HENRY VII (1485-1509)

Henry VII came to the English throne when the Wars of the Roses ended. He had to deal with
frequent conspiracies. He tried to consolidate his position through: a treaty with France, giving him
recognition; a trade treaty with the Netherlands; the dynastic marriage, in 1501, between his son
Arthur and the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon. He strengthened the monarchy and turned
England into a modern State. He aimed at increasing and reinforcing Englands trading position. He
laid the foundations of English naval power by increased spending on shipbuilding and England had
its own merchant fleet and extended its military power.
HENRY VIII (1509-1547)
Henry VIIs second son. He had a natural sportsman, popular both with the English elite and the
English public. He was called the Golden Prince both for his natural good looks and his chivalry
and education. He granted the title of Defender of the Faith by the Pope in 1521 for his Latin
treatise defending the sacraments. He was married with Catherine of Aragon who bore him a
daughter, Mary. He asked the Pope for a divorce to marry his pregnant mistress Anne Boleyn. He
choose to broke with Rome when the Pope refused and declared himself Supreme Head of the
Church of England with the Act of Supremacy (1534). He dissolved the monasteries, taking their
wealth. Ireland remained a Catholic country and it is the beginning of the Irish question. Anne
Boleyn gave him a second daughter, Elizabeth. She was tried and executed for treason in 1536.
Henry went on to have four more wives and one son, Edward, later Edward VI, from Jane Seymour.
EDWARD VI (1553-1558)
He was the son of Jane Seymour and Henry VIII. He made Protestant doctrine more fully accepted.
He used some of the confiscated wealth of convents to build schools. He replaced the old Latin with
The Book of Common Prayer in English.
MARY I (1547-1553)
She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. She refused to abandon the Catholic
faith. She tried to restore England to papal obedience. She was married with the Catholic Philip of
Spain. The burning of Protestants earned her the nickname Bloody Mary and alienated public
opinion. She died without an heir.
ELIZABETH I (1558-1603)
She was Henry VIII and Anne Boleyns daughter. She became queen of a divided nation, the
majority of which was anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish. She was twenty-five and had a strong
personality, a lively intelligence and a passionate character. She had received an excellent
education: she could speak French, Latin and Italian. Her Church of England restored the country
firmly to Protestantism, yet she granted Catholics freedom of worship. She was unmarried and used
this as a political weapon. She said that the Queen was married to her people and became the
Virgin Queen. She went on royal progresses to be seen and to get to know her people. She inspired
literature, music, drama and poetry. She recognised Spain as her main trade rival and enemy and
expanded exploration and overseas trade. She encouraged sea-captains Francis Drake and Walter
Raleigh in their piracy against Spanish ships and took a share of the profits. She defeated the
Spanish Armada in 1588. She laid the basis of Englands empire chartering seven companies
including the East India Company to colonise in the name of trade.
JAMES I (1603-1625)
Elizabeth died in 1603 without heirs. James VI of Scotland became the first Stuart king in England
with the title of James I. He was a Protestant. He based his rule on the theory of the divine right of
kings. He summoned Parliament only to ask for money. He interested in witchcraft. In his treatise
Daemonologie (1597) he declared his belief in black magic.

Religion was the most urgent problem of his reign. Catholics barred from public life and fined if
they refused to attend the Church of England. Extreme Protestants, called Puritans, disapproved of
the rites and bishops of the Church of England. Puritans had a high sense of duty and morality. A
hundred of them the Pilgrim Fathers applied for a government patent to colonise New England.
In 1620 they left England for America on the Mayflower and founded New Plymouth. James I
authorised a new translation of the Bible in 1604. In 1605 some radical Catholics plotted to blow up
the king in the Houses of Parliament. The failure of the Gunpowder Plot is commemorated in
England on 5th November. Children have fireworks and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes, one of the
conspirators, on large fires.