Tudor Facts

Ten facts about The Ten facts about Tudors the Tudors

1. The Tudors are one of the most famous families ever

to rule England. They were in power from 1485 when Henry Tudor was crowned King Henry VII, until the time Queen Elizabeth I died, without an heir, in 1603

2. The first Tudor monarch was King Henry VII. He claimed the throne when his army defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. He ruled until his death in 1509

3. The Tudor rose was created when Henry VII brought an end to the Wars of the Roses (an ongoing battle between two royal groups – the House of Lancaster and the House of York. He joined the White Rose of York with the Red Rose of Lancaster, creating the Union or Tudor Rose which is still used as the floral emblem of England today.

The Tudor rose of Elizabeth can be see on Elizabeth’s Gate at Elizabeth Castle, next time you visit the castle make sure that you go and find it.

4. Following his father’s death, Henry VIII became King of England in 1509 and ruled until his death in 1547. Henry VIII is one of England’s most famous historical figures, and is well known for his six marriages – and for having two of his wives beheaded!

5. Three-quarters (75%) of the rich Tudor diet was made up of meat such as oxen, deer, calves, pigs, badger or wild boar. Birds were also eaten - chicken, pigeons, sparrows, heron, crane, pheasant, woodcock, partridge, blackbirds and peacocks. They would preserve meat by rubbing salt on it.

6. People in Tudor times didn’t eat with forks. They used knives, spoons and their fingers instead.

7. There weren’t many books in Tudor schools, so pupils read from “hornbooks” instead. Pages displaying the alphabet and religious material were attached to wooden boards and covered with a transparent sheet of cow horn.

8. Teachers in Tudor schools were very strict. They would punish pupils with 50 strokes of the cane. Pupils with wealthy families would often pay for a whippingboy for their child – if the rich child misbehaved, the whipping-boy received the punishment instead!

9. There are some forms of Tudor entertainment that are still enjoyed today such as chess, card games, bowls and tennis but they were mainly played by the rich. Poorer people played football, the footballs were made from inflated pigs bladders

10. Tudor houses are very distinctive and can still be found today. They were built with a wooden frame with walls made from wattle and daub. Wooden stakes, or wattles were woven with horizontal twigs and branches, and then daubed with clay, or mud. This method is one of the oldest known for making a weatherproof structure. The walls were then painted white in contrast to the black wooden frame.