~Appunti scolastici~

Tudor (Henry XII-Elizabeth)

When the wars of roses ended in 1485, Henry XII became the first tudor king of England; he created a new family emblem: the tudor rose, by a combination of red rose of Lancaster and white rose of York. He introduced high taxes and banned nobles from raising their own armies. In 1496 he sponsored John Cabot to explore eastern America and planted a tudor flag in Nova Scotia. He married his son and heir to the Aragonese heiress Catherine and two of his daughter equally well to the kings of France and Scotland, finally he died in 1509.

Henry XIII succeded his father at the age of 18, he married Catherine and was interested in theology; when Martin Luther nailed his anti-catholic theses, Henry wrote an attack on Luther which won him the title of "defender of the faith" from the pope. Henry asked to declare his marriage invalid but the pope refused and the king broke with Rome, after he divorced Catherine and married Anna Bolena, who gave birth to a girl, Elisabeth. With the act of supremacy Harry was declared "The Supreme Head of the Church of England". Anna Bolena was executed in 1536 and Harry married Jane Saymour, who gave him a son, Edward.

Edward VI was only 9 years old when his father died, and during his reign, as a consequence of the protestant reformation, religious services were held in English instead of latin and the book of common prayer. In 1553 the young king died from consumption.

Mary I, Henry XIII and Catherin of Aragons daughters declared herself queen and wanted to restore Catholicism in England. She married Philip II of Spain and earned the name "Bloody Mary", giving the protestant church about 300 martyrs by burning them at the stake. In 1558 she died and left the throne to her sister, Elisabeth.

Elisabeth I 's reign is considered the golden age of England, she came to the throne at the age of 25 and she was determined. A very delicate question was his marriageability, because she receive many proposal but regarded marriage as dangerous and when parliament pressed her to marry she replied that she would "rule and die a virgin": this is why she was called the Virgin Queen. Elizabeth took regular tours around the country, to show her person and the power of her office.

Mary, queen of Scots, returned to edimburg from France when her husband died. She married Stuart Lord Darnley and has a son, James. When her court forced her to abdicated, she went to England hoping to recive helps from her cousin, howaver, she was arrested and executed for treson.

She encuraged her sea capitains to explore new lands. Sir Walter Raleigh sailed to South America, Sir John Hawkins brought African slaves to America and Sir Francis Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world, combined royal authority with piracy seizing the gold.

In 1586 Spain was preparing an Armada to invade Britain; the Spnish Armada set sail in 1588 and it was the most serious naval attack on England since the Vickings. The Armada escaped to the North Sea, the Spnish lost a third of thier fleet and many men died; the outcome of the failed invasion confirmed England's supremacy at sea. Elizabeth died in 1603.