Also by G. J. Meyer
Contents
Prologue: August 22, 1485
The Battle of Bosworth: An exile returns.
PART ONE
1: The Luck of Henry Tudor
The king who had (almost) everything.
2: The Kings Great Matter
His pursuit of an annulmentand of Anne Boleyn.
3: Frustration and Embarrassment
Queen Catherine resists, and finds support.
4: Radical Departures
Moving the line between church and state.
5: Another Way Devised
A policy of winning by intimidationand terror.
6: A Revolution in the Making
Henry raises the stakes.
7: A Thunderbolt Falls
The royal ultimatum.
8: Submission
The archbishop of Canterbury surrenders.
9: Consummation
The king beds, then weds, Anne Boleyn.
PART TWO
10: First Blood
The destruction of the Nun of Kent.
11: Supremacy
Parliament acknowledges the kings new powers.
12: We Will All Die
Destruction of the Charterhouse monks, and of John Fisher.
13: Preserve My Friends from Such Favors
Trial and execution of Thomas More; the monastic visits.
14: All but Godlike
Anne Boleyn is replaced; the smaller monasteries destroyed.
15: Rebellion and Betrayal
Explosion: the Pilgrimage of Grace; King Henry gets his son.
16: The Last of Henry
Three more wives, money trouble, a final torrent of killings.
PART THREE
17: A New Beginning
Evangelicals triumph; Edward Seymour assumes command.
18: Englands Second Reformation
Henry VIIIs church dismantled; the fall of Seymour.
19: A Revolution and a Coup
The rise of John Dudley, the death of Edward VI, the brief reign of Jane Grey.
20: Another New Beginning
Mary I and the restoration of the old religion.
21: And Another Early End
Dreams turn to dust.
PART FOUR
22: Yet Another New Beginning
The return to Protestantism.
23: The Succession, Again
Robert Dudley and the hope for an heir.
24: A Torrent of Miseries
Religion, the succession, and Mary, Queen of Scots.
25: Actions, Reactions, Provocations
Trouble in France, trouble with Spain; rebellion in the Netherlands.
26: A Horrific TangleAnd War at Last
Years of meddling produce war in the Netherlands.
27: The Last Favorite
The Rise of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.
28: A Seat at the Table
The rivalry of Essex and Robert Cecil.
29: The Last Act
The fall of Essex; the dismal final decade of the Tudor Age.
A Tudor Timeline
1457 | January 28 | Henry Tudor is born to Lady Margaret Beaufort, thirteen-year-old widow of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond |
1485 | August 22 | Tudor is crowned Henry VII of England after defeating Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth Field |
December 15 | Catherine of Aragon is born in Spain |
1486 | January 18 | Marriage of Henry VII to Elizabeth of York |
September 19 | Birth of Arthur, Prince of Wales |
1491 | June 28 | Birth of future King Henry VIII |
1494 | September 12 | Birth of future King Francis I of France |
1495 | April 27 | Birth of Suleiman I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire |
1500 | February 24 | Birth of Charles of Hapsburg, future Emperor Charles V |
1501 | November 14 | Catherine of Aragon is married to Arthur, Prince of Wales |
1502 | April 2 | Death of Arthur, Prince of Wales |
1503 | February 11 | Death of Elizabeth of York, Henry VIIIs mother |
1509 | April 22 | Death of Henry VII |
June 11 | Henry VIII is married to Catherine of Aragon |
1513 | June 30 | Henry crosses the Channel to take command of the campaign against France |
September 9 | Scots army is destroyed by the Earl of Surreys English force at the Battle of Flodden |
1515 | December 24 | Thomas Wolsey becomes chancellor of England |
1516 | February 18 | Future Queen Mary I is born to Catherine of Aragon |
1519 | June 15 | Birth of Henry VIIIs illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy |
1527 | May 21 | Birth of Philip of Hapsburg, future King of Spain and husband of Mary I |
1529 | September 22 | Thomas Wolsey is stripped of chancellorship, replaced by Thomas More |
1532 | March 30 | Thomas Cranmer is consecrated as archbishop of Canterbury |
May 16 | More is allowed to resign after the submission of the clergy |
1533 | January 25 | Henry VIII is quietly married to Anne Boleyn |
April 13 | Anne is proclaimed queen |
May 28 | Cranmers court declares Henrys marriage to Anne to be valid |
June 8 | Parliament extinguishes papal authority in England |
September 7 | Birth of future Queen Elizabeth I |
1534 | April 20 | Execution of Elizabeth Barton, Nun of Kent |
April | Thomas Cromwell is confirmed as Henry VIIIs principal secretary |
November | The Act of Supremacy establishes Henry VIII as head of the church in England |
1535 | June 22 | Execution of John Fisher |
July 6 | Execution of Thomas More |
1536 | January 7 | Death of Catherine of Aragon |
March | Dissolution of monasteries begins |
May 19 | Execution of Anne Boleyn |
May 30 | |