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Period: 1509 to 1547
The Reign of King HENRY VIII
Henry VIII was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated by the pope. -
1517
The Ninety-Five Theses by Martin Luther
The Ninety-five Theses is a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther. -
1526
The Tyndale Bible was published in England
The Tyndale Bible was the first English language Bible to appear in print which was published in England in 1526. -
1533
Act in Restraint of Appeals
Gave the King the legal power to annul marriages. -
1534
Act of Supremacy
The king was made “Supreme Head of the Church of England”. -
1534
Act of Succession
Made Anne Boleyn a legitimate Queen. -
1536
Pilgrimage of Grace
The dissolution process of the monasteries was interrupted by rebellions in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. These were the greatest rebellions ever faced by a Tudor monarch. They lasted 6 months and were called the “Pilgrimage of Grace”. -
Period: 1547 to 1553
The Reign of King EDWARD VI
Edward VI reigned as King of England and Ireland from 1547 until his death. He was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, and England’s first monarch to be raised as a Protestant. Edward’s reign was marked by economic and military problems, and he was never crowned. -
1549
Publication of the Book of Common Prayer
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Period: 1553 to 1558
The Reign of Queen MARY I
Mary I was the only child of Henry VIII by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death in 1558. She is also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary". She is best known for her vigorous attempt to reverse the English Reformation, which had begun during the reign of her father, Henry VIII. During her five-year reign, Mary had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions. -
Period: 1555 to 1558
"Bloody Mary"
Protestantism was confined to secrecy as heretics were burned between 1555 and 1558. Protestants were forced to leave the country and fled to the Continent. -
Period: 1558 to
The Reign of Queen ELIZABETH I
Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed when Elizabeth was two years old. Upon her half-sister's death in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. -
1559
The Act of Supremacy (2nd)
The 1559 Act of Supremacy declared Elizabeth the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. It also included an Oath of Supremacy, which required anyone taking public or church office to swear allegiance to the monarch as head of the Church and state. Individuals who refused to take the oath could be charged with treason and be put to death. -
1559
The Act of Uniformity
The Act of Uniformity 1559 This laid down the rules about religious services which were to be carried out in churches throughout Wales and England. It said that the newly formed Prayer Book, based on that of Edward’s reign should be used in all churches and that people would be fined one shilling if they did not attend. -
Period: 1559 to 1561
Queen's love affair with Robert Dudley, 1rst earl of Leicester
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1563
The marriage question
House of Lords begged the Queen to marry “whomever you
want, wherever you want” -
Period: 1563 to 1571
The 39 articles of faith
The Thirty-nine Articles of Faith are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. The Thirty-nine Articles form part of the Book of Common Prayer used by the Church of England. -
1569
The Northern Rebellion
Rebellion against religious reforms. -
1570
Excommunication of Elizabeth I
In 1570, Pope Pius V declared that Elizabeth was a heretic and, as such, she was excommunicated by way of a Papal Bull (order). The Bull released Catholics from any loyalty to Elizabeth and called upon them to remove her from the throne. -
1571
The Treasons Act
Treasons Act made it treason for anyone to say that Elizabeth was not the true Queen of England and Wales. -
Period: 1577 to
Repression of Catholics
163 persons killed during repression in 26 years. -
1581
The 1581 Act
“Act to retain the Queen’s Majesty’s Subjects in their due Obedience”. -
The Babington plot
Young Catholics had sworn to kill Elizabeth and put Mary Stuart on the throne, but their strategies were discovered by Francis Walsingham, when he managed to decipher a coded letter between Marie Stuart and this group. -
The execution of Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots was executed by beheading at the age of 44 on the orders of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. Mary had been in Elizabeth’s custody for 18.5 years, after she fled from Scotland to England in 1567, following her forced abdication of the Scottish throne. She was accused of plotting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and sentenced to death. -
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada
The mighty Spanish Armada had been defeated. The defeat of the Armada was a major turning point in English history. It saved the throne of Elizabeth I and guaranteed English independence from Spain. The Spanish saw the invasion as a crusade and one that would stamp out the heresy of Protestantism in England. -
Speech to the troops at Tilbury
The queen made this speech in Tilbury, Essex, in order to rally the troops who were preparing to repel the invasion of the Spanish Armada: “I know I have the body of a weak woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a King of England too”. -
Empire in Asia
East India Company founded by royal charter. It began to build up a small empire of trading posts in India. Three main trading settlements: Bombay (Mumbai), Calicut (Calcutta), Madras (Chennai). The East India Company allowed England to control the trade of luxury goods like spices, cotton, silk and tea from India and China, and influenced politics. -
Period: to
The Reign of King James I
The First King of the United Kingdom King James I was the first king of the United Kingdom. He ascended to the throne in 1603, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I. James was a controversial monarch, and his reign was marked by numerous conflicts with Parliament. Despite these disagreements, James made significant progress in establishing the foundations of the United Kingdom. He also oversaw a period of great artistic and literary achievement in England. -
The Gunpowder Plot
A conspiracy devised by a small group of Catholics to blow up Parliament and kill James I. -
The 1st permanent English settlement in North America
Virginia became the 1st permanent English settlement in North America in 1607. -
Establishment of Jamestown in Virginia
It was first permanent settlement which is named after James I. -
Period: to
The Starving Time
The Starving Time at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was a period of starvation during the winter of 1609–1610. There were about 500 Jamestown residents at the beginning of the winter. However, there were only 61 people still alive when the spring arrived. -
The “Great Contract”
The Great Contract was a plan submitted to James I and Parliament in 1610 by Robert Cecil. It was an attempt to increase Crown income and ultimately rid it of debt. -
The King James’ Bible
A new English translation of the Bible completed in 1611. -
Period: to
The Thirty Years’ War
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Plymouth Colony
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King James Summoned a Parliament
James summoned a parliament in 1621 to ask for money for war. Parliament did not favour a direct military attack on the Spanish forces, it wanted to wage war at sea. This angered James. Parliament answered with a Protestation, asserting that Parliament’s privilege existed by right, and not by gift of the monarch. James tore the Commons’ Protestation and dissolved Parliament. -
Agreement of Parliament
The 1624 Parliament agreed to finance the war on Spain but it would mostly be a war for the next king (Charles I) to lead. -
Period: to
The Reign of King Charles I
Charles I was the king of Great Britain and Ireland from 1625 to 1649. Like his father, James I, and grandmother Mary, Queen of Scots, Charles I ruled with a heavy hand. His frequent quarrels with Parliament ultimately provoked a civil war that led to his execution on January 30, 1649. -
Petition of Rights
Petition of Rights, (1628) petition sent by the English Parliament to King Charles I complaining of a series of breaches of law. The petition sought recognition of four principles: no taxation without the consent of Parliament, no imprisonment without cause, no quartering of soldiers on subjects, and no martial law in peacetime. -
Three Resolutions
The King's opponents led by Sir John Eliot issued a protestation known as the Three Resolutions. The protestation denounced Arminianism and encouraged merchants to refuse to pay tonnage and poundage. Those who paid were branded enemies to the Kingdom and betrayers of the liberties of England. -
Period: to
The Personal Rule
11 years when the King ruled without calling a parliament. Whig historians called it “The Eleven Years Tyranny”. -
Maryland
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The Case of Burton, Prynne and Bastwick
Three men who had written pamphlets attacking Laud were put in the pillory and their ears cut off. -
Introduction of New Book of Common Prayer
The introduction of the New Prayer Book
(Book of Common Prayer) set Scotland aflame.
The changes were deemed unacceptable. It was the book that caused a riot and a war. Prior to the 1637 publication of the Book of Common Prayer, the Church of Scotland was a hodgepodge of reformed theology and Episcopalian government. It had presbyteries and synods, but also bishops. -
Period: to
The Scottish Crisis
The end of the Personal Rule and the outbreak of the Civil war were caused by crises not just in England but in Scotland and Ireland. -
The “Scottish National Covenant”
The National Covenant was an agreement signed by many people of Scotland during 1638, opposing the proposed reforms of the Church of Scotland (also known as The Kirk) by King Charles I. -
The Short Parliament
In 1640, needing money to fight the Scots, Charles called a parliament for the first time in 11 years. The MPs demanded the King to address their grievances first, Charles dissolved it after only 3 weeks. -
The Treaty of Ripon
The Scots invaded England and emerged victorious. Charles was forced to pay the cost of the Scots’ army. Charles had to call parliament again which was called “The Long Parliament” because it would not be dissolved until 1660. -
The Long Parliament
The 1640 Parliament was determined to remedy 11 years of grievances and wanted to ensure regular parliaments.
They passed two acts ensuring that: Parliament should meet at least every 3 years, the dissolution of Parliament required its consent. Parliament also executed Earl Stafford, one of the King’s most powerful advisers (scapegoat for the king’s policies during the Personal Rule). -
The Irish Rebellion
James I (Charles’ father) had implemented a plantation policy which was sending English and Scottish protestant colonists to Ireland, taking the lands of Irish Catholics.
In Oct 1641, Irish Catholics rebels rose up against Protestant settlers, an armed revolt broke out in Ireland. -
The Militia Act
It concludes that the army should be placed under the control of a general appointed by Parliament. -
The Grand Remonstrance
It was an important document voted by Parliament after heated debates. It summarized all the wrongdoing of Charles I and concluded on “revolutionary” demands:
the right of the House of commons to choose the King’s ministers, the right for Parliament to control any army sent to Ireland, the right for Parliament to reform the Church. -
Declaration of War by Charles I
Charles I believed that John Pym and 4 other MPs were plotting against the Queen. He wanted to impeach them, but Parliament refused. Charles I marched into the House of Commons with troops and attempted to arrest the 5 MPs (January 1642). Then Parliament presented the 19 Propositions to the King (extreme: Charles as a constitutional monarch). On 22 August 1642, Charles formally declared war on Parliament. -
Period: to
The First Civil War
The First civil war would cost the lives of 190 000 Englishmen (in combat/from diseases) and last for four years. The Parliament won that battle. -
The New Model Army
A new army created in 1644 by the Parliamentarians.
Unlike the earlier regional armies, this was a national, centralized army, controlled and paid from Westminster rather than the counties. -
Charles I surrendered
In May 1646, Charles surrendered to the Scots, who handed him to Parliament. -
Agreement of the People
The Army issued the Agreement of the People in November 1647. The Putney Debates to discuss these demands but no agreement. -
The New Model Army seized the King.
Thinking the war was over, the House of Commons decided to disband the New Model Army BUT without paying the soldiers what they were due (at that point they hadn’t being paid for months). This led to mutiny. In June 1647, the New Model Army seized the King. -
The King Scaped
the King escaped from army custody and allied himself with the Scots (he promised to introduce Presbyterianism/Calvinism into England, in return the Scottish army would invade England and restore him to power). -
PRIDE’S PURGE
Colonel Pride (Army) entered the House of Commons, stopped the vote and arrested the 45 conservative leader MPs. -
Period: to
The Second Civil War
The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641–1653 Irish Confederate Wars, the 1639-1640 Bishops' Wars, and the 1649–1653 Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. -
Execution of Charles I
On 30 January,1649 King Charles I was executed -
Period: to
The Interregnum
The Interregnum was the period between the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649 and the arrival of his son Charles II in London on 29 May 1660 which marked the start of the Restoration. -
Period: to
The Commonwealth
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Declaration of England as a Commonwealth
On March 1649 Monarchy and House of Lords abolished, England was declared a Commonwealth (a republic). -
Blasphemy Act
An Adultery Act of May 1650 imposed the death penalty for incest and adultery and three months imprisonment for fornication; the Blasphemy Act of August 1650 was aimed at curbing extreme religious "enthusiasm". To stop extreme evangelicals from preaching, they formed a Committee for the Propagation of the Gospel, which issued licenses to preach. -
Charles II
Charles II (the son of Charles I) was proclaimed king of Scotland after his father’s execution. He raised a Scottish Army to invade England. Cromwell defeated the Scots Army in 1650. And crushed the uprising of the Scots Royalist force led by Charles II in 1651. Charles II escaped. -
The Instrument of Government
England’s first and only written constitution. -
Period: to
The Cromwellian Protectorate
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Death of Cromwell
Cromwell died in 1658. -
Period: to
Early Restoration
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The Restoration of King
Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda. It promised:
A general amnesty (pardon), to continue religious toleration, to share power with Parliament, in return for the restoration of monarchy. It worked and restored the King on 29th May 1660. -
Period: to
THE CLARENDON CODE
A series of laws passed during the first 5 years of Restoration. -
The act of uniformity
All ministers had to swear to conform to the Book of Common Prayer. -
The took over of New Amsterdam
The English took over the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which included the state of New Amsterdam. The English renamed this New York. -
Five Miles Act
This act implemented fines for anyone attending non-conformist meetings and prohibited non-conformist preachers from coming within 5 miles of their former parish. It also required to swear an oath of non-resistance to the King. -
Outbreak of Plague
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Great Fire of London
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The Popish Plot
Popish Plot, (1678), in English history, a totally fictitious but widely believed plot in which it was alleged that Jesuits were planning the assassination of King Charles II in order to bring his Roman Catholic brother, the Duke of York (afterward King James II), to the throne. -
Period: to
The Political Crisis
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Period: to
The Exclusion Crisis
The Exclusion Crisis was a political episode that ran from 1679 through 1681, in the reign of Charles II (1630-1685). Charles’s brother and heir apparent, James, Duke of York (1633-1701) had converted to Roman Catholicism. In a climate intensely hostile to Catholicism, the prospect of a Catholic succession to the throne was unpopular. -
Pennsylvania
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The Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution refers to the events of 1688–89 that saw King James II of England deposed and succeeded by one of his daughters and her husband. James’s overt Roman Catholicism, his suspension of the legal rights of Dissenters, and the birth of a Catholic heir to the throne raised discontent among many, particularly non-Catholics. -
The Toleration Act
Toleration Act, (May 24, 1689), act of Parliament granting freedom of worship to Nonconformists. It was one of a series of measures that firmly established the Glorious Revolution (1688–89) in England. -
The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England, which sets out certain basic civil rights and clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown, and is seen as a crucial landmark in English constitutional law. It received Royal Assent on 16 December 1689 and is a restatement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William III and Mary II in February 1689, inviting them to become joint sovereigns of England. -
The Act of Settlement
The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English and Irish crowns on Protestants only. -
Death of William
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Act of Union between England and Scotland
Creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain: England (and Wales) and Scotland, old dream of James I. -
Period: to
War of the Spanish Succession
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Period: to
The Georgian Era
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Period: to
The Reign of King George I
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The 1715 Jacobite Rising
The 1715 Jacobite Rising was led by the “Old Pretender” James Francis Edward Stuart (the son of James II). -
Period: to
The Reign of King George II
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The 1745 Jacobite Rising
The 1745 Jacobite Rising was led by the “Young Pretender” Bonnie Prince Charlie (the grandson of James II). -
Final defeat of the Jacobites
The Jacobites was defeated at Culloden. -
Period: to
Seven Years’ War
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Period: to
The Reign of King George III
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Period: to
American Revolutionary War
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Declaration of Independence
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Treaty of Paris
Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States. -
Outbreak of the French Revolution
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Influx of French émigrés into Britain
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Period: to
French Revolutionary Wars
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Period: to
Police Repression of Radicalism in Britain
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The Irish Rebellion
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organizing force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced by the ideas of the American and French revolutions: originally formed by Presbyterian radicals angry at being shut out of power by the Anglican establishment, they were joined by many from the majority Catholic population. -
Second Act of Union
Creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England and Scotland) and Ireland. -
Peace of Amiens
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Period: to
Napoleonic Wars
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Battle of Waterloo
End of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoléon Bonaparte defeated by Wellington’s Army. -
Period: to
The Reign of King George IV
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The Reform Act
Reform Act gave the right to vote to 5% of the population in Britain.