This opening talk will provide an introduction to the position of women in Tudor society, focusing primarily on the Tudor court. It will tell the story of the first Tudor queen consort, Elizabeth of York, whose marriage to Henry VII united the warring Houses of York and Lancaster. It will also chart the tumultuous history of the most famous consorts of the Tudor era: the six wives of Henry VIII. In so doing, it will consider these women in their own right, not just in the context of their relationship with the much-married monarch.