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Apr 29, 1485
The Renaissance began
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Aug 22, 1485
Henry Tudor defeats Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth
After the disappearance of the 'Princes in the Tower' and a failed rebellion by Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, in 1483, opposition to Richard III now focused on the best available Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor. In 1485, Tudor raised an army in Wales. The opposing armies of York and Lancaster met for the final time at Bosworth, where Richard III was killed. In January 1486, Tudor married Elizabeth of York, uniting the two houses and ending the Wars of the Roses. -
Jun 17, 1487
Henry VII defeats a pretender to his throne at the Battle of Stoke
On 4 June 1487, Henry VII's Yorkist enemies landed a small army on the coast of Cumbria. They had crowned the pretender Lambert Simnel as Edward VI in Dublin. Henry intercepted and defeated them at Stoke, near Newark on Trent. The last battle of of the Wars of the Roses -
Apr 21, 1509
Henry VII dies and is succeeded by Henry VIII
The peaceful succession from father to son was in marked contrast to the turbulence of Henry VII's seizure of power at the end of the Wars of the Roses. Henry VIII came to the throne at the age of 17. He was widely regarded as intelligent, athletic and cultured. Two months after he became king, he married his brother's Spanish widow, Catherine of Aragon. Because Catherine was Henry's sister-in-law, a papal dispensation was required for the union to proceed. -
May 1, 1515
Thomas Wolsey becomes a cardinal and Lord Chancellor
Thomas Wolsey rose from humble origins to become Henry VIII's chief minister. In 1515, the pope made him a cardinal and Henry appointed him lord chancellor. In 1518, Wolsey was made papal legate, making him effectively head of the English church. He was the most powerful man in England after the king. But when Wolsey proved unable to arrange the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, his fall was swift. He was stripped of his offices and died in 1530 on his way to face a charge of treason. -
Oct 17, 1521
The pope grants Henry VIII the title 'Defender of the Faith'
Pope Leo X conferred the title on Henry for his book 'Assertio Septem Sacramentorum' (Defence of the Seven Sacraments), which affirmed the supremacy of the pope. Since 1516, the reforming ideas of German theologian Martin Luther had spread through Europe and were seen as a major threat by the Catholic church. Protestantism reached England very quickly, but its growth was to be dramatically accelerated as a result of Henry's attempts to secure a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. -
Apr 29, 1527
Henry VIII appeals to the pope to annul his marriage
Henry VIII was desperate for a male heir. His wife, Catherine of Aragon, now in her 40s, had produced only one surviving child - Mary. He appealed to Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage so that he could marry Ann Boleyn instead. Henry claimed the union was illegitimate because the bible forbade him from marrying his brother's widow. -
Nov 1, 1534
Act of Supremacy makes Henry head of the English church
The Act of Supremacy confirmed Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church of England and separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry himself was never a Protestant, but the break with Rome was a huge encouragement to Protestants in England. -
Jan 28, 1547
Henry VIII dies and is succeeded by nine-year-old Edward VI
In the event of his death, Henry VIII had appointed a Council of Regency to govern the country for his young son. This was led first by Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, then later by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. Northumberland and the young king were both in favour of the accelerated reformation of the Church. Protestant orthodoxy was enforced by a new and more stringent Act of Uniformity (1552). -
Jul 6, 1553
Edward VI dies and is succeeded by Lady Jane Grey
Before he died, Edward VI was persuaded by his regent, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland to exclude his sisters Mary and Elizabeth from the succession and nominate Lady Jane Grey, a cousin, as queen. She was also Northumberland's daughter-in-law, which meant that he would remain the power behind the throne when Edward was gone. Four days after Edward died, Jane was proclaimed queen, but widespread popular support for Mary ensured her reign lasted only a matter of days. (9 days) -
Jul 19, 1553
Mary, an ardent advocate for a return to Catholicism in England, becomes queen
Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, Mary had a difficult upbringing. Following the brief reign of Lady Jane Grey, Mary was proclaimed queen and on 3 August she rode into London unchallenged. Mary was the first woman to be crowned monarch of England in her own right. A devout Catholic, she was determined to halt the growth of Protestantism initiated by her father, and return England to Roman Catholicism. -
Nov 17, 1558
Mary dies and Elizabeth I accedes to the throne
Mary became terminally ill in August 1558 and died early in the morning on 17 November. Soon afterwards the news reached her half-sister Elizabeth, then living at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire. Throughout her reign, Mary had viewed the Protestant Elizabeth as a threat, but she made no effort to prevent her succeeding to the throne, such that parliament had informally recognised her as the future queen the week before Mary's death. -
Mary Stuart is executed
In 1586, Mary Stuart had been implicated in the Babington Plot to murder Elizabeth I and found guilty of treason. Mary had been the focus of a number of plots to overthrow Elizabeth, but this was the first that Mary could be shown to have known about and had probably condoned. Elizabeth's advisors knew that while Mary was alive, Elizabeth was in danger. Mary was executed at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire after Elizabeth finally consented to sign the death warrant. -
English disperse the Spanish Armada at the Battle of Gravelines
Elizabeth’s support for Spain's enemies and persistent English raids on Spanish shipping led to war with Spain from 1585. In 1588, Philip II of Spain sent a huge Armada to invade England. English ships harried the Armada up the Channel, then attacked it as it lay at anchor off Calais, France. The Armada was dispersed and could only return home by circumnavigating the British Isles. The voyage shattered the fleet, with at least 30 ships wrecked on the Scottish and Irish coasts. -
Elizabeth I dies and James VI of Scotland accedes to the English throne
Elizabeth I died childless so was succeeded by her cousin, James VI of Scotland, who henceforth assumed the title of James I of England as well. James's accession meant that the three separate kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were now united, for the first time, under a single monarch. James was the first Stuart ruler of England. -
Gunpowder Plot to assassinate James I is discovered
In 1604, a group of English Catholics, angered by James I's failure to relax the penal laws against their co-religionists, hatched a plot to blow up the king and parliament by igniting gunpowder barrels concealed in a vault beneath the building. The plot was discovered before it could be carried out. The conspirators, including Guy Fawkes after whom the plot is often known, were either killed resisting arrest, or captured and then executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered. -
'King James Bible' is published
By the end of the 16th century, there were several different English bibles in circulation and the church authorities felt a definitive version was needed. The 'Authorised Version of the Bible' (also known as the 'King James Bible') was commissioned in 1604. It became the most famous English translation of the scriptures and had a profound impact on the English language. -
William Shakespeare dies
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, popular in his time but subsequently regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. He wrote numerous sonnets and poems as well as more than 30 plays, including 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Henry V', 'Richard III', 'Romeo and Juliet, 'Macbeth', 'Hamlet' and 'King Lear'. -
"Pilgrim fathers" sail for America
A group (102) attempting to escape religious persecution in England sailed for the New World and landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. They became known as the 'Pilgrim Fathers', and are often portrayed as the founders of modern America. In reality, the first permanent British colony in North America was Jamestown in Virginia, founded by Captain John Smith in 1607. Jamestown was established on behalf of the London Company, which hoped to make a profit from the new colony for its shareholders. -
End of The Renaissance
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James I dies and Charles I accedes to the throne
James I was struck down by what contemporaries described as 'a tertian ague' and died in his bed at Theobalds, in Hertfordshire, at the age of 57. He was succeeded by his only surviving son, Charles, then 24-years-old, who was proclaimed as king at the gates of Theobalds a few hours later.
