HEIRS of the King
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
 King Henry VIII's Heirs    Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I Click EasyEdit to add/edit this page (Don't see the EasyEdit button above? <a href="/#signin" target="_self">Sign in</a> or <a href="/accountnew" target="_self">Sign up</a>.) |
| Mother & Child | Mother's Influence & Inherited Attributes | Father's Influence Inherited Attributes |
  Katherine of Aragon & Princess Mary Mary I born 1516 - died 1558 (aged 42 yrs) Reigned for 4 1/2 yrs   Maria Doyle Kennedy & Sarah Bolger | - Katherine has the most influence on her daughter since she is 16 years old when she last sees her and 19 when she dies. - Her mother was a very pious catholic who wore hair shirts & passed this religious faith to her daughter. - She inherits her mother's fierce loyalty in the face of adversity. - She was proud & defiant and never swayed from her devout Catholicism like her mother. - Her mother was Spanish and Mary always had an affinity with Spain. -Strangely both mother and daughter had phantom pregnancies. - It is thought that both mother & daughter died of cancer of the stomach or womb which may have accounted for the swelling. Recent research, however, suggests that Mary may have suffered from a pituitary tumour which caused headaches, damaged her eyesight and mimicked the symptoms of pregnancy. -Mary did sign the oath renouncing the Catholic faith while Jane was Queen. She would not have been permitted to return to court unless she did. She may have felt she had betrayed both her mother and their faith; possibly this guilt contributed to her actions during her reign. | - Up until the age of 9, her father was loving & fatherly. By the time she was 15, he had proclaimed her a bastard of an invalid marriage and banished her mother. -Like Henry,Mary loved to hunt and compose music, she was expert in virginals, like her father. -Like her father (and mother) she had the Tudor red hair |
  Anne Boleyn & Princess Elizabeth Elizabeth I born 1533 - died 1603 (aged 69 yrs) Reigned for 45 yrs   Natalie Dormer & Claire MacCauley | - Anne has very little influence on her daughter since she is under 3 years old when her mother is executed. - However, her mother entrusted her spiritual care into the hands of her own chaplain Matthew Parker who she would later make Archbishop of Canterbury. - Her mother had protestant leanings which were passed on to her daughter. - She was known for a quick temper which was something she could have inherited from both her mother and father. - Like her mother, Elizabeth was very aware of her image and that in order to play the part you must dress the part. | - From a very young age, she was alienated from her father's affections. - Henry influenced his daughter's mistrust in men and when she was 9 years old and heard of the execution of his 5th wife Katherine Howard (Anne Boleyn's cousin), she swore she would never marry. - Elizabeth shared her father's insatiable thirst for knowledge. - Her father loved the magnificence of pomp & pageant & passed this on to his daughter. -Henry always put the security of his throne above any other thing including religious worship and his daughter learned this from him. |
| - Jane dies soon after Edward is born and basically has no influence on her son but her brothers (Edward's uncles) have a great deal of influence. - Despite his mother's Catholic faith, Edward was fierce Protestant. | - Edward always felt the warmth of his father's love and devotion. - Inherited his father's temper, coldness and could be guarded, except he used those characteristics when needed to. -He also, like his father, loved to go hawking and hunting and could play the virginals expertly but there is no evidence he composed music. -Inherited the "Tudor hair" which is red. |
  Bessie Blount & Henry Fitzroy Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset born 1519 - died 1536 (aged 17 yrs) | Although not legitimate, Henry was building up Henry Fitzroy as an heir until his untimely death. -Like his father he had an eye for sport at the age of 9 he had asked Henry VIII if he could learn to Joust. |
| In the Third Act of Succession (1543), Henry outlined that if neither Edward, Mary, or Elizabeth had heirs to succeed them, then the throne would go to the offspring of his youngest sister, Mary. Margaret's offspring, though the eldest sister, were left out of the succession due to her first marriage to the King of Scots, Henry preferred the throne go to an English heir. Despite this, Margaret's descendants were often seen as rivals for the throne and Margaret's great-grandson, James VI of Scotland, did eventually succeed Elizabeth I. |
 Gabrielle Anwar - Princess Margaret in "The Tudors" this character is an amalgamation of BOTH Mary and Margaret Tudor |  Margaret Tudor |  Mary Tudor |
 (July 16, 1517-November 20,1559) The daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor She married Henry Grey, marquess of Dorset (January 12,1517-February 23,1554), in 1533 and had a girl and a boy who died young and then three daughters, Lady Jane (1537-February 12,1554), Lady Catherine (August 1540-January 27,1568) and Lady Mary (1545-April 20,1578) She was a prominent figure at court during the reigns of Henry VIII and his children. After the deaths of her father and half brothers, her husband was granted the Suffolk title, making Frances duchess of Suffolk and creating occasional confusion with her stepmother, Catherine Willoughby |
 ELEANOR BRANDON (1519 - September 27, 1547) |
| Mary's Line | Inherited Tudor attributes and Influence | Claim to the Throne |
| The Greys  Jane The 9 days queen  Katherine  Mary | -Jane Grey inherited the Tudor red hair and passion for learning. Other than her cousin Lady Elizabeth, Jane was considered the most educated woman in England. Jane lived with Catherine Parr after Henry VIII's death and was educated by tutors chosen by Parr. - Katherine was considered a great beauty like her grandmother although Mary was deformed and described as "a little person". -Jane was executed after ruling for nine days as Queen, usurping her cousin Mary Tudor. Katherine died at 27 after her imprisonment for marrying Edward Seymour Lord Hertford without royal permission, their marriage was voided and their two sons declared illegitimate. Mary went under house arrest for marrying the royal gate keeper without royal permission and died childless at 33. | Granddaughters of Mary Tudor and her second husband, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk through their mother Frances Brandon. Their father, Sir Henry Grey, was the great-grandson of Elizabeth Woodvile Queen Consort to Edward IV. (see Ancestors of the King page) |
 Lady Margaret Stanley (nee Clifford) | After the deaths of her Grey cousins, Margaret became the first in line to the throne until her death in 1596. Lady Margaret's granddaughter, Anne Stanley, was heiress presumptive until Elizabeth designed James VI of Scotland as her heir. | Granddaughter of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, she was the only surviving offspring of Eleanor Brandon and Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. |
| Margaret's Line | Inherited Tudor attributes and Influence | Claim to the Throne |
 Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots) | Tall and very beautiful, Mary became Queen of Scots at six or seven days old and was betrothed to Prince Edward through the Treaty of Greenwich, which was quickly broken in favor a French marriage alliance. Her second husband was Henry Darnley, another descendant of Margaret Tudor. After her abdication she fled and was subsequently imprisoned in England and 18 years later executed for treason by her cousin Queen Elizabeth. | Granddaughter of Margaret Tudor through her son James V of Scotland. |
 Lady Margaret Douglas | Was born and lived all her life in England, was a favorite of her uncle Henry VIII( also being his ward) and spent much time in his court. Was imprisoned after marrying Thomas Howard without the King's permission but later released and later imprisoned again for her affair with Charles Howard. Her son, Henry Darnley, was the second husband of Mary Stuart and son James Stuart became King James VI of Scotland after Mary's abdication. | Daughter of Margaret Tudor by her second husband Archibald Douglas, Earl of Lennox |
 Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley | An English subject, Darnley held claims to both the English and Scottish crown. He had a very violent temper and paranoid, which were exacerbated by syphilis. He was also described as immature, an alcoholic, and very unpopular with the Scottish lords. When he married his cousin Mary Stuart, he was granted the title of King Consort which held no royal powers and was denied the Crown Matrimonial. He was assassinated 1567 which led to the abdication of Mary Queen of Scots. | Grandson of Margaret Tudor through Lady Margaret Douglas and her husband Matthew Stewart. |
 King James VI | James was crowned at 13 months old after his mother was forced to abdicate. He was raised in the Protestant faith and kept more correspondence to Queen Elizabeth than his mother. He was very intelligent and well educated. He wrote two treaties which served the basis for absolutist monarchy and divine right of kings - that the power of the sovereign came directly from God. He inherited the English throne in 1603 and commissioned a new English Bible in 1611 still known as "The King James Bible" which reinforced his views of absolutism. | Great-grandson of Margaret Tudor and King James IV. Also descended from Margaret Tudor via Archibald Douglas. |
 Lady Arabella Stuart (Seymour) | Orphaned at age six and brought up by William Cecil, was considered a potential heir for Queen Elizabeth until her cousin James Stuart was chosen, she was imprisoned by James after she married without permission William Seymour (grandson of Catherine Grey, seen as illegitimate but still regarded as sixth in line to the throne). Arabella died childless in captivity in the Tower. | Granddaughter of Margaret Douglas and Matthew Stewart through their son Charles. Charles Stuart (brother of Lord Darnley) was sent to the Tower for marrying Arabella's mother Elizabeth Cavendish without Queen Elizabeth's permission. |
| For more information on Tudor heirs check out The Tudors Family Tree or Tudor Descendants where modern day descendants share their Tudor family history and how they are related to the Tudors. Further Resources:
|