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Period: 1509 to 1547
Henry VIII's reign
He was the king of England for 38 years, had 6 wives and 3 heirs. -
1517
The Ninety-Five Theses or the start of European reformation.
In 1517 Martin Luther wrote a text that changed the face of the Europe. Indeed in The Ninety-Five Theses, Luther's strong critique of the Indulgences, a mean of reducing the time in the purgatory by paying, used by the Catholic Church had a big impact on people's mindset. The people who followed his ideas were called "protestants." Nevertheless he was excommunicated and declared a heretic in 1521. -
1526
The Tyndale Bible
Translation of the Bible in English. -
1534
The Act of Supremacy
After being excommunicated because he married Ann Boleyn after divorcing his first wife Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII wrote "The Act of Supremacy" in 1534 which put him as "the supreme head of the church of England". That led to the schism with the Catholic Church and the foundation of the Anglican church. -
Period: 1547 to 1553
Edward VI's reign
Son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, the young king of England was a protestant and was crowned at nine. -
Period: 1553 to 1558
Mary I's reign
Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, she was the first queen of England, she restored Catholicism and married the spanish king Phillip II. Moreover she was nicknamed "Bloody Mary" because of the way she treated and executed the protestants. -
Period: 1558 to
Elizabeth I's reign
Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I was nicknamed "the Virgin Queen" because she never married or had heirs. She also faced many plots against her during her reign, but she proved that she could rule as a Queen and secure the position of England in the world. Her reign marked the Golden Age of England. -
1570
Elizabeth's excommunication
Pope Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth and questions her legitimacy as Queen. -
The execution of Mary Queen of Scots
Queen Mary of Scots was Elizabeth's cousin, daughter of King James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. She became a threat to Elizabeth because she was her most direct heir, and a Catholic. So the Catholics plotted against Elizabeth to replace her with Mary. After being proved guilty of plotting against the Queen she was convicted for complicity and executed. -
Period: to
James I reign
James I was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, Elisabeth's cousin. He was a calvanist and believed in the divine rights of King. He faced many political and religious problems (depts, gunpowder plot, perfect union refused...) -
Gunpowder plot
Conspiracy made by a Catholic Group to blow up the Parliament and kill James I. -
Period: to
Charles I reign
Charles I was also a believer of the divne rights of King. During his reign, he established " the presonal rule" a time where he governed on his own for 11 years. The Whig historians called it "The elven years of tyranny." After many rebellions and crisis he had to call back Parliament. After the two civils wars which split England into two groups, Charles was executed on 1649. -
The Grand Remonstrance
A document which summarized the wrongdoing of Charles I and concluded on “revolutionary” demands. It divided the Parliament into two groups : Parlimentarians who believed that reform was necessery; and Royalists: who thought that the reform was to harsh and were in favour of the King. -
Period: to
The civil wars
22 august 1642, Charles I declared war on Parliament.
There has been 2 Civil Wars: the first one was from 1642 to 1648, between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists. The Parliamentarians won with a new model army, a alliance with Scotland... In 1647 the New Model Army seized the King.
The Second one was from 1648 to 1649, after the escape of the King and its alliance with the Scots. This war was a series of revolts. On 30/01/1649 King Charles I was executed after a trial for high treason. -
Period: to
The Interregnum and England as a Commonwealth
Time between two Kings, England is a Commonwealth: after the execution of Charles I on January 1649, the monarchy and the House of Lords are abolished in March 1649. It's when England is declared a commonwealth and is ruled as a Republic. But it fails to reach stability. During the interregnum, there were many experiment with republican forms of government. -
Period: to
The Cromwellian Protectorate
It was a military dictatorship with Cromwell as a Lord Protector, 460 MPs elected every 3 years, a council of state and The Instrument of Government (1653), which is the first and only England's written constitution. After Cromwell's death in 1658, his son Richard became the Lord Protector but resigned, which led to an Anarchy. Charles II (son of Charles I) issued the Declaration of Breda and restored the monarchy in 1660. -
End of Protectorate and restoration of Monarchy.
Charles II (son of Charles I) issued the Declaration of Breda and restored the monarchy in 1660. -
Period: to
Early Restoration
At this period, there were tension between the Parliament and the King. Moreover, a repressive religious legislation passed : The Clarendon Code. The King faced many disasters, including the Plague (1665) and the Great Fire of London (1666) and faced hostility. -
Period: to
Political crisis
The Popish plot of 1678 was a plot organized by the French to murder the King and replace him by his Catholic brother James II.
The Exculsion crisis lasted from 1679 to 1681 and consisted in the attempt of the Parliament to debar James II from the succession. Charles II dissolved the Parliament after this. During thoses crisis, James supporters were the Tories and his ooponents were the Whigs. -
The Glorious Revolution
James II was a Catholic and many were afraid to a reversal to the dark times of the civil wars. His second wife gave birth to a son which was a threat to Protestantism and Parliament's powers. In reaction Parliament invited the King's son in law William of Orange to invade England and seize the crown. It worked and James II fled to France and William became King William III. He and his wife became joint monarchs. England became a Constituonal Monarchs, the Billi of Rights limited their powers. -
Death of William II and his succession
William died in 1702. Succeeded by Anne (last Stuart monarch), then by George I (in 1714). -
Act of Union
There were two act of Union made in 1707 and in 1801.
The first one marked the Creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain: England (and Wales) and Scotland. -
2nd Act of Union
The second one marked creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England and Scotland) and Ireland.