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Home / Periods / Tudor & Stuart Britain

Period

Tudor & Stuart Britain

1485–1714 CE

Tudor and Stuart Britain runs from the accession of Henry VII in 1485 to the end of Queen Anne’s reign in 1714. It includes the Tudor dynasty, the Reformation, Elizabethan expansion, the Stuart union of crowns, civil war, republican rule, Restoration monarchy and the Glorious Revolution. The period links court politics with religious conflict, overseas ambition, dynastic insecurity and the growth of Parliament.

Its importance lies in the way monarchy, church and state were repeatedly remade. England broke with Rome, Scotland and England came under one crown, Ireland became a central theatre of conflict, and the Civil Wars forced subjects to choose between king, Parliament, conscience and survival. By the early eighteenth century, Britain had moved toward a Protestant succession, a stronger fiscal state and a wider imperial future.

This period is heavily used by historical novelists, from Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy and C. J. Sansom’s Shardlake novels to Philippa Gregory’s Tudor court fiction, Robert Harris’s Act of Oblivion and Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle. It suits long family sagas, court intrigue, espionage, religious persecution, plague stories, civil-war fiction and series that follow families or officials through political upheaval.

Related people for Tudor & Stuart Britain

Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoudb. 1558 Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk1477–1545 Ahmad al-Mansur1549–1603 Amy Robsart1532–1560 Anne Askew1521–1546 Anne Basset1521–1557 Anne Boleyn1501–1536 Anne Fairfax1617/18–1665 Anne of Cleves1515–1557 Anne of Great Britain1665–1714 Anthony Babington1561–1586 Anthony Wood1632–1695 Arabella Stuart1575–1615 Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus1489–1557 Arthur, Prince of Wales1486–1502 Ben Jonson1572–1637 Bess of Hardwick1527–1608 Bess Throckmorton1565–c. 1647 Boris Godunov1552–1605 Bridget Cromwell1624–1662 Cardinal Mazarin1602–1661 Catherine Carey1523–1569 Catherine de’ Medici1519–1589 Catherine Howard1523–1542 Catherine of Aragon1485–1536 Catherine of Braganza1638–1705 Catherine of Valois1401–1437 Catherine Parr1512–1548 Catherine the Great1729–1796 Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolkc. 1484–1545 Charles Fleetwood1618–1692 Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham1536–1624 Charles II of England1630–1685 Charles I of England1600–1649 Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne1554–1611 Charles V1500–1558 Christopher Columbus1451–1506 Claude of France1499–1524 Desiderius Erasmus1466–1536 Diane de Poitiers1499–1566 Edmund Dudleyc. 1462–1510 Edmund Spenserc. 1552–1599 Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmondc. 1430–1456 Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devonc. 1527–1556 Edward IV1442–1483 Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick1475–1499 Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset1506–1552 Edward Staffordc. 1552–1605 Edward V1470–1483 Edward VI1537–1553 Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire1480–1538 Elizabeth Bunyand. 1691 Elizabeth I1533–1603 Elizabeth of York1466–1503 Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Cromwellc. 1518–1568 Elizabeth Woodville1437–1492 Elizabeth Wyckesd. 1529 Ferdinand II of Aragon1452–1516 Frances Cromwell1638–1720 Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk1517–1559 Frances Walsinghamc. 1567–1633 Francis, Duke of Guise1519–1563 Francis Bacon1561–1626 Francis Derehamc. 1500s–1541 Francis Drake1540–1596 Francis II of France1544–1560 Francis I of France1494–1547 Francis Knollys1514–1596 Francis Walsingham1532–1590 Francis Westonc. 1511–1536 George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford1504–1536 George III1738–1820 George I of Great Britain1660–1727 George IV of the United Kingdom1762–1830 George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury1528–1590 Giordano Bruno1548–1600 Grace Plantagenetfl. 1492 Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwellc. 1520–1551 Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden1594–1632 Guy Fawkes1570–1606 Hans Holbein the Younger1497–1543 Helena Snakenborg1548/1549–1635 Henrietta Anne Stuart1644–1670 Henrietta Maria of France1609–1669 Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk1517–1554 Henry II of France1519–1559 Henry Ireton1611–1651 Henry IV of France1553–1610 Henry Norris1482–1536 Henry Purcell1659–1695 Henry VI1421–1471 Henry VII1457–1509 Henry VIII1491–1547 Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester1612–1658 Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone1540–1616 Isabella I of Castile1451–1504 Isabella Launderfl. 1521–1538 Ivan the Terrible1530–1584 James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault1516–1575 James III of Scotland1451–1488 James IV1473–1513 James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth1649–1685 James V1512–1542 James VI and I1566–1625 Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford1505–1542 Jane Lane, Lady Fisher1626–1689 Jane Seymour1508–1537 Jasper Tudorc. 1431–1495 Jeanne d’Albret1528–1572 Joan Larke1490–c. 1530s John Bunyan1628–1688 John Cook1608–1660 John Dee1527–1609 John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland1504–1553 John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee1648–1689 John Hawkins1532–1595 John Locke1632–1704 John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumleyc. 1533–1609 John Moore1761–1809 John Thurloe1616–1668 John Tradescant the elder1570–1638 John Tradescant the Younger1608–1662 John Wallis1616–1703 Kat Ashley1502–1565 Katherine Grey1540–1568 Katherine Willoughby1519–1580 Lady Catherine Gordon1474–1537 Lady Jane Grey1537–1554 Lady Katherine Ferrers1634–1660 Lambert Simnelc. 1477–after 1534 Lettice Knollys1543–1634 Lord Guildford Dudley1535–1554 Lord Thomas Howard1511–1537 Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth1649–1734 Louise of Savoy1476–1531 Louis XII of France1462–1515 Louis XIV1638–1715 Margaret Beaufort1443–1509 Margaret Butler, Countess of Ormondc. 15th century–1542 Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox1515–1578 Margaret Leec. 1506–c. 1543 Margaret of Anjou1430–1482 Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy1480–1530 Margaret of York1446–1503 Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury1473–1541 Margaret Tudor1489–1541 Marguerite de Navarre1492–1549 Martin Frobisher1535–1594 Mary, Queen of Scots1542–1587 Mary Boleyn1499–1543 Mary Grey1545–1578 Mary I1516–1558 Mary II of England1662–1694 Mary of Guise1515–1560 Mary Setonc. 1542–1615 Mary Seymourborn 1548 Mary Tudor, Queen of France1496–1533 Muhammad XII of Granada1459–1533 Nell Gwyn1650–1687 Oliver Cromwell1599–1658 Owen Tudor1400–1461 Penelope Rich, Lady Rich1563–1607 Perkin Warbeck1474–1499 Philip III of Spain1578–1621 Philip II of Spain1527–1598 Philip Sidney1554–1586 Pope Pius V1504–1572 Prince Rupert of the Rhine1619–1682 Reginald Pole1500–1558 Richard Bancroft1544–1610 Richard Cromwell1626–1712 Richard Empsonc. 1450–1510 Richard III1452–1485 Richard Lower1631–1691 Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick1428–1471 Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York1473–disappeared 1483 Robert Askec. 1500–1537 Robert Boyle1627–1691 Robert Catesby1573–1605 Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury1563–1612 Robert Clive1725–1774 Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex1565–1601 Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester1532–1588 Robert Harley1579–1656 Robert Kett1492–1549 Roderigo Lópezc. 1525–1594 Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor1552–1612 Samuel Pepys1633–1703 Stephen Gardiner1483–1555 Susannah Hornebolt1503–1545 Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire1457–1539 Thomas Cranmer1489–1556 Thomas Cromwell1485–1540 Thomas Culpeper1514–1541 Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron1612–1671 Thomas Giffardc. 1490–1560 Thomas Gorges1536–1610 Thomas Harrison1616–1660 Thomas Heneage1532–1595 Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk1473–1554 Thomas Kyd1558–1594 Thomas More1478–1535 Thomas Percyc. 1560–1605 Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley1508–1549 Thomas Winterc. 1510–c. 1546 Thomas Wolsey1473–1530 Thomas Wyatt1503–1542 Thomas Wyatt the Younger1521–1554 Walter Raleigh1552–1618 William Blake1757–1827 William Careyc. 1490s–1528 William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley1520–1598 William III of England1650–1702 William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton1513–1571 William Shakespeare1564–1616 William Stafford1508–1556 William Tyndalec. 1494–1536 Will Somersdied 1560

Series

Series about Tudor & Stuart Britain (5 series)

The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels in Order

by Philippa Gregory 16 books 4.4(140,052)

Marbeck Mysteries in Order

by John Pilkington 4 books 4.4(5,583)

The Marbeck Mysteries follow Martin Marbeck, an English intelligencer working through the last years of Elizabeth I and the first years of James I. His assignments move from the unresolved war with Spain to the succession crisis of 1603, the peace negotiations of 1604 and the Gunpowder Plot…

Mary Stuart in Order

by Jean Plaidy 2 books 4.3(976)

The Mary Stuart novels follow Mary, Queen of Scots from her childhood in France and brief reign as queen consort to her return to Scotland, deposition and long English captivity. Plaidy presents a ruler caught between personal attachment, religious conflict and the competing ambitions of Scottish, French and…

A Queens of England Novel in Order

by Jean Plaidy 11 books 3.9(21,484)

The Queens of England novels dramatise the lives of royal women from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Queen Victoria. Each volume concentrates on a queen, consort or claimant whose marriages, loyalties and private ambitions were inseparable from dynastic politics, religious conflict and the exercise of monarchy.

English Commonwealth Sequence in Order

by Geoffrey Trease 3 books 3.8(33)

The English Commonwealth Sequence follows connected lives across the upheavals that began with civil war and continued through the Restoration and the succession crisis of 1685. Silver Guard opens amid the First English Civil War, Grey Adventurer follows the consequences of the Stuart return in London and colonial…

Books

30 Best Novels About Tudor and Stuart Britain

Non-Fiction

30 Best Non-Fiction Books About Tudor and Stuart Britain

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.