english lords back to his king as a gift as thanks the king gave edna fed lordship over large parcels of land and declared him to be a tax-free landowner a designation previously only granted to the royal family more importantly the distinction passed down to edna fed's heirs and helped pave their way into the aristocracy a direct descendant of edna fed owen abmerid abtuter who was born just before the year 1400 left wales for england where his name was changed to owen tudor owen tudor could be viewed as a traitor to his homeland whereas his father and grandfather opposed english rule over the welsh owen tudor allied with the english king henry v by all appearances owen sought to use his friendship with henry v for his own game and with no regard to his native welsh heritage he was as indispensable to the english king as his ancestor edna fed had been to the welsh king king henry v married catherine of valois the daughter of the french monarch charles vi and queen isabel after signing an alliance with england when henry died suddenly owen tudor and the widow catherine who had an infant son as heir to the throne became lovers the couple had several children including three sons edmund jasper and edward although tudor's children were now members of the royal family there was legal trouble for owen as a dowager queen catherine could not remarry unless the reigning king granted his permission her son henry vi was the heir but not yet old enough to consent owen tudor was imprisoned for adultery a few years later he was released with a full pardon and saw the return of his titles land holdings and position in society by the time king henry vi was old enough to rule relations with france had deteriorated instead of a military operation the king proposed another solution he married the young niece of francis king charles vii margaret of anjou after five years of marriage margaret had still not given her husband an heir and worse yet the king was dealing with mental illness several prominent families positioned themselves to seize the throne the two leading contenders were the beauforts and the yorks flowers represented the two families vying for power a white rose for the yorks and a red rose for the lancasters the power struggle turned into the 30-year-long war of the roses owen tudor's son edmund died in the war of the roses but a few months later his teenage bride margaret beauford gave birth to a son henry tudor who would become the first tudor king of england during the first three decades of henry tudor's life he watched as four other kings sat on the english throne after the death of the last of the four edward of westminster in 1471 the lancaster family line was left without an error to the throne the only solution in the minds of many was to transfer power to a york king but there was one option that no one saw coming the legitimate claim of henry tudor many in england supported henry tudor but many against him as well the throne was up for grabs during the decisive final battle of the war of the roses the battle of bosworth field after the battle henry tudor proclaimed himself king of england the first in the tudor line in an effort to mend relations with the powerful york family henry wed elizabeth of york as the new monarch king henry vi instituted important changes to ensure that a situation like the war of the roses would not happen again first he prohibited nobility from keeping a large stable of horses and a huge staff of footmen he wanted to make sure that no nobleman had a ready army to do his bidding he also increased taxes even for the wealthy and replenished the royal coffers along the way he demonstrated wisdom and diplomacy that earned him the admiration of his subjects with the internal fighting over in england henry turned his attention to foreign policy he established favorable relations with several european nations including spain and france he arranged for the marriage of his daughter margaret to james iv of scotland and his other daughter mary to louis xii of france henry vi in elizabeth of york groomed their oldest son arthur to assume the throne giving him the finest education and skills their second born son henry enjoyed the lavish responsibility-free life of the spare air however when arthur died the grieving henry vi and elizabeth turned their attention to henry who had little interest in leading his country they arranged for him to marry arthur's widow catherine averiga then upon his father's death henry was crowned king henry viii the duty as england's monarch changed henry viii he was once a carefree generous man but became known for his quick temper unfairness and cruelty he was gluttonous and obese he grew more concerned that his wife catherine novaragon had not produced a male heir she had several stillborn births and only one child a girl named mary survived henry viii worried that the tudor line would end so he hedged his bets he sought an annulment from catherine so he could marry another a younger hopefully more fertile woman named ambeline the issue of henry's annulment which was a divorce was a sticky one the pope in the church forbid the dissolving of marriages and the kings was no exception the issue escalated until the church of england broke from the roman catholic church and the pope's authority along with the protestant reformation in the european continent the english reformation ushered in religious and political changes in 1533 henry's second wife ann belin gave birth to a daughter elizabeth but all subsequent pregnancies ended in miscarriage once again henry sought an annulment so he could try for a male heir with a different wife and once again his request was frowned upon henry tried a different approach he accused anne of taking several lovers and breaking her marriage vows she was arrested and found guilty on trumped-up charges of treason adultery and incest anne boleyn was beheaded in may of 1536 henry's third wife jane seymour gave him a son who would become king edward vi but she died a few days after delivering the child his fourth marriage to anne of cleves ended in an annulment his next marriage to catherine howard ended with catherine's beheading for infidelity but in this case the charges were true the young and vivacious catherine was horrified by the grossly overweight much older slovenly king and took one of henry's favorites thomas culpepper as her lover henry's last wife catherine parr narrowly escaped the gallows herself her crime was promoting lutheran teachings when henry viii died in january of 1547 the crown passed to his only surviving son edward unfortunately the new king edward vi was only nine and unable to rule it was a tumultuous time for england as various individuals attempted to take advantage of the power vacuum once he reached legal age edward vi focused on leading religious reform which widened the rift between the english crown and the catholic church behind edward in the line of succession were his two sisters mary and elizabeth edward did not want the crown to pass to mary a pious catholic on his deathbed he penned a will stating that the throne should go to his cousin lady jane gray a protestant supporter in keeping with edward the sixth wishes lady jane gray was named as the new monarch when edward died in july of 1553. the 15 year old jane was crowned a few days later but not without controversy many in england rejected edward's final wishes and sought to put mary on the throne lady jane gray only a teenager was arrested just nine days into her reign she was imprisoned in the tower of london and beheaded that left the crown free for mary although mary was the eldest of edward's half-sisters and next in line to the throne the people of england rebelled against her coronation she married a spanish prince philip in 1554 but it was no marriage of love the couple avoided each other as best they could and mary grew bitter that she hadn't given england an heir mary made it clear that her goal was to return england to catholicism and remove protestantism during the marian persecutions which took place between 1555 and 1558 mary ordered the execution by burning at the stake of nearly 300 protestants this move earned her the nickname bloody mary and reinforced most of england's goal to see mary deposed in place of her half-sister elizabeth in 1558 when mary was in her early 40s she fell ill and died without an error of her own the crown pass to elizabeth her half-sister crowned queen elizabeth the first on january 15 1559 as the new monarch she had many obstacles to overcome including her own gender as queen mary was seen as overly emotional and often irrational everything that men feared in a female leader elizabeth however was none of those things she was highly educated calm intelligent confident and articulate above all she was certain that she was meant to lead england queen elizabeth brushed off all pressures to marry but it was a double-edged sword if she married england's control would shift to her husband because women were not viewed as leadership material in those days elizabeth was a capable leader who did not want to relinquish her authority to anyone so she chose not to marry but by not marrying elizabeth would also not produce an heir to the throne she chose to not marry remain childless and was known as the virgin queen just because she did not marry doesn't mean she lived her life without a romantic partner elizabeth's childhood friend robert dudley remained a constant presence in her life the two even openly flirted in court robert however was married court rumors stated that the queen was waiting for robert's wife to die so she could marry him and when the wife did suspiciously die after falling down a flight of stairs the rumors persisted that either robert or elizabeth arranged for the wife to be murdered the couple put the rumors to rest by never marrying although tensions between the catholics and the protestants lasted throughout her reign queen elizabeth the first demonstrated her commitment to helping her people by enacting a poor law that gave an annual allowance to peasants who were too old or sick to work during her time she also paid off all the monarchy's debts to parliament art and literature thrived during the elizabethan era as the people enjoyed a stable economy she survived one of the biggest threats for her reign when the english defeated the spanish armada of 1588 even though the spanish outnumbered the english the english channel's fickle weather helped them fend off the invaders when queen elizabeth the first died on march 24 1603 she did so without naming her successor tracing back the line of succession the chief minister looked at james vi of scotland another protestant and the great grandson of margaret tudor as the next english monarch his ascension was unopposed although elizabeth's death marked the end of the tudor dynasty and the beginning of the steward one the tudor line was closely intertwined with england's subsequent monarchs the current queen elizabeth ii is a direct descendant of the tudor king henry vii the tudors made a lasting impact on england in the world that continues to this day to discover more about the tudors then check out our book the tutors a captivating guide to the history of england from henry vii to elizabeth the first it's available as an ebook paperback and audiobook also grab your free mythology bundle ebook for free while still available all links are in the description if you enjoyed the video please hit the like button and subscribe for more videos like this