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.

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, 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 (see Roses, Wars of the), was beheaded by the Yorkists after their victory at Mortimer's Cross.

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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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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Tudor is a male Christian name or given name used in Wales, and Romania, equivalent to Theodore. In Wales, 'Tewdwr' was an older spelling, later being Anglicised to 'Tudor'.

Due to evolving Welsh naming conventions, it gradually migrated to become a surname in Wales. For example, a son of a man called Tewdwr might be styled '(forename) ap Tewdwr' (i.e. '(forename), son of Tewdwr'), which gradually evolved into an English-style surname.

Most famously, it was used by a branch of the descendants of 12th century Welsh ruler Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth, who through intermarriage with the English Royal family, ascended the English throne in 1485. This Tudor Dynasty remained in power until the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, an era known historically in England and Wales as the Tudor Period.

"Tudor" may refer to:

People

Tudor dynasty

• Tudor dynasty

*Male descent of the Tudors, from the pre-Norman Lords of Brnffenigl in Wales - one of the fifteen noble houses of ancient Cymru

• Owen Tudor ('Owen ap Meredith ap Tewdwr' in Welsh), lover or possibly second husband of Queen Katherine of Valois, and grandfather of King Henry VII
• Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, son of Owen Tudor and Katherine of Valois, father of King Henry VII
• King Henry VII of England
• King Henry VIII of England
• King Edward VI of England
• Queen Jane of England, also known as Lady Jane Grey or Lady Jane Grey Dudley
• Queen Mary I of England
• Queen Elizabeth I of England
• Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King Henry VII eldest brother to Henry VIII
• Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, uncle of King Henry VII
• Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII
• Mary Tudor, Queen of France, daughter of King Henry VII

Others

As a surname:

• Alex Tudor, a English cricketer
• Antony Tudor, a British choreographer
• Corneliu Vadim Tudor, a Romanian politician
• David Tudor, an American pianist
• Edward Tudor-Pole, a British singer
• Frank Tudor, an Australian politician
• Frederic Tudor, an American entrepreneur and Boston's Ice King
• Henri Tudor, a Luxembourgian industrialist and inventor
• Henry Hugh Tudor, a British soldier, later police chief in Ireland and then Palestine
• Igor Tudor, a Croatian football (soccer) player
• Joel Tudor, an American longboard surfer
• John Tudor, an English footballer
• John Tudor (baseball), an American baseball player
• Tasha Tudor, an American illustrator
• William Tudor (1750-1819), an Attorney-at-Law who served as Representative of Boston in the Massachusetts General Court, State Senator, Secretary of the Commonwealth, and was a founder of the Massachusetts Historical Society
• William Tudor (1779-1830), a leading literary figure in Boston and cofounder of the North American Review and the Boston Athenaeum

As a Christian name:

• Tudor Gunasekara, Sri Lankan Politician and Diplomat
• Tudor Vladimirescu, (c. 1780–1821) was a Wallachian Romanian revolutionary hero.

Architecture

• Tudor style architecture, the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period (1485–1603)
• Tudorbethan architecture, also called Mock Tudor, refers to a modern emulation of Tudor architecture

Other

• Avro Tudor, a type of airplane
• Tudor bonnet, a style of cap
• Tudor City, an apartment complex located in New York City, New York, United States
• Tudor rose, a traditional heraldic emblem of England, first introduced by Henry VII
• Tudor Rose (film) is a 1936 film
• The Tudors, a 2007/2008 TV series
• Tudor, a line of cars from the Ford Motor Company
• Tudor is a brand of watches manufactured by Rolex
• Tudor's Toughs, a paramilitary group during the Irish War of Independence (see Black and Tans)
• Tudor Rose is a track by the drum and bass artist Dillinja