Histoire Britannique

By Julien Chabot
  • Period: 1509 to 1547

    Reign of Henry VIII

  • Oct 31, 1517

    The Beginning of The Protestant Reformation

    German monk Martin Luther nails his Ninety-Five Theses, criticizing the Indulgences, on the door of the University of Wittenberg, Germany.
  • 1522

    Luther translates the Bible into German

  • 1526

    William Tyndale translates the Bible into English

  • 1527

    The divorce of Henry VIII

    Henry VIII wants his marriage with Catherine of Aragon to be annulled.
  • 1533

    Act of Succession + excommunication of Henry VIII

    Henry VIII marries Ann Boleyn and declares, by the Act of Succession, she is a legitimate queen. The Pope disagrees and the king is banished from the Roman Catholic Church.
  • 1534

    Act of Supremacy

    The king was made Supreme Head of the Church of England
  • Period: 1536 to 1541

    Disband & destruction of monasteries

  • Period: 1536 to 1537

    Pilgrimage of Grace

    Great rebellions were held for six months in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire by gentlemen and clergymen against the Reformation
  • 1537

    The Bible was translated into English

  • Period: 1545 to 1563

    Council of Trent

    Roman Catholic Church tried to correct the abuses of the Church
  • Period: 1547 to 1553

    Reign of Edward VI, The Young King

  • 1549

    Revision of the mass book

    The Book of Common Prayer is instaured, eradicating Roman Catholic practices and allowing the marriage of clergy.
  • Period: 1553 to 1558

    Reign of Mary I

  • Period: 1555 to 1558

    The Catholic Restoration

    Mary I, also called "Bloody Mary", restored Catholicism and sent more than 200 Protestants to the stake.
  • Period: 1558 to

    Reign of Elizabeth I

  • 1559

    Act of Uniformity + Second Act of Supremacy

    Second Act of Supremacy: Elizabeth I became the Supreme Governor of the Church of England
    Act of Uniformity: The Book of Common Prayer became mandatory in every parish and people who did not attend Anglican service were fined.
  • Period: 1563 to 1571

    The 39 Articles of Faith

    Stated the doctrine of the Church, new ecclesiology (conception of the Church), new doctrine of Salvation, new definition of sacraments and of the mass
  • 1568

    Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, flees to England

    Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, flees to England to escape from the civil war taking place in Scotland
  • Period: 1568 to

    Elizabeth I imprisoned Mary Stuart

    Elizabeth I kept Mary Stuart under close watch because she feared she would try to replace her in order to bring Catholicism back
  • 1569

    The Northern Rebellion against religious reforms

    • 6000 insurgents
    • Attempt to replace Elizabeth I by Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
    • Led by the Earls of Westmorland & Northumberland
  • 1570

    Elizabeth I excommunicated

  • 1571

    The Treason Act

    In response to her excommunication, Elizabeth I made it treason for anyone who said she was not the true Queen of England and Wales.
  • 1581

    The 1581 Act

    Catholics were sentenced to death, Catholic Mass became forbidden and Anglican service became compulsory under penalty of a £20 fine per month.

  • The Babington Plot

    Young Catholics had sworn to kill Elizabeth and but Mary Stuart on the throne, but the Queen's master spy intercepted a letter between Mary Stuart and this group. Mary was convicted for complicity and sentenced to death.

  • Mary Stuart is executed

  • Spain attacks England

    Catholic King Philip II of Spain decides to invade Protestant England but the Spanish Armada is defeated for the first time of its history.

  • Elizabeth I controls her image

    Elizabeth I destroyed portraits of her he judged offending.
  • Period: to

    Reign of James I

    By taking the throne of England, James becomes the first sovereign to reign on both Scotland and England.

  • The Gunpowder Plot

    Small groups of Catholics tried to blow up the Parliament

  • The King's "Great Contract"

    King James I tried to introduce a financial reform that would have made him financially independent by receiving a fixed sum of money from the Parliament. The House of Commons refused, so James I dismissed the Parliament.

  • King James' Bible

    Jame I instaures a new English translation of the Bible
  • Period: to

    The Thirty Years' War

    This was a war for the throne of Bosnia. German Prince Elector Palatine, supported by German princes, Scandinavia, France and the Dutch Republic, was invited to take it after the death of Ferdinand Habsburg so the Emperor sent his army, supported by Spain.

  • England enters the Thirty Years' War

    In order to help his daughter and son-in-law (Palatine) and to demonstrate the power of Protestant England, James I sends his country to the war.
  • Period: to

    Reign of Charles I

  • Petition of Rights

    The Members of Parliament complain about Charles I's dissolution of Parliament, forced loans and illegal custom duties collection. They globally want the king to recognise there were limits to his powers.
  • Period: to

    The Personal Rule

    Time span during which Charles I governed without ever calling a Parliament after they declared that Arminians (Protestants that want to get closer to Catholicism, supported by Charles I) and anyone advising the King to collect custom duties without Parliament's consent (meaning the King himself) were enemies.

  • Charles I imposes The Book of Common Prayer in Scotland

    Charles I imposes The Book of Common Prayer in Calvinist Scotland, leading to a riot in St Giles' Cathedral and to The Bishops' War)
  • Period: to

    The Scottish Crisis

    The Scottish crisis began in 1637 after King Charles I tried to impose the Book of Common Prayer in Scotland, leading to riots in Scottish churches.

  • The Scottish National Covenant

    It was a petition opposing Charles’ religious policy, it called for the spiritual independence of the Scottish Church to be maintained.The king saw this as an open act of rebellion, so both England and Scotland began to form an army, leading to The Bishops' War.

  • Charles I calls the "Short Parliament"

    The King, in need of money to fight the Scots, called a Parliament for the first time in 11 years, but dissolved it again only three weeks later, after the Members of Parliament demanded him to address their grievances first. This is a world record.

  • Charles I gets humiliated by the Scots and calls a new Parliament

    The Scots invaded England and defeated them. They signed a Peace Treaty (Treaty of Ripon) forcing Charles I to pay the cost of the Scottish army, which led the king to call a new Parliament (called "The New Parliament") that would not be dissolved until 1660.

  • Irish rebels massacred 3000 Protestants

    Irish rebels massacred 3000 to 4000 Protestants settlers sent by James I

  • Militia Act

    The Parliament takes away the King's right to appoint whoever he wants to the head of the army.

  • The Grand Remonstrance

    Briefly, this document summarized all the wrong doing of Charles I and concluded on “revolutionary” demands.

  • Charles I enters the Parliament by force

    Charles I marched into the House of Commons with troops and attempted to arrest John Pym and 4 other Members of Parliament he believed plotted against the Queen.

  • Charles declares war on Parliament

    Charles formally declared war on Parliament after it presented him The 19 Propositions, including him becoming a constitutional monarch.
  • Period: to

    The First Civil War

    The First Civil War had killed 190 000 Englishmen and ended on the victory of Parliamentarians over Royalists.

  • Creation of the New Model Army

    Created by Parliament, this first English national and centralized army, strong of 22,000 men was a vehicle for Democracy and Egalitarianism.

  • The Royalists surrendered

    Charles I surrendered to the Scots, who handed him to Parliament.

  • The New Model Army seized the King

    After not having been paid for months, the soldiers saw their army disbanded. In response to that, they seized the King from Parliament.
  • Period: to

    The Second Civil War

    The Second Civil War began after Charles I allied himself with the Scots to win back his place on the throne in exchange of introducing Calvinism in England. The Royalists were easily defeated by Cromwell.

  • Cromwell's troops massacre Irish Catholics

    Cromwell's troops massacred Irish Catholics in response to the 1641 rumours accusing Irish Catholics of killing 200,000 Protestants

  • The English Republic

    After the abolition of monarchy (which was described as "unnecessary, burdensome and dangerous") and the House of Lords, England was declared a Commonwealth (a republic).
  • Period: to

    The Interregnum

    Time span during which England was a Commonwealth (until 1653) but then became a Military Protectorate led by Cromwell after failing maintaining stability

  • The execution of King Charles I

    King Charles I was executed at the end of a trial for high treason.

  • Cromwell defeated the Scots Army

    Charles I's son Charles II (who was proclaimed king of Scotland after his father's death) tried to invade England to gain his throne back but Cromwell's army defeated him, leading to his escape

  • The Blasphemy Act

    Cromwell began imprisoning anyone saying that the Bible was not the word of God.

  • The Instrument of Government

    This stands for the English Constitution (only Constitution ever written for England).

  • Cromwell dissolves the Parliament

    Slow progress with electoral reform and tensions between Army and Parliament led Cromwell to play the same game as Charles I and dissolved Parliament.

  • End of the Commonwealth and start of the Military Protectorate

  • Death of Cromwell

  • Charles II & The Declaration of Breda

    Charles II promised general amnesty, to continue religious toleration and to share power with Parliament but only in return for the restoration of monarchy.
  • Period: to

    The Clarendon Code

    A series of laws passed during the first 5 years of the Restoration. They were repressive towards religious groups not belonging to the Anglican Church.
  • Period: to

    Reign of Charles II

  • The Restoration

    Charles II's Declaration of Breda was accepted and the king was restored.

  • The Popish Plot

    Rumour of a plot organised by the French to murder Charles II and replace him by his Catholic brother James II.
  • Period: to

    The Exclusion Crisis

    Parliament attempted to debar James II from the succession to the English throne, going against the divine rights of Kings. In response to that, Charles II... dissolved Parliament.
  • Period: to

    Reign of James II

  • The Glorious Revolution

    After James II was gifted a Catholic heir, Parliament asked William of Orange to invade England and seize the crown, which he did with the help of 15,000 soldiers but they did not even need to fight (English Army deserted and James II fled to France).
    William of Orange became King William III.

  • The Toleration Act

    It established religious pluralism and freedom of worship for all Protestants.

  • The Bill of Rights

    The Monarch's powers became officially limited and England became a Constitutional Monarchy.

  • The Act of Settlement

    King William III and Mary II had no surviving children and all the potential Stuart successors were Catholic, so this Act ensured a Protestant succession, ignoring dozens of Catholic heirs.

  • The Act of Union

    England (including Wales) and Scotland unified to create The United Kingdom of Great Britain, suppressing Scottish Parliament but giving the Scots 45 seats in the House of Commons and 16 seats inn the House of Lords. Nevertheless, Scotland kept its Presbyterian Church and its own laws.