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the most part). If you're interested in Henry VIII or Elizabeth I, how-

    ever, you have stacks of correspondence � some of it official, but much of it

    personal. Busy secretaries and ambassadors were writing everything down.

    Scholars have even uncovered Henry VIII's love letters (or at least some of

    them). Of course, these sources didn't always get the details right, but that's

    where the fun begins. The official records still exist, of course, but with the

    Tudors you can finally get in touch with England's leaders as human beings.

    The Tudor monarchs made mistakes, messed up matters and came up with

    some very creative solutions � and you can follow all the twists and turns in

    this book.

    Additionally, the Tudors really were important. Many buildings you visit

    (and perhaps live in) throughout England and Wales were built in the 16th

    century. Institutions that you may take for granted, such as the Church of

    England or Parliament, were invented or took on new importance while the

    Tudors were on the throne.

    About This Book

    This book aims to tell the Tudor story the way it happened; not the whole

    story, of course � that would take a whole library of books � but enough

    to give you an idea of what was going on from 1485�1603. We're historians

    who've been writing about the Tudors for years, but we know that doesn't

    go for most of you and so we keep things simple (no offence!), which isn't

    always easy. Henry VIII's love life, for instance, defies all attempts to simplify,

    as does Elizabeth's on/off search for a husband. But we hope to help you

    understand why these events were so important and why they took up so

    much time and effort.

2 The Tudors For Dummies
    This book focuses on English history. Scotland was a foreign country

    (until King James came along), and so it appears alongside France, the

    Netherlands and Spain as part of English foreign policy. The Tudors and

    the Stuarts in Scotland were related by marriage, but that didn't make them

    friends. The two kingdoms were fighting each other throughout the first

    half of the 16th century.

    Ireland, meanwhile, was a glorified English colony: it became a kingdom in

    its own right in 1541 but belonged to the English Crown. In fact, no English

    monarch visited Ireland between Richard II (1399) and William III (1689). The

    Tudors made a right royal mess of governing Ireland � and the after-effects

    still linger. Wales was ruled directly from England; the rulers and citizens

    may not have liked this situation, but the country received quite a fair mea-

    sure of home rule after 1536. People began to talk about Britain (and even

    Great Britain) in the 16th century, but they meant the lands ruled by the mon-

    arch of England.

    Although the Tudors are very important and fascinating for modern read-

    ers, keep in mind that they were small fry in the European political league

    at the time. England performed a balancing act between France and the

    Roman Empire in the first half of the 16th century, although Henry VIII always

    punched above his weight. In the second half of the century Elizabeth led

    (or in certain cases, didn't lead) a series of coalitions against Philip II, who

    ruled the Spanish Empire, the one superpower of the period.

    The only European Community of the time was the Roman Catholic Church,

    from which England had firmly withdrawn. Elizabethan England was a sea

    power and traded all over the world, but its only colony at Roanoke in the

    Americas failed and the days of the British Empire were still 100 years in

    the future.

    Therefore, this book provides the ingredients and recipe of half an island,

    lightly cooked and served (we hope) with enough relish to make it palatable.

    Conventions Used in This Book

    The system of dating used throughout the Tudor period, and for a long

    time afterwards, was the Julian calendar, named after Julius Caesar who

    supposedly invented it. This old calendar