**This class is being taught as a hybrid, both in person and on Zoom. This section is IN PERSON**
**Please note that this class will not meet on September 4th for the Labor Day holiday**
Ruling from 1485 to 1603, Tudor monarchs, particularly Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, have captured the popular imagination for centuries. Tudor rulers oversaw the transformation of England from the late medieval period to England’s emergence as a major European power operating on a global stage. During this period England was a thriving center of the arts and Tudor monarchs devoted vast resources to shape their image both at home and abroad. This course is offered in conjunction with the exhibit The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England at the de Young Museum, June 24-September 24, 2023.
Week One: War of the Roses, Henry VI and rise Tudor Dynasty
The first Tudor king, Henry VII, had a tenuous claim to the English throne. A member of the House of Lancaster, he seized the crown from Yorkist king Richard III during the War of the Roses, a decades-long civil war between two rival factions of the royal Plantagenet family. Henry restored power and stability to the English monarchy due in large part by building diplomatic alliances through his children’s marriages and through deliberate use of artistic patronage to legitimize his reign.
Week two: Henry VIII
Henry VIII was renowned as one of the most cultured kings in Europe and one of the most recognizable figures in history. He employed numerous artists, most notably Hans Holbein the Younger, to portray members of the royal family, as well as to design sumptuous court objects. Henry VIII reigned during a period of religious turmoil, breaking with the Roman Catholic Church and he had Parliament declare him Supreme Head of the Church of England. His six marriages resulted in the birth of the remaining Tudor monarchs, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.
Week three: Edward VI and Mary I
The brief reigns of Henry VIII’s son, Edward VI, and his eldest daughter, Mary I, epitomized the religious strife of the sixteenth century, with Edward a devout Protestant and Mary ardently committed to the Catholic faith. Edward VI became King of England at the age of nine upon his father’s death in 1547, reigning until his death at age 15 in 1553. During that brief period the transformation of the Church of England into a Protestant body occurred. Mary I became Queen of England from 1553 and Queen of Spain after her 1556 marriage to Philip of Spain. A fervent Catholic, Mary is best known for rejecting the Protestant reforms introduced by Edward VI and working to reunite England with Rome until her 1558 death.
Week four Elizabeth I, the last Tudor Monarch
Succeeding to the throne, Elizabeth I provided stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity during her 45-year rule. Elizabeth's reign saw many voyages of discovery, including those of Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh and Humphrey Gilbert. These expeditions prepared England for an age of colonization and trade expansion. England’s wealth and influence developed to such levels that this period in British history was known as “The Golden Age.” Of all the Tudor monarchs, Elizabeth went to the greatest lengths to control her public image. Her likeness appeared on numerous objects, from coins to large-scale painted portraits, all of which were carefully designed and served as a tool to manipulate the public image of the queen. When Elizabeth I died childless in 1603, James VI of Scotland succeeded her as King of England as James I, bringing together the two long-warring nations of England and Scotland, ending the Tudor dynasty and beginning the reign of a new royal family, the Stuarts.
Week five: Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I—Royal Rivals
Mary Stuart was a Roman Catholic, cousin of Elizabeth I and widowed Queen of France. Queen of Scotland from 1542, her husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was murdered in 1567, after which powerful Scottish nobles forced Mary to abdicate in favor of her infant son, who became James VI of Scotland. Fleeing to England, Mary became the focus of Elizabeth’s Catholic subjects who believed that she had a stronger claim to the English throne than Elizabeth. Elizabeth had Mary imprisoned in a series of English castles for more than 18 years. Implicated in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, Mary was found guilty of treason and executed in 1587.
Week six: The Tudor Legacy
The Tudors were recognized as the last English dynasty to enjoy supreme monarchical power. Tudor culture was highly visual, and it was under the Tudors that a recognizably English culture began to develop, encompassing food, fashion, music, literature, fine art and architecture, as well as new developments in print media, performance and pageantry. The Tudors continue to inspire modern culture—witness, for example, the popularity of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Trilogy, as well as numerous plays, films and television series devoted to the lives, loves and exploits of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and other figures of the Tudor’s 114-year reign.
