THE TITLES OF EVERY TUDOR MONARCH

HENRY VII:

At his coronation, Henry VII received the titles of:

• King of England.

• King of France.

But, why King of France:

“From 1340, English monarchs, beginning with the Plantagenet king Edward III, asserted that they were the rightful kings of France. They fought the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453), in part, to enforce this claim, but ultimately without success. From the early 16th century, the claim had lost any realistic prospect of fulfilment, although every English and, later, British monarch, from Edward to George III, styled themselves king or queen of France until 1801¹.”

• Until then, English kings only held the title of ‘Lord of Ireland’.

HENRY VIII:

Henry inherited from his father the same titles

• King of England

• King of France (merely symbolic)

• Lord of Ireland.

Some time after his accession, he was honored by the Pope and received the title of ‘Defender of the Faith’, a title which the Pope later withdrew from him after the break with Rome. However, Henry apparently recreated the title for all kings of England, as if they were ‘Defenders of the Faith (of the Church of England)’. Around this same period, the title of Supreme Head of the Church of England was also created. Later, near the end of his reign, Irish Parliament officially granted him the title of ‘King of Ireland’².

EDWARD VI:

His son, Edward VI, inherited all his titles:

• King of England

• King of France (merely symbolic)

• King of Ireland

• Defender of the Faith

• Supreme Head of the Church of England

MARY I:

At first, Mary received the standard titles of the Tudor monarchs, and for the first time she was officially the first woman to receive the title of queen

• Queen of England

• Queen of France (merely symbolic)

• Queen of Ireland

• Supreme Head of the Church of England (whether she likes it or not, she was crowned still holding this title, which she would abdicate a short time later).

As soon as she married Philip, the “King of Arms solemnly proclaimed Philip and Mary king and queen, declaring their titles and style: Philip and Mary by the grace of God King and Queen of England, France, Naples, Jerusalem, and Ireland; Defenders of the Faith; Princes of Spain and Sicily; Archdukes of Austria; Dukes of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant; Counts of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol.³”

• As early as 1556, Mary also received the title of Queen Consort of Chile.⁴

ELIZABETH I:

Elizabeth would go on to inherit the already existing royal titles:

• Queen of England

• Queen of France (merely symbolic)

• Queen of Ireland

And those religiously granted to the monarchs:

• Supreme Head of the Church of England

• Defender of the Faith

—

Source:

1. English claims to the French throne – Wikipedia ↩︎
2. Lordship of Ireland – Wikipedia ↩︎
3. Mary Tudor: England’s First Queen by Anna Whitelock ↩︎
4. A Queen of England, a Queen of Chile and the Armada Portrait | Revista de Marina ↩︎