An Overview of Life in Tudor England

    The 1500s in England saw Henry Tudor die; his second son take the throne as Henry VIII; and his daughter Margaret Tudor wed to James IV of Scotland.  Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess, married Arthur, Prince of Wales; upon his death, she married then-prince Henry and bore his first daughter, Mary Tudor.  After Henry VIII established the Anglican Church and annulled his marriage to Catherine, he married Anne Boleyn, who bore the future Elizabeth I before being executed in 1536.  Henry would go on to have four more marriages, only one of which produced a son: Edward.

    Henry oversaw the dissolution of the monasteries as part of his break with Rome, seizing church relics and treasures before turning the land over to his supporters.  After his death in 1547, a young Edward VI briefly became king, then died in 1553.  Mary took the throne and wed Phillip II of Spain in 1554, although Phillip took no part in ruling England and they had no children.  As the last Protestant heir to the English monarchy, Elizabeth ruled from her half-sister's death until her own in 1603.  She briefly considered making her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, her heir; instead, Mary was executed for treason, and her son became James VI of Scotland and I of England.

General information
    BBC Select. "Catherine of Aragon's 7-Year Wait To Marry Henry VIII | The Six Queens of Henry VIII | BBC Select." YouTube. Posted January 12, 2022.
    Historyextra. "Daily life in the age of Queen Elizabeth I | Tracy Borman on Elizabethan England." YouTube. Posted January 13, 2025.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Pets at Court: Puppies, Monkeys and Ferrets ... OH MY!!!" YouTube. Posted April 5, 2024.
    Ridgway, Claire. "Henry VIII’s ONLY Acknowledged Illegitimate Son - The Rise of Henry Fitzroy." YouTube. Posted September 12, 2024.
    YaleCourses. "2. 'The Tree of Commonwealth': The Social Order in the Sixteenth Century." YouTube. Posted March 9, 2011.

Arts and architecture
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Conservation of a Tudor ceiling at Hampton Court." YouTube. Posted March 10, 2020.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Henry VIII's Astronomical Clock at Hampton Court Palace." YouTube. Posted September 23, 2011.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "The lost Tudor wall of Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace." YouTube. Posted March 21, 2019.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Hans Holbein's Portrait Drawings: A View of the Tudor Court." YouTube. Posted May 8, 2020.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Nonsuch Palace: Henry VIII's Lost Wonder." YouTube. Posted March 29, 2024.

Crime and punishment
    Marchant, Katrina. "Dr Kat and the Shaming Punishments of Medieval and Early Modern England." YouTube. Posted April 3, 2020.
    Marchant, Katrina. "The Babington Plot: Codes, Conspiracy and the Crown." YouTube. Posted November 26, 2021.
    Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. "Enter a rabble of plebeians! Social disorder in Shakespeare's England." YouTube. Posted September 28, 2015.

Economy and trade
    Banijay History. "Norwich: Wool Trade and Revolution - Britain's Most Historic Towns." YouTube. Posted October 11, 2024.
    HistoryExtra. "What did ordinary Tudors do for work? Inside the 16th-century daily grind." YouTube. Posted November 4, 2025.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Dr Kat and 'The Great Debasement'." YouTube. Posted December 13, 2019.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Foundations of Empire: The Origins of the East India Company." YouTube. Posted November 19, 2021.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Masters of 'Mystery': Apprentices in History." YouTube. Posted February 24, 2023.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Wicked Vagabond or Deserving Beggar?: The Tudor Poor Laws." YouTube. Posted April 25, 2025.
    Teysko, Heather. "Renaissance English History Podcast Episode 156: Medieval and Tudor Wool Trade." YouTube. Posted March 19, 2021.
    The Exploress Podcast. "A Lady's Life in Tudor England, Chapter VIII: Women of Business." YouTube. Posted October 4, 2021.

Food and drink
    History Hit. "We Cooked an Authentic Tudor Feast!" YouTube. Posted December 21, 2022.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Henry VIII's Kitchens at Hampton Court Palace." YouTube. Posted March 23, 2009.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "King's Confectionary." YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Lighting a Tudor fire without matches!" YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Show and tell with spices." YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Tudor Christmas Cookalong: Sauge." YouTube. Posted December 15, 2016.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Turning the spit." YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "What the cooks wore and why." YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.
    The Landmark Trust. "The Tudor Christmas kitchen." YouTube. Posted December 4, 2020.

Games and entertainment
    HistoryExtra. "How did the Tudors have FUN? Ruth Goodman on maypoles, ale and deadly jousts." YouTube. Posted October 9, 2025.
    History Hit. "The History Of 'Real Tennis' At Henry VIII's Royal Court | Tudor Tennis Challenge." YouTube. Posted April 6, 2022.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Games & Gambling in Tudor England." YouTube. Posted September 24, 2025.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "How To Dance Like A Tudor." YouTube. Posted June 11, 2025.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "The Rules of Jousting | Henry VIII's Favourite Sport Explained." YouTube. Posted February 5, 2025.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Illegal Games in Medieval and Early Modern England." YouTube. Posted June 20, 2025.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Renaissance Prince: Henry VIII and His Music." YouTube. Posted January 4, 2025.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Richard Burbage: Shakespeare's Star?" YouTube. Posted August 19, 2022.
    Moriarty, Colm. "A hoard of 16th and 17th century children’s toys." Irish Archaeology. Posted February 16, 2013.
    Pittaway, Ian. "Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History." Early Music Muse. Posted July 6, 2015.
    The National Archives UK. "Filling in the Blankes: The Life of a Black Tudor." YouTube. Posted April 25, 2023.

Health and medicine
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Henry VIII: medicine in Tudor England." YouTube. Posted May 22, 2009.
    HistoryExtra. "How CLEAN were the Tudors? Ruth Goodman on 16th-century hygiene." YouTube. Posted December 30, 2025.
    History Hit. "Battlefield Surgery In The Age of Gunpowder." YouTube. Posted February 10, 2025.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Dr Kat and Our Filthy Ancestors?" YouTube. Posted March 20, 2020.
    Marchant, Katrina. "French Pox, Bloody Flux and Other Historical Illnesses." YouTube. Posted February 23, 2024.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Halloween 2020: Poison in Tudor England." YouTube. October 30, 2020.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Pregnancy in the Past: 'The Birth of Mankind'." YouTube. Posted September 6, 2024.

Literature and education
    FolgerLibrary. "Inside the Collection: A best-selling book and a 16th-century woodblock." YouTube. Posted April 18, 2018.
    History West Midlands. "The Chained Library." YouTube. Posted September 9, 2019.
    Marchant, Katrina. "What Was Literacy?: Perceptions of Intellect in History." YouTube. Posted December 10, 2021.
    Roper, Simon. "Conversational English in 1586." YouTube. Posted April 9, 2024.

Religion and folklore
    Marchant, Katrina. "Elizabeth I's Faith: The Middle Way?" YouTube. Posted Nov 18, 2022.
    Marchant, Katrina. "The Great Bible of Henry VIII." YouTube. Posted July 8, 2022.
    Marchant, Katrina. "The Huguenots: The First Refugees." YouTube. Posted September 12, 2025.
    Marchant, Katrina. "The Pilgrimage of Grace." YouTube. Posted December 9, 2022.

Travel and transportation
    AFP News Agency. "Treasures from England's Mary Rose ship resurface." YouTube. Posted May 30, 2013.
    Historic Royal Palaces. "Meet the Shire horses of Hampton Court Palace." YouTube. Posted October 23, 2019.
    History Hit. "Ray Mears discovers 400-Year-Old perfectly preserved Warbows Salvaged From a Sunken Tudor Warships." YouTube. Posted December 5, 2022.
    Marchant, Katrina. "Dr Kat and the Spanish Armada." YouTube. Posted August 23, 2019.

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