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1485
Henry Tudor
In 1485 Henry Tudor won the war of the two roses with the battle of Bosworth Field against Richard of York.He became king with the name of Henry VII. During his reign, Henry VII unified the nation, limited the power of the nobles and strengthened the power of the trhone.This period is known as "The Tudor Dispotism" -
1509
Henry VIII
Henry VII was succeeded by his son Henry VIII, who married Catherine of Aragon. One of Henry's main problem was his succession. He hadn't had male hairs from his first wife, so he asked to the pope to annul his marriage. The Pope rejected the request and Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn thanks to The Archbishop of Canterbury -
1517
Martin Luther
The German Monk Martin Luther nailed his "95 these" to the door of Wittenberg cathedral. This act is considered the official start of the schism that led to Protestantism -
1534
The Act of Supremacy
The Act of Supremacy confirmed Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church of England and separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. -
1535
Execution of Thomas More
After opposing Henry VIII's attempt to become the head of the English church, Thomas More was arrested and executed in 1535. He was one of the finest intellectual of the English Renaissance -
1536
Succession guaranted
Henry's second wife, Anne boleyn, had a daughter, Elizabeth. Henry accused Anne of adultery and she was executed in 1536. In 1537 Henry married Jane Seymour,who had a son, Edward. Thus garanteed the Tudor succesion -
1553
Bloody Mary
In 1553 Mary, The daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon,was proclamed Queen. She was determined to restore Roman Catholicism in England, so Mary was involved in a terrible persecution that made her very unpopular with her subjects. This gave her the name of "Bloody Mary" -
1558
The Puritans
As a result of Mary's perscution many Protestants fled to Geneva and Benel, where they came into contact with the ideas of John Calvin. When queen Mary died , the Protestants returned to England and formed a Calvinistic group known as the Puritans -
1558
Elizabeth I
In 1558 Mary was succeeded by his sister Elizabeth, who became a symbol of national unity and one of the most famous English monarchs of all times.Elizabeth promoted the Act of Supremacy in order to swing England back to protestantism. Elizabeth's approach to reform was known as the "middle way". Elizabeth had many suitors, but at that time marriage corrisponded to political alliance, so she rejected them all. Because of this reason she's known as the "Virgin Queen" -
1560
Mary Queen of Scots
One of the great dangers Elizabeth had to face during her reign was mary Stuart claim to the throne of England. Mary, who was a discendant of Henry VII, returned to Scotland to be proclaimed Queen. But mary was forced to abdicate and she fled to England to seek the protection of Elizabeth. Anyway, Mary was a dangerous rival for Elizabeth, who ordered her execution in 1587 -
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh established a colony on the east coast of North America and called it "Virginia" in honour of Queen Elizabeth, known as the "virgin queen" -
The war with Spain
In order to stop Elizabeth's support for Spain's enemies and the English raids on spanish ships in the New World, Philp II sent a gigantic fleet, the Spanish Armada, to invade England. Philp's Armada was defetead by a combination of adverse weather and skilled English seamen -
British East India Company
Elizabeth signed a charter for the British East India Company, which created links with Asia and challenged Dutch and Portuguese dominance of the spice trade -
James I
The unmarried Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 and was succeeded by her cousin James VI of Scotland, the first Stuart king in England. James unified the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland and he considered himself above the law and parliament. His attitude led to two important events : the Gunpowder Plot and the departure of the Pilgrim Fathers -
The Gunpowder plot
A group of Catholics, angered by the situation of Catholicism in England, plotted to murder the king.With their leader, Guy Fawkes, they placed barrels of gunpowder beneath the Houses of Parliament. This plot, however, was detected and Guy Fawkes and his men were arrested and quartered. -
Puritan Commonwealth
In 1620 a group of Puritans, tryig to escape from religious persecution, set sail from Plymouth in a ship called "The Mayflower",landed at Plymouth rock , Massachussets and founded a rigidly Puritan Commonwealth. Then, Raleigh's old project was taken up by a company of London merchants, who established the first settlement for the production of tabacco
