Introduction The line of succession for the English Throne has been one to drum up conversation. At the heart of these succession talks would be the end of the Tudor line. With Henry VIII’s many different love affairs and the arguments of whether or not his children after Mary I were legitimate, Henry set up his line of succession in which he named who was to take the throne after his death. He named his youngest child, and only son, Edward to ascend directly after him, then Mary, and then finally Elizabeth. There has also been speculation that after Mary had passed, the next rightful heir to the English throne would have been Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, who ascended to the throne of Scotland when she was a week old after the death of her father James V in 1542 , was the granddaughter of Henry VII of England, making her Henry VIII’s niece. With the constant issues between Scotland and England, Henry VIII had considered Mary as a potential wife for his son Edward, as a way to simmer tensions between the two nations – tensions that he had caused through the Rough Wooing . Though this idea fell short, that didn’t stop Mary from making a name for herself among royals and the …show more content…
When he named off his heirs that would ascend to the crown after his death, he had Elizabeth at the bottom of the list, if neither one of his other two children had heirs before they died. Henry named Edward to take the throne immediately after his death because Edward was the son that Henry had long coveted and had the best chances of ruling the nation well. Edward was born to Henry through his third wife, Jane Seymour. Henry wed Jane after he had Anne beheaded, however, it was also after Henry’s first wife had passed away . Due to the fact that Catherine had passed before he married Jane, in the eyes of the Church, his marriage then would be legitimate because his ties to his first wife had been released in her
Assessment of the View that Henry VIII’s Wish for a Male Heir Was the Main Reason for the Break with Rome
King Henry II died leaving the throne to his son Phillip who immediately freed his mother, Queen Eleanor, from semi incarceration. Once free, she took over the throne and ruled while King Richard left, against his mother’s wish, to the third
Westminster Abbey, an architectural accomplishment from the thirteenth century on, gives an illustrative display of British history. While daily worship still exists, it isn’t a cathedral or a parish church (Internet Westminster). The elaborate Lady Chapel, the shrine of St. Edward the Confessor, as well as tombs and memorials for kings, queens, the famous and great, allow the Abbey to be considered a “Royal Peculiar”, which means that it falls under direct control of the British monarch (Internet Westminster). While every king or queen is significant, a small number have made an impact on the Abbey. Nobility of which include St. Edward the Confessor William the Conqueror Henry III, Richard II, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Mary I, Elizabeth I, James I, Charles I, George VI and Elizabeth II.
Mary Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart, was born on December 8th, 1542 to James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. Just six days after Mary’s birth, her father died. She was crowned queen of Scotland within a year. Her regents originally arranged an engagement between her and Henry the VIII of England’s son, but after continuing to send his army north and encouraging the execution of a well-known Scottish patriot, they were determined to avoid marriage. So, in 1548, they sent Mary to France, where her mother was from. Mary was the engaged to the heir of the French throne, Francis of Valois, the son of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medicis. She grew up in the French court as a result of this. When she was 7, her mother came to visit her in France, unfortunately this
Henry IV is a play that concerns itself with political power and kingship in English history. References to kingship are prevalent throughout the play, especially in the depiction of the characters. Although most of the characters in this play could teach us about kingship, I would like to focus my attention to Prince Henry. I think that this character helps us to best understand what kingship meant at this particular time in history.
Master, John. "Mary I Queen of England." Tudor History. N.p., 06 Feb 2012. Web. 2 Dec 2013. .
It was the death of Edward VI, in 1553, that brought about the realization of Henry VIII’s nightmare of having no male heirs. Although Edward attempted to keep his sister’s out of the will (he did not want his Catholic oldest sister, Mary, to have control of the Protestant country he had inherited from his father) and appoint Jane Grey as heir. However Mary quickly declared herself queen at her manor Kenninghall on July 9, 15531. Jane’s feeble claim,passing over Mary, Elizabeth, Mary Stuart, and her mother, could have been declared Edward’s desire, however his council’s authority died along with him. Northumberland, the man behind Jane’s campaign, also did an about face at Cambridge, supporting Mary’s claim to the throne. This was due to his forces being wreaked by deserters. However Mary showed no mercy and he was executed in August as a traitor, along with Sir John Gates and Sir Thomas Palmer.
Although Charles V’s reign was not as successful as he would have liked, he is credited with carrying on the very powerful Hapsburg line. All of the children he fathered went on to continue it. His son, Phillip II, married Mary of England (7) who is also known as Bloody Mary (13). This marriage made him Queen Elizabeth I of England’s brother-in-law. Marriages of Charles V’s descendents to the royal elite of Europe assured the Hapsburg legacy for many generations to follow (7).
Therefore, the issue of succession is very topical. Who was to become the next monarch of England? This issue arose because there was no heir to the throne since the Queen had no children and had remained unmarried. Powerful Catholic countries surrounded England, who had broken away from the Pope during the reign of Henry VIII. They saw England as a potential country to invade and reconvert to Catholicism.
Mary Stuart was born on December 8, 1542, in Lithingow Palace, Scotland. She was the daughter of King James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. Her father died only six days after Mary was born, so she became Queen of Scotland when she was only six days old (Haws Early Life par 1). She was crowned on the ninth of September the following year at Sterling. Mary was christened in the Parish Church of St. Michael, near the palace (“Mary, Queen of Scots” par 1). Later, when Mary turned six, she was sent to France by her French mother for her protection. While she was there, she lived as the French royal family (Haws Early Life par 1 and 2). When she set off to France, she traveled with the Children of Scotland’s Nobility, which included the Four Marys. They are the women who would stay with her throughout anything (“Mary Queen of Scots Bio” par 5). They were also educated at the French court with Mary, where she was brought up.
When Henry had reach the age of 10 he took part in his brothers arranged wedding to the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain(3). His job was to escort the bride; the bride was Catherine of Aragon who was later to be Henry VIII first wife. Shortly after the marriage, Arthur died on April 2, 1502 from night-sweats (2). This left Henry the rightful heir to the English throne right before his 11th birthday. Fourteen months after Arthur’s death, Catherine of Aragon was betrothal to Henry VIII, and then he was too young to marry (5). As Henry VIII grew up his father became less willing to have an alliance with the Spanish and he repudiated the betrothal of Henry and Catherine (5). After seven years his father dies and Henry VIII successes to the throne.
Queen Mary, he became the heir to the Scottish throne. His godparents were Charles IX of
Henry Tudor was then awarded king and was known as King Henry VII. He was the first Tudor king. He was the grandchild of Catherine of Valois, who was the widow of Owen Tudor and King Henry V. Henry married Elizabeth of York who was Edward IV’s daughter. This caused the merging of the two houses and was known as the end of the Wars of the Roses.
Generally, the English people had a great celebration when Charles II returned to the throne in May of 1660.1 Many believed that restoring the monarchy was the only way to secure constitutional rights. In fact, there was an expectation that bringing back the king would return life to the way it was before 1642 and the rule of Cromwell. Charles II was responsible for improving the government for the people. However, despite some achievements, the king was not very successful in creating a stronger and more effective monarchy. He was dependent on his advisors and other parts of the government from the very beginning of his reign. There were constant conflicts between the king and Parliament over religious issues. When Charles II finally did gain some independence, he still did not accomplish much to improve the monarchy. Overall, the government was very inconsistent during the 1660s and 1670s, and the people became disillusioned with the monarchy. The king did not hold all of the responsibility for what happened to the government, though. The people should have taken charge and worked for a change in the system. The rule of Charles II helped show the English citizens that they could not rely on the government so much, but they needed to take more of the power into their own hands and become more autonomous.
He had decided to marry Catherine of Aragon who was destined to marry his brother, Arthur ever since she was merely three years old, but their marriage had become short due to his death which made the pact at risk, so Henry’s marriage to her on June 24, 1509 then saved the alliance between Spain and England. He had adored her every time he would come back to the castle and say “my Catherine alone shall extend me her hand, and give me a welcome to the bridal chamber.” (Williams 27) Although the marriage did not come easy since Catherine’s parents were skeptical of the marriage, “many a rebellion had to be put down and many a pretender put away, before they could consent to entrust their daughter to the care of an English king.” (Pollard 20) Shortly after, Catherine was pregnant with a child. Henry was ecstatic in hopes of the child being a male to take over the throne, but to his disappointment, the child was a female who “was a stillborn” (Pollard 143) and was premature in January 1510. Although, Henry was soon brought back to his feet by another pregnancy that resulted in a male. He was so happy that he celebrated the birth of a young prince born on January 1, 1511 that was soon followed by the prince’s death after only being 52 days old. After multiple attempts to have a child, she was successful with a daughter on