The Golden Age of Elizabeth I

The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603).

It was the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature. The era is most famous for theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant Reformation became more acceptable to the people. It was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland. The Protestant/Catholic divide was settled, for a time, by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, and parliament was not yet strong enough to challenge royal absolutism.

England during this period had a centralized, well-organized, and effective government, largely a result of the reforms of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Economically, the country began to benefit greatly from the new era of trans-Atlantic trade.

The Stuart kings and their conflicts with the Parliament

In total, nine Stewart monarchs ruled just Scotland from 1371 until 1603. After this there was a Union of the Crowns under James VI & I who had become the senior genealogical claimant to all of the holdings of the extinct House of Tudor. Thus there were six Stuart monarchs who ruled both England and Scotland as well as Ireland.

King James I (Reigned 1603-1625) (Also King James VI of Scotland, 1567-1625)

King Charles I (Reigned 1625-1649; beheaded)

King Charles II (Reigned 1660-1685)

King James II (Also King James VII of Scotland) ( Reigned 1685-1688; deposed)

Queen Mary II and King William III (Mary II reigned 1689-1694, William III reigned 1689-1702)

Queen Anne (Reigned 1702-1714)

After the Stewarts gained control of all of Great Britain, the arts and sciences continued to develop; many of William Shakespeare's best known plays were authored during the Jacobean era, while institutions such as the Royal Society and Royal Mail were established during the reign of Charles II.

The Civil war (1642) and the New Model Army

The First English Civil War (1642–1646) began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War (or "Wars"). "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War (1648–1649) and the Third English Civil War (1649–1651).

By the time the King raised his standard at Nottingham on 22 August 1642, fighting had already started on a small scale in many districts; each side endeavouring to secure, or to deny to the enemy, fortified country-houses, territory, and above all arms and money. Peace negotiations went on at the same time as these minor events until Parliament issued an aggressive ultimatum. That ultimatum fixed the war-like purpose of the still vacillating court at Nottingham, and in the country at large, to convert many thousands of waverers to active Royalism.

The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration. It differed from other armies in the series of civil wars referred to as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in that it was intended as an army liable for service anywhere in the country (including in Scotland and Ireland), rather than being tied to a single area or garrison.