An outline, era by era

England / Great Britain

Tudors, English Civil War, Glorious Revolution, union with Scotland (1707)

Early Modern Era · ~1500 – ~1800

Between about 1500 and 1800 England changed from a medieval kingdom on the edge of Europe into the centre of a growing island state, Great Britain. The Tudor dynasty (1485 to 1603) broke with the Roman Church, strengthened royal government and built a navy. The Stuart kings who followed faced a long struggle with Parliament over taxes, religion and the limits of royal power.

That struggle led to the English Civil War of the 1640s, the execution of Charles I in 1649 and a period without a king. The monarchy returned in 1660, and in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to 1689 Parliament replaced James II with William III and Mary II and set terms on royal power. In 1707 the Acts of Union joined England and Scotland as the Kingdom of Great Britain, one of the largest states in Europe and soon a major commercial and colonial power.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Henry VIII and the break with Rome

    Event

    What happened

    In 1527 Henry VIII asks the pope to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, who has borne no surviving son. The pope does not grant it. Between 1532 and 1534 Parliament passes laws ending appeals to Rome, and the Act of Supremacy of 1534 declares the king Supreme Head of the Church of England. From 1536 Henry closes the monasteries and takes their lands.

    The rest is history

    The English church thus became a state church under the Crown, and it moved towards Protestant doctrine under Edward VI and Elizabeth I. The sale of monastic land reshaped property ownership among the gentry. Historians still debate how popular the Reformation was and how fast belief changed. The Elizabethan settlement of 1559 fixed the Church of England in a form that largely lasted.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryAct of Supremacy. Statute of the Parliament of England, 1534 (26 Hen. VIII c. 1).
    2. BookScarisbrick, J. J. Henry VIII. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.
    3. BookDuffy, Eamon. The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.

  2. The Spanish Armada, 1588

    Event

    What happened

    In 1588 Philip II of Spain sends a large fleet under the Duke of Medina Sidonia to carry an army from the Netherlands across the Channel to England. English ships harass it in the Channel, and fireships scatter it off Gravelines on 8 August. Winds drive the Spanish up the North Sea, and the survivors sail home around Scotland and Ireland, losing many ships to storms.

    The rest is history

    England was not invaded, and Elizabeth I's Protestant government survived. The war with Spain continued until 1604, and later English expeditions failed to repeat the victory. The episode became a lasting national memory and encouraged the view of England as a naval power. It did not end Spanish naval strength, which recovered in the following years.

    Sources

    1. BookParker, Geoffrey, and Colin Martin. The Spanish Armada. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1988.
    2. BookMattingly, Garrett. The Armada. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1959.

  3. Union of the Crowns, 1603

    Event

    What happened

    Elizabeth I dies childless on 24 March 1603. Her nearest heir, James VI of Scotland, a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, becomes James I of England. He rules both kingdoms, which keep separate parliaments, laws and churches. In 1604 he takes the title King of Great Britain, though the English Parliament does not accept a political union.

    The rest is history

    The two crowns shared a monarch for over a century before the states merged. James's attempt at a fuller union failed in 1607 to 1608 because of English and Scottish suspicion. The shared kingship meant that Scottish and English politics became tied together. The Civil Wars of the 1640s involved all three of Charles I's kingdoms, and the question of a lasting union remained open until 1707.

    Sources

    1. BookWormald, Jenny. Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland 1470-1625. London: Edward Arnold, 1981.
    2. BookCroft, Pauline. King James. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

  4. The Civil Wars and the execution of Charles I

    Event

    What happened

    Charles I rules without Parliament from 1629 to 1640, and rebellion in Scotland forces him to recall it. In August 1642 he raises his standard at Nottingham and civil war begins between royalists and Parliament. The parliamentary New Model Army wins at Naseby in 1645, and Charles is captured. After a trial by a specially created High Court of Justice, he is beheaded on 30 January 1649.

    The rest is history

    England was then a republic, the Commonwealth, and from 1653 Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector. Armies also conquered Ireland and Scotland in these years. Cromwell died in 1658, the regime fell apart, and Charles II was restored in 1660. The wars killed a large share of the population in relation to its size, and they left a lasting caution about both royal absolutism and military rule.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryDeath warrant of Charles I. Signed by 59 commissioners, 29 January 1649. Parliamentary Archives, London.
    2. BookGentles, Ian. The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms, 1638-1652. Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2007.
    3. BookMorrill, John. Revolt in the Provinces: The People of England and the Tragedies of War, 1630-1648. London: Longman, 1999.

  5. The Restoration of 1660

    Event

    What happened

    After Cromwell's death in 1658, his son Richard resigns as Protector in 1659. General George Monck marches from Scotland to London and helps bring back the Long Parliament. In April 1660 Charles II issues the Declaration of Breda, promising pardon and religious toleration, and he returns to London on 29 May 1660.

    The rest is history

    The monarchy, the House of Lords and the Church of England were all restored. Parliament kept important gains, since the king could no longer tax without its consent. The promised toleration was only partly kept, and dissenters faced penal laws in the 1660s. The restored court under Charles II also set the stage for later disputes over the succession and Catholicism.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryDeclaration of Breda. Letter of Charles II, 4 April 1660 (new style 14 April).
    2. BookHutton, Ronald. The Restoration: A Political and Religious History of England and Wales, 1658-1667. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.

  6. The Glorious Revolution, 1688 to 1689

    Event

    What happened

    In 1688 the birth of a Catholic son to James II and the trial of seven bishops alarm Protestant leaders. Seven English nobles invite William of Orange, husband of James's daughter Mary, to intervene. William lands at Torbay on 5 November 1688, and James flees to France in December. In February 1689 Parliament offers the crown jointly to William and Mary, and the Bill of Rights is passed later that year.

    The rest is history

    The Bill of Rights barred Catholics from the throne, forbade the Crown to suspend laws or tax without Parliament, and called for regular parliaments. The Act of Toleration of 1689 eased restrictions on Protestant dissenters. Fighting continued in Ireland and Scotland, and the Jacobite cause lasted into the 1740s. Historians debate whether it was a true revolution or a foreign conquest dressed in legal form, but all agree that it settled Parliament's role in government.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryBill of Rights. Statute of the Parliament of England, 1689 (1 Will. & Mar. sess. 2 c. 2).
    2. BookPincus, Steve. 1688: The First Modern Revolution. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
    3. BookIsrael, Jonathan, ed. The Anglo-Dutch Moment: Essays on the Glorious Revolution and Its World Impact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

  7. The Darien scheme and the Act of Union, 1707

    Event

    What happened

    In 1698 the Company of Scotland sends settlers to Darien on the Isthmus of Panama. The colony fails by 1700 because of disease, Spanish hostility and poor supply, and many Scots investors lose money. The English Parliament passes the Act of Settlement in 1701 and the Alien Act in 1705, putting pressure on Scotland. Commissioners agree the Treaty of Union in 1706, and the Acts of Union take effect on 1 May 1707.

    The rest is history

    The two parliaments merged into one Parliament of Great Britain at Westminster. Scotland kept its own law, church and schools, and gained free trade within the new state. Scotland received a payment called the Equivalent, partly to cover Darien losses. The union was unpopular with many Scots at the time, and historians still debate how far money, security or politics drove the decision.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryUnion with England Act 1707 (Scottish Act) and Union with Scotland Act 1706 (English Act). Treaty of Union, ratified 1707.
    2. BookDevine, T. M. The Scottish Nation: A History, 1700-2000. London: Penguin, 1999.
    3. BookWhatley, Christopher A. The Scots and the Union. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006.

  8. The Hanoverian succession, 1714

    Event

    What happened

    Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch, dies without surviving children on 1 August 1714. Under the Act of Settlement of 1701, the crown passes to the Protestant Sophia of Hanover's son, who becomes George I. Over thirty Catholic Stuart claimants with a closer bloodline are passed over. A Jacobite rising in 1715 fails.

    The rest is history

    The Hanoverian line ruled Britain until 1901. George I and George II relied on Whig ministers, and Robert Walpole emerged as the leading minister in the 1720s, a step towards the office of prime minister. A second Jacobite rising under Charles Edward Stuart ended at Culloden in April 1746. The settlement tied the monarchy to Parliament and to Protestantism.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryAct of Settlement. Statute of the Parliament of England, 1701 (12 & 13 Will. 3 c. 2).
    2. BookHatton, Ragnhild. George I: Elector and King. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978.

  9. Queen Elizabeth I at Tilbury

    Popular belief

    The legend

    As the Armada threatens, Elizabeth I rides to the camp at Tilbury and tells her troops that she has the body of a weak and feeble woman, but the heart and stomach of a king. The speech is said to rally the army and win the war.

    The rest is history

    Elizabeth did visit Tilbury on 8 and 9 August 1588. The famous words are known from a letter written by Leonel Sharp, a chaplain, in later years, perhaps around 1623 to 1624, long after the event. The Armada had already been scattered by then, so the camp never faced a landing. Scholars therefore doubt the exact wording, though the visit itself is well documented.

    Sources

    1. PrimarySharp, Leonel. Letter to the Duke of Buckingham, c. 1623-1624. British Library, Harleian MS.
    2. BookMarcus, Leah S., Janel Mueller, and Mary Beth Rose, eds. Elizabeth I: Collected Works. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

  10. Drake and the game of bowls

    Popular belief

    The legend

    As the Armada is sighted off the Lizard, Sir Francis Drake is playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe. He refuses to hurry, saying there is time to finish the game and beat the Spaniards too.

    The rest is history

    The tale is not found in accounts written at the time. It first appears in print in a pamphlet of 1624, decades later, and it may be a later invention. The English fleet could not leave Plymouth against the wind and tide in any case, so the delay may have been unavoidable. Drake's real role in 1588 was as vice-admiral, and he was criticised for leaving his post to capture a Spanish ship.

    Sources

    1. BookParker, Geoffrey, and Colin Martin. The Spanish Armada. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1988.
    2. BookKelsey, Harry. Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.

  11. Bonnie Prince Charlie and the escape over the sea to Skye

    Folk tale

    The legend

    After defeat at Culloden in 1746, Prince Charles Edward Stuart hides in the Highlands with a price on his head. The young Flora MacDonald disguises him as her Irish maid, Betty Burke, and takes him by boat to the Isle of Skye. His Highland followers never betray him for the reward, and he escapes to France.

    The rest is history

    The core of the tale is true. Charles was hunted for five months, and Flora MacDonald did help him cross from South Uist to Skye in June 1746, with him dressed as a maid. She was arrested and held in the Tower of London, then freed in 1747. The reward of £30,000 was never claimed. The romantic song 'Skye Boat Song' was written much later, in the 1870s, and the prince's later life was marked by drink and decline.

    Sources

    1. BookDuffy, Christopher. The '45: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Untold Story of the Jacobite Rising. London: Cassell, 2003.
    2. BookPittock, Murray. The Myth of the Jacobite Clans. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995.

← Back to the outline