Tudor facts

Norwich maintained its position as England’s second largest city throughout most of the Tudor period, with over 12,000 residents by 1579, largely due to an influx of Dutch and Flemish Protestant refugees who established ‘New Draperies’ – innovative lightweight fabric production that revolutionised English textile manufacturing.

In 1485, Coventry was England’s fourth largest city with over 6,000 inhabitants, but by 1563 its population had crashed to just 3,474 people – a devastating decline of nearly 50% that reflected the broader economic crisis hitting many Tudor towns as traditional cloth trade routes shifted.

Tudor Plymouth boomed from a modest fishing village of roughly 1,500 souls in 1500 to a bustling town of around 7,000 by 1600, becoming a major English port rivalling Bristol and others after London, fuelled by the burgeoning Atlantic trade. The Barbican’s quays saw increased merchant activity, with significant harbour improvements noted around 1580.

When Henry VIII dissolved Glastonbury Abbey in 1539, the town’s economy suffered a significant blow, likely leading to a population decline. While the abbey’s closure impacted local employment and pilgrimage trade, the precise extent of the population decrease is difficult to ascertain, though it undoubtedly marked a period of hardship for Glastonbury.

Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire received a massive Renaissance makeover from Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in the 1570s including England’s largest castle garden with intricate knot gardens, a 20-foot-high fountain, and an aviary – all designed to impress Elizabeth I during her 19-day visit in July 1575.

Mary I remained unmarried until age 37 when she wed Philip II of Spain in 1554, making her the oldest Tudor monarch to marry for the first time, driven by desperate hope to produce a Catholic heir.

Richmond Palace, rebuilt by Henry VII after a fire in 1497 and completed by 1501, introduced revolutionary Renaissance features to England including the first recorded use of brick chimneys arranged in decorative clusters and glass windows in every major room – Elizabeth I died there in March 1603.

Anne Boleyn likely was already pregnant when she secretly married Henry VIII in January 1533. Their daughter, the future Elizabeth I, was born that September, suggesting conception occurred around the time of their marriage, before it was legally recognised.

Nonsuch Palace in Surrey, begun by Henry VIII in 1538 to rival Francis I’s Fontainebleau, was so extravagantly decorated with gilded plasterwork and ornamental towers that it earned its name meaning ‘without equal’ – yet was completely demolished by 1682-1683 and only rediscovered by archaeologists in the 1950s.

The 1549 Book of Common Prayer, compiled primarily by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, replaced Latin Mass with English services but was so ambiguous about transubstantiation that both Catholics and Protestants could interpret it favourably – the communion prayer ‘may be unto us the body and blood’ deliberately avoided defining how this occurred.