The Early Tudors

*Includes Table of Contents

Although the last Tudor ruler died over 400 years ago, it still remains England's most famous royal line, and it produced the most famous king and queen in history, both of whom continue to fascinate people around the world today. 


Over 450 years after his reign, Henry VIII is still the most famous and recognizable King of England, but it’s for all the wrong reasons. Though well regarded by contemporaries as a learned king and "one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne", he is best remembered today for his gluttony and multiple marriages, particularly the gruesome way in which he was widowed on more than one occasion. Naturally, that was the focus of the popular Show Time drama series centered around his life, The Tudors. 


Henry VIII will probably continue to be best known for beheading some of his wives, most notably Anne Boleyn, so it is somewhat fitting that his most decisive act came as a result of a marital mishap. Sharply at odds with the Catholic Church over his attempt to dissolve his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII ultimately broke with the Church and established the Church of England, which forever both the religious history of England and the social hierarchy of the nation and its empire.

The Early Tudors  is a concise history of the Tudors that mainly focuses on the famous English kings Henry VII and Henry VIII.