Tudor Times is the online repository for all things Tudor and Stewart (1485–1625)

On 21st April 1509 Henry VII died, at his favourite palace of Richmond. The King had been ailing for several years with throat and lung infections. During the first eighteen years of his reign, Henry had made great strides in turning a war-torn kingdom into a coherent whole. Although he had twice commanded an army – at Bosworth, and in France - he was no seeker of military glory, preferring to concentrate on trade and the application of the law. In the period 1501-1503 his wife and her new-born baby, an eighteen-month old son and his fifteen year old heir all died and he lost his thirteen-year-old daughter to marriage in a foreign land. He never really recovered from these blows and spent the last six years of his reign in an increasing atmosphere of oppression.

On the death of his father, Henry VIII, aged seventeen, ascended the throne, to the delight of everyone. Technically still under age, the Council and his grandmother, Margaret Beaufort, were in control until June, but Henry was soon making himself felt.

On 20th April 1486 Henry VII visited York, as part of his efforts to unite the country following his victory at Bosworth the previous autumn. He was met at the city boundary by the Sheriff and Aldermen. Pageants were laid on and the Mayor and leading citizens were dressed in shades of violet, mulberry and scarlet. At Micklegate Bar (pictured), red and white roses were displayed and a group of children sang out 'King Henry, King Henry'. Perhaps to enhance Henry VII’s rather thin claim to the throne, six citizens dressed as the previous King Henrys appeared and were introduced.

On 19th April 1587 Sir Francis Drake led a pre-emptive strike on the growing Spanish fleet that was being gathered to launch the 'Enterprise of England'. Drake and his flotilla entered the harbour at Calais and destroyed two or three ships, whilst capturing four more, loaded with provisions. The incident was referred to by Drake as 'Singeing the King of Spain’s beard'. The damage delayed the sailing of the Spanish Armada by about a year. England and Spain had been engaged in warfare-by-proxy for nearly twenty years. On Elizabeth’s accession, her brother-in-law, Philip of Spain, had supported her, rather than the rival Catholic claimant, Mary, Queen of Scots, because of the latter’s alliance with France, but increasing religious tensions, and the support by England for the Netherland’s attempts to throw off Spanish rule had led to a break-down in relations.