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Do you consider the Tudors medieval?

140 replies

bryceQ · 11/11/2023 21:57

I've never thought of them in this period, I always consider them the early modern period (well Henry VII perhaps the last medieval monarch) but I hear people describe them as medieval?

It doesn't really matter, I'm just curious to other opinions.

OP posts:
idontlikealdi · 11/11/2023 21:58

No they were they Tudor period, followed the medieval.

Cazaletto · 11/11/2023 22:00

No - I remember being told as a kid that the Middle Ages end in 1485 with Bosworth Field.

Zampa · 11/11/2023 22:01

No.

The War of the Roses sees out the medieval period IMO so mid 15th century.

bryceQ · 11/11/2023 22:01

I once went to a "medieval" feast and there was lots of Henry VIII theming which i found very vexing until I'd had a few drinks 😂

OP posts:
thistimelastweek · 11/11/2023 22:02

Renaissance?

Halfemptyhalfling · 11/11/2023 22:03

Medieval seems to be used more at the moment to be Saxon period. Pre the Tudors is I think the middle aged.

Minglemangle007 · 11/11/2023 22:05

Nope, they were the Tudors.

Pushkinini · 11/11/2023 22:05

Early modern for me, mainly because I was taught at uni by an early modernist who specialised in the Tudors.

AgaMM · 11/11/2023 22:08

Definitely not medieval. The followed the medieval period.

They were during the early modern period. Not quite correct to call it the Tudor period.

LuluBlakey1 · 11/11/2023 22:12

No, I think the Medieval period ended with the death of Richard III (the last of the Plantagenets) in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth.

DramaAlpaca · 11/11/2023 22:16

According to the history I did at school and university, the Tudors were early modern.

SheilaFentiman · 11/11/2023 22:21

LuluBlakey1 · 11/11/2023 22:12

No, I think the Medieval period ended with the death of Richard III (the last of the Plantagenets) in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth.

Agree

HollyJollyRobin · 11/11/2023 22:23

Definitely not medieval!

MrTiddlesTheCat · 11/11/2023 22:29

According to Wikipedia, so must be true, the middle ages ended in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople.

Toddlerteaplease · 11/11/2023 22:34

Nope just Tudor!

Maddy70 · 11/11/2023 22:35

No. They were the Tudor period :)

bryceQ · 11/11/2023 22:36

I don't see tudor as a period... Just as a dynasty. For me it's the start of the early modern period

OP posts:
truetruebarneymcgrew · 11/11/2023 22:46

Medieval period is generally considered to run from the end of the Roman Empire (410 ~ sometimes referred to as the dark ages, due to lack of written documentation, or early medieval) to mid 15C (as previously mentioned the war of the Roses is generally considered the end of the Middle Ages).
The Tudors and Stuart's are seen as a time in their own right.

JanglyBeads · 11/11/2023 22:48

Um I'm not sure "Ye Medieval Feast"-goers are known for their historical accuracy.

AgaMM · 11/11/2023 22:51

The Tudors and Stuart's are seen as a time in their own right

Not quite right. They refer to the ruling dynasty, sort of as a subset of the early modern period.

MercanDede · 11/11/2023 23:02

It’s an odd fish, because in Europe the Renaissance had started but had not reached jolly old England as it gradually spread from Italy.

So the Tudors lived as late Medievals. The Renaissance didn’t properly reach England until Charles I.

LuluBlakey1 · 11/11/2023 23:05

bryceQ · 11/11/2023 22:36

I don't see tudor as a period... Just as a dynasty. For me it's the start of the early modern period

I agree. I don't think Bosworth itself was significant at the time as as a mark of the end of the Plantagenets and start of the Tudors- there were a series of such battles during the Wars of the Roses. It has become significant since through historians and the hindsight they have gained as time passed.
The Tudors established a powerful dynasty and a period of peace at home. There were significant changes in their reign that changed the country in many ways- its power and dominance in the world, technological advances, the break from Rome and establishment of the Church of England, a focus on culture and arts. Many of the systems they established still exist today.

asterel · 11/11/2023 23:12

MercanDede · 11/11/2023 23:02

It’s an odd fish, because in Europe the Renaissance had started but had not reached jolly old England as it gradually spread from Italy.

So the Tudors lived as late Medievals. The Renaissance didn’t properly reach England until Charles I.

What? Not at all - early Henrician Tudor diplomats and courtiers were busy bringing back Italian and French Renaissance forms to the English court, including Petrarch’s sonnets, Renaissance humanism influenced by the Italian humanists, music, art, fashion, and the early printing presses in England were reprinting Continental Renaissance books. This period was very definitely more early-early-modern than medieval. In Elizabeth’s time the English Renaissance is well under way, with writers, philosophers, artists and musicians producing artworks heavily influenced by the Classics, as well as contemporary Italian, Spanish and French works.

Really weird to think it didn’t get under way until Charles I. When do you think Ben Jonson and Shakespeare were writing, then?

CheshireCat1 · 11/11/2023 23:15

Medieval England 1066 to 1485

Janinejones · 11/11/2023 23:38

Without thinking deeply about it I had always assumed that Henry VIII had more Medieval attitudes than modern ones.
Faithful to the Pope to begin with and persecuted Tyndall for translating the Bible.

His determination to have a male heir. War at his choosing.
Still jousting and knightly armour. Executed some well respected critics in a way that no later monarchs did.
Mary - Vicious hag.
Elisabeth worked with Parliament much more. Preparations for her succession.
Could a better historian than me make a better argument that Henry's was the changeover reign.