The Line of the Dastardly Tudors and Plantagenets

Hello, bloggers. I am sorry we haven't written for a long time, but here is a good long post to make up for it. 😉

This post will be on the Tudors and Plantagenets. While most of you know who the Tudors are, you might not be familiar with the Plantagenets, because they are referred to by their christian names: Henry II, Henry III, and Richard II. The Tudors I will be talking about are: Henry VIII (plus brief mention of his six wives and what part they played in his reign), Mary I (Bloody Mary), Elizabeth I (Gloriana), and Edward VI (The Boy King).

Let's start out with the Plantagenets, firstly Henry II. 

Henry was just a little tiny boy when he watched his mother sign off his birthright and inheritance: the crown and throne of England. His mother, Matilda lost the throne to her cousin Stephen.

Years went by and Henry’s desire for power grew greater and greater. He finally couldn’t stand it any longer, and so he gathered a big army of his followers and laid siege to each of the Barons’ castles. They all fell but one, Wigmore. Henry laid siege to it, just as he had done with the previous castles, but he didn’t do anything. He just waited outside the castle as if to say, “Here I am; here is my army; what are you going to do about it?”. Hugh Mortimer (owner of the castle and the lead baron in the kingdom) falls. Henry takes the castle and gives it right back to him like he is saying, “I’m the king; I’m in control; you can have your castle back, but only because I say so. You are my subject. You work for me.”! This is totally unexpected and it marks Henry out as a king to watch.

The reason Henry is so confident is that he has an imposing ally. He has just married Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Two months before, she had divorced the king of France and had just married Henry. They were a perfect match. When they first got married Eleanor (who was 11 years his senior) had already produced their first son. But she also had something else to bring to the match: political genius. Henry brought strength to the match, while Eleanor brought prestige. Eleanor also brought lots of lands. Their territory now stretched from all of England to Aquitaine, France.

Henry and Eleanor had eight children (including the one that Eleanor had with her previous husband, King Louis of France), four of which survived childhood: Henry, Geoffrey, Richard, and John.

All the king could have wanted was happening for him: he had plenty of land, 4 children, a beautiful wife, and the throne of England. So far, all was going well between him and Eleanor, but that was soon to change. Henry gave all of Eleanor’s property away to a friend of his, and when his wife found out, she was furious. She took Richard her son and went back to Aquitaine to reclaim her property and to side with King Louis of France. Now it was the king’s turn to get mad. He was her husband and king, and so he should get to do with her property as he liked, but apparently, Eleanor didn’t see it that way. She went running back to the husband that she had divorced.

Now, Henry had always favored his son, John, (the youngest of all his children), and Richard,     (Eleanor’s oldest child [from her previous marriage]), is very upset about it. When Eleanor goes back to France with Richard, she and the king lie to him and say that the Henry secretly has been planning to give the throne to Richard’s younger brother, John. This has the desired effect. Richard was very, very angry with his step-father and king. With Richard on their side, King Louis, Eleanor, and Richard plot against the king to overthrow him.

They got discovered, and Eleanor was imprisoned by her husband for 16 years for supporting the rebellion of her son. She died at the age of 82 and is buried right next to Henry II and Richard, her son.

The next king I will talk about is Henry III.

He had a similar beginning to his “reign” as did his Grandfather, Henry II.

Henry III was a young boy when he watched his father sign a document that took away all his freedom and right as a king; that document was called the Magna Carta.

When 1230 rolls around, Henry has been king for 14 years. He came to the throne at 9 years old and is now 23 years old. He is very sore at the barons for forcing his father to sign the Magna Carta, and now Henry has to suffer for it. He is very limited by the powers of the Magna Carta. His grandfather, Henry II, ruled over more land than the French king, but thanks to the incompetence of Henry III’s father, King John, most of his lands are gone. Henry’s biggest dream is getting back the lands his father signed away.

Henry is very ashamed about what his father had done, so he builds Westminster Abbey to rebuild some of his “Plantagenet Pride”. He thinks that by building the abbey, it will send off all the “right signals” for a great king. But, he is under the power of the barons, and they control everything: whether he can go to war or not, whether he can make laws or not, what taxes he can issue,  and almost everything else. Henry is fed up with this. He dreams of the day when he can reclaim his power. For now, he is stuck under the power of the barons, and they don’t think he will be a great king. But all this is about to change. In autumn, 1230, a man shows up at the castle. He is a minor French knight with big ambitions, Simon de Montfort.

Henry and Simon become best mates at once. They both secretly hope to become great by this friendship. The king soon marries his sister, Eleanor, to Simon, but he keeps the dowry for himself instead of giving it to Simon.

In 1239, Henry makes Simon Earl of Leicester. Simon’s now the king’s brother-in-law, his chief adviser, and an English Baron. But at Simon’s peak of triumph, he goes too far: he takes out a huge loan using Henry as his guarantor. As far as he is concerned, Henry owed him for his wife’s dowry, so he doesn’t ask Henry first. Henry is furious. Giving Simon things is one thing, but having Simon take them from him is an outrageous liberty. He threatens to throw Simon and his own sister (Simon’s wife) into the tower of London, and he isn’t joking. Simon and Eleanor are forced to flee to France, and it seems like the end of a beautiful friendship, but Henry will need Simon again before the end.

3 years after Simon flees to France, Henry launches an attack on one of his ancestor's castles, Poitou,  and he thinks he can take it back. But just like last time and every time before, the barons use the Magna Carta to deny him the taxes he needed to provide for the battle; and just like last time and every time before, Henry went ahead anyway. But attacking Poitou was really stupid because it was on the border of France, and the whole French army comes chasing after them on the orders of the French king. Now, Henry has to turn to the one person who can help him, his estranged and banished friend, Simon de Montfort. Simon has just returned from a year-long crusade on the Holy Land, and so his military expertise was greater than ever. But even Simon can’t salvage this disaster.

Henry flees the field leaving Simon and his army fighting the battle alone. Simon comes storming after the cowering king. The king himself recorded what was said, “I am the king,” he said.

“Yes, you may be the king…but you should be locked up... like Charles the Simple.”

Charles the Simple was such a notoriously useless French king, that his subjects locked him up in a tower because he was such a bad general.

Henry then returns to England and gives Simon a huge and beautiful castle, and for 5 more years, their friendship lasts. Soon a revolt arises in Gascony, France, the only part of France that England still controls.

But what makes it worse is that the French king is itching to invade Gascony. The barons still refuse Henry the power to tax for provisions. They think he will just mess things up again; so Henry asks Simon to fix it up for him, and he’ll pay him later. Simon goes and destroys the revolt, even cutting their vines (Gascony was wine country, and so this was a terrible punishment).

But while Simon is away, Henry gets drawn in by another powerful figure, William de Velonce, the king’s half-brother, leader of a French family called the Lucanians. Henry starts giving them land and titles. In exchange, they supplant the English lords and begin to take control of the government for him.

The Gaconians plea to Henry to take Simon away from them. They complain that he is being ruthless, and so Henry draws his friend back from Gascony and puts him on trial for his treatment of the Gasconians.

Simon is furious that the king would put him on trial and a Rowe breaks out between them. Simon says that the king is worthless and that he knows it and asks him what good it is to confess when he’ll just keep doing the same stupid thing time after time. This remark was meant to hurt Henry’s feelings, but Simon has taken the “political temperature” in the room and Henry has not. When Henry puts to vote whether Simon goes or stays, he alone votes that Simon stays. The rest of the English barons are as fed up with Henry and his Lucanians as Simon is and vote that Simon stays. Henry is forced to consent, but his relationship with Simon has just ended. They now hate each other with a passion.

William de Valence suggests that Henry take Sicily, a very rich country. He would push himself out from under the rule of the Magna Carta if he could take it.

Now, everyone but the king knows that he cannot take Sicily for three reasons: one, the barons won’t let him raise taxes to provide for the trip; two, Sicily was over 1,000 miles away; and three, Sicily was very strongly guarded.

But Henry doesn’t see it that way. Simon de Montfort arrives at the castle and Henry thinks he’s come to give him the money for his attack. But he begins to doubt that when Simon arrives with himself and five fully armed guards. However, they didn’t come to take Henry captive, they came to tell him that he must strip the Lucnancians of all their power and kick them out of the land, and the will take control. So, not only are they denying Henry’s demand for money, they are denying him almost all of his power. Henry is forced to agree just to get out of the ruin he has gotten himself into.

8 weeks later, Henry faces off against Simon, and he takes his half-brother, William, and his Lucanian thugs with him. The Lucanians are no match for de Montfort and they know it. They flee for their lives and Henry is forced to agree to all Simon and the barons say. The barons demand that everyone swear before God to promise to keep the oath. The only problem is, everyone knows that the Plantagenets and barons are known for breaking their word. But Simon was a religious zealot and once he had sworn an oath before God, he had really boxed himself in. Simon has made this oath with God and he will never break it, but he knows Henry will. Within 4 years, Simon’s worst fears come true. Because he knows Henry swore the oath knowing he’ll break it. Henry brings back the Lucanians and just like before, they do pretty much whatever they want.

Henry bets that the barons will turn a blind eye to this and he was never more wrong. He believes that they will overlook it because the alternative is civil war and no one wants that. The barons don't do as the king thinks they will, and England is plunged into civil war.

Henry and Simon fight the first battle and Simon wins. Henry and his son are captured and Henry’s sword is given to Simon. Henry is the only king in theory: in reality, he is Simon’s puppet.

But Simon has taken his eye off the ball: Edward the king’s 25-year-old son.

Edward escapes from house arrest and rides away.

Simon sees the Plantagenet heir approaching with a great army and he sets up his army again. He decides that if he goes down, he is taking the king with him, so he dresses Henry up in one of his own uniforms.

Edward sends out a hit squad of 12 men with one purpose: to kill Simon de Montfort. Henry, still dressed up in Simon’s clothes, almost gets killed by his own hit squad, but is able to save himself. Simon isn’t so lucky.

Henry wins the battle, but he loses the war. He still must agree to the terms that Simon set out and Henry’s chance of complete monarchy dies with Simon.

The last Plantagenet that I will talk about is Richard II, who the Shakespeare play Richard II was based on.

Richard II succeeds his grandfather, Edward III, at the age of 10. He is hailed as the country’s savior. 4 years later, thousands of peasants storm the country. Richard and his cousin, Henry Bolingbrook (son and heir of the Duke of Lancaster), are hiding in the tower of London as thousands of angry peasants storm the city outside. The only thing on Richard’s side is that it is not him that they are after, it is the barons and bishops. Richard has been king since he was 10 and England has been ruled by counselors. In the eyes of the peasants, they are greedy. Finally, the most hated of all the counselors hatches a desperate plan: make the king ride out with a few armed men to distract the peasants while the counselors escape. Their cowardice soon comes back to haunt them though. The rebels simply let Richard pass, he wasn’t their target: the hated counselors were. Unfortunately for Henry Bolingbrook, his dad is one of those counselors, which puts him directly in the firing line, and worse than that, he is in the tower with the two most hated men in England. The treasurer and the chancellor are found and are dragged into the street to be killed. Henry meanwhile is hiding in a cupboard waiting for the peasants to find him, but they never do.

Henry Bolingbrook

All his life Richard’s been told that he alone can save England, and now he has to ride out against the rebels; he is about to find out if it is true.

When Wat Tyler, the rebel leader, goes out to meet them, he brings his demands before the king. They are outrageous and the king refuses. A row breaks out between one of the king’s men and Wat Tyler. Wat is killed and the rebels get ready their weapons. Faced with certain death, the king’s men turn to flee, but Richard doesn’t.

He rides alone up to the rebels and says in English, “I am your leader, your captain, and your king. I command you to lower your weapons,” and they do.

The rebels hurrah their new hero, they leave the field safe in the knowledge that they were protected by their king, Richard. A week later the rebels come to seal the deal they made with their new champion, but Richard’s got a new deal in mind. The king wants to crush the peasants so hard that no one will want to rise up again. So much for being their captain and protector, Richard became their hangman. In the following months, hundreds, maybe thousands, hung; Richard would crush them. His ordeal with confronting the rebels taught him a lesson he would never forget: a king doesn’t need to be loved, he needs to be feared. Richard is now 19, and he is married to Anne of Bohemia; he is fed up with people telling him what to do.

When a bloody skirmish arises in France, Richard’s uncle tells him he needs to do something about it. Richard responds outrageously, and says that he is committing treason; that is not what the law says, but Richard doesn’t care; his uncle tells him to remember his great-grandfather who was smothered to death, it is a direct threat. Richard holds a secret meeting and comes up with a simple solution about treason: change the law, anyone who opposes the king is a traitor, and Richard’s friends agree.

The king’s uncle and all of the leading nobles (including Henry Bolingbrook) take a stand against the king. They confront him in a tower and hold him there for 3 days. Richard is forced to look on as the 5 of them decide what to do with the king; deposing him is definitely an option.

When he finally gets freed from the tower, they all say they will serve him and NOT depose him! But, the king is very upset at them for shaming him in that manner, he swears revenge on them: and he revenges himself to the fullest. He is a monster and when his wife dies very young, he is unbalanced and he attacks one of his officers for being late to her funeral. He revenges himself by having all of the 5 men who held him in the tower either killed or banished for a certain amount of time. Henry Bolingbrook is banished for 10 years.

While Henry is exiled, the king takes a castle, that was supposed to be Henry’s inheritance and gives it to one of his nobles. Henry is very angry about this, but he can’t do anything about it, because of the law that Richard made: “If anyone disagrees openly with the king, it is treason, and he or she shall bear the penalty of treason,” which, put plainly, meant death to that person. Now, the king took a leisure trip to Denmark for a few weeks, and this was the opportunity Henry had been looking for. While the king was away, Henry rides back to England and reclaims his inheritance. Richard was furious when he found out, and he rode back to England to stop Henry, but Henry captures him and has him put into prison: the tower where Richard was held for 3 days with the 5 men. Richard was starved to death in that tower and he died in February 1400.

Henry made himself king and he spoke his vow in English, instead of Latin. This was the first time any king had done so for 5 centuries, it was as if Henry was saying that he was not a Richard and he would not be like him. Henry was crowned king in 1367 and became Henry IV, ending the reign of the Plantagenets.

Now I will talk about the Tudors, starting off with Henry VIII.

"My, you ought to seen old Henry the Eight when he was in bloom. He WAS a blossom. He used to marry a new wife every day, and chop off her head next morning. And he would do it just as indifferent as if he was ordering up eggs. 'Fetch up Nell Gwynn,’ he says. They fetch her up. Next morning, 'Chop off her head!’ And they chop it off. 'Fetch up Jane Shore,’ he says; and up she comes, Next morning, 'Chop off her head’—and they chop it off.'’Ring up Fair Rosamun.’ Fair Rosamun answers the bell. Next morning, 'Chop off her head.’ And he made every one of them tell him a tale every night; and he kept that up till he had hogged a thousand and one tales that way, and then he put them all in a book, and called it Domesday Book—which was a good name and stated the case."  Huck Finn taught me everything I know. 😉

Well, maybe that's not QUITE the way things worked out...

Here's how it really went.

Henry VIII became king in April 1509 at the age of 17. Soon after his father’s burial, Henry declared he would marry Catherine of Aragon. He claimed it was his father’s dying wish that he marry her, and whether or not it was true, it worked out in his favor. Catherine was a beautiful woman.

For several years, Catherine had pregnancies. Only one child survived: Mary I.

Catherine had stillborns, miscarriages, and some of her children died days or hours after birth. Henry and Catherine’s relationship became strained until February 1516, when Princess Mary I was born. She was born at Greenwich Castle in London. Her father called Mary his “pearl of the world” and his “token of hope.” Mary was tiny, with a pretty face, beautiful complexion, and long red hair. Catherine of Aragon, Mary’s mother, doted on her and taught her prayers and letters. Catherine and Henry were devout Catholics and raised Mary the same. Mary’s life was typical for a royal child until she turned eleven. That’s when everything changed. Henry wanted to divorce Mary’s mother and marry a woman named Anne Boleyn. But that wasn’t the worst, Anne was a supporter of Protestantism.

Criticizing the Church for any reason horrified Mary, a faithful Catholic. Henry loved Anne passionately and he hoped she would produce the male heir he so desperately wanted. Catherine was too old to have any more children. Mary wondered how he could do this to her mother and why would he even think of marrying a disloyal Catholic. At that time, as the head of the Catholic Church, the pope was considered the leader of all European rulers. Divorce was not accepted by the Catholic Church, but Henry asked the Pope to grant him one because he believed, as king, he deserved special consideration. While the Pope stalled for years in making a decision, Henry banished Catherine from the court and ordered her to live in a remote castle. He wouldn’t allow Mary to visit her, thinking they would plot against him. Mary became depressed and ill, with vomiting, headaches, and pain and swelling in her abdomen.

When Mary was 17, she learned that her father had divorced her mother and married Anne Boleyn without the Pope’s blessing. Henry’s men ordered Mary to hand over her jewels. They told her she’d no longer be a princess or inherit the throne: Henry and Anne’s baby girl, Elizabeth, was the new princess and future queen.

Hurt and angry, Mary refused to hand her jewels over unless she receives a direct order from the king. She wrote her father several letters wanting to know if he was serious. He was very serious. He’d even locked up a lady in the Tower for referring to her as Princess Mary, not Lady Mary!

A while later, Henry’s men ordered Mary to leave her family’s country manor and move to Elizabeth’s house, to help serve the princess. Not only was Mary treated like a servant, but she felt like a prisoner. She wasn’t allowed to ride her horse or go for walks without supervision, and sometimes, when people came to visit Elizabeth, she’d even be locked in her room with the windows nailed shut. Mary blamed Anne for everything. She knew Anne hated her. She begged God to protect her father from Anne’s evil influence-and to help him to remain faithful to Catholicism.

But Mary’s prayers went unanswered. Her status did not change, and within the next few years, life got even more dismal. Henry cut ties with the Pope, and Parliament passed a law declaring Henry the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Mary must have been appalled at this news. The Pope had once named her father Defender of the Faith.

Henry revealed in his new role and soon proved who was the boss. To the surprise and disgust of the majority of the people in England (Catholics, like Mary), Henry began closing Catholic monasteries. His men sold church land, ransacked jewels from tombs, and burned the bones of the saints. Henry pocketed the profit and executed hundreds of people who rebelled against him.

If Mary felt God was testing her throughout her teens, she must’ve really thought he was testing her when she turned twenty. Her mother became deathly ill and her father still wouldn’t allow Mary to visit her. Finally, Catherine died. Mary was so heartbroken, some worried she might die from grief. When Mary asked to see her father for a while, she was further upset to learn that she must first sign a document stating that 1) Henry VIII was the Supreme Head of the Church of England, and 2) her parents marriage had been unlawful which meant that she was “illegitimate” with no rights and titles. Mary did not agree with either of these claims. She’d rather “die a thousand times” than go against her mother, her honor, and her faith. She would not sign the document.

One of Henry’s men was so angered by Mary’s defiance that he threatened to kill her. Mary feared for her life. She didn’t know what to do. Should she sign and betray her beliefs? Or, should she refuse and face death? Mary tossed and turned for several nights. She suffered from toothaches and headaches. A friend urged her to submit to her father to save her life. Finally, Mary signed the document. She was devastated. Never again would she surrender her principles.

Mary’s father treated her better from that point on. When she moved back to the court, he gave her new clothes, a white horse, and a ring inscribed with the words, “Obedience leads to unity.” Henry was so pleased by Mary’s compliance that 10 years later, he even revised the order of succession: Mary became 2nd in line to the throne, after Edward VI, her youngest sibling, and before Elizabeth.

Edward became king at the age of 9 after his father’s death in 1547. During Edward VI's reign, Thomas Seymour asked for Elizabeth's hand in marriage, which she refused. Because of this, Thomas and Elizabeth were suspected of plotting against the king. Elizabeth was questioned but was never charged. Thomas however, after an attempt to kidnap Edward, was arrested and eventually executed.

Edward’s father had arranged that a council of regency should rule on his behalf, but his uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, took power and established himself as the protector. Somerset and the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, were intent on making England a truly Protestant state, supported by the young king. An English Prayer Book was issued in 1549 with an Act of Uniformity to enforce it.  Even though Edward’s Protestant councilman banned the use of the rosary beads and altar-candles and outlawed traditional Catholic mass and Catholic prayer books, Mary attended mass in private with her staff up to 4 times a day. When Edward’s men found out, they imprisoned several of Mary’s servants for almost a year. But this time, even though she again feared for her life, Mary refused to give up what she stood for.

It soon became clear that Edward was suffering from tuberculosis and would not live long. Northumberland was determined that his religious reforms should not be undone so he persuaded Edward to approve a new order of succession. This declared Mary illegitimate and passed the throne to Northumberland's daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey who was a more distant descendant of Henry VIII. Edward died on July 6, 1553. However, Jane was the only queen for a few days until, with overwhelming popular support, Mary took the throne.

She would bring all the people of England back to the Catholic Church and right her father’s wrongs. But only two months into her reign, Mary learned that rebels planned to overthrow her. They were more upset about Mary’s marriage to Philip of Spain. They feared Spain would come to dominate their country. They only managed to attack Mary’s castle with a few arrows before Mary’s forces overcame them. Mary imprisoned Elizabeth for a few months, believing she’d been involved in the rebellion, and she ordered Jane Grey to be beheaded since her councilors feared Jane would always be a threat. Elizabeth was very afraid of the Tower, for that was the place her mother was before she was executed. And when Elizabeth was told she would be entering through the Traitor's Gate, she refused to move. After her governess finally persuaded her to enter, she did so and became another prisoner of the Tower.

Elizabeth was released from the Tower after a few months of imprisonment and was sent to Woodstock where she stayed for just under a year. When it appeared that Mary had become pregnant, Elizabeth was no longer seen as a significant threat and the Queen let her return to Hatfield, under semi-house arrest. Mary Tudor was nearly 40 years old when the news of her "pregnancy" came. After a few months, her stomach began to swell, but no baby was coming. She eventually died after 2 false pregnancies.

As soon as she could, Mary directed court officials to lock up influential Protestants, silencing the loudest voices before they could inspire others. They were encouraged to recant, but if they refused, Mary would order their death, Once, however, Mary burned an archbishop, Thomas Cranmer, at the stake even though he’d recanted: she’d never forgiven him for performing her parents’ divorce and marrying her father to Anne Boleyn. Even her advisors did not support this act.

The burnings in England lasted for 31/2 years. Mary Tudor died at the age of 42 on November 17, 1558. Mary Tudor failed to wipe out Protestantism like she’d hoped, and her Protestant sister, Elizabeth, became queen.

News of Mary's death reached Elizabeth at Hatfield.  Upon hearing that she was Queen, Elizabeth quoted Psalm 118:23 in Latin, (I won't even try to pronounce it), "A Dominum factum est illud, et est mirabile in oculis notris" -- "it is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes."

Elizabeth had survived Mary's reign and was finally Queen of England.

On January 15, 1559, Elizabeth I was crowned Queen by Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle at Westminster Abbey, a little less than two months after the death of Mary I.

When Elizabeth took the throne, she was immediately descended upon by suitors. However, as we all know, she never married. One of the most obvious questions would be: "Why?". Some believe that because of the way her father, Henry VIII, treated his wives, Elizabeth was disgusted by the idea of marriage. The more romantic belief is that she couldn't marry the man that she really loved, Robert Dudley. When Elizabeth became Queen, Dudley was married, and then his wife Amy died under mysterious circumstances a few years later. Although Robert Dudley was cleared of any wrong-doing in the matter, Elizabeth could not marry him because of the scandal that would no doubt arise. Or perhaps she never married because of a combination of reasons. Regardless, Elizabeth never married, but managed to get rid of her suitors for another 25 years, gaining alliances and wealth from gifts on the possibility of marriage.

The later years of Elizabeth's reign are sometimes referred to as the Golden Age. During this time, England and Elizabeth faced several major trials. First, Elizabeth had to deal with the growing threat of Mary Queen of Scots, who had a strong and legitimate claim to the throne of England. When Mary fled her country in the 1560s, she was taken under house arrest, where she expected protection of her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth, however, knew Mary was a threat. Eventually, a plot serious enough arose in Mary's name, and Elizabeth signed her death warrant. Mary was executed in 1587, on February 8th, at Fotheringhay.

The second major trial was the greatest military threat to Elizabeth's reign that came a year later when the Armada from Spain sailed toward the tiny island nation. England prevailed and was on its way towards becoming the supreme naval power.

In the final years of her reign, Elizabeth faced the challenges of increasing Puritan influence and the rebellion of Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.

Elizabeth died on March 24, 1603, at Richmond Palace and was succeeded by James I of England (James VI of Scotland), the son of Mary, Queen of Scots.

The Tudor dynasty ended and passed to the Stuarts.

Well, that's the history of the Plantagenets of Tudors.