Tudor monarchs

After seven years' research, the National Portrait Gallery has revealed what the Tudor monarchs really looked like – and it's fascinating, says Alastair Smart

The Tudor dynasty oversaw a transformative period of English history, with monarchs including Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. This era was marked by religious and political upheaval, including the English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England. Henry VIII's six marriages and his break from the Catholic Church are particularly well-known. Elizabeth I's reign saw the defeat of the Spanish Armada and a flowering of English culture, with playwrights…

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Henry VIII succeeded his father, Henry VII as the second Tudor monarch. Henry’s six wives and marriages were driven as much by a need for sons as infatuation. In order. his wives were Catherine or Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Kathryn Howard and Katherine Parr. Two ended by execution, and ultimately caused a schism with Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Parliament proclaimed Henry head of the Church in England (later Church of England).

Portrait of Henry VII attributed to Michel Sittow.

The history that gets recorded is always skewed by the politics of the time, and Elizabeth’s makeup is no different.