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1534
Act of Supremacy
Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy which recognized Henry VIII as the « Supreme Head of the Church of England. » Thereby severing ecclesiastical links with Rome. (=schism) -
Period: 1536 to 1541
Dissolution of the monasteries
The Crown appropriated their income and land. The valuables were confiscated and melted down. By 1536, all the smaller monasteries had disappeared and the greater ones followed two years later. -
Period: 1536 to 1537
Pilgrimage of Grace
These were the greatest rebellions ever faced by a Tudor monarch, they lasted 6 months. The insurgents were the common people, but also the gentry and clergy. The repression was brutal : exemplary public hangings. -
1537
English Bible
Permission was given for an English Bible and not a Latin one. They were soon made mandatory in every church. -
Period: 1537 to 1553
Edward VI
Henri VIII’s first heir. -
Period: 1542 to
Mary Stuart
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Period: 1545 to 1563
Council of Trent
Held in the Italian city of Trent = the symbol of Counter Reformation.
The Roman Catholic church attempted to correct some of the abuses of the church
and harshly condemned protestant heresies.
• The Pope’s hostility to the Elizabethan religious settlement was growing.
He instructed English Catholics not to attend Anglican church services. -
Period: 1547 to 1553
Edward VI’s reign of England and Ireland
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Jan 28, 1547
Death of Henry VIII
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1549
Book of Common Prayer
Edward VI was fiercely protestant. Roman Catholic practices were eradicated. -
Period: 1553 to 1558
Mary I’s reign of England and Ireland
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Period: 1555 to 1558
« Bloody Mary »
Protestantism was confined to secrecy as heretics were burned between 1555 and 1558. Over 200 Protestants went to the stake. Protestants were forced to leave the country. -
1559
The Act of Supremacy
• Abolished the authority of the Pope.
• Restored the authority of the Queen over the Church.
• The queen became “Supreme Governor of the Church of England”. -
1559
The Act of Uniformity
• Every parish had to use the Book of Common Prayer
• People who did not attend an Anglican service were fined. -
Period: 1559 to 1563
New Legislation
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Period: 1563 to 1571
The 39 articles of faith
• Stated the doctrine of the Church.
• 3 important changes : a new ecclesiology (conception of the Church) ; a new doctrine of Salvation ; a new definition of sacraments and of the mass. -
1569
The Northern Rebellion
Rebellion against religious reforms.
6000 insurgents.
An attempt to replace Queen Elizabeth by Mary, Queen of Scots.
The revolt was led by the Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland.
It was crushed. -
1570
Pope Pius V’s papal bull « Regnans in Excelsis »
It called Elizabeth « The so-called queen », « a heretic favouring heretics ».
= almost giving Catholics licence to kill her with the certainty that it would not be seen as a crime by Rome. -
1571
Treason Act
Made in response to the Pope’s papal bull.
It made treason for anyone to say that Elizabeth was not the true Queen of England and Wales. -
Period: 1577 to 1580
Francis Drake’s voyage around the world
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1581
The 1581 Act
It provided for the death penalty for any person converting, or already converted to Catholicism.
• It was now forbidden to participate or celebrate the Catholic Mass.
• Anglican services were compulsory : £20 per month fine. -
The Babington plot
Young Catholics had sworn to kill Elizabeth and put Mary Stuart on the throne but their strategies were discovered by Francis Walsingham, when he managed to decipher a coded letter between Marie Stuart and this group. -
Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots was convicted for complicity and sentenced to death. She was executed in Fotheringham Castle, wearing a bright red dress, the colour of Catholic martyrs. -
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada
In retaliation of the Catholic King of Spain, Philip II, supporting plots against Elizabeth, the queen supported the Dutch Revolt against Spain.
As a result, the King of Spain attempted to invade England.
A complete defeat, England was victorious. -
East India Company
It was founded by royal charter. It began to build up a small empire of trading posts in India. Three main trading settlements : Bombay (Mumbai), Calicut (Calcutta), Madras (Chennai). The East India Company allowed England to control the trade of luxury goods
like spices, cotton, silk and tea from India and China, and influenced politics. -
Period: to
Charles I
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Period: to
James I’s reign
He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, who had been executed by Elizabeth.
James was proclaimed King of Scotland in 1567.
He was crowned King of England in 1603 on Elizabeth’s death.
Catholics placed high hopes in him because he was Queen Mary’s son but he continued Elizabeth’s harsh repressive laws. -
Death of Elizabeth I
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Gunpowder Plot
A conspiracy devised by a small group of Catholics to blow up Parliament and kill James I. -
Establishment of Jamestown in Virginia
It was the first permanent settlement in North America and was named after James I. -
Period: to
The Starving Time
Period of starvation, only 60 of the 500 colonists survived.
Causes :
• Shortage of drinkable
water.
• Insufficient growing of
crops.
• Conflicts with the Native
Powhatan tribe.
Some settlers even turned to cannibalism. -
The « Great Contract »
James I inherited a £100 000 debt.
These financial difficulties were reinforced by James’ extravagance, spending money on gifts to friends and courtiers. The contract implied that the King would receive a fixed sum.
But some MPs feared the King would not need to call up parliaments
anymore to get money as the king would be financially independent.
The House of Commons refused to vote in favour of the Great Contract which led to James dismissing Parliament. -
The King James Bible
New translation of the Bible. -
Period: to
The Thirty Years War
England at war with Spain and France. Consequences of the war :
A huge strain on finances.
The raising of troops (50 000) had important impacts on the local population. -
Plymouth colony
Puritans left England on the arrival of James I on the Mayflower. -
The beginning of the St Kitts colonization
The first English colonies in the Caribbean were founded in the 1620s. Colonization of St Kitts began in 1623 and then expanded to islands including Barbados and Antigua. -
Period: to
Charles I’s reign of England, Scotland and Ireland
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Petition of Rights
MP’s requested the King to recognise the illegality of extra-parliamentary taxation, billeting, martial law, imprisonment without trial.
Wanted to get Charles to recognise that there were limits to his
powers.
Charles reluctantly signed it but was furious, and as MPs were discussing impeaching Lord Buckingham again, he suspended parliament seating. -
Three Resolutions
Whoever tried to bring in « Popery or Arminianism » or to alter the protestant forms of the Church of England was an enemy of the Kingdom as well as anyone advising the King to collect custom duties without Parliament’s consent.
= act of open defiance.
Charles imprisoned these MPs and dissolved parliament. -
Period: to
The Personal Rule
11 years when the King ruled without calling a parliament.
Whig historians called it « The Eleven Years Tyranny ».
The religious policies implemented by Charles during the Personal Rule were destructive of the Elizabethan compromise. -
Period: to
Charles II
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Maryland
A catholic colony. -
Period: to
The Scottish crisis
In 1637 King Charles I attempted to draw the Church of Scotland (Calvinist) into line with the Church of England (Anglican).
Scottish opposition came to the boil when Charles I attempted to impose a New Prayer Book (Book of Common Prayer).
The changes were deemed unacceptable.
A riot erupted in St Giles’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, on the reading of the New Prayer Book.
The riot would soon turn into a widespread rebellion known as the Bishops’ Wars. -
Scottish National Covenant
A petition opposing Charles religious policy, it called for the spiritual independence of the Scottish Church to be maintained.
To Charles, this was an act of open rebellion. -
Charles formally declares war on Parliament.
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Period: to
The First Civil War and the victory of Parliament.
The First civil war would cost the lives of 190 000 Englishmen in combat and from diseases and last for four years. -
The New Model Army
A new army created in 1644 by the Parliamentarians.
Unlike the earlier regional armies,
this was a national, centralized army, controlled and paid from Westminster rather than the counties. • Strong of 22 000 men.
• Armed with swords, pistols, pikes.
• Wearing the redcoat.
• Religious fervour (nicknamed the
« praying army », soldiers carried Bibles in their breast pockets), convinced that the army was acting on God’s behalf. -
Battle of Naseby
This battle was a turning point and saw the Royalist forces weaken. -
The King and the Royalists surrender
Charles surrendered to the Scots, who handed him to Parliament. -
The New Model Army seized the King
Thinking the war was over, the House of Commons decided to disband the New Model Army BUT without paying the soldiers what they were due (at that point they hadn’t being paid for months).
This led to mutiny. In June 1647, the New Model Army seized the King. -
Agreement of the People
In November 1647, soon after the First English Civil War, the Army issued an Agreement of the People which means there is no authority above parliament.
The Agreement was the subject of the Putney Debates in 1647. The major tenets of this first version of the Agreement were : freedom of religion, the frequent convening of new parliaments and equality for all under the law. -
The King escapes from the Army
The King escaped from army custody and allied himself with the Scots ; he promised to introduce Presbyterianism/Calvinism into England, in return the Scottish army would invade England and restore him to power.
The Parliament is horrified because of the usage of a foreign army to wage war on his own people and led to the Second Civil War. -
Pride’s Purge
The Army wanted the King to be tried, conservative MP’s wanted to negotiate with the King.
Colonel Pride (Army) entered the House of Commons, stopped the vote and arrested the 45 conservative leader MP’s.
The remainder MP’s, named the Rump Parliament, put the King on trial for high treason. -
Period: to
The Second Civil War
The Second Civil War was made of a series of revolts in the South of England, Wales and Scotland.
The Royalists were easily defeated by Cromwell. -
King Charles I’s execution
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Charles II proclamed King of Scotland
He raised a Scottish Army to invade England. -
Period: to
Charles II’s reign of Scotland
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Abolishment of the Monarchy and House of Lords
The monarchy was described as « unnecessary, burdensome and dangerous ».
The House of Commons had supreme authority.
England was declared a Commonwealth (a republic) which was governed by its people without a King.
But it failed to reach stability and eventually led to the creation of a military protectorate ruled by Cromwell. -
Massacre of the Irish Royalist troops and civilians in Drogheda
The massacre of nearly 3,500 people in Drogheda after its capture - comprising around 2,700 Royalist soldiers and all the men in the town carrying arms, including some civilians, prisoners, and Catholic priests. -
Cromwell defeats the Scots Army
He also crushed the uprising of the Scots. -
Blasphemy Act
A member of the Quakers, a protestant sect that denied that the Bible was the word of God, James Nayler who imitated Christ’s entry into Jerusalem was harshly punished. -
Cromwell dissolved the Rump
Cromwell judges that the progress with electoral forms is too slow.
The Army is getting increasingly irritated by the Rump Parliament.
He orders the MP’s to leave. -
End of the Commonwealth and start of the Protectorate
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The Instrument of Government
The Instrument of Government is a constitution of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. Drafted by Major-General John Lambert in 1653, it was the first sovereign codified and written constitution in England. -
The invasion of Jamaica by the English
Jamaica was previously a colony of Spain. -
Olivier Cromwell’s death
His son Richard became Lord Protector but resigned after 6 months.
This led to a period of Anarchy.
There were seven governments in less than a year, people longed for a return to order, increasing support for monarchy. -
Charles II issues the Declaration of Breda
It promised a general amnesty, to continue religious toleration, to share power with Parliament in return for the restoration of monarchy. -
The Restoration
The monarchy was restored.
The 100 people who had signed Charles I’s death warrant were executed.
Cromwell’s corpse was dismembered, his head stayed on a spike in Westminster for 25 years. -
Period: to
Charles II’s reign of England, Scotland and Ireland
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New York
The English took over the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which included the state of New Amsterdam. The English renamed it New York. -
Outbreak of the Plague
Officially the « Great Plague » killed 68,595 people in London that year. The true figure is probably nearer 100,000 or one-fifth of the city's population. -
Period: to
The Second Anglo Dutch war
Resulted in the Treaty of Breda -
The Great Fire of London
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The Popish Plot
Rumour of a plot organised by the French to murder Charles II and replace him by his Catholic brother James II.
People fear that James as king would implement pro-Catholic politics and might try to restore absolute monarchy, threatening Parliament. -
Period: to
The Exclusion crisis
Parliament attempted to debar James II from the succession to the English throne.
As a reaction Charles dissolves the Parliament. -
Pennsylvania
A Quakers colony. -
Period: to
James II’s reign of England, Scotland and Ireland
James succeeded to the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland following the death of his brother Charles II. -
William of Orange becomes King William III
In 1688, Parliament invited the King’s 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’s army disintegrated, officers deserted.
James II then fled to France and William became King William III. -
Toleration Act
It established religious pluralism,
and freedom of worship for all Protestants. -
The Bill of Rights
• The King could not raise tax without Parliament’s consent.
• No Catholic was to inherit the throne.
• Set out the rights of Parliament.
• Regular parliaments.
• Free elections.
•Freedom of speech in Parliament.
•Set out basic civil rights. It also was a key political text :
• Essential document of the uncodified British constitution.
• Model for the US Bill of rights.
• Influenced by John Locke = the role of the government is to protect its citizen’s natural rights. -
The Act of Settlement
Settled the order of succession and ensured a Protestant succession, ignoring dozens of Catholic heirs.
• Successor : Hanoverian descendants of James I.
• Key role in the formation of the Kingdom
of Great Britain. It also put an end to the 16th and 17th quarrel between King and Parliament. A new balance of powers in favour of Parliament. -
William III’s death
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Period: to
Anne Queen of Great Britain and Ireland’s reign
Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland following the ratification of the Acts of Union on 1 May 1707, which merged the kingdoms of Scotland and England. Previous to this, she was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 8 March 1702.
She was the last Stuart monarch after William III. -
Act of Union between England and Scotland
Creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain : England (and Wales) and Scotland. -
Period: to
War of the Spanish Succession
It took place during Queen Anne’s reign.
Britain gained Acadia over the French. -
Period: to
George I’s reign of Great Britain and Ireland
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first British monarch of the House of Hanover. -
The 1715 Jacobite Rising
Led by the « Old Pretender » James Francis Edward Stuart, the son of James II.
The Jacobites are loyal to the Stuarts, they are supporters of James II, then of his son and grandson and are active in France and Scotland. -
Period: to
Domination of the British politics by the Whig Party
Had supported the Glorious Revolution (1688-89).
Rivals of the Tory Party, who had supported the Stuarts and remained excluded from major positions until 1783. -
Period: to
George II’s reign of Great Britain and Ireland
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death in 1760. -
The 1745 Jacobite Rising
They are led by the « Young Pretender » Bonnie Prince Charlie, the grandson of James II. -
The final defeat of the Jacobites
They are finally defeated at the battle of Culloden. -
Period: to
Seven Years War
Britain gained Florida over the Spanish and most of Canada over the French. -
Period: to
American War of Independence
The years 1775-1783 were a turning point in British history, as the nation lost a huge part of its empire. This marked the end of what is now called the « First British Empire ». -
Period: to
American Revolutionary War
American Patriot forces largely under George Washington's command defeated the British. In the resulting Treaty of Paris (1783), the British recognized the independence and sovereignty of the United States. American Patriot forces eventually gained the support of the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain. The British and Loyalist forces also included Hessian soldiers from Germany. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, in U.S. was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. -
Treaty of Paris
Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States. -
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 was a popular insurrection against the British Crown influenced by the ideas of the American and
French revolutions.
The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen. First formed in Belfast by Presbyterians opposed to the landed Anglican establishment, the Society, despairing of reform, sought to secure a republic through a revolutionary union with the country's Catholic majority. -
Acts of Union
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 brought the Irish question forcibly to the attention of the British Cabinet ; and William Pitt the Younger, the British prime minister, decided that the best solution was a union.
Are then created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Parliament of Ireland is merged into the
Parliament of the UK.