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Henry VII establishes the Tudor dynasty, which greatly strengthens the central royal authority in England -
Luther's objections to how the Church is being run trigger the Protestant Reformation -
Henry VIII wants to divorce Catherine of Aragon, who has only produced a daughter (Mary) with him, but the Catholic Church says no, so Henry establishes the Anglican Church -
After Henry VIII's death, his young son Edward takes over but quickly dies, putting Henry's daughter with the Catholic Catherine of Aragon, Mary, on the throne; Mary I ties England to (Catholic) Spain and persecutes Protestants. -
Upon Mary I's death, Henry VIII's daughter with Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth, becomes queen; Elizabeth I reinstates Anglicanism as the state religion and oversees a period of increasing world power for England, but never marries and leaves no heir. -
Elizabeth I dies, and her cousin James VI of Scotland, becomes James I of England—he begins the Stuart line and commissions a new English translation of the Bible -
James I's son Charles I is very unpopular with Parliament, as he strongly believes in royal prerogative and divine right, plus he marries a Catholic and is seen as too accepting of Catholicism; Parliament develops its own army and defeats Charles I; he refuses to accept a constitutional monarchy, and is eventually found guilty of treason and executed in 1649. -
After Charles I is executed, England is declared a republic, but there is a lot of infighting about how the country should be run; Oliver Cromwell, the general of the Parliamentary army, is elected as lifetime Lord Protector; Puritan leaders disenfranchise Catholics, crush Irish rebels, try to shut down theatrical productions; after Cromwell dies in 1658 and his son takes over leadership, the English public clamor for the reinstatement of the monarchy -
Charles I’s son, Charles II, comes back from Europe; Parliament declares that he had always legally been king following his father’s execution, essentially erasing the interregnum period; Charles II agrees to reinstate the Church of England as the state religion, even though he himself favored religious tolerance for all Christians; Charles II is seen as a morally lax patron of the arts, and the theatre re-flourishes during his reign, with an emphasis on wittiness, fine dress, etc. -
An outbreak of plague and a subsequent fire significantly damage London (which some see as divine punishment for bringing back the dissolute, Catholic-appeasing monarchy). -
Charles II dies, and his younger brother James becomes king; James II had converted to Catholicism while living in Europe, and the English Parliament is willing to excuse his personal creed but not extend religious tolerance to Catholic subjects universally; when James II and his second wife have a male child, the English public are troubled by the idea of a Catholic dynasty (and by James II trying to claim divine authority of kingship). -
Invited by Protestant opponents of James II, William of Orange (the Netherlands), who is married to James II’s oldest daughter, Mary, invades England; William (III) and Mary (II) take over the throne as co-regents who restore the Protestant foundation of England. -
William III dies, Mary having died several years earlier, so Mary’s younger sister Anne becomes queen; Parliament had established that the line of succession would jump from James II’s family (with its specter of Catholicism, even though Anne was raised Anglican) to the family of James I’s granddaughter, Sophia, currently in charge of the German state of Hanover, when Anne dies. -
The Act of Union brings Scotland together with England (and Wales) into the political entity of Great Britain. -
Anne, after years of poor health, dies, and since Sophia of Hanover had died a few months previously, her son George (I) becomes King of Great Britain, beginning the Hanoverian dynasty; George I is seen as too German (Lutheran faith, doesn’t speak English well at first, aloof manner); the crown passes from George I to George II to George III, and the power of the monarchy greatly subsides, with Parliament and the role of prime Minister taking on much more control of British government. -
The American colonies rebel against exploitative British rule, defeat the British army, and establish the United States of America. -
Ireland is brought into an official political union with England and Scotland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.