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 and completely unrelated name, etymologically identical with Gaulish "Toutorix", from Proto-Celtic "*toutā" "people, tribe" and "*rīxs" "king" (compare Modern Welsh "tud" "territory" and "rhi" "king" respectively), corresponding to Germanic Theodoric. Owen Tudor was one of the bodyguards for the queen dowager Catherine of Valois, whose husband, Henry V, had died in 1422. Evidence suggests that the two were secretly married in 1429. The two sons born of the marriage, Edmund and Jasper, were among the most loyal supporters of the House of Lancaster in its struggle against the House of York. Henry VI ennobled his half-brothers: Edmund became Earl of