-
1563 BCE
The 39 Articles of Faith
Among the new legislation passed by Elizabeth I, the 39 Articles of Faith were intended to establish the faith and practice of the Church of England from 1563 to 1571.
A sort of religious doctrine with three important changes still in use in the Church of England as :
A new ecclesiology,
A new doctrine of salvation,
And, a new definition of the sacraments and of the mass. -
Period: 1509 to 1547
HENRY VIII'S REIGN
Henry VIII was only 17 years old when he became King of England in 1509 and he died in 1547.
Subsequently, he had six wives.
The main ones:
Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. -
1517
The Ninety-Five Theses
The Ninety-Five Theses, written by the German monk reformer, Martin Luther, was a famous text that marks the start of the European Reformation.
Indeed, he declared that the Bible is the central religious authority, and that humans may reach salvation only by their faith and not by their deeds. -
1526
The Tyndale Bible
The Tyndale Bible was published in 1526 by William Tyndale, who translated the New Testament into English. -
1534
The Act of Supremacy
This Act was passed on 3 November, 1534, by the Parliament of England and declared King Henry VIII of England and his successors as the " Supreme Head of the Church". -
1534
The Schism
Under the reign of Henry VIII, the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church.
All the authority and powers of the Pope and the clergy were transferred to Henry VIII. -
1545
The Council of Trent
The Council of Trent took place in the Italian city of Trent and was a symbole of the Counter Reformation in which the Roman Catholic Church attempted to correct some abuses of the Church of England and, harshly condemned Protestant heresies from 1545 to 1563. -
Period: 1547 to 1553
EDWARD VI'S REIGN
The short reign of Edward VI in 1547, pushed England towards Protestantism.
The "Young King" introduced the "Book of Common Prayer" in 1549 in which Roman Catholic practices were eradicated.
Unfortunately, he died from tuberculosis in 1553 at only 15 years old. -
1549
The Book Of Common Prayer
The revision of the Mass Book led to the publication of the "Book of Common Prayer" in 1549, in which Roman Catholic practices were eradicated. -
Period: 1553 to 1558
MARY I TUDOR'S REIGN
Mary I was Catherine of Aragon's daughter and been 37 years old when she became the Queen of England.
She was married to the very Catholic, Philip II, the King of Spain, and restored Catholicism in 18 months by burning Protestants or forcing them to leave the country, the latter were called "Marian Exiles".
Hence the nickname " Bloody Mary". -
Period: 1558 to
ELIZABETH I'S REIGN
She became Queen of England between 1558 and 1603, at 25 years old, after the death of her half-sister, Mary I, and was an unmarried woman.
During her whole reign, she stabilized the Church of England after 25 years of religious tensions by giving it principles that still exist today, called "The Religious Settlement".
Then, many people associated her reign with the idea of a "Golden Age" because she reinforced England's independence and called her the "Virgin Queen". -
1559
The Act of Supremacy
Among the new legislation passed by Elizabeth I,
The Act of Supremacy concerns the church organization.
It allowed for the abolishment of the Pope's authority and made Elizabeth I the "Supreme Governor of the Church of England". -
1559
The Act of Uniformity
Among the new legislation passed by Elizabeth I, the Act of Uniformity is about religious belied, which declares that every parish has to use the Book of Common Prayer established in 1549. And also informed that people who didn't attend an Anglican services, were fined. -
1569
The Northern Rebellions
It was the greatest rebellion led by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland who were against religious reforms of the Anglican Church with the Puritans and the Catholics. And also an attempt to replace Queen ElizabethI by Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scots.
So this is when the Catholic plots against the Queen of England have begun... -
1570
The "Papal Bull"
The "Papal Bull" was a type of public decree, a letter patent issued by the Pope, giving Catholics the license to kill Queen Elizabeth I who was considered as the "so-called Queen", with the certainty that it would not be seen as a crime by Rome.
But, the 1571 Treasons Act made it Treason for anyone to say that the Queen Elizabeth was not a "true Queen". -
The Babington Plot
After the arrival of Mary Stuart in England, who was imprisoned by Elizabeth, the latter had to protect herself from the plots that had been carried out by the Catholics against her, who wanted to kill her.
But a coded letter was discovered by Sir Francis Walsingham, the principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I, in which an exchange between Mary Stuart and a group of Catholics was attempting to eliminate the Queen of England and put Mary on the throne. -
Execution of Mary Stuart, The Queen of Scots
After the Babington Plot in 1586, Mary Stuart was convinced for complicity and sentenced to death.
So she was executed in Fotheringham Castle one year later. -
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada
The defeat of Spain against England which attempted to invade England was seen as a Big Victory.
Indeed, the English victory made history because it allowed to reinforce the power and popularity of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth by making her a Great Queen. -
Period: to
JAMES I'S REIGN
Son and heir of Mary Stuart, James I's reign produced the first Anglo-Scottish union. -
The Gunpowder Plot
A conspiracy devised small group of Catholics to blow up Parliament and kill James I. -
Jamestown
The etablishment of Jamestown in Virginia during slavery, was the first permanent settlement, named after James I. -
Period: to
The Starving Time
The Starving Time was a short period of salvation in which only 60 of the 500 English colonists survived because of the conflicts with the Native Powhatan Tribe, the shortage of drinkable water and the insufficient growing of troops. -
The King James Bible
A new English translation of the Bible during James I's reign. -
Period: to
The Thirty Years' War
Its outbreak is generally traced to 1618, when Emperor Ferdinand II was deposed as king of Bohemia and replaced by the Protestant Frederick V of the Palatinate. Although Imperial forces quickly suppressed the Bohemian Revolt, his participation expanded the fighting into the Palatinate, whose strategic importance drew in the Dutch Republic and Spain. -
Period: to
CHARLES I'S REIGN
Son and heir of King James I, the reign of Charles I comes down to many rebounds.
Crowned in Westminster Abbey on 2nd February 1626 and executed on 30 January 1469, his actions frustrated Parliament and resulted in the wars of the English Civil War. -
The Petition of Rights
Complain of MPs who wanted Charles I to recognize that there were limits to his powers. The latter, furious, reluctantly signed it. -
The Three Resolutions
It declared that whoever tried to bring in "Arminianism or Popery", or to alter the protestant forms of the Church of England was an enemy of the Kingdom ! -
Period: to
The Personal Rule
Also called "The Eleven Years Tyranny", The Personal Rule was a period in England from 1629 to 1640 when Charles I ruled as an absolute monarch without recourse to Parliament. -
Period: to
The Scottish Crisis
In 1637 King Charles I attempted to draw the Church of Scotland, into line with the Church of England. And Scottish opposition came to the boil when Charles I attempted to impose a New Prayer Book in which the changes were deemed unacceptable. -
Scottish National Covenant
During the Scottish Crisis, Charles I'd leading opponents signed it. It was a petition opposing Charles I'd religious policy and called for the spiritual independence of the Scottish church to be maintained. -
Period: to
The Long Parliament
Needing money to fight de Scots, Charles I after calling the "Short Parliament" that he dissolved after three weeks, this time called The Long Parliament to remedy 11 years of grievances. -
The Grand Remonstrance
Voted by Parliament, the Grand Remonstrance was an important document that summarized all the wrong doing of Charles I, and concluded on revolutionary demands as:
- the right of the House of Commons to choose the King's ministers.
- and the right for Parliament to control any army sent to Ireland, and reform the church. -
The Irish Rebellion
The Irish Catholic rebels against English and Scottish protestant after taking their lands. -
War between Charles I and Parliament
After marched into the House of Commons with his troops to arrest 5 MPs who allegedly plotted against the queen in January 1642, Charles I declared war with Parliament ! -
Period: to
English Civil Wars
The English Civil Wars started in results of tensions between the King and the Parliament. -
The New Model Army
A new national and centralized army created by Parliament during the first Civil War. It composed of 22 000 men, wearing the redcoat, armed with swords, pistols and pikes.
The soldiers carried Bibles in their breast pockets. This army was acting on God's behalf. -
ENGLAND ? : A COMMONWEALTH
England was declared a Commonwealth ruled as a Republic after the House of Lords and the monarchy were abolished. -
Period: to
CHARLES II'S REIGN
Charles II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria of France. He was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. -
Period: to
The Interregnum
This period was marked by many experiments with Republican Forms of Government. -
The Instrument of Government
The Instrument of Government is the England’s first and only written constitution. -
Period: to
The Cromwellian Protectorate
The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, is the period from 16 December 1653 to 1659 during which England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and associated territories were joined together in the Commonwealth of England, governed by a Lord Protector. It began when Barebone's Parliament was dismissed, and the Instrument of Government appointed Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. Cromwell died in September 1658. -
The Declaration of Breda
Issued by the King Charles II, it promised, after the death of the Lord Protector Cromwell, to continue religious toleration, to share power with Parliament in return of monarchy and a general amnesty.
It worked and led to Restoration ( 29 May 1660 ). -
Period: to
The Early Restoration
That period was marked by a new constitutional balance with many tensions between the King ( Charles II ) and the Parliament. -
The Outbreak of Plague
The outbreak of plague, also known as the Black Death, originated from the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It spread rapidly in the 14th century, transmitted primarily through fleas on rats. This pandemic caused devastating mortality rates across Europe, resulting in social, economic, and demographic upheavals. -
The Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London erupted in 1666, lasting for nearly five days and ravaged the city. -
The Popish Plot
The Popish plot was a rumor of a plot organized by the French to murder the King Charles II to replace him by his catholic brother, James II. -
Period: to
The Exclusion Crisis
Parliament attempted to debar James II from the succession to the English throne and tried to modify the rules of succession. But Charles dissolved it. -
The Glorious Revolution
Caused by William III's army, James II was forced to flee to France. -
The Bill of Rights
It fixed limits to the powers of William of Orange and Mary, the joint rulers as limitations on the sovereign's powers, set out parliament's rights and basic civil rights. -
Toleration of Act
This Act established religious pluralism and freedom of worship for all Protestants. -
Period: to
KING WILLIAM III'S REIGN
Widely known as William of Orange, King William III was King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. -
The Act of Settlement
This act fixed limits again to joint ruler's powers (William of Orange and Mary), especially on their succession to be insured by a Protestant. -
The Act of Union
The Act of Union between England and Scotland led to the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). -
Period: to
War Of The Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought. Britain gained Acadia over the French. -
Period: to
The Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was successful for Great Britain with gained the colony of Senegal, some individual Caribbean islands in the West Indies.
But they mostly gained Florida over the Spanish and most of Canada over the French.
The war ended with two separate treaties dealing with the two different theaters of war : The Treaty of Paris and The Treaty Hubertusburg in 1763. -
The Acts of Union
The Acts of Union which entered into force on January 1801, united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of England to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and England.