Tudor, << TOO duhr, >> House of, was the family that ruled England from 1485 to 1603. The first Tudor ruler was Henry VII. Henry won his crown at the battle of Bosworth Field, defeating Richard III and ensuring a victory for his own side in the Wars of the Roses. He claimed the throne through his mother, Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of Edward III. He restored order to England after 30 years of repeated outbreaks of civil war.
His son Henry VIII continued Henry VII’s work of unifying the country. Henry VIII broke all ties between England and the Roman Catholic Church and made the monarch head of the church in England. Henry VIII was succeeded first by his son Edward VI and then in turn by his daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I. The reigns of the Protestant Edward and the Catholic Mary were short and unhappy due to civil unrest, foreign wars, severe economic problems, and religious disturbances. But under Elizabeth, who was Protestant but favored a moderate church settlement, England became a major European power. After Elizabeth’s death in 1603, the crown passed to King James VI of Scotland, the great-grandson of Henry VII’s oldest daughter, Margaret. James was England’s first Stuart king.
