History of England
With Henry VII's accession to the throne in 1485, the Wars of the Roses came to an end, and Tudors would continue to rule England for 118 years. Traditionally, the Battle of Bosworth Field is considered to mark the end of the Middle Ages in England, although Henry did not introduce any new concept of monarchy, and for most of his reign his hold on power was tenuous. He claimed the throne by conquest and God's judgement in battle. Parliament quickly recognized him as king, but the Yorkists were far from defeated. Nonetheless, he married Edward IV's eldest daughter Elizabeth in January 1486, thereby uniting the houses of York and Lancaster.
Tudors of Penmynydd
After Henry VIII's death, his son assumed the throne as Edward VI, with his uncle Edward Seymour as Lord Protector. Edward died on 6 July 1553. Before his death, he had specified his succession, naming as his heir the teenage Lady Jane Grey. A granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister Mary, she had recently wed the son of Edward's chief minister, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. She was thus given precedence over Edward's half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, both declared illegitimate by their father's Second Act of Succession but readmitted to the succession by his will, which also bypassed the descendants of Henry's older sister, Margaret, in favor of those of her younger sister, Jane's grandmother Mary. Jane was proclaimed queen immediately following Edward's death, but Northumberland could not maintain her position against a groundswell of support for the dead king's half-sister as rightful heir, and Mary I was in turn proclaimed queen nine days later. She would be remembered as Bloody Mary for her ruthless persecution of Protestants during her reign. Mary married her cousin Philip II of Spain, but she died without issue in November 1558. The throne then went to Elizabeth I, Henry's daughter by Anne Boleyn, who would reign for forty five years. Elizabeth never married and had no issue, so the Tudor dynasty died with her in 1603. In total, five Tudor monarchs ruled England for 118 years, but issues around the Royal succession (including marriage, divorce, and the succession rights of women) became major political themes during the Tudor era. Elizabeth would be succeeded by her cousin, James VI of Scotland, who was doubly great-grandson of the excluded sister of Henry VIII, Margaret. Through him, the later English monarchs would carry Tudor blood.