TUMOR. The family name of the dynasty which occupied the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. Its founder was Owen Tudor, an obscure Welsh knight, who married Catharine, widow of Henry V., and thus laid the foundation for the future greatness of his house. His son mund was made Earl of P,iehmond by Henry VI., kinsman of Edmund's wife, Margaret. It is through Margaret that the family derived its defective title to the crown. She was the heiress of the Beauforts, children of John of Gaunt by Catharine Swynford, who had been legitimized for every purpose except succession to the throne. Her son, Henry, Earl of Richmond, became head of the Lancastrian house in 1471, and in 1485, at Bosworth Field, defeated Richard III., who fell in the battle. Henry was able to secure the sup port of the Yorkist faction of the nobility upon promising to marry Elizabeth, the heiress of the York family. Parliament confirmed Henry's claim to reign of his own right, though the lawful heir was either his wife, Elizabeth, or. if females could not inherit the crown, her cousin Edward, the Earl of Warwick. The Tudor mon archs were Henry VII. (1485-1509), Henry VIII.
(1509-47), Edward VI. (1547-53). Mary (1553 58), and Elizabeth (1558-1603). The Stuart dynasty, succeeded to the throne in 1603, derived its title through Margaret, (laughter of Henry VII., who married James IV. of Scotland. During the Tudor period the Crown was nearly absolute. The dynasty as a whole was a strong, purposeful one, and while the rights and func tions of Parliament were not formally denied, its deliberations were controlled either by royal in fluence over the elections or by and tact ful management. The local institutions. how ever, retained their full vigor and the English people thereby retained their training in self government. When the danger of feudal anarchy and foreign invasion had passed away, and public safety no longer required a strong execu tive, Tudor absolutism speedily disappeared under the weak and tactless Stuart dynasty. For details and bibliographies, see the names of the separate sovereigns. See also ROSES, WARS OF THE; YORK, HOUSE OF.