Tudor, Owen, d. 1461, founder of the Tudor dynasty. He belonged to an ancient Welsh family. He was a squire at the court of Henry V, and, probably in 1429, he married Henry's widow, Catherine of Valois, by whom he had five children. Twice imprisoned by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, during Henry VI's minority, he finally escaped to Wales, although Henry later made provision for him in England. Owen, a faithful Lancastrian in the Wars of the Roses, was beheaded by the Yorkists after their victory at Mortimer's Cross.

Tudor, Antony, 1909-87, English choreographer and dancer. Tudor went to the United States at the invitation of the Ballet Theatre, New York City (1939); he danced leading roles and created ballets for several English and American companies and was later the artistic director of the Royal Swedish Ballet (1963-64). He remained the resident choreographer at the American Ballet Theatre until his death. His ballets, influenced by the expressionism of Fokine and Massine, use the modern idiom. In his later work, he used psychological tension and dramatic gestures expressed in the language of ballet to explore human suffering. Among Tudor's most popular works are Lilac Garden (1938), Gala Performance (1938), Pillar of Fire (1942), Romeo and Juliet (1942), Undertow (1945), Offenbach in the Underworld (1955), Echoes of Trumpets (1963), The Leaves Are Fading (1975), and Tiller in the Fields (1978). In all Tudor choreographed 56 ballets, fewer than 20 of which are still commonly performed by various companies.

Tudor style, descriptive of the English architecture and decoration of the first half of the 16th cent., prevailing during the reigns (1485-1558) of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I. It is the first of the transitional styles between Gothic Perpendicular and Palladian architecture, the other two being Elizabethan and Jacobean. The rise of new trading families to wealth and the enrichment of court favorites by Henry VIII with lands and riches derived from his suppression of monasteries resulted in the building of many manor houses. In these the fortified character of earlier times gave way to increased domesticity and privacy. Although the great hall still remained the focus of the establishment, its importance now decreased with the introduction of other rooms such as parlors, studies, bedrooms in greater number, and quarters for dining. Rooms frequently were fitted with oak paneling, often of linen-fold type; walls and ceilings received rich plaster relief ornament; and articles of furniture came into greater use. Domestic exteriors exhibited Perpendicular features in modified form, notably square-headed, mullioned windows and arched openings of the four-centered or so-called Tudor type. Other characteristics were the use of brickwork combined with half-timber, high pinnacled gables, bay or oriel windows, and numerous chimneys of decorative form. Principal Tudor examples are parts of Hampton Court Palace, begun in 1515, and many colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. Noted country manors include Sutton Place, Surrey; Layer Marney, Essex; and the splendid Compton Wynyates, Warwick.

Tudor, royal family that ruled England from 1485 to 1603. Its founder was Owen Tudor, of a Welsh family of great antiquity, who was a squire at the court of Henry V and who married that king's widow, Catherine of Valois. Their eldest son, Edmund, was created (1453) earl of Richmond, married Margaret Beaufort (a descendant of John of Gaunt), and had a posthumous son, Henry, who assumed the Lancastrian claims and ascended the throne as Henry VII after defeating Richard III at Bosworth Field (1485). By his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV, Henry united the Lancastrian and Yorkist claims to the throne. Of his children, his daughter Margaret Tudor married James IV of Scotland; his daughter Mary (see Mary of England) married Louis XII of France; and his surviving son succeeded him (1509) on the throne as Henry VIII. All three of Henry VIII's children, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I, were rulers of England. Following the death of Edward VI, there was an unsuccessful attempt to place Mary of England's granddaughter, Lady Jane Grey, upon the throne. The reign of the Tudors was distinguished by considerable governmental reorganization, which strengthened the power of the monarchy; the rise of England as a naval power and a corresponding growth in the sense of national pride; and the Reformation of the English church with attendant religious strife. It was a period of a remarkable flowering of English literature and scholarship. Upon the death of Elizabeth I (1603), the Tudor dynasty was succeeded by the house of Stuart, whose claim to the throne derived from Margaret Tudor. Among the noted historians of the Tudor period are Geoffrey Rudolph Elton, Sir John Ernest Neale, and Albert Frederick Pollard.

Mary Tudor: see Mary I, Queen of England; Mary of England.

Margaret Tudor, 1489-1541, queen consort of James IV of Scotland; daughter of Henry VII of England and sister of Henry VIII. Her marriage (1503) to James was accompanied by a treaty of "perpetual peace" between Scotland and England, a peace that was ended when James invaded England in 1513 and was killed at Flodden. Margaret then became regent for her infant son, James V, but her marriage (1514) to Archibald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus, led to the loss of the regency to John Stuart, duke of Albany. Albany soon obtained custody of the king, and Margaret fled to England. She returned in 1517, during Albany's absence, and shortly thereafter she became estranged from Angus. Her favor alternated between the French party of the Hamiltons (Arran) and the English party of the Douglas's (Angus). James was proclaimed king in 1524 but was for several years virtually a prisoner of Angus. In 1527, Margaret obtained a divorce from Angus and soon married Henry Stuart, later Lord Methven. James, upon his escape from Angus (1528), joined his mother and Methven, and they were for a time his chief advisers. A plan of Margaret's for a meeting between Henry VIII and her son led James to accuse her of betrayal (1534). They were further estranged by James's refusal to allow her to divorce Methven. Margaret's descendants by James IV and by Angus were united by the marriage of Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots, whose son became James I of England (James VI of Scotland.)

orig. William Cook

(born April 4, 1908, London, Eng.—died April 20, 1987, New York, N.Y., U.S.) British-born U.S. dancer, teacher, and choreographer. In 1927 he joined Marie Rambert's company, where he choreographed and danced such works as The Planets (1934) and The Lilac Garden (1936). In 1940 he moved to New York City, joining the new Ballet Theatre (later American Ballet Theatre), for which he created many of his signature psychological ballets, including Pillar of Fire (1942) and Shadow of the Wind (1948). In these works he sought to convey emotional conflict and aspects of character and motivation. In 1974 he became associate director of American Ballet Theatre.

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Architectural style in England (1485–1558) that made lavish use of half-timbering (see timber framing), as well as oriels, gables, decorative brickwork, and rich plasterwork. Exposed diagonal bracing usually occurs at building corners, with the second story often sporting a picturesque overhang; this cantilevered construction partially counterbalances the load carried by the spanning portions of the beams.

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or Mary Tudor

(born Feb. 18, 1516, Greenwich, near London, Eng.—died Nov. 17, 1558, London) Queen of England (1553–58). The daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, she was declared illegitimate after Henry's divorce and new marriage to Anne Boleyn (1533). In 1544 Mary was restored to court and granted succession to the throne. After becoming queen (1553), she married Philip II of Spain, restored Roman Catholicism, and revived the laws against heresy. The resulting persecution of Protestant rebels and the execution of some 300 heretics earned her the hatred of her subjects and the nickname “Bloody Mary.” She waged an unsuccessful war against France that in 1558 resulted in the loss of Calais, England's last foothold on the Continent.

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(born Nov. 29, 1489, London, Eng.—died Oct. 18, 1541, Methven, Perth, Scot.) Queen consort of King James IV of Scotland (1503–13). The daughter of King Henry VII of England, she was married to James to improve relations between England and Scotland. After her husband's death (1513), she became regent for her son, James V (1512–1542). When she married the pro-English earl of Angus (1514), she was forced to give up the regency, but she played a key role in the conflict between the pro-French and pro-English factions in Scotland, shifting her allegiances to suit her financial interests. She obtained an annulment from Angus (1527) to marry Henry Stewart, Baron Methven, who became James's chief adviser.

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