House of Tudor ruled their domains for just over a century. Henry VIII was the only son of Henry VII to live to the age of maturity. Issues around the royal succession (including marriage and the succession rights of women) became major political themes during the Tudor era. The House of Stuart, descended from Henry VII's daughter Margaret, came to power in 1603 when Elizabeth I died and the Tudor line failed. For analysis of politics, diplomacy and social history, see Tudor period. The Tudors descended on Henry VII's mother's side from John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, one of the illegitimate children
House of Tudor is verified by the Tudor family tree which appears later in this article. Henry Tudor had, however, one thing that the others did not. He had an army which had defeated and killed the last Yorkist King, Richard III and therefore the support of powerful nobles. His son Henry VIII made sure there were no other claimants to the Throne when he wiped out all the remaining Plantagenet heirs including the Countess of Salisbury and her family the Poles. One Pole alone survived but he was a cardinal in the Catholic Church. He later became Archbishop of Canterbury under the