The English Tudor dynasty (House of Tudor) came to power in 1485 and remained at the helm until 1603. Henry Tudor put an end to the War of the Roses, the civil war between the House of Lancaster and House of York, and succeeded in centralising political power on the monarch. Tudor built the famous Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey. During his reign, London grew and prospered. Nobles found that they could rise in power more easily by competing for favors in court, rather than fighting among themselves.

However, the era was not without its problems. In 1497, Perkin Warbeck, who made the false claim that he was Duke of York, encamped on the London suburb of Blackheath with his followers. He eventually was captured and hanged. Henry VIII organised the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–1540). Before the Reformation, over half of London’s territory was occupied by such religious institutions as nunneries, abbeys and monasteries. Thus, the dissolution brought about profound changes. Henry converted the former lands of Westminster Abbey to a deer park, which today makes up St James’s Park to the east, and Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens to the west.

Problems persisted when Lady Jane Grey was received as queen at the Tower of London in 1553. However, shortly thereafter, the elite political circles proclaimed Mary I of England queen. Her decision to marry King Philip II of Spain provoked a rebellion, led by Thomas Wyatt, who was the son of pre-Renaissance sonneteer Sir Thomas Wyatt. Wyatt reached Charing Cross and moved on to Ludgate, where he surrendered. St Paul’s Cathedral was struck by lightning in 1561. The spire was never replaced, but the roof was restored. After the completion of St Giles Cripplegate, no new churches were built in London until the Queen’s Chapel in 1623.

Most industries in London were booming, especially in the weaving sector. Monopolies were established by royal charter, such as the East India Company, which eventually came to control all trade with India and much of the country itself. London became the most important North Sea port after the powerful trade city of Antwerp was destroyed by the Spanish in 1572. London attracted a large immigrant population from all parts of the world. This period saw the development of London’s East End District, as well as the first maps of London. Regardless of the unhindered urban sprawl, the majority of inhabitants still lived in the city. Covent Garden was only a market garden then, and Hoxton merely an outlying village. 

The age of the Tudors is best remembered for the arts of the High Renaissance, the climax of the Italian Renaissance between 1450 and 1527. William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Lyly, and other gifted dramatists lived and worked in London in the 16th Century. Renaissance drama and its humanist essence were introduced by Marlowe with his play 'Tragedy of Doctor Faustus'. Man was no longer the humble, god-fearing, spineless creature, as medieval drama portrayed him. The Renaissance occurred due to various economic factors. England rose in prosperity, and London, as its capital, reflected this to the highest extent. Regardless of this, if it had not been for Queen Elizabeth, drama would not have become as successful as it did. Great hostility to the development of theatre was rampant. Elizabeth and aristocrats loved plays, as they were staged privately in her court. But in the mid-1590s, theatres closed due to an outbreak of the plague.