1533-1569
 

1533 / 1534 / 1535 / 1536 / 1537 / 1538 / 1539
1540 / 1541 / 1542 / 1543 / 1544 / 1545 / 1546 / 1547 / 1548 / 1549
1550 / 1551 / 1552 /  1553 / 1554 / 1555 / 1556 / 1557 / 1558 / 1559
1560 / 1561 / 1562 / 1563 / 1564 / 1565 / 1566 / 1567 / 1568 / 1569





1533

25th January - Henry marries Anne Boleyn.

1 June -Anne Boleyn's Coronation

1 July- Henry VIII is excommunicated

7th September - Elizabeth is born.

10 September - Elizabeth is given a magnificent christening at Greenwich.

25 November - Henry Fitzroy, Henry VIII's illegitimate son, married Mary Howard
 
 
 

1534

16 March - Final severance of England from Rome..

11 May - Henry VIII makes peace with Scotland

25 September - Pope Clement VII dies. Pope Paul III succeeds
 
 

1535

6th June - Thomas More is executed, aged 57

Other Events

The first Bible printed in English is dedicated to henry VIII, but is printed abroad.
 

1536

7 January - Death of Catherine of Aragon.

29 January - Anne Boleyn gives birth to a still-born son

19 May - Execution of Anne Boleyn.

30 May - Henry marries Jane Seymour.

1 July - Both Mary and Elizabeth are declared illegitimate by Parliament

12 July - Erasmus dies in Freiburg, aged 69

22 July - Death of Henry Fitzroy

6 October -William Tyndale is condemned for heresy at Vilvorde Castle near Brussels and strangled

9 October - Beginning of the Pilgrimage of Grace.

Other Events

Dissolution of the monasteries.
 

1537

12 October - The birth of Prince Edward, the "boy King" Edward VI.

15 October - Edward VI is christened

24 October - Death of Jane Seymour, Edward's mother.
 

1538
James V of Scotland marries the French Mary of Guise.

Execution of Henry Pole.
 

1539

Treaty of Toledo, ends conflict between Francis I and Charles V
 

1540

6 January - Henry marries Anne of Cleves. The marriage is soon annulled.

28 July - Henry VIII marries Catherine Howard, Anne Boleyn's cousin

28 July - Thomas Cromwell is executed.
 

1541

Henry VIII assumes title of King of Ireland, and "Head of the Church in Ireland".

18 October - Death of Henry VIII's sister, Margaret Tudor

9 November - Katherine Howard is sent to the Tower of London.
 

1542

13th February - Catherine Howard is executed on charges of adultery

25th November - Battle of Soloway: English victory over invading Scottish Army.

8 December - Birth of Mary, soon to be Mary, Queen of Scots.

14 December - James V of Scotland dies
 
 
 

1543

24 May - Copernicus dies aged 70

12 July - Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr.

20 November - Hans Holbein dies.

Other Events

Mary, Queen of Scots, goes to live in France.

First burning of Protestants by the Spanish Inquisition
 

1544

War with France.

Treaty of Crespy-en-Valois, ending two year conflict between Charles V and Francis I
 

1545

The Council of Trent opens in an attempt to meet the challenge to Catholicism posed by the new Protestant religion.

Henry VIII's flag ship, The Mary Rose, sinks just off the coast of Portsmouth
 
 
 

1546

18 February - Martin Luther dies where he was born, at Eisleben, aged 63

7 June - Peace of Ardres, ending two years of conflict between Henry VIII and Francis I
 
 
 

1547

16 January - Ivan IV has himself crowned Tsar of Russia (first use of the title in Russian history)

28 January - The death of Henry VIII, aged 55. Edward becomes King at the age of only nine.

Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, becomes protector of England as Edward is too young to rule all by himself.

20 February - Edward is crowned King of England.

3 March - Francis I dies aged 52
 

1548

1 April - Sigismund I of Poland dies, aged 81. Succeeded by Sigismund II

5 September - Katherine Parr dies.
 

1549

20 March - Execution of Thomas Seymour, Edward Seymour's brother, for treason. His execution brings disgrace upon Edward Seymour, and he is replaced as Protector by John Dudley.

Other Events

War with France.

Kett's rebellion.

Act of Uniformity.
 

1550

Treaty of Boulogne.

4 June - Robert Dudley married Amy Robsart. Princess Elizabeth was among the guests
 

1551

Council of Trent session II.

Renewal of war between France and Charles V
 
 

1552

22 January - Execution of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset.
 

1553

6 July - Death Edward VI.

21 May - The arranged marriage of Lady Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley took place

10 July - Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen.

20 July - Mary Tudor proclaimed Queen

3 August - Mary rode in triumph into London, her half -sister Elizabeth with her.

30 October - Coronation of Mary I
 
 
 

1554

Thomas Wyatt's rebellion.

12 February - Execution of Lady Jane Grey and her husband Guildford Dudley.

18 March - Elizabeth is sent to the Tower for supposed complicity with Wyatt and his followers.

11 April - Execution of Sir Thomas Wyatt

19 May - Elizabeth is taken from the Tower to be closely confined at Woodstock Manor, Oxfordshire.

25 July - Queen Mary marries Philip II.

30 November - Sir Philip Sidney is born
 
 
 

1555

The famous burning of Protestants by Mary I begins.

16 October - Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley are burned at the stake at Oxford

Elizabeth is released from Woodstock after a year's captivity, and allowed to return to her childhood home of Hatfield.

23 March - Pope Julius III dies

30 April - Pope Marcellus dies, aged 52, succeeded by Pope Paul IV

25 October - Charles V hands over his imperial position to his brother Ferdinand, and his sovereignty of the Netherlands to his son, Philip.
 

1556

24 January - A massive earthquake kills 850,000 people in China

21 March - Archbishop Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake
 
 
 

1557

6 June - Joao of Portugal dies on his 55th birthday and is succeeded by his three year old grandson, Sebastian.

7 July - Mary Tudor declares war on France in support of her husband

16 July - Death of Anne of Cleves

10 August - Battle of St Quintin: Spanish forces defeat the French
 
 
 

1558

7 January - England's last dominion in France, Calais, is lost to the French.

17 November - Queen Mary dies. Elizabeth becomes Queen.

21 September - Charles V dies, aged 58

24 April - Mary Queen of Scots marries Francis, heir to the French throne.

14 December - Mary I is buried at Westminster
 
 
 

1559

15 January - Coronation of Elizabeth I.

2 May - John Knox returns to Scotland.

8 May - Elizabeth's Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity are passed, implementing the Elizabethan religious Settlement.

10 May - John Knox incites the Scottish Lords of the Congregation to rise against the regency of Mary Queen of Scots mother. They seize Edinburgh, destroy religious houses, and subsequently approach Elizabeth I for aid in their cause.

3 April - The Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis which brings peace with France.

20 June - Henry II is seriously injured in a jousting tournament.

10 July - Henry II dies. His son, Francis, becomes King. Mary Queen of Scots declares herself Queen of England.

18 August - Pope Paul IV dies aged 83

21 October - Scottish Lords depose Mary of Guise, for not preventing the French fortifying Leith.

18 December - Elizabeth I sends aid to the Scottish Lords by land and sea.
 

1560

6 July - Peace with Scotland in The Treaty of Edinburgh. Mary's claims to the throne of England are annulled, but Mary refuses to ratify the treaty.

25 June - Gustavus I of Sweden dies, aged 64, and is succeeded by his son Charles IX

8 September - Robert Dudley's wife, Amy Dudley (or Robsart as she is also known) is found dead in mysterious circumstances.

5 December - The death of Mary, Queen of Scots' husband, Francis, King of France. Charles IX becomes King, with Catherine de Medici as Regent
 
 
 

1561

19 August - Mary, Queen of Scots returns to Scotland.

O'Neill's rebellion in Ireland.
 

1562

Council of Trent session III.

Elizabeth's secret Treaty of Richmond, with French Huguenots.

26 May - Shane O' Neill leads a second rebellion in Ireland.

1 March - The Duc de Guise orders a massacre of Huguenots at Vassay, which begins the wars of religion in France.

22 September - Elizabeth signs the Treaty of Hampton Court, which gives assistance to the French Huguenots

October - Elizabeth is seriously ill with small pox.
 


1563

The Thirty Nine Articles are issued, which define the Anglican faith.

John Foxe's "Acts and Monuments" or as it is better known, "Book of Martyrs," is published.

Plague in London.
 
 

1564

6 February - Birth of Christopher Marlowe

8 February - Michaelangelo Buonarroti dies in Rome age 88.

15 February - astronomer Galileo dies.

11 April - Peace of Troyes : Peace between England and France. England renounces claim to Calais, on payment by French of 222,000 crowns.

23 April - Reputed birth of William Shakespeare

27 May - John Calvin dies in Geneva

25 July - Maximilian II succeeds as Holy Roman Emperor, as King of Austria, Bohemia and Hungary on death of Ferdinand I. Rest of Hapsburg dominions pass to the Archduke Charles
 
 
 

1565

29 July - Mary Queen of Scots marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

Other Events

Kat Ashley, Elizabeth's old governess, dies.

Sir John Hawkins introduces Tobacco to England.
 
 
 

1566

9 March -The murder of David Rizzio by Darnley and his friends..

19 June - James VI (and later I of England) is born.

10 November - Robert Devereux, the future Earl of Essex
 
 


1567

10 February - Darnley is murdered at Kirk O Field, Scotland.

24 April - Mary Queen of Cots is "abducted" by James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell

15 May Mary, Queen of Scots, marries James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, after his marriage is annulled.

2 June, Shane O Neill, Earl of Tyrone, is assassinated.

24 July - Mary is forced to abdicate. Mary's son, James, is proclaimed King of Scotland

29 September - Huguenot conspiracy of Meaux to capture Charles IX provokes the second phase of the wars of religion in France.

6 October - Margaret of Parma resigns the regency of the Netherlands. The Duke of Alva takes complete command.
 
 

1568

23 March - Treaty of Longjumean ends second phase of French wars of religion

2 May - Mary Queen of Scots escapes from Lochleven

16 May - Mary takes refuge in England. But her relief is short lived, as she is imprisoned.

23 May - William of Orange defeats a Spanish force at Heiligerlee. This marks the beginning of the Revolt of the Netherlands.

30 September - Eric XIV is depose as he has shown signs of mental illness, and replaced by his brother John III

Other Events

The first Eisteddfod for Welsh music and Literature is held at Caerwys.

The English Catholic College of Douai founded by William Allen.

Elizabeth seizes the treasure of a Spanish fleet driven into Plymouth.
 
 

1569

9 November - The Northern Rebellion against Elizabeth breaks out.
 
 



Part One: 1533-1569
 

Part Two: 1570-1603
 
 


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