3.2. Widening horizons: England in the period of 1485-1603

The Tudors. In 1485, England and Wales came under the strong rule of the Tudors (1485-1603). The Tudor monarchs increased the power of the Crown and achieved good government and internal peace and order. Changes in farming and in manufacturing brought increased prosperity. The exploits of seamen led to the expansion of trade and the beginnings of colonization.

The Tudor dynasty established a system of government policy. Parliament was split into two ‘Houses’. The House of Lords consisted of the feudal aristocracy and the leaders of the Church; the House of Commons consisted of representatives from the towns and the less important landowners in rural areas. It was now more important for monarchs to get the agreement of the Commons for the policy-making because that was where the newly powerful merchants and landowners were represented.

Henry VII brought about the conditions for later Tudor greatness. He set up a Court of Star Chamber and used it to make the barons disband their private armies. He restored royal finances by collecting taxes strictly and by forcing wealthy people to make loans to his treasury. He extended royal control over local government through the local magistrates called justices of the peace.

Henry VIII, the son of Henry VII, was at first loyal to the Pope, who in 1521, gave Henry the title Defender of the Faith for writing a pamphlet defending the Church's doctrines. But his failure to secure papal agreement for his divorce led Henry to break from Rome's authority.

From 1512 to 1514, England fought both France and Scotland.

In the early 1500s, parts of Europe became Protestant. Protestant influences reached England and increased religious discontent there. Many English people resented papal taxation and clerical privilege and wealth. Many wanted an English Bible and church services in English instead of Latin.

The English Reformation coincided with Henry VIII's attempt to get papal agreement for his divorce. The Reformation abolished the pope’s authority over the Church of England. In 1534, Parliament made Henry head of the Church of England. Henry did not favour Protestant ideas, so worship changed little during his reign. However, an English Bible was placed in every church for people to read. This translation of the Latin Bible was largely the work of Miles Coverdale.

In the late 1530, Henry dissolved the monasteries and took over their land and wealth. The monks received pensions, and some were compensated in other ways as well. Henry VIII sold most of the monastery lands to strengthen his treasury and pay for his overseas wars and ambitions. Speculators bought much of the land and quickly resold it for profit. A new class of landowner came into being in England.

Henry VIII also tried to subdue Ireland. But the Fitzgeralds, a noble Irish family, challenged his power. In 1537, Henry hanged the Earl of Kildare (a Fitzgerald) and his five uncles at Tyburn, in London. In 1541, the Irish Parliament granted Henry the title King of Ireland.

When Henry VIII died in 1547, his 9-year-old son, a child dogged by illness, became king as Edward VI. Because Edward was under legal age, a lord protector governed the kingdom. The first lord protector, the Duke of Somerset, was overthrown by the Duke of Northumberland in 1551. During Edward's reign, the Protestants made more changes in the Church of England. Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, wrote the Book of Common Prayer in English for use in church services.

When Edward VI died in 1553, the Duke of Northumberland proclaimed Jane Grey, a second cousin of Edward, as queen. But most of the people supported Mary Tudor, Edward's half-sister. Mary became queen within a few days. Jane was arrested and later executed. Mary, a Roman Catholic, restored papal authority over the Church of England and enacted a policy of persecution against Protestants. More than 300 people were burned at the stake during her short reign, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary."

In 1554, Mary married Philip, the son of the Hapsburg Emperor Charles V. In 1555, her husband became Philip II of Spain. The marriage was unpopular in England. By the marriage treaty, Philip became king of England with limited power. When Mary died childless in 1558, Philip's power in England ceased.

Elizabeth, Mary's half-sister, became queen in 1558. She again abolished papal authority over the English Church. In foreign affairs, she played for time, avoiding war with Spain until England became strong at sea.

The Elizabethan Era. The reign of Elizabeth I was a prosperous period. Clothiers organized the expanding cloth industry into the domestic system. They offered good prices for wool, and sheep farming became profitable. Some lords of the manor enclosed land in order to keep sheep. They thereby deprived tenants of their land-holdings. Some tenant farmers became homeless beggars. Parliament passed several laws to deal with this situation. An important law of 1601, the Poor Law, regulated the treatment of beggars to provide them with relief. In time, England's growing prosperity provided new jobs.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus reached the Americas, and five years later, Vasco da Gama sailed a new route to India. These discoveries made Spain and Portugal rich. In 1496, Henry VII of England authorized John Cabot and his son, Sebastian, to sail northwestwards to seek another way to India. They failed, but discovered Newfoundland, on the east coast of North America, with its valuable fishing grounds. Henry VIII built 50 more ships, including the flagship Mary Rose. He set up Trinity House in 1514 to maintain pilots at ports and beacons on the coast.

During Elizabeth's reign, many English seamen continued to seek alternative routes to India. Others sought trade with Spanish colonies in America. But after Captain John Hawkins was attacked by the Spaniards in a Mexican port in 1567, many English seamen became privateers and attacked Spanish ships and ports.

Rivalry between England and Spain finally led to war. In 1588, Philip II launched a huge armed fleet called the Armada against England. But English seamen defeated it.