Full Tudors timeline

1485

Henry VII takes throne following victory at Battle of Bosworth

Henry VII’s first parliament

1486

Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York

Lovell rebellion

Birth of Prince Arthur

1487

Imposture of Lambert Simnel

Defeat of the Earl of Lincoln at the Battle of Stoke

Export of unfinished cloth by foreign merchants banned

1489

Murder of Earl of Northumberland and Yorkshire rising

Treaty of Redon

Treaty of Medina del Campo

1491

Beginning of imposture of Perkin Warbeck

Birth of Prince Henry

1492

War against France

Treaty of Etaples

1494

Poynings appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland

1495

Execution of Sir William Stanley

Introduction of the Council Learned in the Law under the leadership of Sir Reginald Bray

Creation of Privy Chamber

1496

Intercursus Magnus treaty signed

1497

Cornish Rebellion

Truce of Alton between England and Scotland

Surrender of Warbeck

1499

Execution of the Earl of Warwick and of Warbeck

1501

Marriage of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon

1502

Death of Prince Arthur

1503

Death of Sir Reginald Bray

Marriage of Princess Margaret to James IV of Scotland

1506

Treaty of Windsor

Intercursus Malus treaty agreed

1509

Death of Henry VII and accession of Henry VIII

Empson and Dudley arrested

Henry VIII’s coronation

Marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

1510

Abolition of Council Learned in the Law

Empson and Dudley executed

Thomas Wolsey appointed to Council

1512

War against France

Re-foundation of St Paul’s School

1513

Battle of Flodden

Capture of Tournai and Thérouanne

1514

Wolsey emerges as chief minister

Wolsey appointed Archbishop of York

Princess Mary marries Lousi XI of France

1515

Wolsey appointed Lord Chancellor

Princess Mary marries the Duke of Suffolk

Wolsey appointed cardinal

Wolsey begins building Hampton Court

1516

Birth of Princess Mary

Publication of Thomas More’s ‘Utopia’

1517

Completion of Torrigiano’s funeral effigies of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York

1518

Treaty of London

1520

Field of the Cloth of Gold

1521

Execution of Duke of Buckingham

Treaty of Bruges

1523

War against France

1525

Opposition to imposition of Amicable Grant

1526

Ethan Ordinances issued

League of Cognac

1528

Legatine court enquiring into the validity of the king’s marriage

1529

Fall of Wolsey

Sir Thomas More appointed Lord Chancellor

Treaty of Cambrai

1532

Resignation of More

Thomas Cromwell emerges as chief minister

Thomas Cranmer appointed Archbishop of Canterbury

1533

Henry marries Anne Boleyn

Birth of Princess Elizabeth

Princess Mary declared illegitimate

Act in Restraint of Appeals

1534

Act of Supremacy

1535

Execution of Thomas More

1536

Execution of Anne Boleyn

Marriage of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour

Princess Elizabeth declared illegitimate

Beginning of dissolution of the monasteries

First set of royal injunctions issued

Ten Articles issued

Pilgrimage of Grace

1537

Birth of Prince Edward

1538

Second set of royal injunctions issued

1539

Six Articles Act

First edition of the ‘Great Bible’ published

1540

Marriage of Henry and Anne of Cleves; quickly dissolved

Execution of Cromwell

Marriage of Henry and Catherine Howard

1542

Execution of Catherine Howard

Battle of Solway Moss

1543

Treaty of Greenwich

1544

Mary and Elizabeth reinstated to succession

Invasion of France

Capture of Boulogne

Currency debasement begins

1545

Battle of Ancrum Moor

1547

Death of Henry VIII

Marquis of Hertford (later Duke of Somerset) appointed Protector

Third set of royal injunctions issued

Invasion of Scotland

1548

Enclosure commission

1549

Execution of Thomas Seymour

Fall of Somerset

Earl of Warwick takes over leadership of government

Act of Uniformity and issue of first Book of Common Prayer

Western Rebellion

Kett’s Rebellion

1550

Warwick becomes Lord President of the Council, and Duke of Northumberland

1552

Execution of Somerset

Act of Uniformity and issue of second Book of Common Prayer

1553

Death of Edward VI, who is succeeded temporarily by Lady Jane Grey

Mary I proclaimed queen

Execution of Northumberland

Forty-Two Articles of Religion

Pole appointed papal legate to England

1554

Wyatt’s Rebellion

Execution of Lady Jane Grey

Marriage of Mary and Philip of Spain

1555

Restoration of Hersey law

Burnings for heresy resume

Harvest failure

1556

Execution of Cranmer

Harvest failure

1557

Paul IV revokes Pole’s papal legateship

War against France

Influenza epidemic

1558

Death of Mary I and accession of Elizabeth I

Sir William Cecil appointed secretary

Loss of Calais

Influenza epidemic continues

1559

Coronation of Elizabeth I

Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity

Fourth set of royal injunctions issued

Matthew Parker appointed Archbishop of Canterbury

Treaty of Câteau-Cambrésis signed

Elizabeth aids the Lords of the Congregation in Scotland

1560

Treaty of Edinburgh signed

1561

Underused currency completely restored

1562

Elizabeth seriously ill with smallpox

Military support for French Huguenots

1563

Elizabeth urged to marry

Thirty-Nine Articles issued

Publication of Foxe’s ‘Book of Martyrs’

Statue of Artificers

1564

Treaty of Troyes signed

1566

Vestiarian Controversy

Elizabeth again pressed to marry

Parker’s Advertisements

1567

Mary, Queen of Scots forced to abdicate

1568

Mary, Queen of Scots flees to England

Clash between Spanish fleet and English fleet under John Hawkins

Elizabeth impounds Spanish bullion

1569

Northern Rebellion

1570

Elizabeth excommunicated by Pope Pius V

1571

Ridolfi Plot

Cecil raised to the peerage as Lord Burghley

1572

Duke of Norfolk executed

Cartwright and Field begin campaign for reform of organisation of English Church

Treaty of Blois signed

1573

Sir Francis Walsingham appointed Secretary of State

1574

Arrival of first Catholic missionary priests

1575

Edmund Grindal appointed Archbishop of Canterbury

1577

Suspension of Grindal

Execution of first Catholic priest, Cuthbert Mayne

1579

Marriage negotiations between Elizabeth and the Duke of Anjou

1580

Arrival of first Jesuit missionaries

1581

Tightening of anti-Catholic laws

1583

Throckmorton Plot

John Whitgift appointed Archbishop of Canterbury

Whitgift’s Articles issued

1584

Bond of Association

Expulsion of Spanish ambassador

Treaty of Joinville

1585

Parry Plot

Further tightening of anti-Catholic legislation

Treaty of Nonsuch

Start of war between England and Spain

1586

Babington Plot

Mary, Queen of Scots convicted of treason

Treaty of Berwick

1587

Mary, Queen of Scots executed

Successful English attack on Spanish fleet in Cadiz

1588

Death of Earl of Leicester

First ‘Marprelate’ tracts published

Defeat of Spanish Armada

1590

Death of Walsingham

1591

Death of Sir Christopher Hatton

Robert Cecil promoted to Privy Council

1593

Execution of separatists

1594

Start of Tyrone Rebellion in Ireland

Harvest failure

1595

Harvest failure

1596

Cecil appointed secretary of state

Harvest failure

Food riots

1597

Harvest failure

Reports of starvation in parts of the north

1598

Death of Lord Burghley

Defeat of English force in Ireland at Battle of Yellow Ford

Poor law enacted

1599

Cecil appointed Master of Wards

Essex returns from Ireland

1601

‘Rebellion’ and execution of Earl of Essex

Agitation in Parliament over monopolies

Poor law revised

1603

Death of Elizabeth I and accession of James I

Years each monarch was in power

Henry VII 1485 - 1509

Henry VIII 1509 - 1547

Edward VI 1547 - 1553

Mary I 1553 - 1558

Elizabeth I 1558 - 1603