April 2, 1502 – Arthur Tudor Survives

After decades of civil war, England's Wars of the Roses came to an end with Henry Tudor defeating Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485.  Henry, now Henry VII, dedicated his reign to securing the throne of England.  He married Elizabeth of York, tying together the Lancasters and the Yorks to end the matter of supremacy and defeated anyone who continued to rebel.  Henry also encouraged support from Wales by claiming Welsh descent.  Most of all, he sought European recognition, which would legitimize his rule despite his being a questionable heir.  Treaties ended war with France and called for Perpetual Peace with Scotland.  He looked to the newly unified kingdoms of Castile and Aragon whose Ferdinand and Isabella were successfully driving the Moors out of Spain.  In 1489, England and the Catholic Nobles signed the Treaty of Medina del Campo.  Ferdinand and Isabella's youngest daughter, Catherine, would marry Henry's oldest son, Arthur.

Arthur had been born September 20, 1486.  His father had prophesied that Elizabeth's child would be a boy, whom he would name Arthur as he would bring about a new golden age for England.  Henry arranged for the birth to be held at the capital, Winchester, which proved a bold and successful move.  Arthur was estimated to be born prematurely but was strong.  He was betrothed before his third birthday to Catherine, a few months older than he.  Soon he was created Prince of Wales, coinciding with the birth of his sister Margaret, who would marry James IV of Scotland and secure England's northern border.  Arthur grew up at Ludlow Castle in Wales under the guidance of tutors expert in politics, humanism, and science.  Bernard André, the blind poet and biographer, ensured he thoroughly read the Greek and Latin Classics.

During his education, Arthur wrote letters to Catherine in formal, polite Latin, and she replied in kind.  Arthur was quiet and reflective, much unlike his younger brother Henry, who preferred jousting to his clerical studies.  After they were married in proxy in 1499, Arthur wrote to Ferdinand and Isabella that he would be "a true and loving husband" to Catherine.  The two finally met and were married in November of 1501; Arthur said to his parents that he was pleased to "behold the face of [my] lovely bride."  Despite his reservedness, Arthur commented to others before his wedding that that we was "lusty and amorous" and after, "Masters, it is a good pastime to have a wife."

The couple retired to Ludlow Castle, where Arthur continued his duties as Prince of Wales.  A plague of "sweating sickness" struck the castle, including the royal couple.  After a harrowing illness, Arthur pulled through, saying he owed much to the dutiful care of his wife.  They had their first son, Edward, three years later.  Henry VII, seeing that his line was continued, died at peace in 1509.  Arthur's brother Henry, meanwhile, settled into his role in the Church, where he convinced his brother to pull away from Roman authority as the Catholic monarchs had done with their own Spanish Inquisition.  The English Inquisition, while never granted great powers, served as a significant contributor to military science following Henry's creative interests.

Arthur, ever-sickly after his illness, died in 1522.  Eighteen-year-old Edward VI became king and soon married Princess Renée of France, cousin and sister-in-law to King Francis I.  Catherine dominated the court, causing Reformer Thomas Cromwell to note, "If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History."  Catherine pushed Edward to prevent Protestantism from infecting England.  After Catherine's death in 1533, Renée began to be suspected of being a Calvinist heretic.  The English Inquisition interrogated her, bringing the matter of the Reformation to the forefront of English politics.  Edward began to rein in the powers of the Inquisition, which caused his uncle Henry to appeal to Rome for Edward's dismissal.  Locals, who had long been angered over the influence of foreigners (even to provoke a riot known as Evil May Day in 1517), were outraged, and more riots began.  Finally Edward followed the lead of Scandinavian countries by severing the state church from Rome.  Henry was removed from office, and Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer oversaw the transformation of England to a largely Protestant nation.

The action caused war with Catholic Spain during the reign of Edward's eldest son, Henry VIII.  The two nations fought their wars abroad, not risking the investment of direct invasion by an armada.  Civil war in Scotland in 1638 against its king Charles sparked invasion by the English to defend Protestant interests.  Success there prompted England to contribute to the Eighty and Thirty Years' Wars on the Continent, but the expense proved too great and resulted in the loss of Scotland as well as Catholic Ireland by the beginning of the 1700s.  After recuperating, England returned her attention to colonies abroad, carving out a massive empire in North America (between Scottish Canada, French Louisiana, and Spanish Mexico), India, and Africa, but always seemingly at a shortage of manpower.

As an end came to Colonialism, England reinvented her colonies into the Commonwealth, which proved to be a potent economic and defense network.  Other colonial nations, such as the Netherlands, Portugal, and Scotland, whose advancements in industrial technology in the late 1700s brought it among world leaders, lost much of their clout as the empires became fully independent.

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In reality, Arthur died of unknown causes at the age of 15.  Henry VIII succeeded his father, whose dying wish it was for him to marry Catherine despite protests by the Pope and the prince himself to ensure a male heir.  The marriage ultimately failed as only one of Catherine's six children from 1510 to 1518 lived beyond a few weeks: Mary I of England.  Henry annulled the marriage, breaking with Rome when the Pope refused.  Five marriages and several heirs later, his daughter Elizabeth I had no issue, prompting the throne to be given to James VI of Scotland, unifying Britain.

June 28, 1519 – Henry VIII Elected Holy Roman Emperor

After the death of Archduke of Austria, King of the Romans, and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in January of 1519, many of his titles went directly by inheritance to his Habsburg grandson Charles V. The title emperor, however, would be given by decision of the seven elector-princes of the Germans, Albert of Mainz; Richard von Greiffenklau zu Vollrads of Trier; Hermann of Wied of Cologne; Frederick III of Saxony; Joachim I of Brandenburg; Louis V, Elector Palatine; and Louis II Jagiellon, King of Bohemia. Charles was most obvious choice as brother-in-law to Louis of Bohemia, but others were nervous about too much power being placed in one man's hands. Along with his grandfather's titles, Charles had also recently inherited the title “King of Spain”, which he ruled alongside his mother, Joanna the Mad of Castile.

Francis I of France also wished to hold the powerful title, rejoining lands that had all once been Carolingian. Francis and Charles were bitter rivals since a French victory at the Battle of Marignano the year before brought the twenty-one-year-old Francis to the forefront of European politics. The two began a bribing war for votes, which made some electors all the more nervous. Ideally, a German would be emperor, which was suggested to Fredrick of Saxony, but he refused. Another possibility for the election was Henry VIII of England, but he did not have nearly the money or influence to compete with the Bourbons of France and all the holdings of the Habsburgs. The decision seemed to settle toward Charles until Cardinal Thomas Woolsey, the Lord Chancellor who had conducted matters of state for the young Henry, presented in secret a new plan: Francis use his influence to support Henry's election. Francis, though disappointed that he would not win the title, was at least satisfied that Charles would be deprived of it. The electors were amiable toward an English king (since at least they could relate the language to German) and were more comfortable with a less overwhelming force. The election of Henry was announced to the shock of Europe and instant dismay of Habsburg-supporters.

In 1520, Francis and Henry met in a garish display at the Camp du Drap d'Or (“Field of the Cloth of Gold”) in northern France as Henry began a tour of his new lands. Wolsey orchestrated this meeting as well, but it proved ineffectual as, despite Francis' generosity, Henry declined forging an alliance. Wolsey, who was quietly campaigning for himself as pope, also organized a meeting with Charles while in Germany, but this meeting also came to no avail. Instead, Europe was in a tense peace as Henry threatened to attack whoever began a war.

Meanwhile, Henry focused on the problems of the Reformation beginning in his new empire. Reacting to the sale of indulgences as part of the funding for construction on St. Peter's Basilica, Augustinian friar Martin Luther had posted Ninety-Five Theses critiquing the Catholic Church. During the latter part of Henry's tour in 1521, he heard Luther's case at Worms. In the end, and to the frustration of Pope Leo X, Henry determined to appease his subjects and declared the matter religious debate and did not seek any punishment for him. The support for Luther won over the respect of disgruntled knights in the Rhineland who were nervous of new money but reaffirmed by Henry out of his fanaticism for jousting. The knights' loyalty proved key to Henry's defeat of the German Peasants' Uprising a few years later.

Despite his great realms, Henry struggled to produce an heir. His wife, Catherine of Aragon, six years his senior, had not had a pregnancy since the birth of their daughter Mary. Henry had become fascinated with one of Catherine's maidens, Anne Boleyn. Anne refused to become a mistress and replied that she could only meet Henry's advances if she were queen. Henry asked Pope Clement VII for an annulment of his marriage as Catherine had earlier been married to his brother Arthur, but the pope declined. After the debate dragged for years, Henry decided to break with Rome as the Swedes has had done, name himself Supreme Head of the Church of England in 1533, and bring about his marriage to Anne.

This led to the question of what to do with his holdings in the Holy Roman Empire. Catholic regions saw Henry as an adulterer, but the Protestants saw a chance for freedom from Rome. When Henry dissolved the monasteries of England and seized their valuables, Charles took a stand as defender of Catholicism and invaded the Holy Roman Empire to seize the title he long believed to have been stolen. Henry counterattacked with Swedish assistance, and the war spilled across the Alps as Italian states saw a chance to rebel. Germany served as the principal battleground with towns razed and re-razed as Protestant and Catholic armies carried on campaigns. France attempted to remain neutral as internal strife with the Huguenots grew up, and eventually Francis I determined a policy of religious freedom to maintain his allies. The war threatened to expand further with an unprecedented alliance with Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire who had previously besieged Vienna and threatened Hungary, and Charles knew when to capitulate and agreed to a treaty.

Upon the death of Henry in 1547, the electors met again and, thanks to Henry's urgings, named his son Edward VI of England as the new, ten-year-old emperor. Edward proved a great mover in Protestantism, but he was sickly, dying in 1553. His half-sister Mary ascended the throne of England; the electors, however, could not have a female emperor and instead chose Henry II of France, whose consort Catherine de Medici had great influence and policies of religious tolerance were a healthy compromise between electors optioning Protestant King Christian of Denmark or staunchly Catholic Habsburg Ferdinand I. Bourbons continued to be Holy Roman Emperors until 1685 when Louis XIV worked to affirm his autocracy by promoting Catholicism as the single state religion. Many Protestants fled to Germany, but when Louis began to enact strict religious rule in the Empire as well, the electors refused and stripped him of his title. The Franco-German War brought about a liberated Germany at the expense of France. The electors named Frederick, King in Prussia, as emperor; Augustus II of Saxony, King of Poland, also stood had allegiances outside of Germany, and the time had come for German self-rule. United Germany became a powerful central figure in Europe, leading modernization and industrialization through the next two centuries.

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In reality, there was no alliance between Francis I and Henry VIII, even at the later a lavish meeting at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Wars between Catholics and Protestants would flare up in Germany to a height in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The Habsburgs held onto the Holy Roman Empire nearly continuously for hundreds of years until it was dissolved by Napoleon in 1806.

January 23, 1510 – Young Henry VIII Dies Jousting

A mere nine months after his coronation, the brave and cunning King Henry VIII of England died while jousting incognito at Richmond in North Yorkshire. Only eighteen years old, Henry had been married to his brother Arthur’s widow, Catherine of Aragon, shortly after his father’s death. Remaining something of a wild prince, Henry sneaked away from court and participated in the lists in Yorkshire, jousting admirably until a spur broke and the mysterious knight was thrown to the ground, breaking his neck. It was a tragedy that would ignite the War of English Succession.

Succession had already recently been a violent matter in England Wars of the Roses between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. After much bloodshed, the overall question was solved completely by the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, bringing the two houses together. Henry VII had known that the key to continuing the newly conquered peace was firm succession, and the tragic death of Arthur had put a great deal of pressure on young Henry to live long and produce a male heir. With no heir, the crown was in the air, readying to be caught by any of a number of successors.

In England, men with lesser holds to the crown were beaten out by the overall clout of Queen Catherine of Aragon. Though technically a Spaniard, she held great cunning herself as well as the significant economic and military influence from her father Ferdinand II. Acting as a placeholder, she would chose from the many English who wished to be king and marry him with blessing of the Pope.

Meanwhile, the diplomatic dealings of Henry VII had expanded the Tudor claims beyond the English borders. His daughter Margaret had married James IV of Scotland while his daughter Mary Tudor had married the aged Louis XII of France. Louis’ claim was weak at best, especially as he only had daughters and neither from Mary, but he threw his support behind James as the Auld Alliance had tied the two nations together against England for centuries. James decided he must secure the crown for a future son, so he embarked on an invasion of England.

Catherine called up support from her father in Spain, who sailed a fleet of troops to London to bolster her forces. The English reacted negatively to the foreign soldiers, and local approval of Catherine began to decline, either in favor of less powerful claims or toward James. Civil war broke out among the factions, and James attempted serious invasion where he could garner his support. Meanwhile, he called to Louis for aid, which the French were slow to supply as they were fighting in Italy with the Venetians, who had taken up an alliance with the Papal States. In 1512, the Pope would declare a Holy League against France, allowing Spain to join in an alliance directly against France as well as Scotland, and the War of the League of Cambrai expanded to become a theater mirroring the war in England.

Battles in England would teach James the valuable lesson of keeping back his officers rather than placing them on the front line as leading knights and using pikes like the medieval model. His great victory would come at Flodden Field, September 9, 1513, when he, unscratched, led his army to a crushing victory over mixed Spanish and English supporting Catherine. Following the victory swiftly by a march to London, where the English dukes would swear allegiance and Catherine would escape to Spain. She would hold great prestige in her father’s court as the “rightful Queen of England” but never again rule. Meanwhile, James would solidify his command and begin building up a great fleet using England’s naval prestige, sparking wars among Spain, France, the Dutch, and Scotch England over influence in the Americas and East Indies.

The Union of Britain would ultimately be short-lived as the English chafed under Scottish rule by James III. Ultimately, the English Parliament would lead the rebellion, splitting up the island once again and separating colonies into competing spheres.


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In reality, Henry survived his jousting and gained great applause before revealing himself as king to the amazement of the crowd. His reign would continue until 1547, during which he would conduct numerous wars and overthrow the Catholic influence in England to secure a divorce from Catherine in his attempt to achieve a male heir. James IV would indeed go to war against England following the Auld Alliance as Henry invaded France, but he would be rebuffed at the disastrous Battle of Flodden, where James would be killed as Catherine served as Regent in Henry’s absence.

July 6, 1535 – Thomas More Escapes

Mere hours before his execution, Catholic loyalists managed to sneak Sir Thomas More, once a favorite of Henry VIII and now a nemesis for his dedication to the Pope, from his prison in the Tower of London. Henry declared a nationwide search, but More was able to escape from England and into France under the guise of a book-trader.

In France, he shed his disguise and began to journey to Rome. Catholic supporters surrounded and protected him despite the impressive bounty offered on his head by Henry. Narrowly dodging two assassinations, More caught word that Henry himself was plotting war to capture the treasonous statesman by any means possible. He claimed no fear of the king or for his life, but he feared for bloodshed and sin resulting from war, and so he disappeared, falling in with Alpine monks under an assumed name.

While Henry's rage never ceased, his life did, and his son Edward VI assumed the throne. Moving away from Catholicism, Edward and Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, imposed Protestantism and the infamous Book of Common Prayer. Upon his death at only 15, crisis followed with Lady Jane Grey's attempt at the throne, but Edward's half-sister Mary I managed to lay successful claim.

Less than a month after her crowning, an elderly monk presented himself as the septuagenarian Thomas More. With his political craft as well as the advice of Cardinal Pole (replacement for Cranmer, whom Mary had burned at the stake), the queen was able to heal England's separation from Rome, albeit under a fairly reformed condition. Priests retained their right to marriage, but the Book of Common Prayer was destroyed alongside any editions of Tyndale's English Bible. The Marian Persecutions raged, chasing Protestants out of England and executing those who remained.

Mary died in 1558, succumbing to what medical historians would later determine a hormonal disorder brought on by tumors. The aged More lived only a few months more, seeing the succession pass safely to the Catholic Mary, Queen of the Scots, as Mary I's sister Elizabeth had died at Hatfield House in a fire often found suspicious. England continued Catholic, despite the Protestant Rebellion of Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s.

However, Henry VIII's short-lived separation from Rome always left its mark on the land and people, so much so that after the revolution of the American colonies led to the United States, the first amendment in their Bill of Rights read in 1789, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” While England called for a new Crusade against such unorthodoxy, the Enlightenment had shifted the interests of Europe, and Rome had lost much of its power. Humanism and material philosophy had made moot a question which, only a few centuries before, had nearly torn Europe apart.


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In reality, Henry VIII successfully executed Thomas More, who would be canonized by the Catholic Church in 1935. England began its precarious march to Protestantism, which aided in the bloody separation of northern Europe from southern along religious lines, helping to spark altercations such as the Thirty Years War and English Civil War.