House of Tudor [ edit ]

Main articles: House of Tudor and Tudor period

The Tudors descended in the female line from John Beaufort, one of the illegitimate children of John of Gaunt (third surviving son of Edward III), by Gaunt's long-term mistress Katherine Swynford. Those descended from English monarchs only through an illegitimate child would normally have no claim on the throne, but the situation was complicated when Gaunt and Swynford eventually married in 1396 (25 years after John Beaufort's birth). In view of the marriage, the church retroactively declared the Beauforts legitimate via a papal bull the same year.[87] Parliament did the same in an Act in 1397.[88] A subsequent proclamation by John of Gaunt's legitimate son, King Henry IV, also recognised the Beauforts' legitimacy, but declared them ineligible ever to inherit the throne.[89] Nevertheless, the Beauforts remained closely allied with Gaunt's other descendants, the Royal House of Lancaster.

John Beaufort's granddaughter Lady Margaret Beaufort was married to Edmund Tudor. Tudor was the son of Welsh courtier Owain Tudur (anglicised to Owen Tudor) and Catherine of Valois, the widow of the Lancastrian King Henry V. Edmund Tudor and his siblings were either illegitimate, or the product of a secret marriage, and owed their fortunes to the goodwill of their legitimate half-brother King Henry VI. When the House of Lancaster fell from power, the Tudors followed.

By the late 15th century, the Tudors were the last hope for the Lancaster supporters. Edmund Tudor's son became king as Henry VII after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, winning the Wars of the Roses. King Henry married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, thereby uniting the Lancastrian and York lineages. (See family tree.)

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Claim

Henry VII 28 January 1457 Elizabeth of York 1485 Great-great-great-grandson Pembroke Castle Westminster Abby of Edward III - 18 January 1486 1521 Son of Edmund Tudor and Right of Conquest Margaret Beaufort 8 Children (36 years)

Arthur I 20 September 1486 1521 Catherine of Aragon Saint Swithun’s Priory Son of Henry VII

- Greenwich Palace 1540 Son of Henry VII and 4 Children Primogeniture Elizabeth of York (19 years)

Kathryn I 4 March 1523 Alexander I 1540 Greenwich Palace Granddaughter of Arthur I Westminster Abbey - Daughter of Margaret of 3 January 1542 1590 Cognatic primogeniture Wales and Prince Francis 1 Daughter (50 years) Tudor

Margaret I 7 April 1561 Edmund I 1590 Hampton Court Palace Westminster Abbey Daughter of Kathryn I

- 16 July 1576 1601 Daughter of Kathryn I and Cognatic primogeniture Alexander I 5 Children (11 years)

Alexander II 1 October 1578 Elisabeth Sabina of 1601 Sweden Maynooth Castle Son of Margaret I

- Westminster Abbey 1653 Son of Margaret I and 14 April 1599 Primogeniture Edmund I (52 years) 7 Children

Henry VIII 23 June 1620 Frances of Saxony 1653 Ludlow Castle Grandson of Alexander II Westminster Abbey - Son of Arthur of Wales and 8 November 1645 1674 Primogeniture Jeanne of Brittany and No Children (21 years) Navarre

(1) Anne of Hesse-Kassel Westminster Abbey 4 December 1661 1 Child Arthur II 17 August 1647 (2) Matilda of Kalmar 1674 Great-grandson of Pembroke Castle Westminster Abbey Alexander II - 28 March 1669 1689 Son of Edmund of York and Primogeniture Cecily Stafford No Children (15 years) (3) Kathryn FitzTudor Whitehall Palace 14 July 1680 No Children

Disputed [ edit ]

The exact end of the Tudor Dynasty is somewhat disputed. Arthur II was succeeded by his cousin; whose mother was of the English Royal House of Tudor and whose father was of the Nassau House of Orange-Tudor. Anne I herself would identify as of the Royal House of Tudor throughout her reign, all but forsaking her father’s House.

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Claim

30 August 1643 Anne I The Hague Great-granddaughter of 1689 Alexander II - Daughter of William Unmarried

1703 Orange-Tudor, Prince of Cognatic primogeniture Orange and Princess (14 years) Margaret Tudor