Tudor Royal Progresses were an important way for the Tudor monarchs to consolidate their rule throughout England.[1] Following his victory at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485, the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII, ensured his coronation (November 1485), called a parliament (November 1485), married Elizabeth of York (January 1486) – all in London before embarking on his first Royal Progress in March 1486.[2] The last Tudor Royal Progress took place in summer 1602,[3] as Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch died in March 1603.[4]
Henry VII traveled widely in England in his first few years as King, largly to consolidate his rule after the Wars of the Roses. As he grew older, and particularly after the death of his wife Queen Elizabeth in 1503, the King traveled less. [5] The king spent most of his reign at Windsor Castle or Richmond Palace which he rebuilt in 1497 and where he died in 1509.
| Months | Locations | Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1486 | March - August | Lincoln, Nottingham, York, Worcester, Hereford, Gloucester, Bristol and to Whitehall via Putney | Henry progressed to Lincoln for Easter, then to York, by way of Nottingham. While in York he dispersed the abortive rising of the Yorkists led by Lord Lovell. Henry VII then progressed south where he spent Whitsun in Worcester and by way of Bristol back to London. When the royal couple reached Putney where they progressed by barge back to Whitehall with the Lord Mayor of London.[6] | |
| 1486 | September-October | Winchester | Henry removed his wife Queen Elizabeth and the court to Winchester for the birth of his heir Prince Arthur, due to it being the supposed location of King Arthur's castle of Camelot. Prince Arthur was born on 20th September and christened on the 24 September.[7] | ||
| 2 | 1487 | May - October | Norwich, Walsingham, Kenilworth, Nottingham, then fought the Battle of Stoke Field, Lincoln, Pontefract, York, Durham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Henry progressed first to Norfolk and after visiting the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, moved to the Midlands to face and defeat the pretender Lambert Simnel at Battle of Stoke Field. After defeating the rebels Henry VII then celebrated his victory in Lincoln and moved north by way of Pontefract, York and Durham to Newcastle. While there he opened negotiations with James IV, before returning to London for his second parliament in November. [8] | |
| 3 | 1492 | September - November | Henry VII launched an abortive invasion of France, traveling through Kent and the Pale of Calais, to besiege Boulogne, before agreeing to the Peace of Étaples after three weeks of campaigning and returning to London by 22 November. [9] | ||
| 4 | 1495 | June-July | Lancashire, Lathom House and Knowsley Hall | Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth visited his step-father Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby at his new houses of Lathom and Knowsley Hall. [10] | |
| 5 | 1497 | October - November | Exeter | Henry VII visited Exeter to receive the submission of the city after the capture of the pretender Perkin Warbeck who had attempted to capture the city the previous month, He returned to London on the 27 November. [11] | |
| 6 | 1500 | May - June | Calais | Henry VII traveled to Calais for discussions with Philip the Handsome Duke of Burgundy. The two met outside the walls of Calais on 9 June at St Peter Church. [12] | |
| 7 | 1503 | June - July | Collyweston | Henry VII escorted his daughter Margaret Tudor from Richmond Palace north, to the residence of his mother Margaret Beaufort of Collyweston Palace in Northamptonshire. This was a part of her journey north to Scotland to marry James IV. [13] |
| Months | Locations | Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1510 | June - September | Corfe Castle, Southampton, Salisbury, The Vyne, Rotherfield Greys Castle Malshanger and Woking | Henry VIII's first progress focused on Dorset and Hampshire. The King stayed with William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys at The Vyne and with Robert Knollys at Rotherfield Greys Castle, ending with a tournament at Woking..[15] | |
| 2 | 1511 | January | Walsingham | Henry VIII visited Walsingham to give thanks for the birth of his short lived son Prince Henry.[16] | |
| 1511 | July-September | Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham, Coventry and Warwick | Henry VIII and Queen Katherine of Aragon traveled across the Midlands.[17] | ||
| 3 | 1513 | June-October | Calais, Thérouanne, Lille, Tournai | As part of the War of the League of Cambrai Henry VIII invaded France by way of Calais in June 1513. He besieged the town of Thérouanne through the summer, defeating a French attempt to relieve the town at the Battle of the Spurs on the 16 August. Thérouanne fell to the English on 22 August. Henry then moved on to besiege Tournai by way of Lille where he was hosted by Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy. Tournai fell on the 23 September, Henry celebrated mass in Tournai Cathedral on 2 October and returned to England via Calais on 21 October. [18] | |
| 4 | 1520 | May-July | 1518 saw the Treaty of London (1518), also known as the treaty of perpetual peace between the major European powers. 1520 covered complex negotiations between Henry, Charles V and Francis I with Henry called upon to arbitrate between the two. The monarchs were also anxious to meet one another. After meeting with Charles on 27 May at Dover Henry proceeded separately, with Queen Katherine of Aragon and his court to Calais. In a valley between the Pale of Calais and the French possessions Henry and Francis met at the Field of the Cloth of Gold where from 7 June to the 24 June both monarchs engaged in discussions, jousts dancing and other pageantry with their courts. [19] After bidding goodbye to Francis Henry and Katherine then met with Charles and his aunt Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy at Gravelines on 10 July. There they concluded a separate treaty of friendship and agreed not t make any new agreements with the French king for two years on 14 July, before Henry and Katherine returned to England.[20] | ||
| 5 | 1522 | May-July | Dover, Canterbury, Sittingbourne, Rochester and Gravesend, Windsor, Winchester and Southampton | Charles V visited England on the way to Spain, landing at Dover on 26 May, to be met by Henry on 28 May. The two then traveled to Canterbury on the 29 May and Sittingbourne on the 30 May. They then traveled to Rochester on 1 June, and Greenwich Palace on 2nd June via Gravesend. The two entered London on the 6 June, staying until the 9 June when they proceeded to Southwark, Richmond, Hampton Court and Windsor.They remained at Windsor from the 12 June to the 20 June and signed the Treaty of Windsor (1522). They then traveled to Winchester where they arrived on the 22 June and on the 6 July Charles departed for Spain from Southampton. [21] |
1552: Edward VI embarked on a short progress to Guilford, but this was soon abandoned.[23]
As a Princess, Mary Tudor accompanied her father on royal progresses.
As Queen, Mary was less ardent about making royal progresses. The unpopularity of her husband and her own ill health led her to remain in her royal residencies near London.
The Elizabethan Royal Progresses played an important role in enabling Elizabeth I to exercise and maintain her royal authority. During each year of her 44 years reign she insisted her court accompanied her on a progress in the spring and summer months.[23]