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Period: 1491 to 1547
Reign of Henry VIII
During the reign of Henry VIII, a crucial event took place within England, better known as the Schism. -
Oct 31, 1517
95 theses by Martin Luther
On this picture, the German monk is hanging his critique to the door of the University in Wittenberg.
One of the main contested issue by Luther is the doctrine of the Purgatory and the selling of Indulgences. Indeed, those documents which were supposed to reduced the amount of time someone would have to stay in the Purgatory, with the authority of the Pope, are very criticized: shortly after, many critics of corruption and abuses led to reform the Church. -
1526
The Tyndale Bible
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1533
Act in Restraint of Appeals
This act gives the King the legal power to annul marriages. It was used when he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn, after his divorce with Catherine of Aragon. -
1534
Act of Supremacy
The King is made ‘Supreme Head of the Church of England’ after his was excommunicated by the Pope, who also declared that the new Queen Anne Boleyn was not the real King's wife. -
1536
The Pilgrimage of Grace In Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
The dissolution process launched across England was interrupted by rebellions called ‘Pilgrimage of Grace’. This protest against Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church and against the dissolution of the monasteries is considered as one of the most important rebellions ever faced by a Tudor monarch. Also called the 'most serious of all Tudor period rebellions', this protest lasted six months, from October 1536 to February 1537. -
Period: 1547 to 1553
Reign of Edward VI
Edward VI "the young King" was the successor of Henry VIII. During his reign, a series of measures pushed England towards Protestantism.
The "young" King died at only 15 years old from tuberculosis in 1553. -
Jan 15, 1549
The book of Common Prayer
During the reign of Edward VI, a series of new mandatory measures indeed pushed England towards Protestantism. For instance, the publication of the book of Common Prayer in 1549 is one of the most important to note. -
Period: 1553 to 1558
Reign of Mary I and the Catholic Restoration
During her reign, Mary I restored Catholicism in England after Edward VI, her half-brother, eradicated Roman Catholic practices. During this time, the queen carried out public executions of dozens of Protestants (over 200 people went to the stake), considered as 'heretic'. This violence earned her the nickname of 'Bloody Mary'. The "luckiest ones" were forced to leave the country. This massive act was called the "Marian Exiles". -
Oct 1, 1553
Mary Tudor's coronation: the first Queen of England.
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Period: Nov 17, 1558 to
Reign of Queen Elizabeth I
During her reign, Queen Elizabeth I secured the position of the England Kingdom in the world. She expanded England's influence on her neighbors in the world and in Europe. She also restored Protestantism throughout the country and stablished the Church of England.
The Elizabethan Era was seen as the Golden Age, the age of English Renaissance. A lot of discoveries were made during that time. -
1559
2nd Act of Supremacy
This Act of Supremacy changed the Church's organisation. It indeed abolished the authority of the Pope and restored the authority of the Queen over the Church, as she became ‘Supreme Governor of the Church of England’. -
Period: 1559 to 1563
A new legislation under Elizabeth's I reign
During her reign, the Queen passed a whole new legislation. The 3 major changes are the following ones : The Act of Supremacy, in 1559: the purpose of this act was to change the church's organisation. It indeed abolished the authority of the Pope, as the Queen became the ‘Supreme Governor of the Church of England'. The 2nd one, published in 1559 is the Act of Uniformity, regarding religious beliefs.
Finally, the 39 articles of Faith (1563-1571) that are still in use nowadays. -
1563
The marriage question of Queen Elizabeth I
While the House of Lords begged the Queen to marry, she decided to stay single after a dramatic love affair with Robert Dudley. She even declared a few years before, in 1559 during a speech to be "married to the kingdom of England", her subjects being "all my husbands, my good people". She also considered herself as the "mother of the Church of England". She thus stayed in power for 45 years without getting married, which has reinforced the independence of England. -
Jul 29, 1567
A new King of Scotland: James I
James I, son of Mary Stuart, succeeded to the Scottish throne, after his mother was compelled to abdicate in his favor. He later become King of England too, after Elizabeth I's death. -
1569
The northern Rebellion
This rebellion, also called The Rising of the North or The Revolt of The Northern Earls, was a major rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I and against her religious reforms. This rebellion has involved 6000 insurgents and has included an attempt to replace the Queen by Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, her cousin. -
Feb 25, 1570
The excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I by Pope Pius V
On 27 April 1570, Pope Pius V issued the papal bull ‘Regnans in Excelsis’ at St. Peter's, at Rome. In this papal bull, in response of the Queen's new legislation, he addresses every catholic to restore and expend the Catholic Roman Church. He also clearly rejects the authority of the England crown, by calling Elizabeth I the ‘heretic favoring heretics' and the 'so-called Queen' -
1571
The Treason Acts
In response to the Pope's bull, those acts made it treason for anyone to say that Elizabeth I wasn’t the true Queen. -
Period: 1577 to
The Catholic repression
During this repression, about 163 persons were killed. This shows the will to reduce the country to Protestantism, or at least to the compromise which was trying to be put in place. -
1581
The Act of Persuasions
The 1581 Act provided for the death penalty for any person converting, or already converted to Catholicism. A second Act, pretty similar was published a few years later, namely the Act against Priests in 1585: people who offered help, shelter or aid to Catholic Priests could face the death penalty. -
The Babington Plot
The Babington Plot was one of the eight plots to replace the actual Queen by Mary Stuart. A letter, later discovered by Elizabeth's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, in which she consented to the assassination of Elizabeth was used to entrap Mary to remove her as a claimant to the English throne. -
The execution of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.
After being kept for 19 years by her Cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary was beheaded in Fortheringham Castle in 1587. Being her legitimate heir, a catholic, and close to France and Spain, Mary was a threat to Elizabeth I and to the English Kingdom. -
The defeat of the Spanish Armada
In 1588, the King of Spain Philipp II attempted to invade England. However, due to an human and material advantage of the English Kingdom (a new fleet and a new strategy) the King saw himself defeated by Elizabeth I and her troops. In addition, storms from the west hit Spanish ships - seen as divine protection to the English people. -
Tilbury Speech
In Essex, to rally the troops who were preparing to repel the invasion of the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth I delivered a speech in which she declared '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'. Indeed, at that time and in a patriarchal society, a woman ruling over England was difficult to accept. However, she managed to combine her natural body and political body to convince her people. -
East India Company
The East India Company were founded by royal charter. It began to build up as a small empire of trading posts in India. This company allowed England to control the trade of luxury goods in India and China, and influenced politics. -
The Millenary Petition
The Millenary Petition was a list of requests addressed to King James I, by puritan members to eliminate the last Catholic rites in the Anglican Church. This Petition bore the signatures of thousand church ministers. -
James I's coronation (new King of England)
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The Gunpowder plot
The Gunpowder plot is a conspiracy of a small group of Catholics to blow up Parliament (thanks to barrels of powder placed in a cellar below the building) and kill James I, in result of his harsh repressive laws. -
The establishment of Jamestown in Virginia
During the 16th century, Britain began to establish overseas colonies and was therefore heavily involved with the Transatlantic slave trade, stripping colonies and indigenous people of their land. The establishment of Jamestown in Virginia is the first permanent settlement. -
Period: to
The Starving Time
During the settlement of British colonies, a starving time occurred, creating the death of many colonists (only 60 out of the 500 colonists survived after the establishment of Jamestown in Virginia, mostly because of a lack of drinkable water, and an insufficient growing of crops. However, the discovery of a new type of tobacco by John Rolfe "saved" Jamestown, but they needed cheap labour in this intensive growth, which was one of the causes for the development of slavery. -
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 wealth, and get rid of the £100,000 debt inherited at the beginning of the King's reign. However, the House of Commons feared the King would not need their help and they refused to vote in favor of this contract. As a result, James dismissed Parliament for the first time. -
King James' Bible
As soon as he become King of England, James I continues the path of his English predecessor by confirming Elizabeth's status quo. A new English translation of the Bible is one of the only important religious mesure under his reign. -
The British West Indies
The first English colonies were founded in the 1620s, in the Caribbean. The colonization for instance began in 1623, and the production of sugar, which required millions of workers (West Africans) to work on plantations, doesn't help the expansion of slavery. -
2nd dissolving of the Parliament by the King James I
With the rising of the war, James asked in 1621 the Parliament for money. However, the Parliament disagreed on the organisation of the attack, preferring a sea approch compared to a direct military one. The King, angered by the non respect of his prerogative (Foreign policy being reserved to the King) created discontent, symbolized by a Protestation from the members of Parliament. As a result, King James dissolved Parliament for the second time. -
Death of King James I
By the end of his reign, the Crown’s debt had risen to over £1 million in 1625, especially because of the 30 years’ War. It was although mostly a war for his second son, Charles I, the new King. Indeed, after his death, Charles I succeeded him by becoming the new King of England on 27, March 1625. -
Petition of Rights
After the 30 Years' War, the Crown was impoverished. Charles continued to collect custom duties for longer than a year and resorted to forced loans. As a consequence, members of Parliament complained: they requested the King to recognize the illegality of extra-parliament taxation, billeting... They also wanted to get Charles to recognize that there were limits to his powers. The King signed this petition but was furious and suspended parliament seating. -
The Three Resolutions of 1629
When the members of Parliament started complaining again, the King declared another adjournment. They became very suspicious of the King’s religious support.They consequently passed the Three Resolutions in which they declared that whoever tried to bring in “Popery or Arminianism” or to alter the protestant forms was an enemy of the Kingdom, as well as anyone advising the King to collect custom duties without Parliament’s consent. Charles then dissolved Parliament. -
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Personal Rule
The “Personal Rule” was a period in which Charles ruled without calling a parliament. Many religions policies were implemented during this period. For instance, a uniformity in church practice was imposed by archbishop Laud: sign of the cross, bowing at the name of Jesus...
However, many Protestants members saw this as a return to Catholicism and tried to attacked Laud.
They were for instance put in the pillory and were considered as Protestants martyrs. -
Period: to
The Scottish crisis
The Scottish crisis arose in tensions, especially religious ones. The introduction of the New Prayer Book precipitated this crisis, setting aflame the country. The changes were considered unacceptable (new position of the altar, kneeling…) A riot took place within the country and turned into a rebellion known as the Bishop’s Wars. -
the “Scottish National Covenant”
A petition opposing Charles’ religious policy: the “Scottish National Covenant” (1638)
The Scottish General Assembly removed the bishops. To Charles, this was an act of open rebellion -
The Treaty of Ripon
The Treaty of Ripon was an agreement signed by Charles and the Scottish Covenanters.
When the Scots invaded England and emerged victorious (The Bishops' Wars were fought by the Covenanters to oppose attempts by Charles to bring the Church of Scotland closer to the Church of England.) Charles had to pay the cost of the Scot's army. Although humiliating, Charles was forced to accept these terms and had to signed this peace treaty. -
The Grand Remonstrance
This important document was voted by Parliament, in which all the wrong doings of the King Charles I are summarized. It concluded on "revolutionary" demands, that is to say, the permission for the House of Commons to choose the King's ministers, the right for Parliament to control any army sent to Ireland and to reform the Church. However, this text divided Parliament into two groups, the Parliamentarians and the Royalists. -
the Irish Rebellion
The Irish rebellion was an armed revolt that broke out in Ireland, following the "plantation policy", where James I send English and Scottish protestants colonists to seize lands belonging to Irish Catholics. They revolted against those settlers and massacred around 3500 protestants. The anti-catholic sentiment was reinforced by many rumors regarding Irish atrocities. -
the Militia Act
The parliament passed in 1641 an act concerning the control of the army, just raised after the Irish rebellion. This act states that the army should be placed under the control of a general appointed by Parliament. This allows quite discreetly to take away the King's ability to appoint whoever he wanted. -
The beginning of the Civil War
The element that led to the Civil War was triggered by Charles I himself, when he walked into the House of Commons on January with troops to arrest five members of the Parliament, accused by the King of conspiracy against the Queen. He wanted at first to impeach them, but Parliament refused. Breaking this privilege, he showed that there could be no peace between him and the Parliament. He then formally declared war on Parliament on august 1642. -
Period: to
English Civil War
Charles had to call “the Long Parliament” which he could not dissolve, ultimately leading to the First English Civil War.
(not dissolved until 1660). -
The second Civil War
In November 1647, when the King escaped from the army and allied himself with Scotland - by promising them to introduce their branch of the Christianity' religion into England, and by, in return, allowing them to invade his country and to restore him to power, he horrified Parliament. Indeed, he used a foreign army on his own people. This choice led to the second civil war, a shorter one as it only lasted from January to August. -
England declared as a Republic.
Following the execution of King Charles I, the Monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished. England was then declared a Commonwealth on March 1649.
However, there was a failure to reach stability within the Country. The Lord General and Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell created a military protectorate. It lasted between 1653 and 1658 -
The Irish Rebellion defeated by Cromwell
Many royalist revolted following the abolishment of Monarchy in Ireland and Scotland. Only, they were brutally repressed by Cromwell and his troops. Those massacres took place in Wexford and Drogheda in 1649. Catholicism was thus forbidden and Irish priests were arrested. -
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The Interregnum and the Glorious Revolution
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The execution of Charles I
After the second Civil War, the army wanted the King to be tried, but conservative members of Parliament only wanted to negotiate with him. When the Pride's Purge took place in December 1648, the colonel Thomas Pride entered the House of Commons, stopped the vote and arrested 45 conservative leaders ; the remainders (called the Rump Parliament) put Charles I on trial for high treason and the King was finally executed. -
The Blasphemy Act
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The Scots Army defeated by Cromwell
When Charles II was proclaimed King of Scotland after his father's execution, he raised an army to invade England. However, Cromwell once again defeated the Scots Army in 1650 and crushed the uprising of the Scots Royalist force led by the King in 1651. As a result, King Charles II escaped. -
The Instrument of Government
England's first and only written constitution. -
End of the Commonwealth.
On 20 April 1653, Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament and ordered the MPs to leave. The next Parliament "the barebones Parliament" was also dissolved because of internal tensions. It was thus the end of the Commonwealth. -
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The Cromwellian Protectorate
At first the Parliament was a military Dictatorship, but Cromwell was appointed Lord Protector. He had the executive power, he controlled the military and the diplomacy parts. He ruled with the help of the legislative power : a Parliament constituted of 460 MPs elected every three years. There also was the Council of State, composed of 13 to 31 members who served for life the Country. -
The Invasion of Jamaica
The English invaded Jamaica which had previously been a colony of Spain. This led to several global wars... -
The end of the Protectorate
Cromwell death's in 1658 put an end to this period. It was a difficult one, due to royalist conspiracy, which led to the creation of 12 administration districts, overseen by a Major-General. They forbid alehouses for instance, entertainment...
When Cromwell's son became Lord Protector, he resigned only 6 months after, which led to a period of anarchy, an instable political period. -
The Clarendon Code
This Clarendon Code was a series of laws passed between the first five years of restoration, in which he required people to swear an oath on non-resistance to the king. He also implemented fines for anyone attending non conformist meetings. He was thus very repressive towards non-conformists and dissenters people. -
The Declaration of Breda
After the end of the Protectorate, people feared another civil war, they longed for a return to order. Charles II thus issued this Declaration, which promised a general amnesty. The King also promised to share power with Parliament, in return of the restoration of monarchy, but also promised to continue the religious toleration. -
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The early Restoration
During the beginning of the restoration, Charles II, who had promised a complete pardon to Parliament, executed the 100 people who had signed his father's death warrant. He also had people dismembering Cromwell's corpse, and request his head to stay in a spike in Westminster for 25 years. He also instituted a repressive religious legislation and made a prerogative (his powers of monarch were placed above the law of a land). -
The Restoration
King Charles II restored monarchy in 1660. -
The act of Uniformity
With this new act, all ministers had to swear to conform to the Book of Common Prayer and bishops to the House of Lords were restored, as well as their place in the Church. -
William of Orange and his seizing of the crown
Parliament invited the King's son in law (William of Orange) to invade England and seize de crown. He landed with an important army and met no resistance, as James' army disintegrated and deserted. The King thus fled to France to be protected. -
The Popish Plot
The Popish Plot was a rumor of a plot organized by the French to murder Charles II and replace him by his Catholic brother, James II. -
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The Exclusion crisis
Parliament attempted to debar James II from the succession to the English throne, Charles II dissolved Parliament : he was furious that Parliament tried to modify the rules of succession, as he strongly believed in Divine Rights of Kings. -
Charles II's death
When Charles II died, he was succeeded by his brother James II -
The Glorious Revolution
When James II sat on the throne, people feared a return to Catholicism and to the dark times of civil war. The new King indeed tried to enforce toleration of Catholicism worship, but Parliament forced him to back down. However, people knew that James II was old, and as he didn't have a male heir, his protestant daughter Mary would soon succeed him. Only, in 1668, James' second wife gave birth to a son : a catholic heir. -
Bills of rights
This Bills of rights allowed to fix limitations on the sovereign's powers. Parliament had to consent to new laws but gained control over finances. -
The new King
William became King William III when James II fled to France after being invaded by his son in law. The new King dislodged James II from his throne. The new King and Mary
became joint monarchs but they promised to accept Parliament’s authority and many limits to the monarch’s powers.
The Glorious Revolution was thus a key event leading to Britain’s transformation from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional country. -
The Act of Settlement
As King William III and Mary had no surviving children, and all the potential Stuart successors were Catholics, this act ensured a Protestant succession, ignoring dozens of Catholic heirs. -
William's death
The King William of Orange died in 1702. He was succeeded by Anne Stuart, the last Stuart monarch, then by George I in 1714. -
Act of Union between England and Scotland
In 1707, the United Kingdom of Great Britain between England, Scotland and Wales was created. -
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War of the Spanish Succession / Queen Anne's War
During this war, Britain gained Acadia over the French, and gained Florida over the Spanish, and most of the Canada over the French, between 1756 and 1763. -
The British Empire by 1783
By 1783, the British Empire had established an empire with many colonies in North America, including the West Indies and the Pacific (including New Zealand). It had also established trading posts in India and naval bases in the Mediterranean: in Gibraltar and Minorca. However, Britain's defeat in the American War of Independence led them to lose their American colonies.