16th Century

1485

Accession of Henry VII; inaugurates the Tudor dynasty.

1509

Accession of Henry VIII.

1515

Thomas More begins writing his famous book "Utopia" while on a diplomatic mission in the Netherlands.

1517

Martin Luther posts his Wittenberg Theses, marking the beginning of the Reformation.

1520

Population of London stands at approximately 60,000.

1531

Henry VIII forces the English clergy to beg pardon for administering canon law, claiming it as a royal prerogative.

1533

Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void; Anne Boleyn is crowned queen, and the king is excommunicated by Pope Clement VII.

1534

The Act of Succession requires subjects to accept the king's marriage to Anne; the Act of Supremacy formally declares Henry VIII as "Supreme Head of the Church in England".

1535

Three monks of the Catholic Carthusian order are hanged, drawn, and quartered for rejecting the oath of royal supremacy.

1535/1536

John Fisher (Bishop of Rochester) and Thomas More are convicted and beheaded for sticking to their Catholic beliefs and refusing the oath.

1536-1539

Catholic monasteries in England are suppressed and their vast wealth is seized by the Crown under secretary of state Thomas Cromwell.

1547

Death of Henry VIII; ten-year-old Edward VI succeeds to the throne under Protestant Protectors.

1549

The first Book of Common Prayer, written by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, is officially adopted as the basis of English worship services.

1550

Population of London reaches approximately 120,000.

1550s

Thomas More's "Utopia" is first translated into the English language.

1553

Death of the sickly Edward VI; his Catholic half-sister Mary succeeds him and restores the Catholic Mass and papal authority.

1557

Publication of Tottel's "Songs and Sonnets", containing poems by Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard (Earl of Surrey), and others.

1558

Death of Queen Mary; accession of Elizabeth I to the English throne.

1567

Imperial armies of Catholic Spain invade the Netherlands to stamp out Protestant rebels.

1568

Mary, Queen of Scots is driven from Scotland and takes refuge in England under a format of house arrest.

1572

The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Huguenots (French Protestants) occurs in France.

1576

Building of The Theatre, the first round permanent structure in England for presenting plays.

1580

Pope Gregory XIII proclaims that assassinating the excommunicated heretic Queen Elizabeth I is not a mortal sin.

1583

Sir Thomas Smith explains the traditional social division of English men into four distinct sorts.

1584

Assassination of William of Orange, Europe's other major Protestant leader.

1588

Defeat of the Spanish Armada by England's fleet and subsequent violent storms.

1603

Death of Elizabeth I; accession of James I, the first of the Stuart kings.

1620s

The first newspapers, called "corantoes," begin publication in England.

Renaissance

Word meaning "rebirth"; started in Italy during the 14th century, focusing on its classical past, Latin literature, philosophy, and art.

English Renaissance

Occurred a century later than Italy's; functioned more as a "new birth" rather than a rebirth because England was slow to adopt the classics.

Latin

The international language of the European Renaissance used for all significant schooling, international trade, and higher learning.

Early English Language

Regarded by some locals as too primitive to serve as a suitable medium for serious, elevated, or elegant writing.

Utopia

Famous book written in Latin in 1515 by Thomas More for an international intellectual community; not translated into English until the 1550s.

Wars of the Roses

A vicious, decades-long struggle for royal power between the noble houses of York (white rose) and Lancaster (red rose).

Tudor Dynasty

Dynasty established by Owen Tudor and solidified by Henry VII, which effectively united the rival factions of York and Lancaster.

Tudor Rose

A floral device and symbol of union consisting of the red rose of Lancaster enclosing the white rose of York.

Masque

A sumptuous, elaborately costumed courtly performance of dance, song, and poetry that shaped national tastes.

Groom of the Stool

A highly coveted, powerful position within the court of Henry VIII; "close stool" was the Tudor term for toilet.

Il Principe (The Prince)

Notorious book written by Italian author Niccolò Machiavelli, providing cool guidance on how power may be gained and kept.

Il Cortegiano (The Courtier)

Highly influential Italian book by Count Baldassare Castiglione, offering advice on self-cultivation and display for courtiers.

Sprezzatura

The invaluable skill highlighted by Castiglione meaning the art of concealing the effort behind elegant accomplishments so they appear natural.

Courtier Poets

Elite individuals who utilized multi-meaning words and expanded English vocabulary; examples include Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir Philip Sidney, and Sir Walter Ralegh.

London Population Boom

Soared from 60,000 in 1520 to 375,000 a century later, making it the largest and fastest-growing city in Europe.

William Caxton

Introduced the German invention of printing to England around 1475; authored, translated, and catered to medieval courtly tastes.

Silent Reading

A reading practice reinforced by the availability of printed books, gradually transforming a communal experience into an intimate one.

Four Sorts of English Men

Social division defined by Sir Thomas Smith in 1583: gentlemen, citizens/burgesses, yeomen artificers, and laborers.

Stigma of Print

The cultural attitude among gentlemen/elite courtiers who avoided printing their verses to prevent them from looking less exclusive, preferring manuscripts.

Renaissance Humanism

Intellectual program/literary vision central to curriculum reform, emphasizing individual self-assertion, curiosity, and classical literature.

Oration on the Dignity of Man

1486 work by Florentine Pico della Mirandola expressing the Renaissance vision of human self-fashioning.

English Humanist Educators

Figures like John Colet (recast St. Paul's grammar school), Roger Ascham (tutor to Elizabeth), and Sir Thomas Elyot who wrote educational treatises.

Female Education in Tudor England

Primarily occurred at home or in noble houses, focusing on modern languages, religion, music, and needlework rather than classical tongues.

Classical Literary Texts Taught

Works by Terence, Plautus, Seneca, Virgil, Horace, and Cicero used by Elizabethan schoolmasters to teach moral wisdom and rhetoric.

Richard Mulcaster

Famous English schoolmaster who taught Spenser and famously declared: "I love Rome, but London better… I honor the Latin, but I worship the English".

Classical Works Translated to English

Homer's Iliad/Odyssey (by George Chapman), Plutarch's Lives (by Sir Thomas North), and Ovid's Metamorphoses (by Arthur Golding).

Modern European Works Translated to English

Castiglione's Il Cortegiano (by Sir Thomas Hoby), Ariosto's Orlando furioso (by Sir John Harington), and Montaigne's Essais (by John Florio).

Mass

The most sacred Catholic ritual performed in Latin, where bread and wine were believed to be miraculously transformed into the body and blood of God.

Martin Luther

Augustinian monk who sparked the Reformation in 1517 by challenging Catholic corruption and advocating for private conscience and vernacular Bibles.

Sola Scriptura

Reformation tenet stating that only the scriptures have absolute authority in religious matters.

Sola Fide

Reformation tenet stating that only an individual's internal faith can effect Christian salvation, rather than good works or rituals.

Continental Reformation Leaders

Ulrich Zwingli (Swiss pastor in Zurich) and John Calvin (French theologian in Geneva) who established new institutional structures.

Defender of the Faith

Title granted to Henry VIII by Pope Leo X for writing a diatribe opposing Martin Luther.

Catherine of Aragon

Henry VIII's first wife; her failure to produce a surviving male heir (only daughter Mary lived) prompted Henry's push for divorce.

Anne Boleyn

Henry VIII's second wife, mother of Elizabeth; later beheaded by the king on charges of treason and adultery.

Thomas Cromwell

Henry VIII's powerful secretary of state who directed the systematic suppression and wealth seizure of Catholic monasteries.

Thomas Cranmer

Archbishop of Canterbury who formulated the forty-two articles of English Protestantism and wrote the first Book of Common Prayer.

Bloody Mary

Name given to Queen Mary I by her enemies for returning England to Catholicism and burning almost three hundred Protestants at the stake.

Elizabeth's Coronation Gesture

Elizabeth kissed and held a vernacular English Bible to her breast during her procession, signaling a calculated return to Protestantism.

Recusants

English individuals who faced heavy financial fines for refusing to attend regular Sunday services in their local Protestant parish churches.

Puritans

A radical Protestant minority who sought to "purify" the Church of England from all Catholic vestiges, vestments, rituals, and pagan folk customs.

Pagan Folk Customs Opposed by Puritans

Dancing around the maypole to mark summer and "mumming" (dressing in disguise to perform plays) to mark Christmas.

The Monstrous Regiment of Women

A tract thundered by Scottish Calvinist minister John Knox in 1558 against the political rule of female monarchs.

Queen's Two Bodies

Legal theory advanced by Crown lawyers stating the monarch has a mortal "body natural" (subject to decay) and an immortal "body politic" (eternal office).

William Cecil

Later created Lord Burghley; he served as Queen Elizabeth I's foremost and most trustworthy political adviser.

Absolutism

Political theory holding that ultimate power concentrates in the monarch as God's deputy, and that people must obey even wicked rulers.

Book of Homilies

A collection of required sermons and political tracts that English clergymen had to read aloud from church pulpits to reinforce obedience.

Constraints on Elizabeth's Power

The lack of a standing army or national police, combined with limited finances and reliance on an independent, elected Parliament.

Elizabeth's Cult of Love

A literary and courtly strategy transforming the Queen's sex into an asset, requiring courtiers to address her with extravagant romantic compliments.

Elizabeth's Mythological Identities

Goddesses and biblical heroines used by Spenser and Hilliard to celebrate the Queen: Diana, Astraea, Cynthia, and Deborah.

Punishment of John Stubbes

Protestant writer who had his right hand chopped off for publishing a pamphlet denouncing Elizabeth's proposed marriage to a French Catholic Duke.

Sir Francis Walsingham

Queen Elizabeth's master spy and head of the government's highly organized intelligence and spy network.

Anthony Babington

Catholic conspirator whose letters with Mary, Queen of Scots exposed a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, resulting in Mary's execution.

Philip II

The ardently Catholic King of Spain, former husband to Mary I, and onetime suitor to Elizabeth who launched the Spanish Armada.

Spanish Armada

An enormous fleet of fighting vessels sent by Spain in 1588 to invade England, which was utterly defeated by naval battle and severe storms.

Speech at Tilbury

Celebrated speech delivered by Elizabeth I in a silver breastplate to her soldiers, declaring: "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king".