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Richard III was King of England for only 2 years (1483-1485). On August 22, 1485, Richard III led his army to fight Henry Tudor in Bosworth which was in Leicestershire. Richard was killed at Bosworth Field and being the last English King to die in battle, it brought and end to the Plantagenet dynasty and the Wars of the Roses. Henry Tudor was then crowned King Henry VII. Several years later, William Shakespeare wrote a play based on Richard III.
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On August 3, 1492, Columbus set out with his three ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, from Palos in hopes of finding a shorter trade route to Asia where there was an abundance of gold, pearls, and spices. In one of Columbus' journal entries, it said that on October 12, 1492, Columbus arrived to a small island which he believed was inhabited by Indians, little did he know, he was standing on land that would later be called North and South America.
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Leonardo da Vinci, a very well known artist painted his most famous picture, "Mona Lisa" in 1503. It is said that although he began painting it in 1503, it took him almost 4 years to finish. Although the painting was never signed or dated, it is accepted all over the world that Leonardo was indeed the artist who created it. Supposedly, "Mona Lisa" was Leonardo's favorite painting and he didn't want to part with it. To this day, "Mona Lisa" is one of the most famous paintings in the world.
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Thomas More was an English lawyer, writer, statesman, and at one point, one of Henry VIII's most trusted civil servant. More became Chancellor of England in 1529. However, More was a passionate follower of Catholic orthodoxy and wrote during the 16th century during the Reformtion of the Catholic Church. More wrote the first formal utopia. His idea of a utopia was an independent world set on an island with defined systems of punishment, social hierarchy, agriculture, education, etc.
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Because Henry VIII wanted a male heir to his throne and his wife at the time didn't provide him with a son, Henry wanted a divorce from her and marry someone else. However, The Roman Catholic Church refused to grant him a divorce since it was against their teachings. To be able to divorce, Henry established the Church of England and declared himself head of the church. This led to the formation of the Protestant Church of England, this Protestant movement was called the Reformation.
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Shakespeare was not born into a family of nobility or wealth and therefore wasn't expected to become such a great figure of the Renaissance era. His parents were John Shakespeare, a glovemaker and tradesman, and Mary Arden, who was a daughter of a farmer. Shakespeare had 7 other sibilings and lived 100 miles northwest of London. Shakespeare went to grammar school as a child, but did not attend the university because of his familie's financial problems. In 1582, Williams married Anne Hathaway.
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On January 15, 1588, Elizabeth I was crowned Queen by Owen Oglethorpe, bishop of Carlisle at Westminster Abbey, a little less than two months after the death of Mary I. Elizabeth I is known as being the queen who never married. The later years of Elizabeth's reign was called the Golden Age. During this time, she faced major trials such as dealing with the growing threat of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had a strong claim to the throne of England.
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In Autumn of 1599, an Elizabethan theatre, known as the original Globe opened in Southwark, in an area now known as Bankside. Surrounding the area that the Globe was located in were several other major theatres. The Globe's principal show was the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Most of Shakespeare's plays, such as Othello, Hamlet, and Macbeth were performed at the Globe.
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Williams Shakespeare wrote the tragedy, "King Lear," around 1605. William Shakespeare also wrote, "The Full Tragedy of Macbeth," around 1606. "Macbeth" is considered one of Shakespeare's darkest and most powerful works.
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The Virginia Company of London, which was a group of investors who wanted to gain profit from this adventure, find a morthwest passage to Asia, and convert the Virginia Indians to the Anglican religion, sponsored the trip that landed in Jamestown, VA. Three ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, carried 105 passengers to this town. On May 14, 1607, the passengers went ashore and began working on the settlement.
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Without William Shakespeare's permission, in 1609 his sonnets were printed. It is apparent that the publisher wanted to make use of the fact that Shakespeare was a celebrity, who was a famous member of the Globe Theatre by this time. The book, Shakespeare's Sonnets, was printed by George Eld, published by Thomas Thorpe, and sold by William Aspley and William Wright. On May 20, 1609, Thorpe was granted a license to publish the book, Shakespeare's Sonnets."
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In 1611, King James I requested that Englad print a Bible translation from the original Herbrew and Greek languages into English. James I did not the Bibles that were printed during that time because he felt that it encouraged disobediance to kings such as himself. King James I had selected 54 men to translate what would be known as the King James Bible, but only 47 men finished it after the 7 years. These men were scholarly and experts in the biblical languages.
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Over a hundred people came on the voyage of the Mayflower in September of 1620. One third of the people were Separatists, which were people who wanted to separate from the Catholic Church, the rest were immigrants and speculators. Their trip took about two months and was one of the happiest trans-Atlantic trips. The people were originally heading towards Jamestown to join the other citizens that were living there, but they got lost at sea and came upon a piece of land that was Plymouth Rock.
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"Corante," which was news from Italy, Germany, Hungarie, Spain, and France, was published by Nathaniel Butter in London in 1621. Corante was the first private, published newspaper in English.
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In the year 1652, John Milton became blind due to most likely glaucoma. Because he was blind, he was forced to compose the ten books of Paradise Lost (which were wrote between 1658-1663) orally. He had to trust and rely on his friends and family to copy and write down what he was saying. Milton was forced to memorize lines of the poems until someone could write it down for him. Whoever would help write his poem would read back the text to him and Milton would revise it that way.
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The Commonwealth was the period from 1649 onwards when England was ruled as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the execution of Charles II. The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II rule.
