Who were the Tudors? The Tudors where a family who ruled over England from 1485 until 1603. They brought peace to England after many years of war. There had been a war - The War of the Roses for 30 years in England. The Lancasters had a red rose as a symbol, and the Yorks had a white. At the end of the war, Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian, married the niece of the leader of the Yorks. They put the white rose and the red rose together as a symbol of unity and the Tudor rose (shown to the right) was born.    It was one of the most exciting times in British History. The Tudors ruled over England, Wales and part of Ireland. Another Royal family, the Stuarts ruled over Scotland. There had been some dreadful wars but for a while the Tudors brought peace. Their names were:     * Henry VII     * Henry VIII     * Edward VI     * Mary I     * Elizabeth I  What was happening in the World in Tudor Times? The ‘Middle Ages’ were over.  Italy was the centre of a new interest in art and ideas.   Some of the most talented men in all history lived at this time.   The printing press had just been invented which meant that a lot more people could have access to books and so it was a time of great learning. Botticelli (1444-1510)  A famous artist. Michelangelo (1475-1564) Another famous artist. Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) He sailed across the Atlantic and landed in the Caribbean. Later he went on to 'discover' America and South America. Galileo (1564-1642) An Italian astronomer and physicist. He proved that the Earth and planets revolved around the sun. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Possibly the greatest playwright and poet in the English language. He wrote many many plays and poems. Some are very funny and some are very sad. They were very popular in Tudor times and are equally as popular today, 400 years later. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Possibly the most talented artist that ever lived. He painted the most famous painting ever, the Mona Lisa. He was also an outstanding sculptor, architect, inventor, scientist and engineer. He understood about flight, 400 years before the first planes were invented! He invented a submarine, a tank, a parachute, and a helicopter. He never made real models of them but recently people have done and it has been proved that his designs would have worked. What was life like in England? Basically the rich were very rich.......And the poor were very poor. Wealthy people and noblemen might own their own armies! Many of them might help the monarch govern England in Parliament.  Most people were poor and mainly lived in the countryside. Slightly better off people might own small farms or be craftsmen or merchants. England was a major trading centre for goods like cloth, salt, sugar, coal,copper,tin and wools.  Merchants grew rich in Tudor times as lots of people were buying English goods around the world. Travelling was difficult and dangerous. There were no proper roads, so the tracks were muddy and uneven. Rich people wore fine, elaborate clothes. Poor people wore simple, home-made clothes that would have to last them many years. A rich man would have a fine house with large gardens. He used them to show everyone how well off he was. Also the big houses were out of the towns so that the air and water were cleaner. Poorer people lived in small wooden houses. The floor would be made of mud - they might sprinkle herbs and rushes on it to try and make the house smell better. People seldom left their village all their life! The houses changed shape, a rich man would have a house with many rooms, each with big windows to let in light. Glass was very expensive and it showed how rich you were if you had lots of windows. Some families would take the glass with them when they moved house! What did the Tudors invent? The new desire for luxury brought fine furnishings for their houses. The first upholstered furniture was invented in Tudor times. Carpets were a new idea from Turkey. It was considered to be the height of luxury to walk on a carpet instead of stone floors. It showed you were very very rich. Harrington invented the worlds first flushing toilet - the Water Closet. (WC!) It worked exactly as modern toilets do now, but took 200 years to really catch on. The first Stock Exchange where traders could buy and sell shares (exactly as they do now in London and other major cities) was built. The first shopping centre (mall) was built above the first stock exchange. It had room for 120 shops, all under one roof. Queen Elizabeth loved shopping and bought all her hats there! Tennis was developed from a French street game that used hands instead of a racquet. The Tudors invented a racquet from a kitchen sieve and the style hasn't really changed since then. Hops were first grown in 1525 to make a new stronger beer that had more alcohol content, this new beer was called 'big beer'. Beer is still made the same way today. Starch was discovered to be a new way to make fabric stiff. Consequently the fashions went a bit mad with huge ruffs around necks that might stick out further than the persons shoulders! Theatre was a new craze that the people loved. They could come and stand and watch the new plays by people like Shakespeare. But there were no toilets so people just went where they stood! Men wore hand knitted stockings that took about 2 days to make. William Lee invented the first automatic knitting machine that was about 12 times faster. Modern knitting machines still use the same basic technique that he invented. Sugar was imported as a great expensive luxury. The Tudors loved it so much they invented a new meal course, called the Banquet Course (which we call sweet or pudding). So when Henry VIII came to the throne in 1509, the world was a very exciting and very dangerous place. Find out about Roman numerals here >> ©ALBrims2010. Site sponsored and hosted by FutureServers This site is used by schools across the world to help teach about the Tudors and the Romans. It is funded by our sponsors FutureServers and by the contributions from Amazon Products purchased through the site. Please support this site by purchasing your Amazon products here! Thank you. Books about the Tudors