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Sep 28, 1066
Norman Invasion by William the Conqueror
- William the Conqueror, former Duke of Normandy, France, invaded England on September 28, 1066.
- William ousted King Harold of England during the Battle of Hastings, allowing him to rise to monarchy
- William reigned Britain through absolutism
- William's brutal reign would later encourage the growth of absolutism within England until the sixteenth century *William's oppression and heavy taxation were resonated by later monarchs of England, causing the English to dissent their leaders,
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Jun 18, 1215
Signing of the Magna Carta by King John
- On June 15, 1215, King John of England signed the Magna Carta at Runnymede *The Magna Carta granted barons (nobles) and clergy members the civil liberties which they thought they were deprived of under John's rule. *The Magna Carta limited the power of King John immensely, which enabled England to take a major step towards parliamentary democracy
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Apr 18, 1521
King Charles V faces Luther at the Diet of Worms
*Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, summoned Luther to the diet ("a day of meeting") at the city of Worms
*Luther went, expecting to defend his 95 Theses against the Roman Catholic Church
*Instead Charles V simply ordered Luther to recant his assertions, though Luther refused
*Though Charles declared Luther an outlaw, Luhter had numerous supporters who accepted his teachings, and, following his lead, renounced the auhtority of the Pope -
Nov 15, 1534
The Act of Supremacy
*After 18 years of marriage, Henry and his Spnaish wife, Catherine of Aragon, had only one suriving child, Mary Tudor
*Henry felt England's stability depended upon him having a male heir
*Thus, Henry wished to marry Anne Boleyn, whom Henry hoped would bear him a son
*Since Pope Clement refused to grant Henry allullment, he had Parliament the Act of Supremacy, which took the English Church from the pope's control and placed it under Henry's rule -
England defeats the Spanish Armada
*To end English attacks and subdue the Dutch, Philip I of Spain prepared a huge armada, or fleet, to carry a Spanish invasion force to England
*In 1588, the Spanish Armada sailed with more than 130 ships, 20,000 men, and 2,400 pieces of artillery
*Though the Spanish were confident of victory, in the English Channel, lumbering Spanish ships were outnumbered by the lighter, faster English ships, resulting in England's victory under Queen Elizabeth
*Prides Golden Age Queen, Queen Elizabeth -
Queen Elizabeth Dies
*During a long reign, Elizabeth used all her skills to restore unity to England
*Even while keeping many Catholic traditions, she made England a firmly Protestant nation
*Elizabeth helped England enter a golden age by collaborating with Parliament, adhering to the Magna Carta, and protecting England from a planned invasion from Spain in 1588
*When Elizabeth died in 1603, she had no heir so the Tudor family line ended and Parliament turned to the Stuart family of Scotland to assume the throne. -
The Petition of Rights
*King Charles completely ignored the Parliament for 11 years until he needed money from them
*Parliament promised to help fund his monarchy, but on one major condition: King Charles had to sign a dsument in 1628 called the Petiton of Rights
*The Petition of Rights greatly resembled the Magna Carta, as it limited the king's power to tax and stated that an individual could not be arested without being justly convicted by a trial of thier peers
* Charles signed the petition, but later ignored it -
The English Civil War 1642-1649
As a result of Charles I's attempt to arrest some Puritan members of Parliament who demanded that he be less autocratic, civil war breaks out between Parliament's Roundheads (Puritans, farmers, merchants) and Charles I's Cavaliers (Roman Catholics, wealthy landowners, and supporters of the Church of England
*The Roundhead forces led by Oliver Cromwell, called the New Model Army, eventually defeated the Cavaliers in 1648 -
The Execution of King Charles I
*In 1649, Parliament put Charles I on trial and sentenced him to death as "a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy."
*The execution stunned the European continent, as such represented the first time that a ruling monarch was executed by his/her people.
*This distinctly explicated that no ruler could claim absolute power and ignore the rule of law. -
1649-1660 The Coomonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell
*After Charles I's execution in 1649, monarchy is abolished by Parliament and Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the new British commonwelath
*During his reign, England became democratic
*Though Cromwell was democratic, he greatly oppressed all opposition to his reign, especially Roman Catholics
*By limiting drinking, gambling, and dancing, Cromwell gained dissent from the English, who thought Cromwell deprived them of the freedoms they fought for in the English Ciil War -
The Restoration of the throne to King Charles II
*Following the death of Cromwell in 1658, Parliament restored the monarchy and had asked Charles Stuart (the son of King Charles I whom Paliament had executed) to become king.
*During his reign from 1660 to 1685, King Charles Ii formed a diplomatic relationship with Parliament that had greatly resembled the relationship Queen Elizabeth had formerly established with Parliament during her golden age reign -
The Glorious Revolution
Unlike his brother, Charles III, James II angered his subjects by flaunting his catholicism, claiming Divine Right, and suspending laws on a whim and appointing Catholics to high office.
* In 1688, alarmed parliamentary leaders invited james' Protestant daughter, Mary, and her Dutch Protestant husband, William III of Normandy, France to become rulers of England. When William and Mary landed with their army late in 1688, James II fled to France. -
The English Bill of Rights
*Before they could be crowned, William and Mary had to accept several acts passed by Parliament in 1689 that became known as the English Bill of Rights.
*The Bill of Rights ensured the superiority of Parliament over the monarchy, required the monarch to summon Parliament regularly, gave the House of Commons the "power of the purse," prohibitted a monarch from interfering with parliamentary debates or suspending laws, barred any Catholic from sitting on the throne, and restated civil liberties.
