AD 1500-1750 Early modern

Under the Tudor dynasty established by Henry VII (reigned AD 1485-1509), England entered a period marked by political and economic expansion but also the disruptions of religious conflict. In the 1530s Henry VIII (reigned 1509-47) broke with the Catholic Church and his son, Edward VI (reigned 1547-53), pursued a policy of radical Protestantism. This was violently reversed by his Catholic sister Mary (reigned 1553-8). Elizabeth I (reigned 1558-1603) instituted a cautious but firmly Protestant religious settlement. Her long reign is traditionally seen as a ‘golden age’, but her last years were affected by economic depression and a long war with Spain.

James VI of Scotland came to the throne of England as James I (reigned in England 1603-25). His son Charles I combined an ambitious view of his role in the political and religious life of his kingdoms with poor political skills. This set England on a path to Civil War (1642-51) during which Charles was executed and England became a republican Commonwealth. The monarchy was restored with Charles II in 1660, in a reign marked by the Great Plague (1665), the Fire of London (1666) and real and imaginary political conspiracies.

Charles’ brother James II (reigned 1685-8), a Catholic convert, was forced from the throne. His Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband William of Orange, later William III, became joint monarchs in the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. Parliament now established the Protestant Succession, which in 1714 brought George I, the first Hanoverian king, to the throne.