The other was the house of York who had a white rose. They both fought for the throne of England. Eventually Henry Tudor of Lancaster (a Lancastrian) defeated and killed Richard III (Yorkist) at the Battle of Bosworth field. The war ended in 1485. The Tudor dynasty The Tudor dynasty (1485-1603) established a system of government departments staffed by professionals who depended for their position on the monarch. In 1534 the Act of Supremacy declares Henry VIII to be the supreme head of church in England. He only did this because he wanted to divorce his first wife and marry again. He had also written a polemic against Protestantism, for which the pope gave him the title Fidei Defensor (defender of the faith). The initials of FD. still appear on the British coins today. (The English reformation started in 1530). In 1538 an English version of the bible replaces the Latin bible in every church in the land. Elizabeth I, the daughter of King Henry VIII was the first of three long-reigning queens in British history. The other two are Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. There is a state in the USA named Virginia. It was named after Elizabeth I because she was known as the virgin queen. She never married. After she died James VI of Scotland became James I of England as well (1603). The first English king of the Stuart dynasty. Being an important person in the sixteenth century was not a safe position. The Tudor monarchs were disloyal to their officials and merciless to any nobles who opposed them. More than half of the most famous names of the period finished their lives by being executed. Few people who were taken through Traitor’s Gate in the Tower of London came out again alive. The Act of Supremacy declared Henry VIII to be the supreme head of the church in England. an Act of the Parliament of England under King Henry VIII declaring that he was "the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England" and that the English crown shall enjoy "all honours, dignities, pre- eminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities to the said dignity" The Reformation : the laws passed and started by Henry the VIII to takeaway the power of the Roman Catholic Church in England.
