| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1531 | - 11 Feb 1531: Henry VIII recognised as Supreme Head of the Church of England
|
| 2 | 1532 | - 1532: Foundation of the Court of Session in Scotland
|
| 3 | 1533 | - 25 Jan 1533: Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn secretly, wife #2 (she was crowned as Queen
on 1st June)
- 30 Mar 1533: Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury
- 23 May 1533: Henry VIII's marriage with Catherine of Aragon officially declared annulled
- 11 Jul 1533: Henry VIII excommunicated by Pope Clement VII
- 17 Sep 1533: Anne Boleyn gives birth to a daughter Elizabeth, to become Queen Elizabeth I
|
| 4 | 1534 | - 1534: Reformation of the Catholic Church in England church (Henry VIII)
|
| 5 | 1535 | - 1535: Sir Thomas More executed
|
| 6 | 1536 | - 1536: Wales and England legally united by the Laws in Wales Act of 1535
- 1536: Dissolution of monasteries starts in England (to 1540)
- 19 May 1536: Anne Boleyn executed
- 30 May 1536: Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour, wife #3 (she was crowned as Queen on 29th
October)
- 18 Jul 1536: The authority of the Pope is declared void in England
|
| 7 | 1537 | - 24 Oct 1537: Jane Seymour dies from complications in giving birth to a son, the future
Edward VI
|
| 8 | 1538 | - 1538: Henry VIII issues English Bible
- 1538: English and Welsh parish registers start
- 17 Dec 1538: Henry VIII excommunicated by Pope Paul III
|
| 9 | 1540 | - 1540: Statute of Wills allows freehold land to be bequeathed
- 6 Jan 1540: Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves, the 'Flanders Mare', wife #4
- 9 Feb 1540: First recorded horse racing event in Britain, at Chester
- 9 Jul 1540: Henry VIII divorces Anne of Cleves
- 28 Jul 1540: Thomas Cromwell executed; Henry VIII marries Catherine Howard the same day,
wife #5
|
| 10 | 1541 | - 1541: Henry VIII proclaimed king (rather than feudal lord) of Ireland
|
| 11 | 1542 | - 13 Feb 1542: Catherine Howard executed
- 14 Dec 1542: Death of King James V of Scots; his baby daughter Mary "Queen of Scots"
succeeds him, just 6 days old
|
| 12 | 1543 | - 12 Jul 1543: Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr, wife #6, who survives him
- 9 Sep 1543: Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is officially crowned "Queen of Scots" in
Stirling (spelling of the royal house changes from Stewart to Stuart)
|
| 13 | 1544 | - 1544: Henry's VIII's "Rough Wooing" of the Scottish Borders
- 1544: Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland
|
| 14 | 1545 | - 20 Jul 1545: Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII, sinks in the Solent – raised in 1982
|
| 15 | 1546 | - 1546: Trinity College, Cambridge founded by Henry VIII
|
| 16 | 1547 | - 1547: Ivan the Terrible takes title 'Tsar of all the Russias'
- 1547: Vagrants Act passed (able-bodied tramps can be detained as slaves)
- 1547: English replaced Latin in church services in England and Wales
- 28 Jan 1547: Death of Henry VIII (succeeded by Edward VI, aged 9, to 1553)
- 20 Feb 1547: Coronation of Edward VI in Westminster Abbey
- 10 Sep 1547: Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, said to be the first 'modern' battle to be fought in the
British Isles
|
| 17 | 1548 | - 1548: Priests in England allowed to marry (about a third then did so) – but see 1554
|
| 18 | 1549 | - 1549: English Parliament declares enclosures legal
- 1549: First Act of Uniformity in England made Catholic Mass illegal
- 1549: Wedding ring finger changed from right to left hand
- 9 Jun 1549: First Book of Common Prayer sanctioned by English Parliament
|
| 19 | 1550 | - 1550: Walloon Protestants arrive as refugees from the Low Countries
|
| 20 | 1551 | - 1551: Scotland: General Provincial Council orders each parish to keep a register of baptisms
and banns of marriage
|
| 21 | 1552 | - Mar 1552: An 'Act of Uniformity' imposes the Protestant prayerbook of 1552 in England
|
| 22 | 1553 | - 6 Jul 1553: Edward VI dies; Lady Jane Grey queen for a few days only
- 19 Jul 1553: Mary Tudor ('Bloody Mary') comes to the throne
|
| 23 | 1554 | - 1554: Brief Catholic restoration under Queen Mary Tudor – married priests forced to separate
at least 30 miles from their wives
- 12 Feb 1554: Lady Jane Grey beheaded
|
| 24 | 1556 | - 21 Mar 1556: Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer burned at the stake in Oxford
|
| 25 | 1558 | - 1558: System of Counties adopted
- 1558: Scottish parish registers start
- 7 Jan 1558: French take Calais, last English possession in France
- 24 Apr 1558: Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to François the Dauphin of France in Paris
- 17 Nov 1558: Queen Mary Tudor of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister
Elizabeth – Protestantism restored in England
|
| 26 | 1559 | - 1559: Tobacco introduced to Europe
- 1559: John Knox returns from Continent – strengthens case for Presbyterianism in Scotland
- 15 Jan 1559: Elizabeth crowned in Westminster Abbey by Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of
Carlisle
- 29 Apr 1559: Acts of Supremacy passed in Parliament, ending papal jurisdiction over England
& Wales; established Church of England
|
| 27 | 1560 | - 1560: Establishment of Protestantism in Scotland – commissary courts thrown into confusion
– some records lost
- 27 Feb 1560: Treaty of Berwick between Duc du Chatelherault (as governor of Scotland) and
the English, agreeing to act jointly to expel the French from Scotland
|
| 28 | 1561 | - 1561: Spire of St Paul's, highest in England, destroyed by fire
- 1561: The first coins produced by machinery (known as a 'mill') rather than by hand, but it
was a slow process and did not replace hand struck coinage until new machinery was
introduced in 1663
|
| 29 | 1562 | - 1562: Earliest English slave-trading expedition, under John Hawkins – between Guinea and
the West Indies
|
| 30 | 1563 | - 28 Jul 1563: The English surrender Le Havre to the French after a siege
|
| 31 | 1564 | - 26 Apr 1564: Shakespeare baptised – he is said to have been born on Apr 23, St George's
Day; he certainly died on Apr 23, 1616
|
| 32 | 1565 | - 29 Jul 1565: Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, her first
cousin
|
| 33 | 1566 | - 9 Mar 1566: Murder of David Riccio (or Rizzio) in Holyrood House
|
| 34 | 1567 | - 10 Feb 1567: Murder of Darnley outside Holyrood House in an explosion
- 15 May 1567: Marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
- 24 Jul 1567: Mary Queen of Scots deposed and replaced by her 1 year old son James VI
|
| 35 | 1568 | - 13 May 1568: Battle of Langside – Mary's flight to England and her imprisonment by Queen
Elizabeth I
|
| 36 | 1569 | - 1569: Elizabeth I approved Sunday sports
|
| 37 | 1570 | - 25 Feb 1570: Pope Pius V issued the papal bull 'Regnans in Excelsis' to excommunicate
Elizabeth I and her followers in the Church of England
|
| 38 | 1571 | - 1571: Presbyterianism introduced into England by Thomas Cartwright
- 1571: Repeal of Act prohibiting lending of money on interest – gradual change from
'subsistence economy' to 'cash economy' resulted
- 1571: Beginning of penal legislation against Catholics in England
- 23 Jan 1571: Opening of the Royal Exchange in London, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham –
this building destroyed in Great Fire of London 1666
|
| 39 | 1577 | - 1577: James Burbage opens first theatre in London
|
| 40 | 1579 | - 1579: Act of Uniformity in matters of religion enforced
|
| 41 | 1580 | - 1580: Congregational movement founded by Robert Browne about this time
- 1580: Colonisation of Ireland
- 6 Apr 1580: Dover Straits earthquake, largest in the recorded history of England, mentioned
by Shakespeare – dozens of ships sunk and a tsunami hit Calais
|
| 42 | 1581 | - 1581: English Levant Company founded
- 16 Jan 1581: English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism
- 4 Apr 1581: Francis Drake knighted by Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind after
circumnavigating the world
|
| 43 | 1583 | - 1583: University of Edinburgh founded
- 1583: Foundation of Cambridge University Press by Thomas Thomas
- Aug 1583: Sir Humphrey Gilbert attempts to establish English authority at St John's,
Newfoundland
|
| 44 | 1584 | - 4 Jun 1584: Sir Walter Raleigh establishes first English colony in the New World, on
Roanoke Island, Virginia (now in North Carolina) – the so-called 'Lost Colony'
|
| 45 | 1585 | - 1585: Foundation of Oxford University Press
|
| 46 | 1587 | - 1587: Introduction of potatoes to England
- 8 Feb 1587: Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringay Castle, near Peterborough
- 19 Apr 1587: Sir Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbour
- 11 Aug 1587: Raleigh's second expedition to New World lands in North Carolina – first child
born in the New World of English parents was Virginia Dare (Aug 18)
|
| 47 | 1588 | - 1588: Invention of shorthand by Dr Timothy Bright
- 19 Jul 1588: Spanish Armada sighted off the Lizard (had set sail from Lisbon in late May)
- 29 Jul 1588: Defeat of Spanish Armada off Gravelines
|
| 48 | 1591 | - 1591: Trinity College, Dublin, founded
|
| 49 | 1592 | - 1592: A Congregational (or Independent) Church formed in London
- 1592: Scotland: Presbyterian Church formally established – all ministers equal – no bishops –
secular commissaries appointed by the Crown
|
| 50 | 1593 | - 1593: British statute mile established by law
|
| 51 | 1594 | - 1594: Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, leads Irish rebellion against English rule (-1603)
|
| 52 | 1597 | - 1597: Poor Law Act for erection of parish workhouses for the Poor – Poor Rate collection
allowed
|
| 53 | 1598 | - 1598: Bishop's transcripts of English and Welsh parish registers start – parish records were to
be kept in 'great decent books of parchment' and copies or 'Bishop's Transcripts' of new entries
were to be sent each month to the diocesan centre
|
| 54 | 1600 | - 1 Jan 1600: Scotland adopts New Year beginning 1st January (previously 25th March)
- 31 Dec 1600: British East India Company founded
|
| 55 | 1601 | - 1601: Great English Poor Law Act passed
- 1601: First use of fruit juice as a preventative for scurvy by James Lancaster
|
| 56 | 1602 | - 20 Mar 1602: Dutch East India Company founded
- 8 Nov 1602: Bodleian Library at Oxford University opened to the public
|
| 57 | 1603 | - 24 Mar 1603: Death of Elizabeth I: union of Scottish and English crowns – under King James
VI of Scots and I of England (d. 1625)
- 25 Jul 1603: Coronation – James VI of Scotland is crowned first king of Great Britain
|
| 58 | 1604 | - 1 Nov 1604: Shakespeare: "Othello" first presented
|
| 59 | 1605 | - 5 Nov 1605: Gunpowder plot at Westminster (Guy Fawkes, etc)
|
| 60 | 1606 | - 1606: The London Company chartered to colonise Virginia: the Susan Constant, Godspeed,
and Discovery leave England on 19th De c taking 144 days to reach America
- 1606: Episcopacy established in Scotland (against wishes of the Scots)
- 31 Jan 1606: Guy Fawkes and co-conspirators executed
- 12 Mar 1606: Adoption of Union Flag as the flag of "Great Britain" (the term Union Jack is
used officially only when the Union Flag is flown from the Jack Mast of a Royal Naval vessel)
|
| 61 | 1607 | - 14 May 1607: Jamestown, Virginia settled – to become the first permanent British colony in
North America
|
| 62 | 1608 | - 1608: First use of telescope by Galileo – he observed the moons of Jupiter two years later in
Jan 1610
|
| 63 | 1610 | - 1610: James VI & I established the Episcopal Church in Scotland – Prebyterians persecuted
and many of their records lost
|
| 64 | 1611 | - 1611: Authorised (King James) Version of Bible in Britain
- 22 May 1611: James VI & I created the title of baronet
|
| 65 | 1613 | - 1613: A copper farthing was produced, as a silver coin would be too small
- 29 Jun 1613: The Globe Theatre in London burns during a performance of Henry the Eighth
(finally pulled down in 1644)
|
| 66 | 1616 | - 23 Apr 1616: Tuesday Apr 23 (Julian calendar): Death of Shakespeare
|
| 67 | 1618 | - 1618: Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I
|
| 68 | 1619 | - 4 Dec 1619: (Nov 24 old style): Colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in
Virginia and give thanks to God (considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving in the
Americas)
|
| 69 | 1620 | - 1620: Manufacture of coke (the fuel, not the drink!) patented by Dud Dudley
- 21 Dec 1620: (Dec 16 old style): The Mayflower reaches America – founds Plymouth, New
England (had initially set sail from Southampton on Aug 5)
|
| 70 | 1621 | - 1621: Chimneys to be made of brick and to be four and a half feet above the roof
|
| 71 | 1622 | - 1622: First English newspaper appeared - "Weekly News"
|
| 72 | 1624 | - 1624: Monopoly Act in England: patents protected
- 1624: Edmund Gunter introduces the surveyor's chain (measurement of length)
|
| 73 | 1625 | - 1625: The size of bricks standardised in England around this time
- 27 Mar 1625: Death of King James VI & I
|
| 74 | 1628 | - 1 Mar 1628: Writs issued by Charles I that every county in England (not just seaport towns)
pay ship tax by this date
|
| 75 | 1629 | - 10 Mar 1629: Parliament dissolved by King Charles I – did not meet for another 11 yea
|
| 76 | 1633 | - Jun 1633: Galileo summoned by Inquisition for publishing in favour of Copernican theory
|
| 77 | 1635 | - 1635: Letter Office of England & Scotland started
- 1635: Flintlock small arms invented around this time (replaces matchlock)
|
| 78 | 1636 | - 1636: Hackney Carriages in use by now in London
|
| 79 | 1638 | - 1638: King Charles regarded protests against the prayerbook as treason – forced Scots to choose
between their church and the King – a "Covenant", swearing to resist these changes to the
death, was signed in Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh and was accepted by hundreds of
thousands of Scots (revival of Presbyterian Church)
|
| 80 | 1639 | - 1639: Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration
|
1529 - 15??
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