Tudor kings and queens

The reign of the Tudor dynasty began when Henry VII was crowned in 1485 after defeating the Yorkist king Richard III at the battle of Bosworth in 1484. There were five Tudor kings and queens – Henry VII (1457–1509), Henry VIII (1509–47), Edward VI (1547–53), Mary I (1553–58) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603)

Portrait of John Dee

John Dee: Elizabethan 007, scientist, magician and spy

Anne Boleyn, second wife and queen consort of Henry VIII

Anne Boleyn's youth: how her years on the continent made her a match for Henry VIII. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Scandalous BoleynsWhy Do They Continue To Fascinate Us?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portraits, power and royal wigs. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Jane Seymour, queen of England from 1536 to 1537 as the third wife of Henry VIII. Jane is remembered for being the only wife to provide Henry with a son and male heir (the future Edward VI). Jane died on 24 October 1537, most likely from puerperal, or childbed, fever. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

Jane Seymour: the queen Henry VIII loved most?

Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn. (Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh courtesy of Channel 5)

Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn: colour-blind casting and historical accuracy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Anne Boleyn, who was executed by beheading on 19 May 1536 after being found guilty of high treason, was said to have had "much joy and pleasure in death". (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The final days of Anne Boleyn: why did she die?

Mary Tudor with her five stepmothers

Mary Tudor and her five stepmothers: what was their relationship like?

The decline and death of Henry VIII. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portrait of Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII's most successful queen?

Richard III, Queen Victoria and Henry VIII. (Photos by Getty Images)

Monarchy history quiz: test your knowledge of these kings and queens

Rushton Triangular Lodge was ostensibly a warrener's lodge but the biblical references that adorn its three exterior walls tell a different story. (Photo English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

History explorer: Catholic resistance to Elizabeth I. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Anthonis Mor's portrait of Mary I from 1554

Mary Tudor: brutal but brilliant

Henry VIII’s mistresses: who else did the Tudor king sleep with?

Tudor queens on screen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, observed by Queen Catherine (of Aragon), who is stood in the doorway. Anne has been playing the lute for the king, watched by a gathering of courtiers. Cardinal Wolsey, right of centre, looks on. Painting by Marcus Stone, 1870. Private collection. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Grooms of the stoolWho were the men who changed Henry VIII’s underpants?

Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. National Portrait Gallery, London. (Photo by PHAS/UIG via Getty Images)

The lost heirs of Henry VIII: Alison Weir on Katherine of Aragon’s failed pregnancies

Portrait of Catherine of Aragon

Your guide to Catherine of Aragon: Henry VIII’s first wife and mother of Mary I

A painting of the Tudor succession

The truth about the Tudors: what 5 kings and queens were really like behind closed doors. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Elizabeth I knights Francis Drake on his ship Golden Hind after his round-the-world voyage. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

How did Elizabeth I feel about being queen in a 'man's world'? | Tracy Borman explains

Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada

Elizabeth I: a guide to her life and rule, plus 7 facts you might not know

Henry Fitzroy

Henry Fitzroy: how Henry VIII’s “bastard son” rocked the Tudor court

Richard III. (Photo by Getty Images)

Have we completely misinterpreted Shakespeare’s Richard III?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Elizabeth I, c1565

The 10 best English queens in history

Anne Boleyn (left) and her daughter, Elizabeth I. (Photos by Getty Images)

What did Elizabeth I think of her mother, Anne Boleyn? Historian Tracy Borman explains

Portrait of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (1532–88) an English nobleman. Dated 16th century. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Robert Dudley: Queen Elizabeth I's great love

A portrait of Henry VIII

The surprising place where Henry VIII is buried

The unexpected Tudors. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, 1521. This was an assembly of the Holy Roman Empire called by King Charles V in Heylshof Garden, Worms, to address Martin Luther and the effects of the Protestant Reformation. (Photo by The Print Collector via Getty Images)

What was the Reformation?

A portrait of the young Elizabeth I. (Photo by Art Collection 2/Alamy Stock Photo)

Elizabeth I's personality: the unfathomable queen