The first Tudors and the
Reformation
Study Questions
p. 53
• 1485 – End of the Wars of the Roses
• The Lancastrian Henry Tudor becomes king with the title
of Henry VII
– not a member of the royal family;
– need to justify the new Tudor dynasty through propaganda;
– Shakespeare’s “Richard III” is good example of the Tudor
propaganda, through which the old royals are presented as
wicked while the Tudors look noble.
• Henry VII’s reign is characterized by:
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peace and prosperity,
advantageous commercial treaties,
development of trade and cloth industry,
reorganization of navy and army, and the State administration,
creation of a merchant fleet,
political alliances with Spain and Scotland.
• 1509 – Henry VIII succeeds to the throne of England.
• typical Renaissance prince:
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accomplished musician, poet and linguist;
able and strong king and good soldier;
capricious and cruel man;
proclaimed “Defender of the Faith” by the Pope for his
allegiance to the Catholic cause against Martin Luther.
• Second half of his reign dominated by the Reformation:
– Henry wants divorce from Catherine of Aragon and asks the
Pope to grant it;
– the Pope’s refusal leads to the “Act of Supremacy”,
– The king is the Head of the Church of England;
– the dissolution of monasteries brings great wealth to the Crown;
– six successive wives and four advisers or ministers, the majority
of whom are in the end executed: Sir Thomas More, the Earl of
Surrey, and two of his wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine
Howard accused of being unfaithful.
• 1547 – Henry VIII’s son, Edward, a sickly 9-year-old boy, succeeds to
the throne of England with the title of Edward VI.
• his reign is characterised by radical Protestantism and religious
intolerance;
– too young to rule;
– his uncle, Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset, is made Lord Protector
and rules in his place;
– the Duke of Somerset is a keen Protestant;
– the Reformation makes much progress:
• new divine services are created,
• the reading of the Bible is encouraged,
• Catholics are persecuted
• 1553 – Mary Tudor, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon’s daughter,
becomes queen of England with the title of Mary I:
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the most serious attempt to restore Catholicism in England;
marriage with Philip II of Spain,
war with France – loss of Calais, last English possession in France;
“Bloody Mary”, nickname given to Mary bvecause of the number of
Protestants burned for heresy;
• 1558 – Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Elizabeth, comes to
the throne of England with the title of Elizabeth I.
• the last and the greatest of the Tudors
• her reign – the most fortunate and glorious in English
history characterised by stability and internal peace;
• a woman endowed with political genius:
– Initially, temporising and tolerant policy
• makes peace with France and keeps on good terms with Spain;
• refuses to marry Philip of Spain;
• reintroduces Protestantism but never supported its strongly radical forms, like
Puritanism;
• Catholics who don’t attend Protestant services are only fined.
– Later, stricter and tougher measures against Catholics are taken
when Catholics plots to overthrow her are discovered.
During Elizabeth’s reign:
– Expansion of the navy;
– Development of overseas trade and colonies;
– Support for exploration:
• the most famous navigators, like Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh,
were explorers and pirates at the same time.
• they plundered the Spanish ships coming back with treasures from the
New World with the unofficial encouragement and support of Queen
Elizabeth herself.
• main events of her reign
– the voyages of discovery and the foundation of the first American
colonies:
• Sir Walter Raleigh founded the first colony in North America which was
called Virginia in honour of Elizabeth, “the virgin Queen”;
– the wars with Spain;
The competition with Spain resulted in an open war :
– in 1588, a great fleet with an army aboard set sail to invade England;
– The Invincible Armada was met in the Channel and defeated by the
English fleet;
– The rest of the Armada tried to reach Spain but half of the ships were
wrecked by storms and most of the men perished.
– The war was not ended but England was free from invasion.
The Elizabethan Age was a great creative age in many fields:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Literature (William Shakespeare);
Philosophy (Francis Bacon);
Science (William Harvey), the discoverer of the circulation of blood;
Music;
Architecture;
Etc.
In short, it was England’s Golden Age.
1.
What distinguished the reign of the Tudor king Henry VII?
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2.
A long period of stability and prosperity distinguished the reign of the first Tudor king.
The army and the navy were reorganised and put under his direct control. A mercantile
fleet was also created. Moreover, he reformed the entire machine of State
administration. Finally, he laid the foundations of English Humanism.*
How can we define Henry VIII?
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3.
Henry VIII was a great monarch, a good soldier, a scholar and a man who loved to enjoy
life.
What was the reason for the English Reformation?
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4.
Pope Clement VII’s refusal to grant Henry VIII a divorce from Catherine of Aragon was
the initial cause of the English Reformation, but there were political reasons too: above
all England’s claim to be completely independent in fields like politics and religion.
What did the Act of Supremacy establish?
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5.
It established that the Church of England was independent from the religious guidance
of Rome ; the king was also the Head of the Church; the bishops were subject to the
authority of the king not of the Pope.
What political and social changes did the Reformation bring about?
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After the Reformation the land and wealth of the old monasteries were confiscated and
given to the new Protestant aristocracy linked to the Tudors. Under the king’s guidance
England set herself against the great Catholic powers of Europe: France and Spain.
* Humanism is a philosophical and ethical position that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively,
and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over established doctrine or faith (fideism).
6. Which great humanist and king’s chief minister stood up
against Henry VIII?
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Sir Thomas More refused to recognise the authority of the king and
remained faithful to the Church of Rome. Because of this he was
tried and beheaded.
7. What characterized the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I?
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The two reigns witnessed respectively the persecution of Catholics
and then of Protestants.