Authors: G. J. Meyer
The Tudors
Also by G. J. Meyer
A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914–1918
For Rosie
Prologue:
August 22, 1485
The Battle of Bosworth: An exile returns
.
PART ONE
An Excess of Good Fortune: 1485–1532
1:
The Luck of Henry Tudor
The king who had (almost) everything
.
Background: The Origin of the Tudors
2:
The King’s Great Matter
His pursuit of an annulment—and of Anne Boleyn
.
Background: The Spanish Connection
3:
Frustration and Embarrassment
Queen Catherine resists, and finds support
.
4:
Radical Departures
Moving the line between church and state
.
5:
Another Way Devised
A policy of winning by intimidation—and terror
.
Background: The Royal Horn of Plenty
6:
A Revolution in the Making
Henry raises the stakes
.
Background: Windows of Opportunity
7:
A Thunderbolt Falls
The royal ultimatum
.
8:
Submission
The archbishop of Canterbury surrenders
.
Background: Other Reformations
9:
Consummation
The king beds, then weds, Anne Boleyn
.
PART TWO
Monster: 1533–1547
10:
First Blood
The destruction of the Nun of Kent
.
11:
Supremacy
Parliament acknowledges the king’s new powers
.
Background: Monks, Nuns, and Friars
12:
“We Will All Die”
Destruction of the Charterhouse monks, and of John Fisher
.
13:
“Preserve My Friends from Such Favors”
Trial and execution of Thomas More; the monastic visits
.
14:
All but Godlike
Anne Boleyn is replaced; the smaller monasteries destroyed
.
Background: They Were What They Ate
15:
Rebellion and Betrayal
Explosion: the Pilgrimage of Grace; King Henry gets his son
.
Background: The Sport of Kings
16:
The Last of Henry
Three more wives, money trouble, a final torrent of killings
.
PART THREE
A King Too Soon and a Queen Too Late: 1547–1558
17:
A New Beginning
Evangelicals triumph; Edward Seymour assumes command
.
Background: Instruments of Power
18:
England’s Second Reformation
Henry VIII’s church dismantled; the fall of Seymour
.
Background: The Making of Mary
20:
Another New Beginning
Mary I and the restoration of the old religion
.
Background: Schooling and the Schools
21:
And Another Early End
Dreams turn to dust
.
PART FOUR
Survivor: 1558–1603
22:
Yet Another New Beginning
The return to Protestantism
.
Background: The Council of Trent
23:
The Succession, Again
Robert Dudley and the hope for an heir
.
Background: The Fall and Rise of English Theater
24:
A Torrent of Miseries
Religion, the succession, and Mary, Queen of Scots
.
25:
Actions, Reactions, Provocations
Trouble in France, trouble with Spain; rebellion in the Netherlands
.
26:
A Horrific Tangle—And War at Last
Years of meddling produce war in the Netherlands
.
Background: The Punishment of the Innocent
27:
The Last Favorite
The Rise of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex
.
28:
A Seat at the Table
The rivalry of Essex and Robert Cecil
.
Background: A Diamond of England
29:
The Last Act
The fall of Essex; the dismal final decade of the Tudor Age
.
| 1457 | January 28 | Henry Tudor is born to Lady Margaret Beaufort, thirteen-year-old widow of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond |
| 1485 | August 22 | Tudor is crowned Henry VII of England after defeating Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth Field |
| December 15 | Catherine of Aragon is born in Spain | |
| 1486 | January 18 | Marriage of Henry VII to Elizabeth of York |
| September 19 | Birth of Arthur, Prince of Wales | |
| 1491 | June 28 | Birth of future King Henry VIII |
| 1494 | September 12 | Birth of future King Francis I of France |
| 1495 | April 27 | Birth of Suleiman I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire |
| 1500 | February 24 | Birth of Charles of Hapsburg, future Emperor Charles V |
| 1501 | November 14 | Catherine of Aragon is married to Arthur, Prince of Wales |
| 1502 | April 2 | Death of Arthur, Prince of Wales |
| 1503 | February 11 | Death of Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII’s mother |
| 1509 | April 22 | Death of Henry VII |
| June 11 | Henry VIII is married to Catherine of Aragon | |
| 1513 | June 30 | Henry crosses the Channel to take command of the campaign against France |
| September 9 | Scots army is destroyed by the Earl of Surrey’s English force at the Battle of Flodden | |
| 1515 | December 24 | Thomas Wolsey becomes chancellor of England |
| 1516 | February 18 | Future Queen Mary I is born to Catherine of Aragon |
| 1519 | June 15 | Birth of Henry VIII’s illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy |
| 1527 | May 21 | Birth of Philip of Hapsburg, future King of Spain and husband of Mary I |
| 1529 | September 22 | Thomas Wolsey is stripped of chancellorship, replaced by Thomas More |
| 1532 | March 30 | Thomas Cranmer is consecrated as archbishop of Canterbury |
| May 16 | More is allowed to resign after the submission of the clergy | |
| 1533 | January 25 | Henry VIII is quietly married to Anne Boleyn |
| April 13 | Anne is proclaimed queen | |
| May 28 | Cranmer’s court declares Henry’s marriage to Anne to be valid | |
| June 8 | Parliament extinguishes papal authority in England | |
| September 7 | Birth of future Queen Elizabeth I | |
| 1534 | April 20 | Execution of Elizabeth Barton, “Nun of Kent” |
| April | Thomas Cromwell is confirmed as Henry VIII’s principal secretary | |
| November | The Act of Supremacy establishes Henry VIII as head of the church in England | |
| 1535 | June 22 | Execution of John Fisher |
| July 6 | Execution of Thomas More | |
| 1536 | January 7 | Death of Catherine of Aragon |
| March | Dissolution of monasteries begins | |
| May 19 | Execution of Anne Boleyn | |
| May 30 | Marriage of Henry VIII to Jane Seymour | |
| July 1 | Mary and Elizabeth are declared illegitimate | |
| July | Ten Articles assert reformist religious doctrines | |
| July 22 | Death of Henry VIII’s illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond | |
| October 8 | Start of Pilgrimage of Grace in Yorkshire | |
| 1537 | October 12 | Birth of future King Edward VI |
| October 24 | Death of Jane Seymour | |
| 1539 | June | Act of Six Articles returns the church to a more conservative position |
| 1540 | January 6 | Henry VIII is married to Anne of Cleves |
| 1540 | July 9 | Cleves marriage is dissolved |
| July 28 | Henry VIII is married to Catherine Howard; Thomas Cromwell is executed the same day | |
| 1541 | May 27 | Execution of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury |
| 1542 | February 13 | Execution of Catherine Howard |
| December 8 | Birth of Mary Stuart, future Queen of Scots | |
| December 13 | Death of James V of Scotland | |
| 1543 | July 12 | Marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine Parr |
| 1544 | July 14 | Henry crosses the Channel to make war on France |
| 1547 | January 28 | Death of Henry VIII |
| February 20 | Coronation of Edward VI | |
| March 31 | Death of Francis I of France | |
| September 10 | At the Battle of Pinkie English forces commanded by Edward Seymour, new lord protector and Duke of Somerset, defeat the Scots | |
| 1549 | July 8 | Start of Kett’s Rebellion in Norfolk |
| September 5 | Execution of Thomas Seymour | |
| 1551 | October 11 | Arrest of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset; John Dudley, new lord president of Edward VI’s council, is elevated to Duke of Northumberland |
| 1552 | January 22 | Execution of Somerset |
| 1553 | May 21 | Marriage of Lady Jane Grey to Guildford Dudley |
| July 6 | Death of Edward VI | |
| July 10 | Jane Grey is proclaimed queen | |
| August 3 | Mary I enters London in triumph two weeks after being proclaimed queen | |
| August 21 | Execution of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland | |
| October 30 | Coronation of Mary I | |
| 1554 | February 12 | Execution of Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley |
| April 11 | Execution of Sir Thomas Wyatt | |
| May 19 | Release of Elizabeth after two months of confinement in the Tower | |
| July 25 | Marriage of Mary I to Philip II of Spain | |
| 1555 | October 16 | Execution of Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer |
| November 12 | Death of Stephen Gardiner, chancellor | |
| 1556 | March 21 | Execution of Thomas Cranmer; Reginald Pole becomes archbishop of Canterbury |
| 1558 | January 5 | Fall of Calais to France |
| April 24 | Marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to future Francis II of France | |
| November 17 | Deaths of Mary I and Reginald Pole; appointment of William Cecil as Queen Elizabeth’s secretary of state | |
| 1559 | January 15 | Coronation of Elizabeth I |
| May 8 | Elizabeth signs Act of Uniformity | |
| September 18 | Mary Queen of Scots becomes Queen of France with accession of Francis II | |
| 1560 | December 5 | Death of Francis II |
| 1561 | August 19 | Arrival of Mary Queen of Scots in Scotland |
| 1564 | September 29 | Robert Dudley is created Earl of Leicester |
| 1565 | July 29 | Mary Queen of Scots weds Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley |
| 1566 | June 19 | Birth of future James VI of Scotland and James I of England |
| 1567 | February 10 | Murder of Darnley |
| May 15 | Mary Queen of Scots is married to James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell | |
| July 24 | With Mary a prisoner, her son is proclaimed King James VI | |
| 1571 | February 25 | William Cecil is raised to nobility as Baron Burghley |
| 1572 | J une 2 | Execution of Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk |
| August 24 | Start of St. Bartholomew’s Massacre in Paris | |
| 1584 | June 9 | Death of Francis, Duke of Alençon |
| July 10 | Assassination of William of Orange | |
| 1585 | August 20 | With Treaty of Nonsuch, England commits to sending troops to the Netherlands |
| 1586 | January 15 | Earl of Leicester takes the oath as governor-general of the Netherlands |
| 1587 | February 8 | Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots |
| 1588 | July 27 | Spanish Armada arrives off Calais |
| September 4 | Death of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester | |
| 1593 | February 25 | Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, becomes a member of the Privy Council |
| 1596 | July 5 | Robert Cecil is appointed secretary of state |
| 1598 | August 4 | Death of William Cecil, Lord Burghley |
| September 13 | Death of Philip II | |
| 1599 | April 14 | Earl of Essex arrives in Ireland as lord lieutenant |
| 1600 | June 5 | Arrest of Essex |
| 1601 | February 25 | Execution of Essex |
| 1603 | March 24 | Death of Elizabeth I |