The Tudor dynasty followed the Plantagenets as England’s ruling house after the Wars of the Roses. Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian claimant, became King Henry VII after defeating Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485.
The Plantagenet name covers the long succession of English royal branches that included Lancaster and York. Their rivalry produced the Wars of the Roses, and the direct male line of Lancaster had already failed before Henry’s victory. Henry’s claim came through his mother, Margaret Beaufort, who descended from the legitimised Beaufort branch of Lancaster.
Henry strengthened his position by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, in January 1486. Their marriage joined the rival claims and helped create the Tudor rose, combining the red rose traditionally linked with Lancaster and the white rose associated with York.
The Tudor monarchs ruled England from 1485 to 1603: Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. The dynasty ended when Elizabeth I died without children and the crown passed to James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England.