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Mar, John Erskine, 6th (or 11th) earl of

(Encyclopedia)Mar, John Erskine, 6th (or 11th) earl of, 1675–1732, Scottish nobleman, leader of the Jacobites. He was nicknamed “Bobbing John,” probably because of his political vacillation. He succeeded his ...

Throckmorton, Sir Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Throckmorton or Throgmorton, Sir Nicholas, 1515–71, English diplomat. A relative of Catherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII, he became a staunch Protestant and gained the favor of the young Edwa...

Seymour, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Seymour, Jane, 1509?–1537, third queen consort of Henry VIII of England. She served as a lady in waiting to both of Henry's first two queens, Katharine of Aragón and Anne Boleyn. Henry became inter...

Henry II, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Henry II, 1133–89, king of England (1154–89), son of Matilda, queen of England, and Geoffrey IV, count of Anjou. He was the founder of the Angevin, or Plantagenet, line in England and one of the a...

Henry III, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Henry III, 1207–72, king of England (1216–72), son and successor of King John. Henry III has suffered at the hands of many historians, in part, because of the hostility of contemporary chronicl...

Henry IV, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Henry IV, 1367–1413, king of England (1399–1413), eldest son of John of Gaunt and grandson of Edward III; called Henry of Bolingbroke. He founded the Lancastrian dynasty. The new king was immed...

Henry V, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Henry V, 1387–1422, king of England (1413–22), son and successor of Henry IV. Henry abandoned his early recklessness (celebrated and probably exaggerated by Shakespeare) and ruled with justice...

Henry VI, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Henry VI, 1421–71, king of England (1422–61, 1470–71). Henry was a mild, honest, and pious man, a patron of literature and the arts and the founder of Eton College (1440). He was, however, u...

Henry VII, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Henry VII, 1457–1509, king of England (1485–1509) and founder of the Tudor dynasty. Henry was an astute political leader. He established the Tudor tradition of strong rule tempered by a sense ...

Henry VIII, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Henry VIII, 1491–1547, king of England (1509–47), second son and successor of Henry VII. Henry was a supreme egotist. He advanced personal desires under the guise of public policy or moral rig...