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Period: 1509 to 1547
Reign of Henry VIII
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1517
Ninety-five Theses
The Ninety-five Theses by Martin Luther marks the start of the European Reformation.
According to Martin Luther, salvation was free, any priest declaring that buying indulgences could free a man of his sins was lying, Christians who were seeking pardon should turn to charity instead of buying expensive letters of pardon. -
1526
Tyndale Bible
William Tyndale translated the New Testament into English. -
1534
Act of Supremacy
With the Act of Supremacy, the king became ''Supreme Head of the Church of England''. This is when the schism happened with the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. -
1536
Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-1537)
The dissolution of monasteries began but it was interrupted by rebellions in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. They lasted 6 months. -
Period: 1547 to 1553
Reign of Edward VI
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1549
Book of Common Prayer
It was the first prayer book, published in 1549 in the reign of Edward VI. -
1553
Catholic Restoration
When Mary Tudor became the queen, she restored Catholicism in 18 months. Under her reign, over 200 Protestants went to the stake. -
Period: 1553 to 1558
Reign of Mary Tudor
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Period: 1558 to
Reign of Elizabeth I
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1559
Via Media by New Legislation (1559-1563)
In order to achieve Middle Way, Elizabeth I passed new legislation: The Act of Supremacy (1559), The Act of Uniformity (1559) and The 39 articles of faith (1563-1571).
These kept Catholic features but added new Protestant ones. Of course, that didn't please everyone and two opposing groups formed; Puritans and Catholics. -
Period: 1567 to
Reign of James VI of Scotland
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Feb 25, 1570
Excommunication of Elizabeth
Pope Pius V issued the papal bull “Regnans in Excelsis” harshly criticised Protestants and excommunicated Elizabeth. This could be interpreted as giving Catholics a licence to kill Elizabeth without any penalty. -
1571
Treasons Act
This was the response of Elizabeth I to the papal bull that was issued in the previous year. Treasons Act made it treason to not accept Elizabeth as the Queen. -
Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
After fleeing from the civil war and being kept prisoner for 19 years, she was executed in 1587. With Catholics wanting her on the throne and her involvement in plots, Elizabeth I did not have any other choice but to execute her even though she was her cousin. -
Defeat of the Spanish Armada
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada had a great effect on the nation and the Queen. It acted as proof of extraordinary qualities of Elizabeth, acted as reaffirmation of the English national cohesion and made the nation believe that even God was on their side. -
Foundation of East India Company
Founded by royal charter, it began to build up a small empire of trading posts in India. 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
Reign of James I of England
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Gunpowder Plot
It was 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 English settlement that was formed in North America. The name came from James I. -
Great Contract of 1610
It was the centrepiece of the financial reforms.
The King would receive a fixed sum but some MPs feared the King would not need to call up parliaments anymore to get money.
The House of Commons refused to vote in favour of the Great Contract and James dismissed Parliament. -
The King James' Bible
A new English translation of the Bible (the King James' Bible) completed in 1611. -
Period: to
The Thirty Years' War
A religious war, fought between Roman Catholics and Protestants. -
Period: to
Reign of Charles I
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Petition of Rights
This petition was the complaints of MPs. They 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
The MPs passed the Three Resolutions and declared that 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. Same thing goes for anyone advising the King to collect custom duties without Parliament's consent.
Charles imprisoned these MPs and dissolved the Parliament. He declared there would be no more parliaments and started the Personal Rule. -
Period: to
The Personal Rule Period
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Scottish Prayer Book
The introduction of the New Prayer Book set Scotland aflame. The changes were deemed unacceptable and the riots soon turned into a widespread rebellion known as the Bishops’ Wars. -
Bishops' Wars
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The Great Remonstrance of 1641
An important document voted by Parliament after heated debates. It summarized all the wrong doing of Charles I and concluded on ''revolutionary'' demands:
- the right of the House of Commons to choose the King's ministers
- the right for Parliament to control any army sent to Ireland
- the right for Parliament to reform the Church
The text divided the Parliament into two groups: The Royalists and the Parliamentarians -
Charles I declaring war on Parliament.
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First Civil War (1643-1646)
The first civil war would cost the lives of 190.000 Englishmen and last four years.
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. -
Second Civil War (January-Autumn 1648)
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 and it lasted from January 1648 to autumn of the same year. -
Period: to
The Interregnum
England declared a “Commonwealth” and was governed by its people without a King but they failed to reach stability and created a military protectorate ruled by Cromwell. -
Execution of Charles I
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Commonwealth!
On January 30 of 1649, King Charles I was executed. In March, Monarchy and House of Lords abolished and on 15th of May 1649, England was declared a Commonwealth (a republic). -
Period: to
The Commonwealth Era
In 1649:
- A law abolished monarchy.
- The House of Lords was abolished.
- The House of Commons had supreme authority.
- England was declared a Commonwealth.
- England was ruled as a Republic. -
Period: to
The Cromwellian Protectorate
The Protectorate was a military dictatorship, similar to a monarchy without a King.
Cromwell was appointed Lord Protector. He had executive power, controlled the military and the diplomacy and ruled with the help of the legislative power.
Parliaments of 460 MPs were elected every 3 years. To be allowed to vote, a man had to own £200 of personal property.
Council of State composed of 13 to 21 members who served for life. -
Dissolution of the Rump Parliament
There were two problems with the Rump Parliament:
1. Slow progress with electoral reform.
2. Army getting increasingly irritated by the Rump Parliament.
Cromwell dissolved the Parliament and asked the MPs to leave. -
The Instrument of Government
England’s first and only written constitution. -
Declaration of Breda
Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda and it promised a general amnesty to continue religious toleration and to share power with the Parliament in return for the restoration of monarchy. -
Period: to
Reign of Charles II
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Period: to
Early Restoration
Charles II executed the 100 people who had signed Charles I’s death warrant. Cromwell’s corpse was dismembered, his head stayed on a spike in Westminster for 25 years.
There were tensions between the Parliament which was now permanent institution representing the people and the King who was a royal prerogative. -
The Restoration
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The Outbreak of Plague
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Great Fire of London
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Period: to
Political Crisis!
The Popish Plot in 1678 and The Exclusion crisis in 1679-1681. -
Period: to
Reign of James II
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The Glorious Revolution
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 and met no resistance.
James’ army disintegrated, officers deserted.
James II fled to France and William became King William III. -
Period: to
Reign of Mary II
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Period: to
Reign of William III
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The Bill of Rights
- Listed King James’ misdeeds
- The King could not raise tax without Parliament’s consent
- No Catholic was to inherit the throne
- Set out the rights of Parliament
- Set out basic civil rights
- A key political text
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The Act of Settlement
King William III and Mary II had no surviving children and all the potential Stuart successors were Catholic.
This text settled the order of succession and ensured a Protestant succession, ignoring dozens of Catholic heirs making the successor Hanoverian descendants of James I.
It had a key role in the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain. As it put an end to the 16th and 17th quarrel between King and Parliament. A new balance of powers were now in favour of Parliament. -
Period: to
Reign of Anne
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Act of Union between England and Scotland
On this date, the Scottish Parliament and the English Parliament united to form the Parliament of Great Britain, based in the Palace of Westminster in London, the previous home of the English Parliament. -
Period: to
War of the Spanish Succession
Britain gained Acadia over the French. It is also called Queen Anne’s War. -
Period: to
Reign of George I
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Period: to
Reign of George II
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Period: to
Seven Years’ War
Britain gained Florida over the Spanish and (most of) Canada over the French. -
Period: to
Reign of George III
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Period: to
Turning Point in British History
The nation lost a huge part of its empire in the American War of Independence. -
Acts of Union
