The Tudor Age

Historical Background

A new dynasty and the continental Renaissance changed life in Tudor Britain, changes that are reflected in its buildings. The old medieval style of lordship was on the wane. Successive Tudor monarchs used coercion, threats, bribery and the lure of the court to curb the feudal powers of the great magnates and to reduce the armies of retainers with which they were accustomed to surround themselves in the late Middle Ages. By the end of the dynasty, private armies had given way to local militia led by Crown-appointed Lord Lieutenants and the great house had become a symbol of power and status rather than a military base.

Despite the upheavals of the Reformation, everyday life changed slowly in the fifteen and sixteenth centuries and in many ways it looked back to the Middle Ages. But the new ideas of the Renaissance did gradually filter through. It was an age of widening horizons, both psychological and geographical.

Time line

1450s Gutenberg invents movable type
1485 Defeat of Richard III at Bosworth Field brings to an end the Wars of the Roses
1489 The + (plus) and - (minus) sign come into use for the first time
1492 Columbus sets sail on his first voyage to America
1519 Magellan's crew complete the first voyage around the world
1543 Copernicus proposes the theory that the world is round