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Period: Aug 22, 1485 to Apr 21, 1509
Reign of Henry VII
Henry VII won the war of the roses against Richard III and estbalished the Tudor dynasty in England. He married Elizabeth of York to unite the 2 parts of the conflict. -
1486
Uprising
From the begining of his reign Henry VII had a lot of issues to deal with. He had to established himself as the legitimate King. Supporters of Richard III tried to create conflict by usurping the heir of the previous King. -
1502
Alliance with Scotland
Henry VII was the first to form an alliance with Scotland by marrying his daughter Margaret to the James IV. -
Period: Apr 21, 1509 to Jan 28, 1547
Reign of Henry VIII
The major problem of Henry VIII's reign was his succession. In total he had 6 wives and 3 children. The first, Mary, who he had with Catherine of Aragon. Then Elizabeth who he had with Anne Bloeyn his second wife and finally a boy Edward who he had with his third wife Jane Seymour. All three of his children ruled after him. -
1532
Divorce with Catherine Of Aragon
After years of infertility the royal couple only had 1 daughter: Mary. Henry became impatient for a male heir and his wife was getting old and couldn't bear children anymore. Catherine in 20 years of marriage had more than 7 pregnancies of which only 1 was viable. After a while Henry put his wife aside and wanted to divorce her. This led to the break with the Catholic Church and Henry repudiated Catherine in 1532. -
1533
The Act of Restraint of Appeals
The act proclaimed that no church has authority in England nor above the King. -
1533
Marriage with Anne Boleyn
In 1533 Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn, with whom he had already had an affair, which was one of the reasons why he wanted to divorce his first wife. Anne could give him children and especially sons because she was young. She became queen consort of England. -
1534
Break with Rome
Henry VIII made his seperation with Rome official by publishing the Act of Supremacy. The act says that the Pope doesn't have any power in England and that the King became the head of the english church. -
Period: 1534 to 1554
First Act of Supremacy
Made by Henry VIII -
1536
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of english monasteries beacuse he thought that the Pope still had power through them. However it was not popular since they were socially helping the poors. And the lands were donated ot catholics lords to gain their loyalty. -
Period: Jan 28, 1547 to Jul 6, 1553
Reign of Edward VI
Edward was raised protestant by his uncle Edward Seymour who was the leader of an important protestant faction.
Under his reign the country tried to switch to a more protestant lifestyle.
He was a weak King both politically and physically. -
1552
The Act of Uniformity
This Act of Uniformity replaced the 1549 one and aimed to make England a protestant country. At the same time a new edition of the Book of Common Prayer is published and was way more radical than the previous one. -
Period: Jul 19, 1553 to Nov 17, 1558
Reign of Mary I
After the divorce of her parents in 1532 Mary was declared illegitimate but was not erased from the succession line. Contrary to her siblings she was raised catholic. She was almost overthrown by one of her brother's distant cousin Jean Grey who claimed the throne for 9 days. -
1554
Marriage with Philippe of Spain
Not wanting the throne to go to her sister Mary wants to find a husband to produce heirs to the English crown. However she married Prince Philip of Spain. Their marriage was not popular because according to the law a woman could not rule alone and if she married the man automatically became king of the country. In this case the government was afraid that Philip would become king of England and especially that England would become Spanish. -
1554
Religious Policy
From the beginning of her reign Mary tried to make England switch back to catholicism. She was not gentle with protestants and they were persecuted. However her reputation of "Bloody Mary" was formed after her death. Giving the context of religious war the number of death is quite reasonable. And the protestants who died under her reign were seen as martyr. -
Period: 1554 to 1559
Return to catholicism
Mary I was a true catholic and never accepted the reforms made by her family so when she access the throne she wanted to re-established catholicism. In 1554 she abolished the Act of Supremacy passed by her father in 1534. By that she welcomed catholicism back in England. -
Period: Nov 17, 1558 to
Reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth is the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. After her mother's death she was decleared illegitimate like her sister but was not erased from teh succession.
When she came to power in 1558 she has to deal with the political and religious instability the previous reigns left behind. England is divided. Elizabeth aimed at reposition England in International relationship; re-established the reformation; stabilise the country. -
1559
Elizabeth's religious settlement
Tensions between Protestant and Catholics are at the heart of the country. Elizabeth tried to find compromises to please both parts. She made deals with both Catholic [which were at this time a lot of nobles] and Protestant [she tried to calm down radicals]. -
1559
New Act of Supremacy
Elizabeth published a new Act of Supremacy which was a new break with the catholic churchafter her sister reunited with it. Which reinstalled the crown as head of the church but because of the patriarchal society she called herself “Supreme Governor of Church”. A new Act of Uniformity and a new Book of Common Prayer are published at the same time. At that time the english church is quite conservative in term of liturgy but theology is more protestant. -
1567
The acceptance of protestantism in Wales
Wales became an english territory in 1536 under Henry VIII but rejected protestantism. However in 1567, under Elizabeth, they began to convert thanks to the translation of the book of Common Prayer and the New Testament in welsh. And 20 years later the whole Bible was translated. -
1570
The Catholic's threat
In 1570 the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth and gave catholics the right to rebel against her. Although it didn't work it made the queen worried so she criminalised catholicism. People were not killed beacuse they were catholics but because their religion was seen as a treason to the crown. By the end of Elizabeth's reign most catholics were Lords and had power. -
1571
Treason Act
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Defeat of The 'Invincible Armada'
In a naval battle between the english and spanish army, the 'Invincible Aramada' as defeated. Even if it was mostly due to the weather Elizabeth used it to affirm her place of godly monarch. -
Question of Elizabeth's succession
After two failed suitors Elizabeth remained single and became “The Virgin Queen”, she used that title to her advantage and built her reign with it. But since she didn’t marry she didn’t have heirs for the Crown. The closest heir in the line of succession was Mary Queen of Scots but she was a catholic and cast out of her country.She is executed and the title of heir is redirected to her son : James VI who is protestant and King of Scotland and will after Elizabeth’s death become King of England. -
End of the Elizabethan Era
In march 1603 Elizabethb I died and left the throne of england to the Scottish King James VI who was the first moanrch to rule on both Scotland and England.
It is the end of the Tudor dynasty as she died without children. It also is the end of the Elizabethan era.