J ASPER R IDLEY is one of Englands leading biographers and historians. A former barrister turned author, he has written many successful books, most recently Bloody Marys Martyrs , and highly acclaimed biographies of Henry VIII , Elizabeth I and Thomas Cranmer.
Praise for The Tudor Age
The authors intimate knowledge of the period allows him to select the most telling examples from his evidence and he presents his findings with the admirable clarity which betokens a true understanding of the subject... Ridley expounds with ease the complex political and economic issues of the age, at the same time providing us with many fascinating insights into the practicalities of everyday life.
Scotsman
Tells its story with both descriptive and narrative skill.
Observer
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Constable & Robinson Ltd
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First published in the UK as The Tudor Age by
Constable and Co. Ltd, 1998
This edition published by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2002
Copyright Jasper Ridley 1988, 2002
The right of Jasper Ridley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication data is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781841194714 (pbk)
ISBN 9780094728707 (hbk)
eISBN 9781472107954
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
To my son John
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
Integrated illustrations
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to thank Roy Armstrong, Agathe Lewin, Dr Michael Smith, and Mr E. C. Till for their advice and assistance on various aspects of this book; John and Jennifer Arnold and Tony Mercer for their hospitality on my travels while I was researching; the staff of the London Library for their help at all times; the Gloucestershire County Archivist; the staff of the British Library, the Kent County Library at Tunbridge Wells, and the Worcestershire County Library at Evesham; and my wife Vera and my son John for their painstaking work in correcting the proofs.
Jasper Ridley
Tunbridge Wells
CHRONOLOGY
1485 | Henry Tudor defeats and kills Richard III at Bosworth and becomes King Henry VII. Sweating sickness appears in London. |
14867 | Revolt of Lambert Simnel and the Earl of Lincoln suppressed by Henry VII. |
1489 | Henry VII refuses to finance Columbuss voyage across the Atlantic. |
14901510 | Extensive building in brick, with new building methods. |
1492 | Henry VIIs expedition to Boulogne. Treaty of Etaples. |
1494 | Syphilis first appears in Naples. |
1495 | Execution of Sir William Stanley. |
14957 | Perkin Warbecks invasions of England. |
1496 | Statute of Labourers regulates wages and hours of work. |
1497 | John Cabot sails to Newfoundland. Building of Canterbury Cathedral tower completed. |
1498 | Sheen Palace burned; rebuilt as Richmond Palace. |
1499 | Execution of Perkin Warbeck and the Earl of Warwick. |
1501 | Marriage of Arthur, Prince of Wales, to Catherine of Aragon. |
1502 | Death of Arthur, Prince of Wales. |
1509 | Death of Henry VII. Accession of Henry VIII, who marries Catherine of Aragon. |
1510 | New Sumptuary Law regulates the dress to be worn by the different classes. |
1512 | Wolsey becomes Henry VIIIs chief minister. Expedition to Fuentarrabia; English troops mutiny because of lack of beer. College of Physicians founded. |
1513 | Henry VIII invades France; the Earl of Surrey defeats and kills James IV of Scotland at Flodden. |
1514 | Marriage of Henry VIIIs sister Mary to Louis XII of France. Wolsey begins to build Hampton Court and York Place (later Whitehall). |
1515 | Henry VIIIs sister Mary marries the Duke of Suffolk. |
1516 | Sir Thomas Mores book Utopia published. Birth of Henry VIIIs daughter Mary. |
151718 | Virulent outbreak of the sweating sickness in England. |
151921 | Magellans expedition from Spain sails round the world. |
1520 | Henry VIII meets Francis I of France at the Field of Cloth-of-gold. |
1521 | Execution of the Duke of Buckingham. |
1525 | William Tyndale translates the New Testament into English; it is illegally smuggled into England from the Netherlands. |
152530 | Anne Boleyn introduces the fashion of the French hood for women. |
1527 | Henry VIII begins divorce proceedings against Catherine of Aragon. |
1528 | Renewed outbreak of sweating sickness. |
1529 | Fall of Wolsey. The Reformation Parliament meets. |
(1529?) | Morality play, Everyman , performed. |
1530 | Intensification of the suppression of the English Bible. New severe legislation against vagabonds. Death of Wolsey, while being brought as a prisoner to London. |
153040 | Bishop Vesey builds houses for labourers in Sutton Coldfield. |
1531 | Henry VIII separates from Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn lives with him as his mistress. |
1533 | Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn, who becomes Queen. Repudiation of Papal supremacy over the Church of England. Birth of Henry VIIIs daughter, the future Elizabeth I. Thomas Cromwell becomes Henry VIIIs chief minister. |
1535 | Execution of Bishop Fisher, Sir Thomas More, and the Carthusian monks. Henry VIII cuts his hair short and grows a beard. Nicholas Udalls play, Ralph Roister Doister , performed. |
1536 | Execution of Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour. |
15369 | Suppression of monasteries. |
15367 | Revolt of the Pilgrimage of Grace in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. |
153644 | Housing legislation deals with slum property. |
1537 | Birth of Edward VI. Death of Jane Seymour. Henry VIII permits the publication of the English translation of the Bible. |
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