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Henry VIII was born in 1491, he was the son of Henry VII, the first Tudor King. Under his reign, the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church : schism in 1534. Henry had six wives : two were divorced and two beheaded. Three of his children reigned after him: Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.
He is one of the most famous and emblematic English Kings.
During his reign, Henry VIII created the Church of England and paved the way for Protestantism (Anglicanism). -
Martin Luther nailed this devastating critique of the Indulgences to the door of the University in Wittenberg. This famous text marks the start of the European Reformation. -
In England, William Tyndale translated the New Testament into English. He set to translate the Bible into vernacular. -
In 1527, Henry VIII wanted his marriage with Catherine of Aragon to be annulled (which was going to lead him to break from the Pope’s authority).
In 1529, the Pope rejected Henry’s petition for divorce.
So in 1533, the Act in restraint of Appeals gave the King legal power to annul his marriage. The same year, Henry married Ann Boleyn (Act of Succession made her a legitimate Queen). The pope declared that Ann was not the king’s wife and henry was excommunicated. -
This act founded the Church of England and made Henry VIII the “Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England". -
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Henry VIII decided that the monasteries were bastions of “popery”. They were disbanded and the Crown appropriated their income and land (and at the time Church owned 25% of the land !). The dissolution of the monasteries was in effect, a kind of nationalisation.
The valuable were also confiscated and melted down. -
The dissolution process was interrupted by rebellions in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. These were the greatest rebellions ever faced by a Tudor monarch. They lasted six months and were called the “Pilgrimage of Grace”.
They were against the dissolution of the monasteries and the Reformation. They also demanded the restoration of the Pope and of Mary Tudor to the Royal Succession. The insurgents were common people, but also the gentry, clergy. The repression was brutal : exemplary public hangings. -
In 1537 permission was given for an English Bible and not a Latin one.
They were soon made mandatory in every Church. -
Held in the Italian city of Trent, the symbol of Counter reformation : the Roman Catholic Church attempted to correct some of the abuses of the church and harshly condemned Protestant heresies.
The Pope’s hostility to the Elizabethan religious settlement was growing : he instructed English Catholics not to attend Anglican Church services. -
The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. He was only 9 when his father died. Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford and soon to be Duke of Somerset, the new King's eldest uncle, became Lord Protector.
Edward VI introduced the Book of Common Prayer and the Protestant doctrine. With series of measures, he pushed England toward Protestantism. -
Edward himself was fiercely Protestant. The revision of the mass-book led to the publication of the Book of Common Prayer.
Roman Catholic practices (including statues and stained glass) were eradicated, the marriage of clergy was allowed.
The imposition of the Prayer Book (which replaced Latin services with English) led to rebellions in Cornwall and Devon. -
The daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.
During her reign, Mary I repealed previous legislation of her father and half-brother. She restored Catholicism in eighteen months and persecuted Protestants. From 1555 to 1558, over 200 Protestants went to the stake and many others were forced to leave the country and fled to the continent. A migration known as the “Marian exile”. -
Poor laws were passed in 1553, 1597 and 1601:
This established the idea that central and local governments had a responsibility for helping the poor.
BUT it also established a distinction between “deserving poor” and the “unswerving poor”.
Very harsh laws against beggars and vagrants. This system remained in place until the 19th century
=> One of the most famous legacy of the Queen’s reign. -
She restored Catholicism in eighteen months and persecuted Protestants. Over 200 Protestants went to the stake and many others were forced to leave the country and fled to the continent. A migration known as the “Marian exile”.
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When she acceded to the throne, Elizabeth I’s priority was to pacify religious divisions in the country. But also to prove her legitimacy as Queen.
In the end, she stabilised the Church of England by living principles that still exists today (Via Media and “Religious Settlement”).
With her foreign policy, she expanded England’s influence in Europe and in the world.
She stayed in power for 45 years. Her reign is associated with the idea of a “Golden Age” for the country. -
Church organisation :
It abolished the authority of the Pope and restored the Queen’s authority over the Church : she became “Supreme Governor of the Church of England”. -
Religious belief :
Every parish had to use the Book of Common Prayer and people who did not attend Anglican services were fined. -
Doctrine :
It stated the doctrine, religious belief of the Church. There were three important changes : a new ecclesiology, a new doctrine of salvation and a new definition of sacrements and of the mass. (Still in use today)
In 1571, Clergymen were ordered to subscribe to the 39 Articles by Act of Parliament. -
The new Church of England, the Anglican Church was a compromise that kept Catholic features and adopted new Protestant ones. But this compromise led two unsatisfied groups on both sides : the Puritans and the Catholics.
The Northern Rebellion is a plot against Elizabeth I led by Catholics : the Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland. It was an attempt to replace Queen Elizabeth who was Protestant by Mary Stuart, the Catholic Queen of Scots. The plot was crushed. -
In the Papal Bull “Regnans in Excelsis”, Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth I, calling her the “so-called queen” and a “heretic favouring heretics”.
He so almost gave Catholics licence to kill her with the certainty that it would not be seen as a crime by Rome. -
In response of the papal bull “Regnans in Excelsis”, the Treason Act made it treason to say that Elizabeth was not the true Queen of England and Wales. -
“Act to retain the Queen’s majesty’s subjects in their due obedience”.
This act provided death penalty for any person converting, or already converted to Catholicism. It forbade the participation or celebration of the Catholic mass. And Anglican services were compulsory (£20 per month fine).
During this repression, 163 persons were killed -
Young catholics had sworn to kill Elizabeth and put Mary Stuart on the throne but their strategies were discovered by Francis Walsingham, when he managed to decipher a coded letter between Mary Stuart and this group. -
Daughter of King James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise, she was raised in France as a Catholic and was the widow of the French King Francis II.
In 1568, she was involved in a civil war in Scotland. Elizabeth granted her shelter but kept under close watch (a prisoner in England for 19 years).
Mary Queen of Scots was convicted for complicity in the Babington plot and sentenced to death. She was executed in 1587 in Fotheringham Castle, wearing a bright red dress, the colour of catholic martyrs. -
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.
The victory over the Spanish Armada acted as proof of the extraordinary qualities of Elizabeth and as a reaffirmation of the English national cohesion. -
The Queen made this speech in Tilbury, Essex, in order to rally the troops who were preparing to repel the invasion of the Spanish Armada : “I know I have the body of a weak woman but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a King of England too”. -
Founded by Royal Charter.
It began to build up a small empire of trading posts in India. Three main trading settlements: Bombay (Mumbai), Calicut (Calcutta), Madras (Chennai).
The East India Company allowed England to control the trade of luxury goods like spices, cotton, silk and tea from India and China, and influenced politics. -
King James I of England and VI of Scotland.
He was the son of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (executed in 1587 by Elizabeth I).
James was proclaimed King of Scotland in 1567 and was crowned King of England in 1603 on Elizabeth I’s death.
He was a strong believer in the divine rights of kings. -
Catholics placed high hopes in James I when he became King of England in 1603 because he was Mary Stuart’s son, the Catholic Queen of Scots.
But James continued Elizabeth I’s harsh repressive laws.
The Gunpowder plot was a conspiracy devised by a small group of Catholics to blow up Parliament and kill James I. -
The first permanent settlement (1585: a failed attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a settlement in Roanoke, Virginia)
Named after James I -
Period of starvation, only 60 of the 500 colonists survived.
Because of shortage of drinkable water, insufficient growing of crops ans conflicts with the Native Powhatan tribe.
Some settlers even turned to cannibalism. -
James I inherited a huge debt from Elizabeth I and faced financial difficulties reinforced by his extravagance (ex: “double supper”).
To solution this financial issue, the “Great Contract” of 1610 was the centrepiece of the financial reforms. The King would receive a fixed sum. But some MPs feared the King would not call up Parliament anymore (because he would be financially independent). So, the House of Commons refused to vote in favour of the Great Contract.
James dismissed Parliament. -
The only important change: a new English translation of the Bible. -
The discovery of a new type of tobacco by John Rolfe (a Jamestown settler) helped by his wife Pocahontas (daughter of the Powhatan’s chief) who taught him Indian techniques of cultivation.
This new brand of tobacco first sold in England in 1614.
Huge success -
This war started under James I because the elector palatine was invited to take the throne of Protestant Bohemia instead of the emperor Ferdinand Habsburg.
It continued under Charles I.
The war ended with military defeats (Lord Buckingham, the King’s advisor became very unpopular) & England was at war with Spain and France.
This war had important consequences: a huge strain on finances. And the raising of troops (50 000) had important impacts on the local population (soldiers were billeted). -
Puritans left England on the Mayflower on the arrival of James I. -
He was James I’s son.
He firmly believed in the divine right of Kings and interpreted all criticism as a challenge to his authority.
He was married to the French princess Henrietta Maria (absolutist + Catholic) and favoured a minority wing of Anglicans: the Arminians (wished to restore traditional ceremonies and increase the authority of bishops and the clergy). -
MPs distrusted the King and Lord Buckingham. To protect LB, Charles dissolved parliament and continued collecting custom duties.
MPs’ complaints were in the petition. They requested Charles to recognise the illegality of extra-parliamentary taxation, billeting, martial law, imprisonment without trial.
They wanted to get him to recognise that there were limits to his powers.
He reluctantly signed it but was furious, and as MPs were discussing impeaching LB again, he suspended parliament seating. -
The MPs passed the Three Resolutions and declared that whoever tried to bring in “Popery or 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 Parliament’s consent = an act of open defiance.
Charles imprisoned these MPs and dissolved parliament. He declared there would be no more Parliaments = start of the “Personal Rule” -
11 years when the King ruled without calling a Parliament.
Whig historians called it “The Eleven Years Tyranny”.
Religious policies carried by the Arminian Archbishop Laud were implemented under the Personal Rule (the importance of sacraments were re emphasised, sign of cross, bowing at the name of Jesus, changes to re locate the altar in churches = very controversial).
Many Protestants saw this as a return to Catholicism. -
Catholics -
The introduction of the New Prayer Book (book of common prayer) set Scotland aflame. Because Scotland was Presbyterian, the changes were deemed unacceptable (altar, kneeling…). Scottish opposition came to the boil.
The riot (St Gile’s Cathedral, Edinburgh) would soon turn into a widespread rebellion known as the Bishops’ Wars. -
The end of the Personal Rule and the outbreak of the Civil war were caused by crisis not just in England but in Scotland and Ireland.
A riot erupted in St Gile’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, on the reading of the New Prayer Book. The riot would soon turn into a widespread rebellion known as: the Bishops’ wars.
Both kingdoms raised an army.
The Scots invaded England & emerged victorious.
=> peace treaty (Treaty of Ripon, oct 1640): Charles I was forced to pay the cost of the Scots’ army (humiliation). -
Charles I’s leading opponents in Scotland signed this petition. It was opposing Charles’ religious policy and called for the spiritual independence of the Scottish Church to be maintained. -
Needing money, to fight the Scots (Bishops War between King and Scottish Presbyterians), Charles called a Parliament for the first time in 11 years. The “Short Parliament” as the MPs demanded to address their grievances first, Charles dissolved it after only 3 weeks. -
In 1640, Charles had to call the Parliament again.
It was determined to remedy 11 years of grievances & wanted to ensure regular Parliaments. They passed two acts :
- Parliament should meet at least every three years.
- The dissolution of Parliament required its consent.
Parliament executed Earl Stafford, one of the King’s most powerful advisers (scapegoat for the King’s policies during the Personal Rule).
This Parliament was not dissolved until 1660. -
Parliament passed the Militia Act, 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. -
It's an important document voted by Parliament after heated debates. It summarized 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
- The right for Parliament to reform the Church
The text divided Parliament into 2 groups : the Parliamentarians and the Royalists. -
October 1641
An armed revolt broke out in Ireland.
James I (Charles’ father) had implemented a plantation policy = sending English & Scottish Protestants colonists to Ireland, taking the land of Irish Catholics.
Irish Catholics rebels rose up against Protestant settlers.
Massacre of 3000/4000 Protestants.
Lots of false rumours : Irish atrocities 200 000 protestants massacred (fuelled the anti-Catholic sentiment in England).
Necessary to raise an army => Militia Act -
Charles I marched into the House of Commons with troops and attempted to arrest 5 Members of Parliament (January 1642) as he believed they were plotting against the Queen. Breach of privilege, which showed there could be no peace between King and Parliament.
Fearing for his life, Charles left London for York. Parliament presented the 19 Propositions to the King (extreme: Charles as a constitutional monarch). -
A war between Parliamentarians & Royalists.
The First Civil War would cost the lives of 190 000 Englishmen (in combat/from diseases) and last for four years.
June 1645: Battle of Naseby. It was a turning point & saw the Royalists forces weaken.
May 1646: the King & Royalists surrendered. -
A new army created by the Parliamentarians.
Unlike the earlier regional armies, this was a national, centralised army controlled and paid from Westminster rather than the counties.
Strong of 22 000 men, armed with swords, pistols, pikes and wearing the redcoat.
Religious fervour (nicknamed the “praying army”, soldiers carried Bibles in their breast pockets), convinced that the army was acting on God’s behalf.
In June 1647, after not being paid, the army seized the King. -
December 1648
Colonel Pride (army) entered the House of Commons, stopped the vote and arrested the 45 conservative MPs.
The remainder MPs (named the Rump Parliament) put the King on trial for high treason. -
In November 1647, the King escaped from army custody and allied himself with the Scots.
During this war: series of revolts in the South of England, Wales and Scotland.
The Royalists were easily defeated by Cromwell.
Very short war.
The army wanted the King to be tried, conservative MPs wanted to negotiate with the King. -
Monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished, England was declared a Commonwealth (a republic).
The House of Commons had supreme authority.
England was ruled as a republic. -
The Interregnum is between 2 reigns, between 2 kings
England declared a “Commonwealth” = governed by its people, without a King.
But failure to reach stability and creation of a military protectorate ruled by Cromwell.
During the interregnum, many experiments with republican forms of government.
But main problem: any republican regime needed the support of both:
- The propertied classes who wanted stability and order.
- The army who wanted religious toleration and reforms. -
The regicide was welcomed with shock and dismay in England and Europe (reinforced by Royalist propaganda describing the King as a martyr). In 1649,
A law abolished monarchy (described as “unnecessary, burdensome and dangerous”).
The House of Lords was abolished and the House of Commons had supreme authority.
England was declared a Commonwealth and ruled as a Republic. -
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The Levellers who criticised Cromwell were imprisoned.
They were in favour of equality, religious freedom and wanted men over 21 to have the right to vote.
The Quaker James Nayler who imitated Christ’s entry into Jerusalem was harshly punished. -
England’s first and only written constitution. -
Problems with the Rump Parliament :
- A slow progress with electoral reform
- Army getting increasingly irritated by the Rump Parliament.
Cromwell ordered the MPs to leave.
Next Parliament: “The Barebones Parliament”
But internal tensions, the Barebones Parliament dissolved. -
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The Protectorate was a military dictatorship, it's similar to a monarchy without a King.
1) Cromwell appointed Lord Protector:
- Executive power (return to a govt of a single person)
- Controlled the military, diplomacy
- Ruling with the help of the legislative power
2) Parliaments of 460 MPs elected every 3 years:
- To be allowed to vote, a man had to own £200 of personal property
3) Council of State
- Composed of 13 to 21 members who served for life -
It previously had been a colony of Spain. -
His son became Lord Protector but resigned after 6 months.
This led to a period of Anarchy.
7 governments in less than a year!
People longed for a return to order, increasing support for monarchy -
It promised:
- A general amnesty
- To continue religious toleration
- To share power with Parliament
In return for the restoration of monarchy.
It worked! King restored: May 29, 1660. -
King desire for reconciliation - a complete pardon?
- The 100 people who had signed Charles I’s death warrant were executed.
- Cromwell’s corpse was dismembered, his head stayed on a spike in Westminster for 25 years.
A new constitutional balance?
Tensions between: Parliament (now permanent: an institution, not an event and representing the people) and the King, royal prerogative (discretionary powers that placed the monarch above the law of the land). -
Faced with domestic & foreign disasters:
- The 2nd Anglo-Dutch war
- 1665 outbreak of Plague
- 1666 Great Fire of London
Increasing hostility towards Charles II & his court (drunkenness, mistresses) => nicknamed the “merry monarch”. -
The English took over the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which included the state of New Amsterdam. The English renamed this New York. -
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Rumour of a plot organised by the French to murder Charles II and replace him by his Catholic brother James II.
Fear: James as king would implement pro-Catholic politics + might try to restore absolute monarchy, threatening Parliament (Just look at Louis XIV: absolute monarch + persecution of protestants!) -
Parliament attempted to debar James II from the succession to the English throne (Parliament trying to modify the rules of successor. Divine right of Kings).
Charles dissolved the Parliament. -
Quakers -
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James II = deep seated fear of Catholic absolutism.
- Many were afraid any upheaval = reversal to the dark times of the civil wars.
- Hope: James didn’t have an heir.
Problem, in 1688, James’ second wife gave birth to a son. A Catholic heir, a threat to Protestantism and to Parliament’s powers.
William of Orange invaded England and seized the throne (met no resistance).
He became King William III.
“Glorious Revolution” => shedding no blood + liberties of English subjects reinforced. -
Constitutional monarchy = many limits to the monarch’s powers. The king acts as head of sate but his powers are limited by law:
- The Bill of Rights (16 dec 1689)
- The Act of Settlement (1701) -
This act established religious pluralism & freedom of worships for all Protestants. -
- Lists King James’ misdeeds
- Fixed limitations on the sovereign’s powers (the King could not raise taxes without Parliament’s consent + no Catholic was to inherit the throne).
- Set out the rights of Parliament (regular Parliaments, free elections, freedom of speech in Parliament).
- Set out basic civil rights (freedom from cruel & excessive punishment, freedom to bear arms…)
- A key political text (essential document of the uncodified British constitution, model for the US one…).
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King William III & Mary had no surviving children & all the potential Stuart successors were Catholics. So the act:
- Settled the order of succession and ensured a Protestant succession, ignoring dozens of Catholic heirs.
- Successor: Hanoverian descendants of James I.
- Key role in the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain.
It put an end to the 16th & 17th quarrel between King & Parliament.
A new balance of powers in favour of Parliament. -
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This Act reunited the two kingdoms of England (& Wales) and Scotland, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Under Queen Anne, ratification of the Act of Union:
- A single kingdom
- Scotland lost its Parliament but gained 45 seats in the House of Commons + 16 seats in the House of Lords.
- Scotland kept Presbyterian Church & own laws. -
Queen Anne’s war.
Britain gained Acadia over the French. -
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The Glorious Revolution: Parliament invited William of Orange to invade England. He became King and James II fled to France. The Jacobites = Loyal to the Stuarts Supporters of James II, then of his son and grandson. Active in France and Scotland. The 1715 Jacobite Rising: led by the “Old Pretender” James Francis Edward Stuart (the son of James II) -
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The 1745 Jacobite Rising led by the “Young Pretender” Bonnie Prince Charlie (the grandson of James II) -
1746: Final defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden -
Britain gained Florida over the Spanish & (most of) Canada over the French.
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These years were a turning point in British history, as the nation lost a huge part of its Empire in the American War of Independence.
This marked the end of what is now called the ‘First British Empire’. -
Grievances against George III -
The 13 colonies of North America In 1776, at the US Declaration of Independence. -
By 1783, Britain had established an empire which comprised of:
- Colonies in North America including the West Indies, and the Pacific including New Zealand (which became a British Colony following an expedition by James Cook in 1769)
- Trading posts in India
- Naval bases in the Mediterranean - Gibraltar and Minorca
But
- Britain's defeat in the American War of Independence meant the loss of the American colonies -
Britain formally recognised the independence of the United States. -
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Britain at war with France
Combatting revolutionary ideology + maritime, colonial and economic motives -
British radicals campaigned for a more democratic system
=> Police repression of radicalism in Britain. -
Plantations under Elizabeth and James I
Conquest under Cromwell and William III
By 1700, Ireland essentially a colony / a client state of Britain
Irish Rebellion of 1798:
- An uprising against British rule in Ireland
- Influenced by the ideas of the American and French revolutions
- Presbyterian radicals + Catholics
- Rebels defeated (/atrocities) -
Created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
(After a first Union Act in 1707 which reunited the two kingdoms of England and Scotland).
Merged the Parliament of Ireland into the Parliament of the UK.