1. Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury

Margaret Pole was the niece of Richard III – who Henry VII had slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Until her dying day, Margaret asserted her Yorkist allegiance and become a focus for rebellion. She was considered such as threat that Henry VIII ordered her execution in 1541.

Margaret Pole; Elizabeth of York; Margaret Tudor

2. Elizabeth of York

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, who were leaders of the Yorkist cause. Her brothers were the ‘Princes in the Tower’.

The marriage between Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor marked a union between the Houses of York and Lancaster, and the red and white Tudor rose was born. Elizabeth and Henry had eight children, who, through marriage, became monarchs of England, Scotland and France.

3. Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots

The eldest daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Margaret was the sister of Henry VIII. She was married to James IV of Scotland from 1503-1513, which united the royal houses of England and Scotland. After her husband’s death, Margaret acted as regent for her son James V, from 1513-1515.

4. Catherine of Aragon

Catherine ruled as Queen of England from June 1509 until May 1533. She was the daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

At three years old she was betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, who was heir apparent to the English throne. After Arthur’s death, Catherine was married to his younger brother Henry, who grew increasingly frustrated after she failed to deliver a male heir.

Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn

Image Credit: History Hit

For six months in 1513, she served as regent of England as Henry was abroad in France. Her rousing speech about emotional courage seemed to be an important factor in the English victory at the Battle of Flodden. She was also a prominent humanist, and counted scholars such as Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More as her friends.

5. Elizabeth Blount

‘Bessie’ Blount was a mistress of Henry VIII. On 15 June 1519, Blount bore the king what he had always craved – a son. Henry Fitzroy, the only illegitimate son of Henry VIII, was later Duke of Richmond and Somerset and Earl of Nottingham.

6. Anne Boleyn

The second and perhaps most infamous wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, when she was executed.

Henry first caught eyes on her when she served Catherine of Aragon as a maid of honour. To accommodate a marriage to Anne and divorce Catherine, Henry had no choice but to leave the Catholic Church and establish the Church of England. Anne was the mother of Elizabeth I.

7. Catherine Parr

Catherine had four husbands, the third of which was Henry VIII who she outlived by a year. She enjoyed a close relationship with Henry’s three children, taking personal interest in their education and playing an important role in the Third Succession Act, which restored Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession.

Catherine Parr; Lady Jane Grey; Mary I

Image Credit: History Hit

After Henry’s death, Catherine acted as queen dowager and was allowed to keep royal jewels and dresses.

8. Lady Jane Grey

Jane was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, through their daughter Mary, who became Queen of France.

She was exceptionally well educated in humanist studies, and as a committed Protestant, Edward VI saw her as an ally. In 1553, Edward’s will placed Jane in line to inherit the throne, effectively removing his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth from the line of succession and ignoring the Third Succession Act.

Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553 but support quickly waned and the Privy Council abandoned her. Lasting just over a week, she became known as the ‘Nine Days Queen’. Although Mary initially spared her life, she became viewed as a threat to the Crown, and was executed the following year.

9. Mary I

Mary was the eldest child of Henry VIII to survive to adulthood. As the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, she was a staunch Catholic. After expelling Lady Jane Grey to regain her place on the throne, Mary attempted to reverse the English Reformation begun by her father and restore Roman Catholicism.

The executions of Protestants earned her the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’. She was married to Phillip of Spain.

10. Elizabeth I

Elizabeth was the final monarch of the Tudor dynasty, ruling from 1558-1603. She depended heavily on a group of advisers led by William Cecil. Together they established a middle way in the religious debates, as Elizabeth became the Supreme Governor of the English Protestant church, but insisted on greater tolerance of English Catholics.

Elizabeth I; Bess of Hardwick; Mary, Queen of Scots

Image Credit: History Hit

Elizabeth never married and she became referred to as the ‘Virgin Queen’. Her 44 year reign was marked by England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and a flowering of English drama, led by playwrights Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare.

11. Bess of Hardwick

Born into a modest background, Bess married four times and acquired an enormous fortune to become the second most important woman in England, after the queen. She is famed for building Hardwick Hall, which gave rise to the rhyme ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’.

12. Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary reigned over Scotland from 1542 to 1567. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland, who died when Mary was six days old. She married Francis, the Dauphin of France, and later her half-cousin, Lord Darnley.

Their son, James, would become James I of England, uniting the two kingdoms. She was executed by her cousin, Elizabeth I, in 1587 at Fotheringhay Castle.

But from her very first breath to the day she breathed her last, Elizabeth was surrounded by enemies who threatened her crown and her life.

A Seymour plot

Throughout her childhood and teenage years, Elizabeth was accused of being involved with a series of dangerous allegations that could have resulted in her imprisonment, or even her execution.

The Princess Elizabeth as a young teenager. Image credit: RCT / CC.

Image Credit: Royal Collections Trust / CC

When her 9-year-old half-brother Edward ascended to the throne, Elizabeth joined the Chelsea household of her stepmother Katherine Parr and Katherine’s new husband, Thomas Seymour.

While she was there, Seymour – approaching 40 but good looking and charming – engaged in romps and horseplay with the 14-year-old Elizabeth. These included entering her bedroom in his nightgown and slapping her on the bottom. Rather than confronting her husband, Parr joined in.

But eventually Parr discovered Elizabeth and Thomas in an embrace. Elizabeth left the Seymour house the very next day.

The south front of Hatfield House in the early 20th century. Image credit: Public Domain.

In 1548 Katherine died in childbirth. Seymour was subsequently executed for plotting to marry Elizabeth without the council’s consent, kidnap Edward VI and become de facto king.

Elizabeth was questioned to find out whether she was involved in the treasonous plot, but denied all charges.  Her stubbornness exasperated her interrogator, Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, who reported, “I do see it in her face that she is guilty”.

The Wyatt plot

Elizabeth’s life during Mary’s reign began well, but there were irreconcilable differences between them, particularly their differing faiths.

Then in 1554, just 4 short years before she came to the throne, a terrified Elizabeth was being smuggled through Traitors’ Gate at the Tower of London, implicated in an unsuccessful rebellion against her newly crowned half-sister Mary I.

Mary’s plan to marry Prince Phillip of Spain had sparked the unsuccessful Wyatt rebellion and Elizabeth was once again interrogated about her desire for the crown. When the rebels were captured for questioning, it became known that one of their plans was to have Elizabeth marry Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, to ensure an English succession to the throne.

She fervently protested her innocence, and Wyatt himself maintained – even under torture – that Elizabeth was blameless. But Simon Renard, the Queen’s adviser, did not believe her, and counselled Mary to bring her to trial. Elizabeth was not put on trial, but on 18 March she was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Held in her mother’s former apartments, Elizabeth was comfortable but under severe psychological strain. Eventually lack of evidence meant she was released into house arrest in Woodstock, Oxfordshire on 19 May – the anniversary of Anne Boleyn’s execution.

Mary’s final years

In September 1554 Mary stopped menstruating, gained weight and felt nauseous in the mornings. Almost the entirety of her court, including her doctors, believed her to be pregnant. Elizabeth was no longer seen as a significant threat when Mary had become pregnant.

In the last week of April 1555 Elizabeth was released from house arrest and called to court as a witness to the birth, which was expected imminently. Despite the pregnancy being revealed as false Elizabeth remained at court until October, apparently restored to favour.

But Mary’s rule disintegrated after another false pregnancy. Elizabeth refused to marry the Catholic Duke of Savoy, who would have secured a Catholic succession and preserved the Habsburg interest in England. As tensions over Mary’s succession arose once again, Elizabeth spent these years fearing for her safety while earnestly trying to preserve her independence.

By 1558 a weak and frail Mary knew that Elizabeth would soon succeed her to the throne. After Elizabeth, the most powerful claim to the throne resided in the name of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had not long before married Francois, the French heir to the throne and enemy of Spain. Thus, although Elizabeth was not Catholic, it was in Spain’s best interest to secure her accession to the throne, in order to prevent the French from obtaining it.

By October Elizabeth was already making plans for her government whilst at Hatfield and in November Mary recognised Elizabeth as her heir.

Portrait of Mary Tudor by Antonius Mor. Image credit: Museo del Prado / CC. 

Image Credit: Public domain

End of the rocky road

Mary I died on 17 November 1558 and the crown was finally Elizabeth’s. She had survived and was finally Queen of England, crowned on 14 Jan 1559.

Elizabeth I was crowned by Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, because the more senior prelates did not recognise her as the Sovereign, and, apart from the archbishopric of Canterbury, no less than 8 sees were vacant.

Of the remainder, Bishop White of Winchester had been confined to his house by royal command for his sermon at Cardinal Pole’s funeral; and the Queen had an especial enmity toward Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London. With a touch of irony, she had ordered Bonner to lend his richest vestments to Oglethorpe for the coronation.

Henry enacted radical changes to the English constitution, expanded royal power and broke with the Catholic Church in the English Reformation.

But he is perhaps most famous for having six wives. Though married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, for nearly 25 years, Henry’s next five marriages lasted less than that combined.

Best remembered in rhyme form; ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’; two of Henry VIII’s marriages were declared annulled, two of his wives were beheaded and another of them died after giving birth to his only son. But his final wife, Catherine Parr, outlived him and their marriage.

Here are Henry VIII’s six wives in order.

1. Catherine of Aragon

Catherine is best known today for her role in sparking the King’s excommunication from the Catholic Church and the Reformation. Married to Henry for a quarter of a century, however, there is much more to her.

The daughter of Spanish monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, Catherine was a political catch.

Betrothed at the age of three to Arthur, Henry’s older brother and the heir apparent to the English throne, her position became uncertain when, in 1502, her husband died just five months into their marriage.

Half of Catherine’s dowry had already been paid to Arthur’s father, Henry VII, so the English king faced the dilemma of how to pay it back.

Catherine was effectively held a prisoner with little money to her name while the issue was debated. But in 1507, six years after Arthur’s death, she became the ambassador of the Aragonese Crown to England.

In doing so, she also became the first female European ambassador in history.

Catherine of Aragon

Image Credit: Attributed to Joannes Corvus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Two years later, Catherine married Henry VIII – who was five years her junior – shortly after he had ascended the throne. This marriage between a man and his brother’s widow required, and was granted, dispensation by the Catholic Church.

The couple’s marriage was eventful for Catherine. In 1513, she served as regent for six months while Henry was away in France. During this time she oversaw an English victory against Scotland at the Battle of Flodden, but she also gave birth to a stillborn child.

Catherine suffered multiple miscarriages and stillbirths. She bore the king’s first child, a boy, only to see him die 52 days later. Her only child to survive to adulthood was a daughter born in 1516, Mary; who went on to become queen.

Catherine suffered another miscarriage in 1518, but one year later Henry had a son by a mistress named Elizabeth Blount. The boy was named Henry Fitzroy, and is Henry’s only confirmed illegitimate child. Blount was not, however, Henry’s only mistress during his marriage to Catherine.

It was his infatuation with Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, from 1526, which set into motion a chain of events that would not only see the end of Catherine and Henry’s marriage, but also lead to England’s Protestantisation.

Henry tried to have his marriage to Catherine annulled to marry Anne. He argued that their marriage had been invalid because of Catherine’s marriage to his brother. Devout Catherine rejected this, saying that she and Arthur’s relationship had never been consummated.

Possibly pressured somewhat by Catherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the Pope refused. In response the king assumed supremacy over religious matters and turned his back on the Catholic Church.

Henry’s marriage to Catherine was eventually annulled on 1533 and Catherine was banished from court as Dowager Princess of Wales. She lived out the rest of her days at Kimbolton Castle in Cambridgeshire where she died in 1536. Her daughter Mary was forbidden for visiting her or to attending her funeral at Peterborough Cathedral.

Catherine never accepted the end of her marriage to Henry as legitimate, always seeing herself as England’s rightful Queen and Henry’s wife.

2. Anne Boleyn

With the extraordinary events of her life unparalleled in British history, Anne Boleyn is undoubtedly the most famous of Henry’s wives.

Henry may have endured a seven-year courtship and far-reaching political and religious upheavals in order to marry his second wife, but that didn’t stop him having her executed less than three years later.

Anne was born c.1501 to Sir Thomas Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Howard, and spent much of her youth in France, returning in 1522. She was reported to be fluent in french, a talented musician and to dress in line with French fashions.

Anne was previously betrothed to Henry Percy, but this engagement had been broken off when it did not gain the support of his father, the fifth Earl of Northumberland. Henry VIII, himself, had formerly taken Anne’s sister, Mary, as a mistress.

Anne refused to become the King’s mistress, forcing him to wait through the seven years of courtship until they could marry. In 1532, Henry made Anne the Marquessate of Pembroke, and the pair married formally in January 1533, after a secret ceremony two months earlier.

After going through so much to secure the marriage, the King’s change of heart was likely due to the fact that, like Catherine, Anne seemed unable to bear him a son. After giving birth to Elizabeth I in September 1533, she suffered several miscarriages.

Henry began to look elsewhere for a woman to bear him a son – and he found this woman in Jane Seymour. Anne was less able to accept Henry’s infidelities than her predecessor, and reportedly became enraged and jealous when confronted with evidence of her husband’s affairs.

A month after Henry began courting Jane, he ordered Anne to be investigated for high treason and she was sent to the Tower of London.

After being tried on charges of adultery, incest and treason, Anne was found guilty (most likely wrongly) by a jury which included her once fiancee, Henry Percy. The treason charge alludes to alleged plots to kill the King, but also likely the risk to succession that would be created by a Queen having an affair.

Five men were found guilty of adultery. Among them was Anne’s brother, George, hence the charge of incest. All were executed on Tower Hill.

She was beheaded four days later, on 19 May, on Tower Green. In her final speech she did not admit guilt but instead alluded to her innocence and, perhaps to keep her daughter in Henry’s favour, prayed ‘God save the King, and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never.’

3. Jane Seymour

Henry’s love for – or at least infatuation with – Anne may have sparked the Reformation, but Jane is commonly thought to have been his favourite wife. This is most likely because Jane gave him what none of of his other wives could: a son who lived.

Like Anne, Jane had served as a lady-in-waiting to the queen she would replace. They also shared a great-grandmother. As did Henry’s future wife Catherine Howard.

Portrait by Hans Holbein, Kunsthistorisches Museum

Image Credit: Hans Holbein the Younger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Jane was not as highly educated as either of her predecessors. Her peaceful and gentle personality, starkly contrasting with that of her predecessors, reportedly lent itself to peacemaking efforts at court – ironic given the circumstances that surrounded her marriage to Henry.

She married the Tudor King in May 1533, just days after Anne had been beheaded.

Her marriage to Henry was overshadowed by the need to give birth to an heir, with some suggesting that this was a factor in the delay of her coronation.

Jane gave birth to a son in October 1534. He would grow up to be King Edward VI, but she would not live to see this. After developing post-natal complications, she died less than two weeks after his birth, aged 29.

Jane is attributed with reconciling her husband to his first daughter, Mary, during their short marriage. Her connection to her step daughter was such that Mary acted as chief mourner at her funeral.

Jane was the only one of Henry’s wives to be given a queen’s funeral, despite never having had a coronation, and was the wife who Henry chose to be buried with upon his own death in January 1547.

4. Anne of Cleves

Henry’s last three wives are less famous than his first three, a matter not helped by the fact that each shares their name with a predecessor.

Not only this but Henry’s last three marriages were far less dramatic than his first three (though this is certainly relative given that his fifth wife was beheaded). None of these final three marriages resulted in any children.

In the case of Anne of Cleves this last point is hardly surprising given that her marriage with Henry went unconsummated. The King proved far less enamoured with his fourth wife than he had with her predecessors.

Henry married Anne in January 1540, though negotiations for the marriage are believed to have begun shortly after Jane’s death in 1534.

The daughter of the Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark, Anne was considered a politically expedient match by Henry’s advisers. She was only just older than Henry’s oldest child, Mary, and had no formal education.

After marrying Anne in January 1540, Henry had their marriage annulled just six months later, citing its lack of consummation as well as his wife’s previous engagement to another man, Francis, Duke of Barr and later Lorraine. Henry blamed the marriage going unconsummated on Anne’s appearance but this slight didn’t stop the pair later becoming close friends.

Anne’s acceptance of the annulment seemed to win her favour with Henry and she subsequently became an honorary member of his family, known as “the King’s Beloved Sister”. Her generous settlement included Richmond Palace and also the home of Henry’s former in-laws, the Boleyns, Hever Castle.

Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539. Oil and tempera on parchment mounted on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Like Jane, Anne had a good relationship with Henry’s eldest daughter. In 1553 she accompanied her former step daughter to Whitehall, Mary’s new residence as Queen. Anne also reverted back to her former religion, Roman Catholicism, in line with the new Queen.

Anne died in 1557, outliving all of the other five wives and Henry himself. She is the only one of Henry’s queens to be buried in Westminster Abbey.

The political adviser who arranged the marriage did not fare so well, however; Thomas Cromwell was executed on 28 July 1540, the same day that Henry married his next wife.

5. Catherine Howard

Henry’s marriage to Catherine Howard came close to matching the drama of his earlier partnerships – perhaps unsurprising given that his teenage bride was a first cousin of Anne Boleyn.

Catherine’s life had been turbulent even before Henry came on the scene. As one of the many wards of her father’s stepmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, she began at the age of 13 to be involved in repeated sexual contact with her music teacher, Henry Mannox.

Later, Catherine had become embroiled in an extramarital affair with the Dowager’s secretary Francis Dereham.

After the Dowager Duchess found out, Catherine was sent to court to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves. This position had been secured for her by her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, who saw an opportunity in Henry’s lack of interest in Anne. The King was certainly attracted to Catherine’s youth, looks and vivacity.

The pair were married in 1540. In the spring of the following year, however, Catherine is alleged to have begun an affair with a favoured courtier of Henry’s named Thomas Culpeper. Their meetings were reportedly organised by Jane Boleyn, the widow of Anne Boleyn’s executed brother George.

By autumn, rumours about Catherine’s conduct were abundant and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, learned of her alleged affair with Culpeper, as well as her previous relationship with the Dowager Duchess’s secretary, Dereham.

Cranmer saw this as his chance to reduce the influence of his political rival, the Roman Catholic house of Norfolk. He launched an investigation into Catherine’s alleged affairs and she was detained and questioned in November 1541.

Rather than admitting to the earlier affair and possible precontract with Dereham, which would have allowed for her annulment and banishment, Catherine maintained that the relationship was not consensual.

Charged with high treason, both Culpeper and Dereham were executed in December 1541.

In order to find Catherine guilty of a crime, the Royal Assent by Commission Act 1541 was passed. It became treasonous to fail to disclose premarital sexual relations to the monarch within twenty days of marriage, or to incite a person to engage in adultery as the Queen consort.

Within months, Catherine had gone the same way as her cousin Anne, executed for high treason. On her route by barge to the Tower of London she likely have passed under the impaled heads of her reported lovers, Culpeper and Dereham, on London Bridge.

Catherine was probably about nineteen years old.

Jane Boleyn was also executed and both were buried in unmarked graves at the Tower’s parish chapel alongside Catherine’s cousins, and Jane’s sister-in-law and husband: Anne and George Boleyn.

6. Catherine Parr

Henry’s sixth and final wife – and his third named Catherine – was perhaps his luckiest. She married Henry in July 1543, just four months after Catherine Howard was beheaded, and went on to outlive him – though only by a year.

Catherine Parr had been married twice before, being titled Lady Burgh and then Lady Latimer, and married again around six months after Henry died, making her the most married English queen.

This is not Catherine’s only claim to fame: she was also the first queen of both England and Ireland.

A portrait of Catherine Parr (1512–1548)

Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The third Catherine had begun a romantic relationship with Jane Seymour’s brother, Thomas, when she caught the eye of Henry. But she considered it her duty to marry the King instead.

In 1546, Catherine, who held strong Protestant sympathies, faced a plot to get rid of her by anti-Protestant officials.

These officials tried to turn Henry against Catherine and even drew up a warrant for her arrest. But Catherine outwitted them and successfully reconciled with her husband, avoiding the same fate as her unlucky predecessors.

She also differed from her predecessors being 30 years old, and a scholar. She became the first English queen to write and publish a book under her own name in 1545, with Prayers and Meditations.

When Henry died in 1547, he left provisions of £7,000 a year for Catherine to support herself, and for Catherine to be treated as Queen Dowager, still in possession of her courtly clothes, jewels and such.

Catherine’s final husband was her previous interest and the uncle of the new king, Thomas Seymour. Seymour is reported to have also had interests in the future queen, Lady Elizabeth, who lived with the married couple.

This rumour was included in evidence which resulted in Seymour’s execution in 1549 for treason This came after his wife’s death, for in August 1548, Catherine had given birth to her only child and died several days later from suspected childbed fever.

Tales of Tudor politics, bloodshed, and romance have long found a home in the intrigue of Britain’s past, but who exactly were the family that ruled over it all?

1. Henry VII

Henry VII is often considered the founding father of the Tudor dynasty, and through an astute business head and pragmatic removal of opponents, helped to establish the future of the eminent family. With a somewhat shaky claim to the throne – his mother Margaret Beaufort was a great-great-granddaughter of King Edward III – he challenged the rule of Richard III, defeating him in battle at Bosworth Field in 1485.

Following his coronation he married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and heiress of the York legacy, uniting the two warring houses as one. The red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York were symbolically combined, forming the Tudor rose that remains a striking part of British iconography today.

Henry VII of England, 1505.

Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery / Public domain

Henry VII’s uncertain path to the throne made him a patient and vigilant character, prone to rely on policy and calculation over passion and affection. He had a pragmatic approach to government and focused heavily on growing the royal finances by avoiding costly wars, promoting efficient administration, and increasing revenue from British industry.

Henry’s reign was far from secure however, and was often faced with uprisings and pretenders to the throne. Most famous of these was Perkin Warbeck, whose claim to be the younger of the Princes in the Tower found him executed in 1499.

Though seemingly brutal, Henry VII’s elimination of his enemies and purging of powerful Yorkist nobles built a loyal power base around the Tudor dynasty, so that by the time his son Henry inherited the throne, not a single opponent remained.

2. Henry VIII

Perhaps the most infamous member of the Tudor family, Henry VIII inherited the throne from his father in 1509 aged 18. Surrounded by wealth and loyal supporters, the new king begun his rule full of promise. Standing 6 feet tall, Henry was powerfully built with a talent for both scholarly and athletic pursuits, excelling in riding, dancing, and fencing.

Soon after he was king, he married Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the most powerful royal couple in Europe – Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castille.

Henry did not have his father’s strong business head however, and preferred to live a life guided by passion and hedonistic pursuits. Obsessed with legacy, he disadvantageously joined wars with Spain and France, costing the Crown dearly both financially and in popularity.

A portrait of Henry VIII by Holbein thought to be from around 1536.

Image Credit: Public domain

Marrying 6 times, Henry VIII’s wives are amongst the most famous consorts in history and are another indicator of his pursuit of passion.

After 24 years of marriage he divorced Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn, whom he had fallen deeply in love with and hoped would provide him with a son – Catherine had suffered a number of miscarriages and ‘only’ given him a daughter in Mary I. In order to achieve this however Henry was forced to break with the Roman Catholic Church, forming the Church of England and setting forth the English Reformation.

Boleyn would give him the future Elizabeth I – but no boy. She was executed for supposed treason in 1536, following which he married Jane Seymour 10 days later, who died giving birth to Edward VI. He swiftly divorced his fourth wife Anne of Cleves and executed his fifth wife, the teenage Catherine Howard, for adultery in 1542. Catherine Parr, his sixth and final wife, outlived him when he at last died in 1547 aged 55, after suffering complications from an old jousting wound.

3. Edward VI

Edward VI came to the throne in 1547 at the age of 9, ushering in a period known as the Mid-Tudor Crisis that spanned he and his sister Mary I’s short and turbulent reigns. Due to his age, his father had appointed a council of 16 to assist him before he died, however Henry VIII’s plan was not directly followed.

The young prince’s uncle Edward Seymour, Earl of Somerset was named Lord Protector until he came of age, effectively making him ruler in all but name and opening the door to some vicious power plays. Somerset and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer were determined to install England as a truly Protestant state, and in 1549 an English Prayer Book was issued, followed by an Act of Uniformity to enforce its use.

What followed was a period of significant unrest in England. The Prayer Book Rebellion in Devon and Cornwall and Kett’s Rebellion in Norfolk saw thousands dead for protesting the religious and social injustices they suffered. This prompted Somerset’s removal from power and his replacement by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who facilitated his predecessor’s execution.

Portrait of Edward VI in his early teens.

Image Credit: Public domain

By June 1553 it became apparent that Edward was dying of tuberculosis however, and a plan for his succession was set in motion. Not wishing to undo all of the work towards Protestantism, Edward’s advisors encouraged him remove his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth from the line of succession, and instead name his 16-year-old cousin Lady Jane Grey as his heir.

Grey’s husband was Lord Guildford Dudley – the Duke of Northumberland’s son – and her position on the throne would clearly be used to strengthen his position. This plot would not come to fruition however, and when Edward died in 1553 aged 15, Jane would be queen for just 9 days.

4. Mary I

Enter Mary I, Henry VIII’s eldest daughter by Catherine of Aragon. She had been a staunch Catholic all her life, and had thousands of followers seeking to see her on the throne, both for her Catholic faith and as the rightful Tudor heir. She raised a large army at Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, and the Privy Council soon realised the grave error they had made in attempting to oust her from the succession.

She was named Queen in 1553 and Lady Jane Grey and her husband were both executed, along with Northumberland who had attempted to stage another rebellion against Mary soon after. As Lady Jane Grey’s short reign is widely disputed, Mary is largely considered the first queen regnant of England. She is best known for her furious attempts at reversing the English Reformation however, burning hundreds of Protestants in the process, and earning her the damning nickname ‘Bloody Mary’.

Portrait of Mary I by Antonius Mor.

Image Credit: Public domain

In 1554 she married the Catholic Philip II of Spain, despite the match being hugely unpopular in England, and with him waged an unsuccessful war on France, losing Calais in the process – England’s last possession on the continent. That same year she suffered a false pregnancy, perhaps exacerbated by her intense desire to have a child and prevent her Protestant sister Elizabeth from succeeding her.

Though the entire court believed Mary was due to give birth, a baby never materialised and the queen was left distraught. Soon after, Philip abandoned her to return to Spain, causing her further misery. She died in 1558 aged 42, possibly of uterine cancer, and her dream of returning England to Catholicism died with her.

5. Elizabeth I

Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558 aged 25, and presided over what has been termed a ‘Golden Age’ of English prosperity for 44 years. Her reign brought welcome stability after the short and uneasy rules of her siblings, and her religious tolerance helped to pave over what had been years of uncertainty.

She successfully repelled foreign threats such as the invasion of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and the plots made against her by supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots, and fostered the era of Shakespeare and Marlowe – all while ruling alone.

Known as the Armada Portrait, Elizabeth looks resplendent following one of her greatest victories.

Image Credit: Art UK / CC

Elizabeth famously refused to marry and instead adopted the image of the ‘Virgin Queen’. She knew that as a woman, to marry was to forfeit one’s power as her sister Mary I had been forced to during her reign. A politically astute figure, Elizabeth also knew that both a foreign or domestic match would stir up unwelcome hostilities amongst her nobles, and through her knowledge of what it meant to be a royal wife – she was the daughter of Henry VIII after all – opted to steer clear of it altogether.

Her strong character and intelligence meant that she refused to bow to the pressures of her advisors, declaring that:

‘If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married’

As such, when Elizabeth died in 1603, so did the Tudor line. She reluctantly named her cousin James VI of Scotland as her heir, and so began the Stuart dynasty in England, ushering in a new era of political upheaval, flourishing court culture, and events that would alter the shape of the monarchy for good.

1. Anne was a political pawn

Anne’s early life is relatively obscure, but she was born in Düsseldorf in 1515 to the Duke and Duchess of Jülich-Berg. Her family had Protestant sympathies in the Reformation, and opposed the Catholic Emperor Charles V.

As a daughter, Anne would always have been expected to marry whomever her parents chose for her. In the turbulent religious landscape of mid-16th century Europe, political matches were even more important.

Aged 11 she was betrothed to the son of the Duke of Lorraine, but this was broken off as the two reached a marriageable age, partly because of religious disputes between Anne’s parents.

2. The Cleves-England match was purely political

Europe was divided by religion by the late 1530s, and Henry VIII, King of England, was keen to make a Protestant alliance with his next marriage. Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s Chief Minister, was keen on a match between Henry – now a bloated, overweight 48 year old – and the 24 year old Protestant Anne of Cleves, primarily for political reasons.

Whilst Anne had not benefited from a formal education (and in fact could barely speak English), she was considered virtuous and accomplished in skills like needlework and cards – the perfect companion for the increasingly erratic Henry.

3. History has focused most on Anne’s looks

Whilst Cromwell was negotiating the marriage, Hans Holbein the Younger, one of the prominent portrait painters of the time, was dispatched to paint both Anne and her younger sister Amalia. Henry was said to be pleased with the resulting portrait, and copies of it can be seen in Paris and London today.

However, Henry later accused of Holbein of flattering Anne, declaring she was unattractive in real life – so much so that he could not bring himself to consummate the marriage. Certainly the Germanic fashions Anne wore were very different to what was fashionable at the English court by this point. The nickname ‘The Flanders Mare’ was coined in the 17th century.

Holbein’s 1539 portrait of Anne of Cleves. Image credit: Musee du Louvre / CC.

4. The match did not have an auspicious start

Anne and Henry had not met before the match, and there is no record of how Anne responded to the betrothal. She travelled to London with a retinue of her ladies to meet the king in late 1539, and en route, Henry decided to surprise his bride-to-be in the true tradition of chivalric love.

Along with several of his men, Henry burst into Anne’s apartments in a mask and tried to kiss her: chivalric traditions of love meant Anne was supposed to recognise her beloved despite his disguise. Not expecting such informality, the confused Anne pushed him away rudely and demanded to know who he was.

Henry is said to have left in a rage, declaring ‘I like her not!’

5. She had a very short-lived marriage

Anne and Henry were married in January 1540 in Greenwich: however, Henry declared to Cromwell the following day that he could not bring himself to consummate the marriage (implying he found Anne so unattractive he could not rouse any desire). History does not record how Anne felt about the prospect of consummating a marriage with Henry, who by this stage had a 52 inch waist and ulcers on his legs that would not heal.

 6. She left court in June 1540

Henry was said to be furious with Cromwell, and just 6 months after they were married, Henry ordered Anne to leave court. She was asked to consent to an annulment of the marriage, which she agreed to. Cromwell, on the other hand, was imprisoned on trumped up charges of treason and later executed.

The marriage was formally annulled in July 1540.

7. Anne’s attitude was rewarded

Henry was grateful that Anne did not contest the annulment: she was awarded the title of ‘The King’s Beloved Sister’, and awarded precedence over all ladies in the land except the King’s family. Anne was also given a number of properties, including Richmond Palace and Hever Castle and a generous annual income.

Anne was well received at court, and frequently invited back, even dancing with Catherine Howard following her marriage to Henry as a gesture of goodwill.

8. Anne’s father tried to get her to remarry Henry

Anne’s status had become complex. As ‘The King’s Beloved Sister’ and one of the wealthiest women in England, it would be difficult for Anne to remarry elsewhere, and the alliance between Cleves and England was somewhat rocky following the failure of the marriage.

Following Catherine Howard’s execution, Anne’s brother William petitioned Henry to remarry his sister. Henry showed little interest in reviving the match, and with Anne happily pensioned off, it seems unlikely that she wanted this either.

9. Anne survived to see Mary on the throne

Anne outlived Henry and his final wife, Catherine Parr. She had initially met Mary as her step-mother (although the two only had a few years between them) and despite religious differences, the two were said to have got along remarkably well.

Anne took part in Mary’s coronation procession, and wrote to congratulate her on her marriage to Philip of Spain. In deference to Mary’s Catholicism, Anne also converted in order to stay on the right side of the new queen.

Despite this, she lost favour following Wyatt’s Rebellion in 1554, as Mary was led to believe she had used her Protestant connections abroad to help Elizabeth garner support. She was not invited back to court during her lifetime.

Portrait of Mary Tudor by Antonius Mor in 1554. Image credit: Museo del Prado / CC. 

10. She died peacefully in 1557

Anne never left England following her arrival in 1539, and she lived her last years in Chelsea Old Manor until she died in July 1557. Her will remembered her family and her step-family, as well as her servants, whom she asked Mary and Elizabeth to employ in their households.

She was buried in Westminster Abbey with full pomp by Mary, showing that despite their differences, Anne had a place in the Queen’s affections.

1. Catherine’s parents were two of the most powerful figures in Europe

Born in 1485 to Kind Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, Catherine known as the Infanta of Spain as their youngest surviving child. Descended from English royalty through John of Gaunt’s line, Catherine was highly educated and accomplished in more domestic skills too.

Her proud lineage meant she was an attractive marriage prospect across Europe, and eventually she was betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales: a strategic match which would validate the rule of the Tudors in England and provide strong links between Spain and England.

2. Henry wasn’t Catherine’s first husband

In May 1499, Catherine married Arthur, Prince of Wales, by proxy. Catherine arrived in England in 1501, and the two were formally married at St Paul’s Cathedral. Catherine had a dowry of 200,000 ducats: half was paid on the event of the marriage.

The young couple were dispatched to Ludlow Castle (appropriate given Arthur’s role as Prince of Wales), but just a few months later, in April 1502, Arthur died of the ‘sweating sickness’, leaving Catherine a widow.

To keep the alliance and avoid having to return Catherine’s large dowry, Henry VII, Arthur’s father, desperately looked for ways to keep Catherine in England – he is even rumoured to have considered marrying the teenager himself.

3. Her marriage to Henry was as close to a love match as a diplomatic marriage could be

Catherine was 6 years older than Henry, her former brother-in-law, when he became king in 1509. Henry made an active decision to marry Catherine: whilst there were strategic and political advantages, he was at liberty to marry any one of Europe’s princesses.

The two were well-matched. Both were attractive, well-educated, cultured and accomplished sportspeople, and they were devoted to each other for the first years of their marriage. The two were married in early June 1509 outside Greenwich Palace, and crowned at Westminster Abbey about 10 days later.

4. She served as England’s regent for 6 months

In 1513, Henry went to France, leaving Catherine as his regent in England during his absence: the actual phrasing went

“regent and governess of England, Wales and Ireland, during our absence… to issue warrants under her sign manual… for payment of such sums as she may require from our treasury”.

This was a sign of immense trust from a husband to wife, or king to queen by contemporary standards. Shortly after Henry departed, James IV of Scotland decided to take this opportune moment to invade, capturing several border castles in quick succession.

Catherine immediately sent an army north to stop the Scots, and addressed the troops herself in full armour despite being heavily pregnant. They met at the Battle of Flodden Field, which proved to be a decisive English victory: James IV was killed, as were a large number of Scottish nobles.

Catherine sent James’ bloody shirt to Henry in France with news of her victory: Henry later used this as as a banner at the siege of Tournai.

A Victorian illustration depicting the Battle of Flodden Field, 1513. Image credit: British Library / CC.

5. She suffered a series of tragic miscarriages and stillbirths

Catherine was pregnant 6 times during her marriage to Henry: only one of these children – a daughter, Mary – survived into adulthood. Of the remaining pregnancies, at least 3 resulted in male children who died shortly after birth.

In 1510, Catherine gave Henry a short-lived heir: Henry, Duke of Cornwall. Christened at Richmond Palace, the baby died at only a few months old. The inability to give Henry a living male heir proved to be Catherine’s undoing. Henry’s desperation for a son knew almost no bounds.

6. She was an early advocate for a woman’s right to education

Catherine was given a comprehensive education, speaking Spanish, English, Latin, French and Greek by the time she married Prince Arthur. She was determined to afford the same privilege to her own daughter, Mary, and took responsibility for much of her education, as well as taking instruction from the Renaissance humanist Juan Luis Vives.

In 1523, Catherine commissioned Vives to produce a book entitled ‘The Education of a Christian Woman’, in which he advocated for education for all women, irrespective of social class or ability and offered practical advice.

A portrait of Catherine of Aragon as Mary Magdalene, probably done whilst she was in her early 20s. Image credit: Detroit Institute of Art / CC.

7. Catherine was a devout Catholic

Catholicism played a central role in Catherine’s life: she was pious and devout, and during her time as queen she created extensive programmes of poor relief.

Her strict adherence to Catholicism played into her refusal to accept Henry’s desire for divorce: she dismissed any claims that their marriage was unlawful. Henry suggested she retire gracefully to a nunnery: Catherine responded “God never called me to a nunnery. I am the King’s true and legitimate wife.”

Henry’s decision to break with Rome was something Catherine could never accept: she remained a devout Catholic until the end, loyal to the Pope and Rome despite it costing her marriage.

8. The validity of Henry and Catherine’s marriage was called into question very publicly

In 1525, Henry became infatuated with one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn: one of Anne’s attractions was her youth. Henry badly wanted a son, and it was clear Catherine would have no more children. Henry asked Rome for an annulment, claiming it was against Biblical law to marry his brother’s widow.

Catherine was forced to testify very publicly about the consummation (or not) of her marriage to Henry’s brother Arthur – she maintained they never slept together, meaning she was a virgin when she married Henry.

Eventually, Thomas Wolsey convened an ecclesiastical court in England in 1529 to determine the matter once and for all: however, the pope withdrew his legate (representative) in order to stall the decision-making process, and forbade Henry to remarry in the meantime.

9. Catherine’s marriage was dissolved and she was exiled

Following years of backwards and forwards between England and Rome, Henry reached the end of his tether. The break with Rome meant Henry was head of his own church in England, so in 1533, a special court convened to declare Henry and Catherine’s marriage illegal.

Catherine refused to accept this ruling, and declared she would be continued to be addressed as Henry’s wife and England’s rightful queen (although her official title became the Dowager Princess of Wales). To punish Catherine, Henry refused to allow her access to their daughter, Mary unless both mother and daughter acknowledge Anne Boleyn as Queen of England.

10. She remained loyal and faithful to her husband until the end

Catherine spent her last years as a virtual prisoner at Kimbolton Castle. Her health worsened, and the damp castle did little to help matters. In her last letter to Henry, she wrote “Mine eyes desire you above all things” and she continued to maintain the legitimacy of her marriage.

Her death was probably caused by a form of cancer: an autopsy showed a black growth on her heart. At the time, it was hypothesised that this was a form of poisoning. On hearing the news of her death, Henry and Anne were said to have dressed in yellow (the Spanish colour of mourning), and made the news known throughout the court.

Here are 10 facts about her fascinating life.

1. She was likely named after Catherine of Aragon

Born in 1512 to Sir Thomas Parr, lord of the manor of Kendal in Westmorland, and Maud Green, an heiress and courtier, Catherine belonged to a family of substantial influence in the north.

Her father was given a number of important positions at court such as Master of the Wards and Comptroller to the King, while her mother was employed in Catherine of Aragon’s household and the two were close friends.

Catherine Parr was likely named after Catherine of Aragon, as the queen was also her godmother, an interesting and largely unknown link between Henry VIII’s first and last queens.

Catherine of Aragon, attributed to Joannes Corvus, early 18th century copy of original portrait (Image Credit: Public Domain)

2. She married twice before wedding Henry VIII

Though best known as Henry VIII’s sixth queen, Catherine was in fact married twice before. In 1529, while aged 17, she married Sir Edward Burgh, who was himself in his 20s and a Justice of the Peace. Tragically they were only married 4 years before Burgh died, leaving Catherine a widow aged 21. 

In 1534, Catherine remarried John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer, becoming only the second woman in the Parr family to marry up into the peerage. This new title afforded her lands and wealth, and although Latimer was twice her age, the pair were well-matched and held great affection for one another.

3. Catholic rebels held her hostage during the Northern uprisings

Following Henry VIII’s break with Rome, Catherine found herself in the crossfire of the Catholic rebellions that followed.

As her husband had been a supporter of the Catholic Church, a mob of rebels marched to his residence during the Lincolnshire Rising to demand he join their efforts in reinstating the old religion. He was taken away by the mob, and Catherine was left to protect two young step-children.

In 1537, during the subsequent rebellions in the north, Catherine and the children were held hostage at Snape Castle in Yorkshire while rebels ransacked the house. They threatened Latimer with their deaths should he not return immediately. These events likely swayed Catherine towards her future support of Protestantism.

4. When she married Henry VIII, she was actually in love with someone else

Following her second husband’s death in 1543, Catherine recalled her mother’s friendship with Catherine of Aragon and struck up a relationship with her daughter, Lady Mary. She joined her household and moved to court where she began a romantic relationship with Thomas Seymour, brother of Henry VIII’s third wife Jane. 

Thomas Seymour by Nicolas Denizot, c. 1547 (Image Credit: Public Domain)

At the same time however she caught the attention of the king and, as is infamously known, rebuffing his proposals was out of the question. 

Thomas Seymour was removed from court to a posting in Brussels and Catherine married Henry VIII at Hampton Court on 12 July 1543.

5. She was very close with Henry VIII’s children

During her queenship, Catherine established very close relationships with the king’s children – Mary, Elizabeth and Edward, who would all become future monarchs.

She was partially responsible for reconciling the king with his daughters, whose relationships with him had been hampered by their mothers’ respective falls from grace. Elizabeth in particular formed a very close relationship with her step-mother.

Catherine’s own step-children were also afforded a role at court, with her step-daughter Margaret and step-son’s wife Lucy Somerset given positions in her household. 

6. Whilst the king was at war, she was made regent

In 1544, Henry named Catherine as regent when he went on a final campaign to France. Her flair for politics and strength of character aided her success in this role, while her ability to forge loyal alliances meant the regency council she inherited was already full of faithful members.

During this time she managed finances for Henry’s campaign and the royal household, signed 5 royal proclamations, and maintained a constant correspondence with her northern Marches lieutenant over the unstable situation in Scotland, all the while informing Henry via letter of how his kingdom fared.

It is thought that her strength in this role greatly influenced the young Elizabeth I.  

7. She was the first woman to publish work in her own name

In 1545, Catherine published Prayers or Meditations, a collection of vernacular texts assembled for personal devotion. It followed an earlier anonymous publication named Psalms or Prayers, and was very successful among English readers in the 16th century, helping to develop the new Church of England.

Catherine Parr attributed to Master John, c.1545 (Image Credit: Public Domain)

When Henry VIII died, Catherine went on to publish a much more blatantly Protestant-leaning pamphlet in 1547, called The Lamentation of a Sinner. It supported a number of clearly reformative ideas, such as the focus on scripture and justification by faith alone, and even referred to ‘papal riff-raff’.

She boldly identified herself as the Queen of England and Henry VIII’s wife in this writing, a move that openly contrasted her high status with her sinfulness in a manner that was unprecedented. The Lamentation of a Sinner was used heavily by the Nonconformists of the following century, and may have had some influence over Edward VI’s Protestant rule.

8. Her religious views almost sent her to the Tower

Though raised a Catholic, in adulthood Catherine clearly harboured a number of reformative religious views as seen in her writing. While queen, she held readings of the newly-published English translation of the Bible, and employed humanist supporters of the Reformation as tutors for Elizabeth and Edward.

Henry soon grew agitated by her increasing independence and insistence on debating religion with him, which anti-Protestant officials such as Stephen Gardiner and Lord Wriothesley seized upon. They began attempting to turn the king against her, and an arrest warrant was eventually drawn up.

When Catherine discovered this she artfully set about trying to reconcile with the king. When a soldier was sent to arrest her as they were out walking together, he was sent away – she had succeeded in saving her own neck.

9. Her fourth marriage caused a court scandal

Following Henry VIII’s death in 1547, Catherine looked again to the man she had fallen in love with in 1543 – Thomas Seymour. As Queen Dowager, remarrying so soon after the king’s death was out of the question, however the pair married in secret. 

When, months later, this came to light King Edward VI and his council were furious, as well as his half-sister Mary, who refused the couple any assistance. She even wrote to Elizabeth imploring her to break all contact with Catherine.

The 14-year-old Elizabeth was however moved into the couple’s household, as Catherine had become her legal guardian upon Henry VIII’s death. 

The Princess Elizabeth as a young teenager, attributed to artist William Scrots, c.1546. (Image Credit: RCT / CC)

There more unsavoury activity unfolded. Thomas Seymour, who had in fact proposed to the young Elizabeth mere months before, began visiting her chamber in the early mornings.

Testimonies from her staff say he would often act inappropriately towards her, tickling her and sometimes even climbing into bed beside her, despite their protestations of impropriety and Elizabeth’s likely discomfort. 

Catherine, perhaps believing it to be mere horseplay, humoured this and even joined in with her husband on occasion until one day catching the pair in an embrace.

The following day Elizabeth left their household to live elsewhere. Many suggest this early experience scarred her, and had a hand in her infamous vow to never marry.

10. She died due to complications in childbirth 

In March 1548, Catherine realised that she was pregnant for the first time in her life, aged 35. In August, she gave birth to a daughter named Mary, named so after her step-daughter. 

Five days later on 5 September she died of ‘childbed fever’ at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, an illness that often occurred due to bad hygiene practice during deliveries.

In her final moments she reportedly accused her husband of poisoning her, and whether there was any truth in this, Seymour would again attempt to marry Elizabeth following his wife’s death.

A Protestant funeral, the first of its kind delivered in English, was held for Catherine in the grounds of Sudeley Castle, where she was laid to rest in the nearby St. Mary’s Chapel on 7 September.

This article is an edited transcript of God’s Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England with Jessie Childs, available on History Hit TV.

We’re told that Elizabeth I was a great beacon of tolerance, that she presided over a golden age of Drake and Raleigh and the Renaissance. But, while all of that may be true, there is also another side to the reign of Good Queen Bess.

The fate of the Catholics under Elizabeth’s rule is an important part of her story that is so often airbrushed out.

Under Elizabeth, Catholics simply weren’t allowed to worship their faith as they wanted to. Their priests were banned and, from 1585, any priest who had been ordained abroad since the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign would automatically be deemed a traitor. He would be hanged, drawn, and quartered.

Even those who put a Catholic priest up in their house would likely swing for it if they were caught.

Of course, if you didn’t have a priest then you can’t have the sacrament. There was a strong sense that Elizabeth’s regime was trying to suffocate the Catholics of their sacraments.

Indeed, Catholics weren’t even allowed things like rosaries if they had been blessed in Rome.

There was a darker side to Elizabeth’s “golden” reign.

The importance of faith in the Elizabethan era

We’re largely secular in Britain nowadays, so it’s hard to fully comprehend just how stressful such religious persecution was for practising Catholics who believed that, unless they had the mass and had access to priests, they might go to hell for eternity.

This is why an understanding of faith is so important to any reading of the early modern period, even if you’re not of faith. It was a time when people’s religious beliefs were very often fundamental to the way they lived their lives.

The afterlife was what mattered, not this life, so everyone was trying to find the pathway to Heaven.

The rise of Protestantism in England

Catholicism, of course, was our ancient national faith, so it’s interesting that during Elizabeth’s reign it was rejected so forcefully in favour of Protestantism. Under Elizabeth, being a Protestant became an act of patriotism.

But in fact, it was a remarkably recent import. The word “Protestant” comes from the Protestation at Speyer in 1529. It was a German import, a faith that came from Wittenberg, Zurich and Strasburg.

It was an amazing act of PR that by the 1580s people in England were happy to call themselves Protestants.

Catholicism was largely seen as the nasty religion in Elizabeth’s reign. This was for a number of reasons, not least because Elizabeth’s half-sister, Mary I , burned around 300 Protestants in a brutal attempt to reverse the Reformation.

Elizabeth’s reputation may be less bloodthirsty than Mary’s today, but plenty of Catholics were killed during her reign. It should also be noted that her government was very clever because it executed people for treason rather than burning them for heresy.

Of course, because laws were passed in parliament that essentially made practising the Catholic faith treason, plenty of Catholics were executed for being disloyal to the state, rather than being burned for their religious beliefs.

Elizabeth’s half-sister and predecessor was known as “Bloody Mary” for her brutal attempt at reversing the Reformation.