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Period: 1500 to
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
The trans-Atlantic slave trade happened mainly from the 16th to 19th centuries. By 1783, Britain had built a large empire with colonies in America and the West Indies. Around that time, the slave trade was at its peak. By 1800 there were 170 000 slaves in Virginia, an english colony founded in 1607. -
Period: Apr 22, 1507 to Jan 28, 1547
King Henry VIII
He was the son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Henry is best known for his six marriages, including his attempts to annul his first one, which led to the Schism. He had three legitimate children, all of whom sat on the throne of England. -
1533
Act in restraint of Appeals
It gave the King the power to annul marriages, in this case, his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Later that year, Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn and had a daughter, Elizabeth. -
Nov 3, 1534
1st Act of Supremacy
King Henry VIII was made "Supreme Head of the Church of England" when the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church. This is called a SCHISM. -
Period: 1536 to 1537
The Pilgrimage of Grace
The pilgrimage was a series of rebellions that lasted 6 months in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. They were the greatest rebellions ever faced by a Tudor monarch. They were mainly against the dissolution of the monasteries and the Reformation. -
Period: 1547 to 1553
King Edward VI
He was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and was only 9 when he became king. His uncle, Edward Seymour became Lord Protector. Edward died of Tuberculosis in 1553. -
1549
The Book of Common Prayer
Revision of the mass book, which led to the publication of the Book of Common Prayer in 1549 -
Period: 1553 to Nov 17, 1558
Queen Mary I
She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. She became the first Queen regnant at 37 years old. She restored catholicism in 18 months. She was nicknamed "Bloody Mary" because, between 1555 and 1558, over 200 protestants were burned alive under her orders. She died in 1558. -
Period: Nov 17, 1558 to
Queen Elizabeth I
She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. During her reign, she stabilized the church of England, she established a Foreign policy that expanded England's influence in the world. She stayed unmarried all through her 45 years in power, earning herself the title of "Virgin Queen". Elizabeth's reign is associated with the idea of a Golden Age for the country. -
Apr 1, 1559
2nd Act of Supremacy
It abolished the authority of the Pope and restored the authority of the Queen over the Church. Elizabeth became "Supreme Governor of the Church of England". -
Apr 1, 1559
The Act of Uniformity
Centered around religious belief: every parish had to use the Book of Common Prayer and people who did not attend an Anglican service were fined. -
Nov 1, 1569
The Northern Rebellion
It was a rebellion against religious reforms, consisting of 6000 insurgents. It was also an attempt to replace Queen Elizabeth with Mary, Queen of Scots. The revolt was led by the Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland. -
Feb 25, 1570
Elizabeth I is excommunicated
Pope Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth in 1570, after 12 years of believing she would revert to Catholicism. -
1571
The 1571 Treason Acts
They made it treason for anyone to say that Elizabeth was not the true Queen of England and Wales -
1580
The 1581 Act
"Act to Retain the Queen's Majesty's Subjects in their due Obedience" It sentenced to death any person converting, or already converted to Catholicism. It was forbidden to participate or celebrate the Catholic mass and made Anglican services compulsory. This act was key to the repression of Catholics (1577-1603). 163 people were killed during this time. -
Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
She was the daughter of King James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. She was the widow of the French king Francis II. She was a prisoner in England for 19 years because she was considered a threat to Elizabeth. She was at the center of many plots against the Queen, including the Babington Plot of 1586, which resulted in her execution. -
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada
England was victorious against Spain's naval attack and attempted invasion of England under King Philip II. -
Period: to
King James I of England an VI of Scotland
He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots. He was proclaimed king of Scotland in 1567 and crowned king of England in 1603 on Elizabeth's death. He was a strong believer in the divine right of Kings. -
The Gunpowder Plot
A conspiracy devised by a small group of Catholics to blow up Parliament and kill James I. -
Jamestown, Virginia
The first permanent English settlement, Jamestown was established in Virginia in 1607. A previous attempt was made by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585 but failed. -
Period: to
The Thirty Years' War
It was a series of conflicts between Protestants and Catholics, with mainly Germany, France, Denmark, and Sweden opposing the Roman Catholic Empire and Catholic Spain. -
Period: to
King Charles I
He believed in the divine right of Kings and interpreted all criticism as a challenge to his authority. He favoured a minority of Anglicans, the Arminians, who wished to restore traditional ceremonies and increase the authority of Bishops and the clergy.
Charles had an open conflict with parliament during his reign, which led to him dissolving Parliament many times. -
Period: to
The Personal Rule
Period of 11 years when the king ruled without calling a parliament. Whig historians called it "The Eleven Years' Tyranny". -
Period: to
The Scottish Crisis
Set off by the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer in Scotland. They were presbyterian and deemed the changes unacceptable. The riot would soon turn into a widespread rebellion known as the "Bishop Wars" -
The Grand Remonstrance
An unimportant document summarizing all the wrongdoings of Charles I and concluded on "revolutionary demands". However, it divided Parliament into 2 groups: The Parliamentarians, who believed that reform was necessary to safeguard the liberties of Subjects, the rights of Parliament and Protestant Church, and the Royalists, who thought the Grand Remonstrance's demands were too extreme and who wanted a negotiated settlement with the king. -
Period: to
The First Civil War
Cost the lives of 190 000 Englishmen. The June 1645 Battle of Naseby was a turning point and saw the Royalist forces weaken. In May 1646, the King and the Royalists surrendered to the Scots, who handed them over to Parliament. However, the New Model Army, who hadn't been paid in months, seized the King in June 1646 -
Period: to
The Second Civil War
The King attempted to negotiate with the Scottish to restore him to power. This led to a series of revolts from January to Autumn 1648. It ended with the execution of Charles I on the 30th of January 1649 -
Period: to
The Interregnum
Period between 2 reigns, between 2 kings. England was first declared a Commonwealth until 16/12/1653, but a failure to reach stability led to the creation of the Cromwellian Protectorate until 1660. -
Abolition of the Monarchy
Monarchy and House of Lords were abolished, England was declared a Commonwealth. -
Period: to
The Irish Rebellion
Led by Irish Catholics, but was crushed by Cromwell and his troops. In the aftermath of Cromwell's repression, Catholicism was forbidden, Irish priests were arrested and Irish Catholics' lands were confiscated. -
Declaration of Breda
Charles II issued the declaration of Breda, with a promise of general amnesty, to continue religious toleration, and to share his power with Parliament, all of this in exchange for the restoration of the monarchy. It worked, the monarchy was restored on 29/05/1660. -
Period: to
King Charles II
He was the son of Charles I. He first became king of Scotland in 1649 after his father's execution. During his reign he was faced with several domestic and foreign disasters: The 2nd Anglo Dutch war, the 1665 outbreak of the Plague, and the Great Fire of London in 1666. -
Period: to
The 1678-1681 Political Crisis
- The Popish Plot (1678): Rumour of plot organized by the French to murder Charles II and replace him with his catholic brother James II. The government was afraid James would try to restore Catholicism, as well as absolute monarchy, which was a threat to Parliament.
- The Exclusion crisis (1679-1681): Parliament attempted to ban James II from the line of succession to the English Throne (which opposed the divine right of kings). Charles' reaction was to dissolve Parliament.
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Period: to
King James II
James II was the son of Charles I and brother of Charles II. He was the last catholic King of England, Scotland and Ireland. -
The Glorious Revolution
In fear of Catholic absolutism, Parliament invited James' II son-in-law, William of Orange, to invade England and seize the crown. He landed with an army of 15 000 men and met no resistance. James II fled to France and William became King William III of England. -
Period: to
Reigns of William III and Mary II
William was the son of William II of Orange, and Mary was the daughter of James II of England. They were co-rulers until Mary's death in 1694. -
The Bill of Rights
The bill of rights listed James' II misdeeds, Fixed limitations on the sovereigns powers, set out the rights of Parliament, as well as basic civil rights. I is considered a key political text as an essential document of the uncodified British Constitution. -
The Act of Settlement
William III and Mary II had no surviving children and all the potential Stuart successors were catholic. The act of settlement ensured a protestant succession, ignoring a dozen catholic heirs. This act held key role in the formation of the kingdom of Great Britain. -
Period: to
Queen Anne of Great Britain
She was the daughter of James II of England and the sister of Mary II. She was also the last Stuart monarch. Under her reign, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united to form a single sovereign state known as Great Britain. -
The First Act of Union
United England and Scotland to form Great Britain -
Period: to
King George I
Since his mother, Sophia of Hanover, the heri to the throne of England, had died before Queen Anne, George, Elector of Hanover inherited the throne under the Act of settlement of 1701. His reign saw the 1715 Jacobite Rising, led by the "Old Pretender" James Francis Edward, the son of James II. -
Period: to
King George II
He was the son of George I and Sophia Dorothea of Celle. His reign witnessed the 1745 Jacobite Rising, led by the "Young Pretender" Bonnie Prince Charlie, the grandson of James II. And in 1746, he saw the final defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden. -
Period: to
King George III
He was the son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. He was also the grandson of George II. His reign saw the union of the two kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. From then on he became King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. -
Period: to
The American War of Independance
Those years were a turning point in British history, as the nation lost a huge part of its Empire. This marked an end to what is now called the "First British Empire". -
The Irish Rebellion of 1798
It was an uprising against British rule in Ireland influenced by the ideas of the American and French revolutions. It was led by Presbyterian radicals and Catholics. -
The Second Act of Union
Creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It also merged the Parliament of Ireland into the Parliament of the United Kingdom. -
Battle of Waterloo
marked the end of the Napoleonic wars (1803-1815) when Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by Wellington's army. -
Period: to
King George IV
He was the son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His only legitimate child, Princess Charlotte of Wales died childless in 1817, predeceasing both her father and grandfather. This led to him being succeeded by his brother William, Duke of Clarence.