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Jones 1 Amanda Jones Mrs. Contreras Period 4 Honors English 9 April 10, 2011 Effects of the Tudor Dynasty on England The Tudor Dynasty was one of the most powerful dynasties to ever rule over England. They were very influential to the history of England. They led to many changes in the way and life of England. They are responsible for the Reformation of the Catholic Church, they gained more allies than England had ever had before, and last, the Renaissance literature and performing arts flourished. The Tudor Dynasty changed England forever.

The Dynasty consisted of five monarchs: King Henry VII, King Henry VIII, Prince Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. Under the rule of King Henry VIII the Catholic Church Reformation occurred. It began when King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. He begged for his marriage to be annulled but the Catholic Church wouldn’t allow it. King Henry believed he was the closest person to god and that he was above all on Earth. He thought he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. So instead of waiting for the Church to deem his marriage invalid, he decided to break from the Catholic Church entirely. There was some revolt when this happened. The revolts were led by Robert Aske, a lawyer in England. He led 30,000 protestors to revolt. In the end he was arrested, charged with treason, and executed along with 200 other rebels. King Henry stayed true to the Reformation. The Catholic Church Reformation led to England becoming a Protestant country.

The Tudor Dynasty gained more allies during their rule then England had ever had before. The Tudor’s made very good decisions with their ally choices. During their reign, the Tudors made several key alliances through marriages. King Henry VII married Elizabeth of York; King Henry married Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jayne Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. With the marriages the Tudors created alliences with: The Lancasterians, Yorkists, Spanish and Imperial Churches, Spain, France, Germany, Chruch of Rome, the Dutch, Suffolk, Wales, Richmondshire, Middleham, and Scotland. With these marriage alliances England gained strength in wealth, power, and protection. When you married another powerful man or woman from another country it automatically ensured that his/her country would protect, help, and defend you when it was needed. This meant as long as you were married to this person you had someone always looking out for you. With anything there is strength in numbers and this still applies to royalty. So this is why the Tudor Dynasty was smart about the alliances. You never knew when they were absolutely needed. Last, under the reign of the Tudor Dynasty Renaissance literature and performing arts flourished. During the time of Queen Elizabeth or “The Golden Age,” as most of us know it as, literature was being taken to new heights. People like Shakespeare were coming around and philosophers were becoming more popular. Many of the writers we know of today were starting out in the Renaissance time period. Along with the rise of literature, performing arts became something completely new and exciting. The monarchs in the Tudor dynasty enjoyed the entertainment of dancing, plays, and operas. The performing arts were mainly noble events including the king and queen plus many well known nobility. The more performing arts that you know of meant you were wealthier and more successful. This is why the Tudor’s enjoyed their fine arts. Creativity and intelligence reached whole new levels under the reign of the Tudors.

The Tudor Dynasty is the most well known dynasty ever to rule England. They had some of the most powerful monarchs to ever rule England. The Tudor Dynasty took England to a level it had never been before. Under the reign of the Tudor Dynasty the Reformation of the Catholic Church took place, they gained more allies than England had ever had before, and the Renaissance literature and performing arts was taken to a whole new level. All of these major events were caused by the Tudor Dynasty-the greatest of all England’s dynasties.

Works Cited Tudor Dynasty- Wikipedia. April 14, 2009. Web. [] 1.4 The Tudor Dynasty. PinkMonket.com, Inc., 1997-2001. Web. []. Thomas, Heather. “Elizabeth I”, August 17, 2004, [], Unknown, Unknown, August 27, 2004