Henry VIII
1509 - 1547

"Sixteenth Century"
"Renaissance"

1509

Henry marries Catherine of Aragon.

1516

Mary I (daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon) born at Greenwich Palace.

..

Thomas Morus: Utopia

1517

Martin Luther nails his ninety-five theses to the church door of Wittenberg

1527

Henry VIII appeals to the Pope for a permission to divorce Catherine of Aragon.

1529

English Church reform: Henry VIII summons the Reformation Parliament.

1533

Henry marries Anne Boleyn

.

Montaigne born near Bordeaux. Holbein: The Ambassadors

1534

Act of Supremacy: Henry VIII asserts control over the English Church. His marriage to Catherine of Aragon is dissolved by Act of Parliament.

1535

Thomas Morus executed.

1536

Anne Boleyn executed. Henry marries Jane Seymour.

1536

Erasmus dies in Basel

1537

Edward VI is born; Jane Seymor dies.

.

Holbein: Henry VIII

1540

Henry marries Anne of Cleves; divorces her and marries Catherine Howard.

1541

Reformation begins in Scotland (John Knox)

1542

Queen Catherine Howard executed; Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, born.

1543

Henry marries Catherine Parr. England at war with France.

.

Copernicus: De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium

Edward VI
1547 - 1553
"Sixteenth Century"
"Renaissance"

1547

Coronation of the 9 year old Edward VI.

1553

Edward dies of tuberculosis. Lady Jane Grey is proclaimed Queen by the Duke of Northumberland. Mary, the rightful heir, is supported by the people and takes over after 9 days.
A convocation of the Church of England establishes the
42 articles of faith.

Mary I
1553 - 1558
"Sixteenth Century"
"Renaissance"

1554

Lady Jane Grey executed. Mary marries King Philip of Naples (later Philip II of Spain). The Pope is once again head of the English Church. Knox flees to Geneva.

1555

Persecution of Protestants. Most of them flee to Switzerland. ("Marian Exiles")

1557

Mary declares war on France.

Elizabeth I
1558-1603

"Elizabethan Period"
"The Age of Shakespeare"

1558

Protestants return to England. Mary Stuart marries the Dauphin, later Francis II of France and assumes the title Queen of England and Scotland.

1561

Francis Bacon born.

1564

Peace with France (The Peace of Troyes: England sells Calais)

.

William Shakespeare born in Stratford-upon-Avon. (cf. parish register). Christopher Marlowe born. Galileo Galilei born. Jean Calvin dies. Michelangelo dies.

1567

Mary, Queen of Scots imprisoned, abdicating in favour of her son, James VI (later James I of England).

1571

The 39 Articles of Faith ( see also Cranmer's original 42 articles)

1572

Aug. 24. Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre of Huguenots in Paris

.

Ben Jonson and John Donne born in London.

1576

James Burbage builds The Theatre.

1577

The Curtain opens in Finsbury.

1580

Montaigne, Essays. John Webster born.

1582

Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway

1583

Shakespeare's daughter Susanna baptised.

1564

Sir Walter Raleigh discovers Virginia.

1585

Shakespeare's twins Hamnet and Judith baptised.

1587

Mary, Queen of Scots executed at Fotheringhay.

.

Philipp Henslowe builds the Rose Theatre. Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine.

1588

Defeat of the Spanish Armada. Beginning of English colonization.

.

Thomas Hobbes born in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Marlowe's Dr. Faustus.

1590

Marlowe's Jew of Malta.

1592

William Shakespeare known as an actor in London (Greene's Groatsworth of Witte). Henry VI. Kyd's Spanish Tragedy. Montaigne dies.

1593

Plague in London.

.

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis. Marlowe is killed in a tavern brawl.

1594

Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucrece; Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus performed

1595

Sir Walter Raleigh explores the Orinoco.

.

Shakespeare mentioned as a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men.

1596

The pacification of Ireland is signed, but the Earl of Tyrone refuses to abide by it.

.

John Shakespeare gets a coat of arms. Shakespeare's son Hamnet dies. The Swan theatre is built.

1597

First edition of Bacon's Essayes. Shakespeare buys New Place in Stratford.

1598

Henri IV: Edict of Nantes defines the rights of the Huguenots.

.

Francis Meres mentions Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors, Love's Labour's Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice , Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV, King John, Titus Andronicus and Romeo and Juliet. in Palladis Tamia. Wit's Treasury.

1599

Essex is sent to Ireland, signs a truce with Tyrone and returns to England. He is arrested and banished.

.

The Globe opens in London (Shakespeare mentioned as shareholder). Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Thomas Platter visits London.

1600

East Indian Company founded.

.

The Lord Chamberlain's Men play Twelfth Night for the Christmas festivities at Elizabeth's court.

1601

Essex Rebellion. Essex is arrested and executed.

.

Shakespeare's Richard II performed for Essex. Ben Jonson's The Poetaster. After his father's death, Shakespeare inherits the Henley Street houses at Stratford.

1602

Shakespeare buys property at Stratford.

James I
1603 - 1625

"Jacobean Period"

"The Age of Shakespeare"

1603

Plague in London.

.

The Lord Chamberlain's Men become the King's Men. Shakespeare: Hamlet (First Quarto)

1604

Shakespeare: Lear; The King's Men produce The Merry Wives, The Comedy of Errors, Love's Labour's Lost, Henry V, The Merchant of Venice, Othello and Measure for Measure for the Court.

1605

Gunpowder Plot: An attempt by Catholic extremists to blow up the Houses of Parliament (Guy Fawkes).

.

Bacon, The Advancement of Learning. Cervantes: Don Quixote.

1606

Ben Jonson, Volpone.

.

Thomas Browne born in London. Shakespeare: Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra.

1607

Jamestown founded by the Virginia Company.

1608

The King's Men start to play at the Blackfriars Theatre in Winter.

1609

James I encourages the colonization of North America

1610

Ben Jonson, The Alchemist. Galileo observes Jupiter's moons.

1611

Shakespeare: Cymbeline, Winter's Tale, The Tempest; Sonnets published. Authorized Version of the Bible (King James Version)

1613

The Two Noble Kinsmen, Henry VIII. After a performance of Henry VIII the Globe burns down.

1614

Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, Webster's Duchess of Malfi, Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World

1615

Galileo faces the Inquisition.

1616

William Shakespeare dies at Stratford. Ben Jonson's Works published as Folio edition.

1617

Pocahontas dies. William Harvey lectures on the circulation of the blood.

1618

Francis Bacon is made Lord Chancellor and Baron of Verulam. Sir Walter Raleigh executed.

1620

The Pilgrim Fathers land at Plymouth, Massachusetts. (Mayflower)

1621

Francis Bacon created Viscount St. Albans, but later found guilty of bribery and banished from public life.

1623

First Folio edition of Shakespeare's Works.

Charles I
1625-1649

"The Caroline
Age"

1625

Francis Bacon's Essayes Or Covnsels, Civill And Morall, Of Francis Lo. Vervlam, Viscovnt St. Alban. Newly Enlarged

1626

Francis Bacon dies in London.

1630

large-scale emigration to Massachusetts

1631

John Donne dies. John Dryden born.

1632

John Locke born.

1637

Death of Ben Jonson.
René Descartes:
Discourse sur la Methode

1642

Outbreak of Civil War.

.

Theatres closed. Browne's Religio Medici.

1646

Thomas Browne's Pseudodoxia

1649

Charles I executed, monarchy abolished. Picture of execution

Commonwealth
1649 - 1660

"The Commonwealth Period"
"The (Puritan) Interregnum"
"The Age of Milton"

1651

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan; John Donne, Essays in Divinity

1652

David Saunders introduces coffee from Turkey. First London Coffee Houses

1653 - 1658

Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector

1658 - 1659

Richard Cromwell Lord Protector

1660

Restoration of Charles II

.

Theatres reopened. Royal Society founded. Robert Boyle invents the air pump. Defoe born.

Charles II
1660-1685

"Seventeenth Century"
"Restoration"
"The Age of Milton"

1662

Charles II marries Catherine de Braganza.

1664

Peter Stuyvesant surrenders Nieuw Amsterdam to the British.

1665

Plague in London. 2nd Anglo-Dutch War. Victory over the Dutch Fleet at Lowestoft.

1666

Great Fire of London. France and Holland declare war on England.

.

Mary Astell born.

1667

Treaty of Breda ends the Dutch war.

.

John Milton's Paradise Lost. John Dryden's Essay of Dramatick Poesie. Jonathan Swift born in Dublin.

1668

Dryden poet laureate.

1672

Declaration of Indulgence (freedom of worship for both protestants and catholics). The Royal African Society receives a monopoly on the English slave trade. Entry into Third Dutch War (1672-74)

1672

Richard Steele and Joseph Addison born. Dryden's Marriage a la Mode

1673

The "Test Act" deprives Catholics and Nonconformists of public office. Officeholders have to take communion in an Anglican church at least once a year.

1674

John Milton dies.

1678

Popish Plot: Catholic attempt to kill the king.

1679

Habeas Corpus Act

.

Thomas Hobbes dies.

1680

Lord Shaftesbury organizes petitions to exclude the (catholic) Duke of York from the succession (= Whigs). The Tories are against it.

1681

Tate and Dryden's King Lear (adaptation)

1682

Thomas Brown dies.

James II
1685 - 1688

"Seventeenth Century"

"Restoration"

1685

Charles II is succeeded by his brother, James VII of Scotland. Monmouth Rebellion: The Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's natural son, is beheaded.

1687

Isaac Newton: Principia Mathematica (laws of gravitation and motion)

1688

Glorious Revolution: The Roman Catholic Stuart monarch James II is forced to abdicate by a joint effort of Whigs, Tories, Anglicans and Dissenters. He flees to France and is replaced by William of Orange, a Protestant Dutch prince who had married James's Protestant daughter Mary.

1688

Alexander Pope born.

William III and Mary II
1689 - 1702

"Seventeenth Century"

"Restoration"

1689

The "Toleration Act" establishes permanent freedom of worship. The "Bill of Rights" summarizes the liberties established by the Glorious Revolution and asserts that no Catholic may become sovereign. James II lands in Ireland.

1690

Defeat of Jacobite Forces at the Battle of Boyne (Ireland). James II flees to France. (Whigs = supporters of William III, a standing army, weakening of State Church and long parliaments)

.

John Locke's Of Human Understanding. Colley Cibber's first performance as actor

1692

Campaign against France. Over 150 people accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

1694

Mary Astell's A Serious Proposal to Ladies. William Congreve's The Double Dealer

1695

Licensing Act expires (no more government control over printing presses)

1698

Isaac Newton calculates the speed of sound

1697

Astell's A Serious Proposal to Ladies Part II Daniel Defoe's An Academy for Women

1699

England prohibits the export of wool from Ireland.

1700

Defoe's True-born Englishman. John Dryden dies. Congreve, The Way of the World

16th century (1509 - 1603) Henry VIII - Edward VI - Mary I - Elizabeth I
17th century (1603 - 1702) James I - Charles I - Commonwealth - Charles II - James II - William III and Mary II
18th century (1702 - 1820) Anne - George I - George II - George III
19th century (1760 - 1901) George III - George IV - William IV - Victoria
20th century (1901 - today) Edward VII - George V - Edward VIII - George VI - Elizabeth II