Here is a timeline for Tudor Britain, from Henry VII’s victory at Bosworth in 1485, to the death of his granddaughter, Elizabeth I, in 1603.
1485
Henry Tudor becomes King Henry VII of England after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth.
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1487
Lambert Simnel challenges for the throne, pretending to be the son of Edward IV. The rebels are defeated at the Battle of East Stoke in Nottinghamshire and Simnel is given a job in the royal kitchens.
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1492
In a wider context – Christopher Columbus arrives in the Bahamas instead of Japan.
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1495
University of Aberdeen founded.
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1497
Commissioned by Henry VII, John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto, a Venetian) discovers Newfoundland.
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1503
James IV of Scotland marries Margaret, daughter of Henry VII of England.
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1509
Henry VIII marries Katherine of Aragon and becomes king of England.
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1512
England at war with France and Scotland.
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1513
Scotland invades England and is defeated at the Battle of Flodden. James IV of Scotland is among those killed.
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1517
In a wider context, in Wittenberg, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the door of All Saints’ Church, or the Schlosskirche, questioning excesses and corruption in the Roman Catholic Church.
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1519
In a wider context – Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan leads a Spanish sponsored expedition that resulted in the first circumnavigation of the globe.
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1521
Pope Leo X conferred the title of Fidei defensor or ‘Defender of the Faith’ on King Henry VIII of England. Despite Britain becoming a predominantly Protestant land, successive British monarchs have continued to use the term, as Heads of the Church of England.
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1522-25
England at war with France.
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1526
In Worms, Germany, John Tyndale publishes a translation of the New Testament in English.
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1528
England at war with Spain.
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1529
Henry VIII seizes Hampton Court from Cardinal Wolsey.
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1530
Death of Cardinal Wolsey.
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1533
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer annuls Henry VIII’s marriage with Katherine of Aragon and Henry marries Anne Boleyn.
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1534
The Act of Supremacy – Henry becomes Head of the Church of England – the official start of the English Reformation.
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1535
The dissolution of monasteries in England begins. Sir Thomas More is executed.
The first ‘Laws in Wales Act’, often incorrectly referred to as the ‘Act of Union’ between England and Wales, abolished the Marcher Lords, established Welsh administrative areas and MPs and aimed to harmonise Welsh administration and law with English.
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1536
Anne Boleyn is executed. Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour.
The Pilgrimage of Grace – a rebellion, particularly in Yorkshire, against Henry VIII’s religious reforms.
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1537
Jane Seymour dies having given birth to a son, the future King Edward VI.
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1539
Publication of Henry VIII’s Great Bible in English.
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1540
Henry VIII marries and divorces Anne of Cleves. Thomas Cromwell, principal architect of the Reformation, is executed. Henry marries Kathryn Howard, his 5th wife.
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1541
Henry VIII makes himself King of Ireland.
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1542
The English defeat an invading Scottish army at Solway Moss.
Kathryn Howard is executed.
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1543-51
The rough wooing – Henry’s violent and failed attempt to force an alliance with Scotland by marrying his son Edward to the future Mary, Queen of Scots.
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1543
The second ‘Laws in Wales Act’ tightened provisions of the Act of 1536. England was at war with France. Henry VIII married for the last time – Katherine Parr survived him.
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1545
Attempted French invasion, the Battle of the Solent and the sinking of The Mary Rose.
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1547
Henry VIII dies. Edward VI becomes King of England. The new king is determined to reform the English church and make it more Protestant.
The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, the last pitched battle between England and Scotland before the union of the crowns in 1603.
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1549
The First Act of Uniformity establishes the Book of Common Prayer, a standard form of worship across England and Wales.
The Prayer Book Rebellion in Cornwall and Devon.
The Kett Rebellion in Norfolk – the largest of several rebellions at the time, mostly in protest against landlords’ enclosures of common land. The rebels captured Norwich, England’s second city, but were eventually defeated.
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1553
Edward VI dies. Lady Jane Grey was uncrowned Queen for 9 days before Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, comes to the throne. Mary is determined to return England to Roman Catholicism. Protestants begin to be persecuted.
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1554
Mary marries the King of Spain, Philip II.
The Wyatt Rebellion – arising from fear that England would be ruled by Spain. Lady Jane Grey is executed as a precaution.
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1555
Prominent Protestant churchmen Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley are burned at the stake.
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1556
Former Archbishop Cranmer is burned at the stake.
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1557
War with France.
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1558
Calais is taken by the French; England no longer has any territory in France. Mary dies. Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, becomes Queen Elizabeth I of England.
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1559
Enthusiastic Protestant John Knox returns to Scotland from exile. In England, the Book of Common Prayer once again becomes the only legal form of worship; the Catholic mass is henceforth illegal.
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1562
Captain John Hawkins sells African slaves in the Caribbean.
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1566
Murder of Rizzio, Mary, Queen of Scots’ secretary, in the Palace of Holyrood, Edinburgh.
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1567
Mary, Queen of Scots is imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle.
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1568
Mary, Queen of Scots, defeated at the Battle of Langside, escapes to England.
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1569
Northern rebellion in England.
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1570
The Pope declares Queen Elizabeth a heretic and excommunicates her.
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1572
Harrow School is founded.
Francis Drake raids the Spanish Main.
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1576
Sir Martin Frobisher searches for the North West Passage.
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1579-83
Rebellion in Ireland.
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1580
Francis Drake returns to England having circumnavigated the world.
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1583
University of Edinburgh founded.
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1584
Colonisation of Virginia. Queen Elizabeth grants Walter Raleigh a charter authorising exploration and colonisation of remote, heathen and barbarous lands.
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1586
Walter Raleigh introduces tobacco, maize and potatoes to Britain (it is possible that tobacco, at least, was known in this country before then).
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1587
Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots at Fotheringhay Castle as a consequence of being implicated in the Babington Plot, one of several plans to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with Mary.
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1588
The Spanish Armada – an attempted invasion of England is thwarted by a combination of better leadership and bad weather.
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c1590
First performance of Shakespeare’s plays – possibly Henry VI, Parts I, 2 and 3.
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1600
British East India Company receives its charter.
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1601
Earl of Essex rebellion
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1603
Elizabeth I dies. The English throne is offered to James VI of Scotland, who becomes James I of England and the first King of Great Britain.