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Period: 1500 to
The early modern period
This period falls between the medieval period and the Industrial Revolution, where economic, political, imperial, and above all cultural transformations accured. -
Period: 1509 to 1547
The reign of Henry VIII
The reign of Henry VIII led to the separation of the church of England from the Roman Catholic church. The King became the leader of the church after the Pope's refusal of a royal divorce. He took the pope's powers, dismissing him and the clergy of all authority. He is one of the most famous and emblematic english king. -
1517
The Ninety-five theses by Martin Luther
Here we can find the foundation text in the movement of Protestantism, where Martin Luther nailed his critic of the church on the door of the university of Wittenberg. Thanks to the recently invented printing press the Ninety-five theses spread through all of Europe, making the Protestant Reformation the world's 1st modern media event. -
1526
The Tyndale Bible
This marks the first translation of the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek to English in England by William Tyndale a gifted scholar and linguist who wanted everyone in England, from the ploughboy to the king, to be able to read the Scripture in his own language. -
1534
The act of supremacy
This act defined the right of Henry VIII to be supreme head on earth of the Church of England, thereby founded the protestant church in Great Britain and creating a schism. The king's Great Matter was considered as a political and personal move. -
1536
Pilgrimage of Grace
Important rebellions interrupted the dissolution process of the monasteries; rebellions in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. These are the greatest rebellions ever faced by a Tudor monarch. They lasted 6 months and were against the dissolution and the Reformation. A central element of local communities, they provided poor relief etc.
They also demanded the restoration of the Pope and of Mary Tudor to the Royal Succession.
Economic grievances were also at the center of the rebellions. -
Period: 1547 to 1553
The reign of Edward VI
"the young king" herited the throne at the age of 9, his eldest uncle reigns for him, his measures pushed England towards protestantism reinforcinghis father's ideology. He died when he was fifteen, not being able to produce an heir in time, his older step-sister Mary Tudor became Queen. -
Period: 1553 to 1558
The reign of Mary Ist
Daughter of henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, the first Queen regnant, retored Catholicism in only 18 months. She was married to the Catholic Philip II of Spain. She is known for the persecution of protestants and received the nickname "Bloody Mary". Her death in 1558 was celebrated as she had turned the nation against her. -
Period: 1555 to 1558
The burning of protestants by Bloody Mary
Mary I's nickname "Bloody Mary" originated from this time period where she has ordered to kill over 200 protestants in a three-years time span. -
Period: 1558 to
The reign of Elisabeth the Ist
The Virgin Queen, reigned for 45 years, stabilized the church of England, her goal is to appease religioud tensions that have been going on for 25 years and created Anglicanism. -
1559
The Act of Supremacy under Elizabeth I
Abolished the authority of the Pope
restored the authority of the Queen over the Church
She became “Supreme Governor of the Church of England” -
1570
The excommunication of Elizabeth I
Pope Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I on this and almost gave Catholics licence to kill her with the certainty that it would not br seen as a crime by Rome. He issued the papal bull “Regnans in excelsis” (le bulle papale, un texte provenant du pape) where he adressed Elizabeth as "The so-called Queen". -
The Babington plot
This is the plot that led to Mary Queen of Scots' execution. Young Catholics had sworn to kill ELizabeth who had been excommunicated from the Church, and put Mary Stuart on the throne who was a deep Catholic, possible heir of the throne. But their strategies were discovered by Francis Walsingham, Former Secretary of State of the Kingdom of England when he managed to decipher a coded letter between Marie Stuart and this group. -
The execution of Mary queen of Scots
Mary of Scots was Queen Elizabeth's cousin. She was raised as a deep Catholic who found shelter in England thanks to Elizabeth at a time when she was involved in a civil war in Scotland. Mary being a possible heir to the throne, she was kept imprisoned by the Queen for 19 years until the final decision of her execution. She wore a bright red dress that day, the color of Catholic martyrs. She was sentenced to death after the discovery of The Babington plot and seen as a complice. -
The defeat of the Spanish Armada
The Invincible Armada was a Spanish float that England defeated thanks to material and human advantages and a storm that helped the Armada's sinking. This victory acted as a proof of Elizabeth's qualities and capacities and used for propaganda. The storm was considered as a divine protection sent by God. -
Period: to
The reign of James I/James VI King of Scotland
This marks the start of the reign of the Stuarts following the ones of the Tudors. Scotland and England were separated countries and it was the first time a King of England had been King of Scotland as well. James tried to convince Parliament of creating a union between the two, in vain. He herited the debt that Elizabeth held after defeating the Spanish Armada and had an important conflict with the parliament. Religiously, he supported Armanians, a branch of Protestantism. -
The Gunpowder Plot
This is a conspiracy devised by a small group of Catholics to blow up parliament and kill King James I, another attempt to re-establish the Catholic religion. -
The "Great Contract"
This is a cintract which the house of favor refused to vote in favor of. It is a financial reform that the King tried to introduce in order to receive a fixed sum, but some members of Parliament feared James I would not need to call up Parliament anymore to get money, making him financially independent. After their refusal, James dismissed Parliament. -
Period: to
The Thirty Years' War
This war was one of the causes ot the rise of the Crown's debt to over 1 million pounds by the end of the reign. The Parliament agreed to finance the war on Spain after James wished to intervene in order to help his dauhter and son in law. However, this would be mostly a war for the next King, Charles I, since James I died in 1625. -
The Petition of Rights
This petition showed the complaints of the Members of Parliament, wanting the King Charles I to recognize that there were limits to his powers and the illegality of extra-parliamentary taxation, billeting, martial law and imprisonment without trial. Charles I reluctantly signed the petition, he was furious and suspemded Parliament not long after that after the members were discussing impreachig Lord Buckingham again. -
The Three Resolutions
Declared that whoever tried to bring in “Popery or Arminianism” or to alter the protestant forms of the Church or England was an enemy of the Kingdom, as well as anyone advising the King to collect custom duties without Parliament's consent. This le to the dissolution of the Parliament by King Charles I who wlso imprisoned some members. This also started the Personal Rule. -
Period: to
The Personal Rule
These 11 years were also called "The Eleven Years Tyranny" by Whig historians since the King Charles I ruled all that time without calling a parliament after declaring that there would be no more parliament after dissolving it and imprisoning its members in 1629 because of the Three Resolutions. -
The Act of Union
United the kingdom of great Britain and Ireland