16th Century England

At the dawn of the 16th century, most people in England were Roman Catholic and the Pope in Rome was the head of the Christian Church. However, the century was destined to be fraught with religious turmoil and civil unrest.

Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547) was King, the second monarch from the house of Tudor. His bond with the Catholic Church was so strong that in 1521 the Pope dubbed him “Defender of the Faith” for having written his best-selling book attacking Martin Luther and supporting the Roman Catholic Church. This was about to change however.

In 1529, Henry petitioned the Pope to grant an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon who had only given him one daughter, Princess Mary. Catherine was too old to conceive another child and Henry, who had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn, desperately wanted a male heir. Lacking approval from the Pope, through a series of Acts Parliament reduced papal power and influence in England.

In 1533 Henry’s marriage to Catherine was declared invalid and Anne Boleyn was crowned queen. Anne soon gave birth to a daughter, Princess Elizabeth. When Anne failed to produce a male heir, she quickly fell out of favor leading Henry to have her charged with treason and executed in 1536. 

Henry next married Jane Seymour. In 1537 she gave birth to a son, Prince Edward giving Henry the male heir he’d so desperately sought. Sadly, Jane died a short time later.

Henry continued to force through changes to the Church-State relationship, changes which excluded the papacy and brought the clergy under control of the monarchy. The English church remained Catholic, but the pope was no longer its head—he was now simply the bishop of Rome.

In 1536 and 1539 acts of Parliament dissolved the English monasteries. With their demise, monastic advowsons and appropriation of tithes fell into lay hands. 

Despite these innovations, Henry's religious reformations did not seriously challenge Catholic doctrine. With the exception of the denial of papal supremacy, Henry upheld all the central pillars of the Roman Catholic faith. 

To guarantee the continuation of his anti-papal reforms, Henry ensured that people who believed in Protestantism educated his son Edward. Henry died in London on 28 January 1547 and Edward was crowned King. 

Edward VI (r. 1547-1553) was just nine years old when his father died. A Regency Council was created to govern the realm until Edward reached the age of majority. Edward’s uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, was named Protector and head of the Regency. 

During Edward’s reign, England officially became Protestant. Reforms included the abolition of clerical celibacy (1549) and the Mass, and the requirement that services be conducted in English.

In 1553, Edward fell ill. He and his Council drew up a “Devise for the Succession” to prevent the country’s return to Catholicism. Edward named his first cousin once removed Lady Jane Grey as his heir, excluding his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. Edward succumbed to illness on 6 July 1553 at the age of 16. His decision to name Lady Grey his heir was disputed thus allowing Mary to forcibly depose Jane and have her beheaded.

Mary I (r. 1553-1558), also known as Mary Tudor, attempted to reverse the English Reformation begun by her father Henry VIII. She restored papal supremacy, abandoned the title of Supreme Head of the Church, reintroduced Roman Catholic bishops and began the slow reintroduction of monastic orders. Mary also revived the old heresy laws and had nearly 300 religious dissenters burned at the stake. The latter led to her being dubbed “Bloody Mary” by her critics.

On Mary’s death in 1558, Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603) succeeded her half-sister to the throne. One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor ensuring that the Roman Catholic Church had no say over the workings and beliefs of what came to be known as the Church of England. Elizabeth also reintroduced the Book of common Prayer. It would be well into the last two decades of Elizabeth's long reign however before it could be said with confidence that Protestantism was the religion of the majority in England.

Elizabeth pursued an aggressive policy of exploration and discovery, which laid the groundwork for English colonization and trade expansion. A successfully fought war with Spain and many expeditions were costly and contributed to an ever-rising government debt, however.

Nonetheless, Elizabeth’s 45-year reign is generally considered one of the most glorious in English history. The period is famous for the flourishing of English theater, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Sir Francis Drake. Elizabeth died in 1603. She had never married and left no direct heir to the throne.

James I (r. 1603-1625) succeeded Elizabeth I to the throne. He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the great grandson of Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s elder sister, making him the closest relative to Elizabeth. He had been King of Scotland for 36 years when he became King of England and was the first monarch to be called King of Great Britain. He was also the first monarch from the House of Stuart. James, an able theologian, ordered a new translation of the Bible, which became known as the Authorized King James Version.

He was tolerant in terms of religious faith until Guy Fawkes and other Roman Catholic conspirators attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, at a time when James was present. In response, James imposed strict penalties on Roman Catholics.

Under James the Plantation of Ulster by English and Scots Protestants began, and the English colonization of North America started with the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, and Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland, in 1610. At the time of his death in 1625, the kingdom was on the edge of war with Spain. 

Charles I (r. 1625-1649), the second son of James I and Anne of Denmark, succeeded his father as the second Stuart King of Great Britain. Charles was deeply religious favoring the high Anglican form of worship. His marriage to the Roman Catholic Henrietta Maria of France added to the religious discord between Charles and many British leaders.

Charles was not a successful ruler. His short reign was fraught with civil discord. Civil wars erupted, first with the Scots from 1637, in Ireland from 1641, and then England (1642-46 and 1648).

On 20 January 1649, Charles was charged with high treason 'against the realm of England'. He was sentenced to death on 27 January and three days later he was beheaded.

To avoid the automatic succession of Charles I's son Charles, an Act was passed on 30 January forbidding the proclaiming of another monarch. On 7 February 1649, the office of King was formally abolished. 

From 1649 to 1658, Oliver Cromwell, an ordinary man who had been chosen as leader of Parliament, was ruling Britain. Cromwell was very strict, so the people soon grew tired of him. When he died, his son Richard was chosen to be the next leader. However, he was ineffective so Charles I’s son Charles was brought back to England to rule Britain.

Charles II (r. 1660-1685) is known for his cavorting lifestyle, which earned him the title of the “Merry Monarch”, and for his feuds with Parliament over attempts to give civic equality to Roman Catholics.

There were also some people who did not like King Charles II because of his religious beliefs. While most people in the country were Protestant, Charles had been brought up by his mother, a Roman Catholic. 

Charles died after a stroke in 1685. Although Charles fathered many illegitimate children, he had no legitimate children to succeed him to the throne.

James II (r. 1685-1688) was crowned King of Scotland, England and Ireland on 6 February 1685. He was the last Roman Catholic King. 

James' attempts to give civic equality to Roman Catholic and Protestant dissenters, led to conflict with Parliament. As a result, he prorogued Parliament in 1685 and ruled without it.

It was feared that James’ son James Stuart, later known as “The Pretender” would succeed his father thus establishing a Roman Catholic dynasty. 

However, in 1688 William of Orange invaded England. The Army and Navy deserted James causing him to flee to France. He died there in exile in 1701.

William was born in the Netherlands as Prince William Henry of Orange. His mother was Mary Stuart, the sister of James II, so King James was William's uncle. William was the husband of James’ elder daughter Mary by his first wife Anne Hyde, a Protestant.

In 1689 Parliament declared that James had abdicated by deserting his kingdom. William (r. 1689-1702) and Mary (r. 1689-94) were offered the throne as joint monarchs so that when one died the other would be sole monarch. It is known as the reign of William and Mary.

Laws were passed which protected Parliament from unreasonable acts of the Sovereign, guaranteed religious toleration to Protestant nonconformists, but restricted the religious liberty of Roman Catholics and non-Christian faiths. The Sovereign was thus now required in his/her coronation oath to swear to maintain the Protestant religion.

Mary died on 12 December 1694 of smallpox, leaving William to rule alone until his death in 1702. Eventually his sister-in-law, Queen Anne, succeeded him to the throne. 

It should be noted that in 1701 an Act of Parliament was passed which settled the succession of the thrones of England and Ireland on Protestants only. Scotland was initially not part of this arrangement, but pressure from England led to the parliamentary union of the two countries in 1707.