Tudors by paul and james

1. The Tudor period is the period between **1485** and **1603**. This was when the Tudors were the ruling family in England.

**2.** The first Tudor monarch was **King Henry VII** who claimed the throne when his forces defeated **Richard III** at the **Battle of Bosworth Field** in **1485**. He ruled until his death in **1509**

.**3.** The Tudor rose was created when Henry VII brought an end to the **Wars of the Roses** (an ongoing battle between two royal groups – the **House of Lancaster** and the **House of York**).  He joined the **White Rose of York** with the **Red Rose of Lancaster**, creating the **Union Rose** (or Tudor Rose), which is still used as the floral emblem of England today!

**4.** Following his father’s death, **Henry VIII** became King of England in **1509** and ruled until his death in **1547**. Today one of England’s most famous historical figures, Henry VIII is well known for his six marriages – and for having two of his wives beheaded!

**5.** Like us today, the Tudors enjoyed eating different types of meat. But without fridges and freezers, they would preserve meat by rubbing salt on it.

**6.** People in Tudor times didn’t eat with a fork – they ate using knives, spoons and their fingers.

**7.** There were few books in Tudor schools, so pupils read from “**hornbooks**” instead. Pages displaying the alphabet and religious material were attached to wooden boards and covered with a transparent sheet of cow horn.

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**8.** If you were a child in a Tudor school, you’d better behave! Teachers were very strict and would punish pupils with 50 strokes of the cane. Pupils with wealthy families would often pay for a “**whipping-boy**” for their child – if the rich child misbehaved, the whipping-boy received the punishment! ~\_~

**9.** Some of the boardgames the Tudors played are still enjoyed today, such as chess, backgammon and card games!

10.When Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the battle of Bosworth in 1485, the vast majority of his subjects saw him as a usurper – and they were right. There were other claimants with stronger blood claims to the throne than his.

Henry’s own claim was on the side of his indomitable mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who was the great granddaughter of John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III, and his third wife (and long-standing mistress), Katherine Swynford. But Katherine had given birth to John Beaufort (Henry’s great grandfather) when she was still John’s mistress, so Henry’s claim was through an illegitimate line – and a female one at that.

Little wonder that he was plagued by rivals and ‘pretenders’ for most of his reign

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11.Education was seen as something of a luxury for most Tudors, and it was usually the children of the rich who received anything approaching a decent schooling.

There were few books in Tudor schools, so pupils read from ‘hornbooks’ instead. Pages displaying the alphabet and religious material were attached to wooden boards and covered with a transparent sheet of cow horn (hence the name).

Discipline was much fiercer than it is today. Teachers would think nothing of punishing their pupils with 50 strokes of the cane, and wealthier parents would often pay for a ‘whipping-boy’ to take the punishment on behalf of  their child. Barnaby Fitzpatrick undertook this thankless task for the young Edward VI, although the two boys did become best friends.