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Oct 31, 1517
Martin Luther’s Ninety-five theses
A critique and protest against the corruption present in the Catholic Church concerning the sales of indulgences, obtained by doing good works, prayers or by donating money. Martin Luther believed salvation was free and one did not need to pay to obtain it, he decreed that if a priest said the opposite, he was inherently lying. -
1526
The Tyndale bible
The Tyndale bible was published in Great Britain by William Tyndale, who translated the New Testament from Latin to the vernacular : English. -
Nov 3, 1534
Act of supremacy
The king was made “supreme head of the Church of England”. This is when the schism happened, the king’s great matter, his divorce, had led England to break from the Roman Catholic Church. The break was gradual and it was mostly a political decision, Henry VIII did not support most Protestant ideas. -
1536
The dissolution of monasteries
Henry VIII decided that monasteries were bastions of “popery”. They were disbanded and the crown appropriated their income and land, at this time, the church owned 25% of the land. The valuables were also confiscated and melted down. -
1536
The pilgrimage of grace
The dissolution of monasteries resulted in massive rebellions in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, which interrupted the process for 6 months, from 1536 to 1537. They were the biggest rebellions ever faced by a Tudor monarch and were called the “pilgrimage of grace”. The insurgents were common people as well as the gentry and the clergy. They were against the dissolution and the reformation. They also demanded the restoration of the pope and Mary Tudor to the royal line of succession. -
1545
Council of Trent
This council was held in the Italian city of Trent and it was the symbol of counter reformation. The Roman Catholic Church attempted to correct some of the abuses of the church and harshly condemned Protestant heresies. -
Jan 28, 1547
Death of Henry VIII
Henry VIII died at 55 years old and named his son, Edward VI, as his heir. -
Jun 6, 1553
Death of Edward VI
Edward VI died at only 15 years old, it is suspected that he had tuberculosis. -
Oct 1, 1553
Mary I (Tudor) became the first queen of England
Mary 1 was crowned queen of England on the 1st of October 1553. -
Oct 1, 1553
The catholic restoration
Protestantism was confined to secrecy as over 200 heretics were burned at the stake between 1555 and 1558. They were forced to leave the country and many fled to Switzerland, where they were taught the teachings of Calvin, they were called the “Marian Exiles”. -
Nov 17, 1558
Death of Mary 1
Mary 1 (Tudor) died at 42 years old. -
1559
The Act of Uniformity
The aim of the Act of Uniformity was to target religious beliefs. Every parish had to use the Book of Common Prayer, and people who did not attend an Anglican service were fined. -
1559
The Act of Supremacy
The aim of the Act of Supremacy was to organise the Church of England, abolishing the authority of the pope and restoring the authority of the Queen, Elizabeth I, over the church. She became “supreme governor of the Church of England”. -
Nov 9, 1569
The Northern rebellion
This rebellion was against religious reformers, there were 6000 insurgents. It was an attempt to replace Queen Elizabeth I with Mary, Queen of Scots. The revolt was led by the Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland. -
Apr 27, 1570
Elizabeth I was excommunicated by the pope
Queen Elizabeth I was excommunicated by Pope Pius V, he issued the papal bull “Regnans in Excelsis”. -
1571
The 39 articled of faith
This doctrine brought three important changes to the religious beliefs of the church: a new ecclesiology, a new doctrine of salvation and a new definition of sacraments and of the mass, that are still in use today. -
May 21, 1571
Treasons act
This Act made it treason for anyone to say that Elizabeth I was not the true Queen of England and Wales. -
1581
The 1581 Act
“The act to retain the queen’s majesty’s subjects in their due obedience”. This 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
During her whole reign, Elizabeth had to defend herself against many plots from the Catholic nobility against her. The most notorious one would be the Babington Plot, which resulted in Mary Queen of Scots’s execution. Young catholics had sworn to kill Elizabeth and put Mary Stuart on the throne but their strategies were discovered by Francis Walsingham, the queen’s master spy, when he managed to decipher a coded letter between Mary Stuart and this group. -
The execution of Mary Queen Of Scots
In 1568, Mary was involved in a civil war in Scotland and had to flee to England, she was granted shelter by Elizabeth I but was kept under a close watch, she was virtually a prisoner in England for 19 years. Executing her, whilst this would remove figurehead for Catholic challengers, it could also provoke international attacks and set a precedent for killing a queen. But after the Babington plot, Mary was convicted for complicity and sentenced to death. -
The defeat of the Spanish Armada (the invincible armada)
Philip II, the Catholic king of Spain supported several plots against Elizabeth.
In retaliation and to support the cause of Protestantism, Elizabeth supported the Dutch revolt against Spain. As a result the king of Spain attempted to invade England, a complete defeat, England was victorious due to material and strategic advantages and meteorological conditions. -
Union of the crowns
Following the Union of the Crowns, Scotland and England began to share the same monarch, though the two countries were still independent kingdoms for the next hundred years. -
King James I was crowned King of England
He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots who had been executed by Elizabeth I. James was proclaimed king of Scotland in 1567, he was crowned king of England in 1603 upon Elizabeth’s death. He was a strong believer in the divine rights of kings and carried the same Protestant beliefs as her aunt Elizabeth, he continued on with Elizabeth’s harsh repressive laws. -
The Gunpowder Plot
The gunpowder plot was a failed assassination attempt against King James I during the opening of Parliament. The plan was organised by Robert Catesby, a devout English Catholic who hoped to kill the Protestant King James and establish Catholic rule in England once more. An explosive expert named Guy Fawkes agreed to join the plot but, the Parliament cellars were searched and Guy Fawkes was found and captured. -
The Great Contract
The King James I tried to introduce a financial reform which consisted of him receiving a fixed sum, which was meant to meet government costs and maintain the navy and army. However, some MPs feared the crown would not need to call up parliament anymore to get money, seeing as the king would be financially independent. -
King James I’s Bible
A new English translation of the bible. -
The thirty years’ war
The thirty years’ war began in 1618 and lasted until 1648. This war was mainly caused by religious divisions in Europe. The Protestants fought against the Catholics with the help of other Protestant nations, including England, Denmark, and the Dutch Republic. -
King James I died
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The Petition of Rights
The petition of rights was a petition proposed by MPs to Charles I. It is a constitutional document setting out specific individual protections against the monarchy. -
The personal rule
Also called “the eleven years tyranny” by Whig historians. Eleven years during which Charles I governed without ever summoning Parliament. This period lasted from march of 1629, to April of 1640. -
The Three Resolutions
The MPs passed the Three Resolutions which declared that whoever tried to bring in “popery of 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 parliaments consent. This was seen as an act of open defiance, consequently, Charles I imprisoned these MPs and dissolved parliament. He then declared there would be no more parliaments. -
The Scottish crisis
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 (new position of the altar, kneeling, etc).
A riot erupted in St Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh, on the reading of the New Prayer Book. -
The Scottish national covenant
Charles I's leading opponents in Scotland signed the "Scottish National Covenant", it was 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. -
The treaty of Ripon
The Scots invaded England and emerged victorious, the treaty of Ripon was a Peace Treaty, Charles I was forced to pay the cost of the Scots' army, the king was humiliated by this. -
The long parliament
The 1640 Parliament was determined to remedy 11 years of grievances and wanted to ensure regular parliaments. -
The Militia Act
Parliament passed the Militia Act in 1641, meaning that the army should be placed under the control of a general appointed by parliament, taking away the king’s ability to appoint whoever he wanted. -
The Irish rebellion
In Oct 1641, Irish Catholic rebels rose up against Protestant settlers. There were false rumours: Irish atrocities, 200 000 protestants massacred, this fuelled the anti-Catholic sentiment in England even more. -
The grand remonstrance
The Grand Remonstrance of 1641 was an important document voted by Parliament after heated debates. It summarised 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, and the right for Parliament to reform the Church. -
Charles I declared war on parliament
Charles grew tired of Parliament's demands and formally declared war on parliament. -
The victory of Parliamentarians
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. Charles surrendered to the Scots, who handed him to Parliament. -
Charles’ escape
the King escaped from army custody and allied himself with the Scots seeing as he promised to introduce Presbyterianism/Calvinism into England, in return the Scottish army would invade England and restore him to power. -
England was declared as a commonwealth
Monarchy and House of Lords abolished, England was declared a Commonwealth (a republic). -
Execution of King Charles I
King Charles I was executed outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall. His trial was a momentous event in British history. He was found guilty of treason.