The guilds

A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society. They often depended on grants of letters patent by a monarch or other authority to enforce the flow of trade to their self-employed members, and to retain ownership of tools and the supply of materials. A lasting legacy of traditional guilds are the guildhalls constructed and used as meeting places.

The absolute monarchy of Henry VII Tudor

Henry VII began the move towards royal absolutism. This was a belief in the divine right of kings to rule as they saw fit, without having to answer to nobles, church, or Parliament.

Whatever else he was, Henry was an able and active administrator. He was frugal to the point of parsimony. When he came to the throne, the crown was heavily in debt, but when he died he left his son Henry a bulging treasury. What his son did with that money is another story.

The English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.

Based on Henry VIII's desire for an annulment of his marriage, the English Reformation was at the outset more of a political affair than a theological dispute. The reality of political differences between Rome and England allowed growing theological disputes to come to the fore. Immediately before the break with Rome, it was the Pope and general councils of the church that decided doctrine. Church law was governed by the code of canon law with final jurisdiction in Rome. Church taxes were paid straight to Rome and it was the Pope who had the final say over the appointment of bishops. The split from Rome made the English monarch the Supreme Governor of the English church by "Royal Supremacy", thereby making the Church of England the established church of the nation. Doctrinal and legal disputes now rested with the monarch, and the papacy was deprived of revenue and the final say on the appointment of bishops.

The structure and theology of the church was a matter of fierce dispute for generations. These disputes were finally ended by the "Glorious Revolution" in 1688, from which emerged a church polity with an established church and a number of non-conformist churches whose members at first suffered various civil disabilities which were only removed over time, as did the substantial minority who remained Roman Catholic in England, whose church organization remained illegal until the 19th century.

Henry VIII and his heirs

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.

Besides his six marriages, Henry VIII is known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry's struggles with Rome led to the separation of the Church of England from papal authority, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England.

Henry was known by some to be an attractive and charismatic man in his prime, educated and accomplished. He was an author and a composer. He ruled with absolute power. His desire to provide England with a male heir—which stemmed partly from personal vanity and partly because he believed a daughter would be unable to consolidate the Tudor Dynasty and the fragile peace that existed following the Wars of the Roses—led to the two things that Henry is remembered for: his wives, and the English Reformation that made England a mostly Protestant nation. In later life he became morbidly obese and his health suffered; his public image is frequently depicted as one of a lustful, egotistical, harsh, and insecure king.

Henry's fears about heirs didn't come true just in his own lifetime. None of Henry's three heirs who ruled England in their turns - Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I - had children (nor did Lady Jane Grey, the "nine day queen"). So the crown passed after the death of the last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, to James VI of Scotland who became James I of England.

The Tudor roots of the first Stuart king, James VI of England, were through Henry VIII's sister, Margaret Tudor. James was descended from Margaret (and thus Henry VII) through his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been executed by her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, for Mary's alleged role in plots to take the throne.

James VI was also descended from Margaret (and Henry VII) through his father, Lord Darnley, grandson of Margaret Tudor through a daughter of her second marriage, Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox.