The House of Tudor held England’s throne from 1485 to 1603, ruling through five monarchs whose reigns reshaped the kingdom. Henry Tudor emerged from the Lancastrian cause after the Wars of the Roses. His claim was complicated: his paternal family came from Welsh nobles, while his mother descended from the legitimised Beaufort line of Lancaster, which had been barred from succession. His decisive advantage was military. After defeating Richard III at Bosworth Field, Henry became Henry VII and strengthened his position by marrying Elizabeth of York, joining the rival red and white roses.
Henry VII focused on dynastic security, royal finances, and cautious diplomacy. His son Henry VIII inherited a stable throne but transformed it through repeated marital crises and the break with Rome. Parliament made the king Supreme Head of the Church of England, beginning the English Reformation. Henry’s children reflected the instability of the age: Edward VI promoted Protestant reform, Mary I restored Catholicism and executed hundreds of Protestants, and Elizabeth I created a lasting Protestant settlement.
Succession repeatedly threatened the dynasty. Edward’s advisers tried to bypass Mary in favor of Lady Jane Grey, whose reign lasted only days before Mary took power. Elizabeth survived imprisonment, rebellions, Catholic plots, and the Spanish Armada, but never married or produced an heir. Her death in 1603 ended direct Tudor rule. James VI of Scotland, descended from Henry VII through Margaret Tudor, succeeded peacefully and united the Scottish and English crowns. The Tudor legacy continued through later royal families, reaching the modern monarchy through the Stuart and Hanoverian lines.