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1566

Archbishop Matthew Parker’s Advertisements enjoins the use of the cope and surplice, vestments denounced by some Puritans.

Thomas Gresham, the royal agent in Antwerp, begins construction of the Royal Exchange.

1567

Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is murdered. She is abducted by the earl of Bothwell, and they are later married. Mary surrenders to opposing forces and abdicates in July. The earl of Moray is made regent to her infant son James VI.

William Salesbury translates the New Testament into Welsh.

1568

Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes confinement, but her forces are routed and she flees to England, where she is imprisoned in Carlisle Castle.

Archbishop Parker’s new translation, the “Bishops’ Bible,” introduced.

William Allen founds college at Douai for English Catholics.

1569

Desmond rebellion in Ireland.

Northern rebellion led by earls of Northumberland and Westmorland tries to restore the Catholic faith and to arrange a dynastic marriage between the duke of Norfolk and Mary, Queen of Scots. Rebels are beaten and retreat into Scotland.

1570

Civil war in Scotland; the earl of Lennox replaces Moray as regent.

Elizabeth is excommunicated and declared deposed by Pope Pius V.

1571

Ridolfi plot aims at deposition of Elizabeth, replacing her with Mary. The plot is exposed, leading to executions of duke of Norfolk and earl of Westmorland.

1573

Desmond rebellion is crushed.

Pacification of Perth sees the end of fighting in Scotland and the end of threats to Elizabeth from that country.

Sir Francis Drake captures a shipment of Spanish silver in Panama.

1576

Peter Wentworth, staunch Puritan spokesman, claims that free speech in the Commons is denied, and he is sent to the Tower.

Edmund Grindal is made archbishop of Canterbury, but he refuses to abolish “prophesy- ings”—informal discussions of doctrine and scripture by Puritan congregations.

Martin Frobisher explores Canada in the course of his search for a northwest passage.

1577

Archbishop Grindal is suspended for continuing to refuse to ban prophesyings.

1578

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, with a patent to settle North America, conducts an unsuccessful expedition with Sir Walter Raleigh.

James VI assumes personal rule in Scotland.

1579

The Eastland Company chartered to trade with Scandinavia.

Duke of Anjou proposes marriage to Queen Elizabeth.

Munster rebellion in Ireland.

1580

Jesuit missionaries arrive in England.

Sir Francis Drake returns from his around-the- world voyage in the Golden Hind.

1581

Edmund Campion, Jesuit missionary, is executed.

1582

Sir Humphrey Gilbert reaches Newfoundland.

James VI captured by Protestant nobles who fear his Catholic favorites (the “Ruthven Raid”).

1583

Sir Walter Raleigh lands in North America in what will later be Virginia.

Munster plantation begins.

Francis Throckmorton’s plot to replace Elizabeth with Mary, Queen of Scots, is exposed; he is executed in 1584.

James VI escapes from his captors.

1584

Raleigh founds a colony on Roanoke Island. Parliament forms “the Association” to root out

conspiracies against the queen.

1585

War with Spain.

1586

Babington plot exposed; Mary, Queen of Scots, implicated, but her sentence is delayed.

Treaty between Elizabeth and James VI recognizes his right to succeed to the English throne and grants him a pension.

1587

Sir Francis Drake raids Spanish shipping.

Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed for her involvement in the Babington plot.

1588

The Spanish Armada sails (May) and attempts to rendezvous with the army of the duke of Parma in the Netherlands. English sailors disrupt the plan and defeat the Spanish fleet (August), forcing it to make a return voyage around the north coast of the British Isles.

William Morgan’s Welsh translation of the New Testament is published.

1594

Hugh O’Neill leads a rebellion in Ulster, appeals for help from Spain.

1595

In a search for El Dorado, Raleigh explores the Orinoco.

Hawkins and Drake sail for the West Indies, but both die on the voyage.

1596

The English sack Cadiz; Spanish forces take Calais.

1597

The first poor law is enacted as the country is in the midst of prolonged agricultural distress.

1598

An act to establish workhouses and punish beggars passes.

English forces are defeated at the Battle of the Yellow Ford in Ulster.

1599

Tyrone’s rebellion in Ulster. Robert Devereaux, earl of Essex, is made lord lieutenant of Ireland. Essex is defeated by Tyrone at Arklow, signs a truce, and returns to England. This action leads to arrest and banishment for Essex.

1600

Essex is tried for his conduct in Ireland, and he is deprived of offices.

William Gilbert discovers earth’s magnetic field. Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, is new lord lieu-

tenant in Ireland.

Conspiracy to murder James VI is thwarted. Charter is granted to the East India Company.

1601

Monopolies are abolished.

Poor law codifies legislation on poor relief. Spanish fleet arrives to aid the rebels in Ireland,

but it lands at Kinsale. A siege by Lord Mountjoy defeats the invaders, despite a relief force from Ulster led by Hugh O’Neill.

Earl of Essex rebels in London, is defeated and executed.

1603

Queen Elizabeth dies. James VI of Scotland succeeds as James I of England. His coronation is in July. There are plots against him: Sir Walter Raleigh is implicated in the Main Plot; Cobham’s plot is to replace James with Arabella Stuart. Both Raleigh and Cobham are imprisoned.

1604

Treaty of London ends the war between England and Spain.

The Hampton Court Conference convenes to resolve church issues raised by puritans, but James I takes a conservative position on most matters.

A new translation of the Bible is authorized. Parliament begins debate of the king’s proposals

for the union of England and Scotland.

1605

The Gunpowder Plot is exposed; Guy Fawkes and fellow conspirators planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament while the king met with the lords and commons in an opening session (November). The plotters are apprehended, tortured, and executed.

1606

The Virginia Company is chartered.

The Union Jack (combining the crosses of St. Andrew and St. George) is adopted as the flag of the kingdom of Great Britain, so named by James I.

1607

The English and Scottish parliaments reject the proposed union.

Calvin’s Case affirms common citizenship for English and Scots born after James’s accession to the English throne.

Flight of the Earls: earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel go into exile with a small group of family and followers, rather than submit to English rule in Ulster (September).

First American colonial settlement established at Jamestown.

1610

Disputes over royal finances lead to the Great Contract, drafted by Robert Cecil, the lord treasurer. In exchange for a regular income, the king would surrender old feudal rights such as wardship. After bitter debates, the project fails.

1611

The King James Bible is printed.

The order of baronet (hereditary knighthood) created and sold by the crown.

1612

Prince Henry, the king’s eldest son, dies.

1613

Sir Thomas Overbury is murdered; Robert Carr the king’s favorite, is later accused of the murder.

1614

The “Addled” Parliament, King James’s second parliament, meets and is bogged down by disputes over impositions.

1616

The king’s continuing heavy expenditure and limited revenues produce extreme measures like the sale of peerages.

1620

The king begins negotiations with Spain for the marriage of his son Charles and the princess the Infanta Maria.

Pilgrims land at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1621

Parliament is summoned, and it debates the policy of marital alliance with Spain as well as the tender issues of religious belief and royal finance.

1622

Prince Charles and Lord Buckingham travel to Spain to seek the hand of the princess.

1623

The prince’s mission fails; the princess rejects him, and her father insists on Charles’s conversion to Catholicism. Charles and Buckingham return and now seek war against Spain.

1624

A new Parliament resists delaring war on Spain, votes a ban on monopolies, impeaches the lord treasurer, Lionel Cranfield.

Treaty with France arranges the marriage of Charles and the Princess Henrietta Maria.

1625

James I dies and is succeeded by Charles I (March). The new king is married to his French princess (May). Due to the plague, the king’s first Parliament adjourns to Oxford.

1626

The second Parliament of Charles impeaches Lord Buckingham, and Charles retaliates by arresting the leaders of the impeachment. Parliament insists on their release, which Charles grants.

The king begins to sell knighthoods as a source of revenue.

A forced loan is imposed on all taxpayers, provoking hostility.

1627

War with France; a failed expedition to La Rochelle to help French Huguenots is led by Buckingham.

Five knights are imprisoned for refusing to pay the forced loan, claiming that only Parliament should levy taxes. When they seek bail, arguing that no cause of detention had been given, the court rules against them.

Colonists settle on Barbados.

1628

Parliament debates the Petition of Right, insisting that there should be no taxation unless endorsed by Parliament, nor any arbitrary ar-

rest or forced billeting or martial law. Charles accepts the petition, claiming that it only contained existing “rights and liberties.”

1629

The king’s opponents in the House of Commons insist on continuing discussion of finance and other issues. The king dissolves Parliament, but several members hold the Speaker in his chair, preventing him from announcing the dissolution, while they read out a set of resolutions containing their grievances. The king orders the arrest of these members and decides not to summon another parliament.

1630

Charles I uses distraint of knighthood, a feudal levy, to raise funds from the gentry.

1631

Colonists settle on St. Kitts.

1632

Colony of Maryland is founded, and Antigua is colonized.

1633

William Prynne is convicted by the Star Chamber; his book Historio-mastix is burnt by the hangman; his ears are cropped.

Thomas Wentworth, earl of Strafford, becomes lord deputy of Ireland.

William Laud becomes archbishop of Canterbury. Charles visits Scotland, has coronation in Edin-

burgh.

1634

The medieval levy of ship money is revived as a means to raise revenue.

1635

Foundation of Rhode Island.

1636

Foundation of Connecticut.

1637

John Hampden refuses to pay ship money. The legality of the tax is upheld in court, but the returns begin to decline.

Scottish Prayer Book is introduced, arousing opposition.

1638

Scottish National Covenant is composed; it recites the founding documents of the reformed kirk, which signers vow to support.

A General Assembly meets in Glasgow and abolishes the office of bishop.

Scots form an army.

1639

Charles sends an army to Scotland; it meets the Scots at Berwick, where an agreement is signed. The first “Bishops’ War” ends without fighting.

1640

Charles recalls Lord Strafford from Ireland and makes him chief adviser.

Parliament is summoned for the first time since 1629; for several weeks there is little but acrimonious debate, and Charles dissolves the session.

The second Bishops’ War begins when Scots cross into England, defeat the English at Newburn, and occupy northern England.

Treaty of Ripon (October) provides payment to the Scottish army until a settlement can be made.

Charles is forced to summon another parliament in November.

Impeachment of Lord Strafford and Archbishop Laud.

1641

The Triennial Act provides that a parliament must be called every three years, and it must remain in session for 50 days.

Trial of Lord Strafford begins (March); leaders of the Commons change the procedure to a bill of attainder, which Charles signs, and Strafford is executed in May.

The prerogative courts—Star Chamber, High Commission, and the Court of Requests—are abolished. The Privy Council is deprived of judicial authority, thus limiting royal power and enhancing that of Parliament and the common law courts.

Rebellion in Ulster causes death of many Protestants and panic in London.

1642

Charles orders the arrest of five leaders of the House of Commons; the Commons refuses to give them up, and the king enters the House to arrest them. The leaders have hidden and later are protected by the London authorities.

Charles withdraws from London. Parliament enacts legislation to take control of the army, but Charles refuses to sign. Both sides prepare for war.

Charles raises the royal standard at Nottingham (August), signaling a state of war.

Battle of Edgehill (October), the first of the Civil War, is indecisive.

Royal army moves toward London, is repulsed at Turnham Green (November).

1643

The king makes his headquarters at Oxford. A three-pronged assault is planned, to the west country, toward London, and to the southeast. Prince Rupert takes Bristol, but other battles are inconclusive.

Parliament agrees to the Solemn League and Covenant with the Scots (September), promising to adopt a Presbyterian settlement in exchange for the support of a Scottish army.

Westminster Assembly convened to reform the church; it produces the Directory of Worship and the Westminster Confession.

1644

The Committee of Both Kingdoms is formed to direct the war (February).

The Battle of Marston Moor (July) is won by the allied armies.

The earl of Essex loses his army in Battle of Lostwithiel (Cornwall).

Lord Montrose leads royalist highland forces on victorious campaign in Scotland.

1645

Archbishop Laud is convicted by an act of attainder and executed (January).

Parliament passes the self-denying ordinance, removing peers and members of Parliament from military command (April).

The army is constituted on a “new model.” Fairfax becomes commander.

The Battle of Naseby (June) brings defeat to main royalist army.

Lord Montrose is defeated at Philiphaugh (September).

1646

Charles I surrenders to the Scots at Newark (May).

1647

The Scots hand Charles over to Parliament for £400,000 (January).

Parliament disbands the army without settling arrears of pay.

Army units seize the king (June). Army enters London (August).

Putney Debates (October); army council debates the Leveller constitution, “The Agreement of the People.”

Charles, in captivity on the Isle of Wight, signs a treaty with Scottish supporters who commit to restoring him by force (December).

1648

Scottish force enters England, beginning the “second civil war” (July).

Battle of Preston (August): Oliver Cromwell defeats the Scots under the duke of Hamilton.

Charles is again taken captive by the army (December).

Pride’s Purge: the Presbyterian majority of Parliament is excluded, the remaining “Rump” parliament has about 60 members, loyal to the army. Parliament forms a special court to try the king.

1649

Trial of Charles I. Accused of treason, the king is allowed no witnesses but makes a sturdy defense of his innocence and a powerful denunciation of the court conducting his trial. The king is executed on January 30th.

Charles II is proclaimed in Edinburgh.

The monarchy and the House of Lords are formally abolished by the Rump. A Council of State consisting of army officers and leaders of the Rump forms a new government.

Cromwell leads an invasion of Ireland; the annihilation of the garrison at Drogheda (September) marks a low point in English military annals.

1650

Lord Montrose returns to Scotland, is defeated, captured, and executed (April).

Charles II comes to Scotland, accepts the covenant, and is proclaimed king (June).

Cromwell invades Scotland, wins the Battle of Dunbar (September).

1651

Coronation of Charles II at Scone (January). Charles marches into northwestern England

(January).

After his defeat at the Battle of Worcester (September), Charles escapes to France.

Navigation Act, aimed at Dutch shipping, precipitates Anglo-Dutch war (October).

1653

Cromwell dissolves the Rump (April), replacing it with a nominated parliament. This “Barebones” Parliament takes its nickname from “Praise-God” Barbon, a London preacher. A collection of Independent ministers, its sessions are just as hard to control as those of its predecessors.

Cromwell dissolves the Parliament and takes the title of Lord Protector, governing with a Council of State and occasional parliaments, which now have members from each of the three kingdoms (December).

1654

Treaty of Westminster ends the Anglo-Dutch war.

1655

Cromwell dissolves Parliament, and England is divided into 11 districts, each governed by a major-general (January).

Penruddock’s rebellion in the west country fails (March).

1656

English expedition to Jamaica provokes war with Spain (February).

Second Protectorate Parliament meets (September).

1657

The Humble Petition and Advice offers the crown to Cromwell. He rejects the title, but names members to a new “upper house” of Parliament (March-June).

1658

Third Protectorate Parliament meets, but Cromwell dismisses it after two weeks (February).

Oliver Cromwell dies of pneumonia (September) and is succeeded by his son Richard.

1659

Richard Cromwell meets his first Parliament; disputes between that body and the army disrupt the session. It is dissolved in April.

Rump parliament restored (May). Richard resigns title of protector.

Rump Parliament is expelled by the army (October), and a series of military coups lead to restoration of the Rump in December.

1660

General George Monck, the commander of the army in Scotland, leads his troops into London. He reconvenes the Long Parliament (February), which dissolves itself (March).

Charles issues the Declaration of Breda (April), promising a lawful settlement and some religious toleration.

Election held for a Convention Parliament to consider the king’s restoration (April).

The Convention Parliament invites Charles to return; he is restored (May) to popular rejoicing. The army is disbanded, its arrears having been paid.

Parliament passes acts of indemnity and oblivion, restoring much of the land lost during the war.

1661

Charles summons a new parliament, to be known as the “Cavalier” Parliament.

The Church of England is restored, and parliament enacts strict controls, later dubbed the “Clarendon Code,” after the king’s first minister, the earl of Clarendon. The first of these is the Corporation Act, which requires a religious test for any elected member of a borough corporation.

1662

Act of Uniformity requires clergy to accept the prayer book. About 2,000 refuse and are ejected from the church.

Settlement Act says paupers may be returned to their parish of settlement.

Licensing Act requires books on theology to be approved by church.

Quaker Act penalizes Quaker meetings. Charter granted to the Royal Society, the first

body devoted to scientific investigation.

1664

The colony of New Jersey is established.

1665

Second Dutch War (March).

Plague in London; Parliament adjorns to Oxford (June).

Five Mile Act excludes dissenting ministers from towns.

1666

War with France (January).

Great Fire of London destroys large parts of central city (September).

Covenanters’ revolt is crushed at the Battle of Pentland Hills (November).

1667

Dutch fleet sails into anchorage in the Medway and tows off the British flagship (June)

Dutch war ends with Treaty of Breda (July). Clarendon falls, is impeached, and goes into

exile (August–November).

New ministry is formed, known as the CABAL, for initials of its leaders: Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale.

1668

Triple Alliance (Sweden, Holland, and England) is formed against Louis XIV (February).

1670

Founding of North and South Carolina.

Treaty of Dover with France. The public treaty pledged English support against Holland; the secret clause of the treaty said that Charles would announce his conversion to Catholicism, and Louis would provide a subsidy and an army to put down resistance (June).

1672

Stop of the Exchequer; Charles II defaults on loans (January).

Declaration of Indulgence (March). War with the Dutch (May).

1673

The Dutch defeat English and French invasion attempts; Parliament passes the Test Act, driving Catholics and dissenters from public office by requiring religious oaths (April). James, the duke of York, resigns his post as lord high admiral rather than take the oath (June). He thus discloses his Catholic conversion. The duke then marries Mary of Modena, a Catholic princess (October).

1674

Treaty of Westminster ends the third Dutch war. The Dutch agree to pay an indemnity, and the

English take control of New Amsterdam, thereafter New York (February).

1675

Founding of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.

1678

Alliance between England and Holland (July). The “Popish Plot” is revealed: Titus Oates and Is-

rael Tonge report a conspiracy to assassinate the king and replace him with James, the duke of York, and a Catholic government (August). Amid general panic, Parliament bars Catholic members and conducts investigations which lead to the trial and conviction of many alleged conspirators.

The king’s chief minister, Thomas Osborne, Lord Danby, resigns, is attainted, and imprisoned.

A movement begins to exclude James from the royal succession.

1679

Charles II dissolves the Cavalier Parliament and summons a new one (January).

Murder of Archbishop Sharpe near St. Andrews (May).

The Habeas Corpus Act promises the writ to all eligible prisoners (May).

Exclusion bill introduced into Parliament, leading to dissolution (May).

Rebellion of Scottish covenanters defeated at Bothwell Bridge (June).

1680

Petitions to exclude James are collected by Lord Shaftesbury. Those who sign or support them are called “Whigs.” Their opponents are called “Tories.”

Charles dissolves his third Parliament and summons another.

New Hampshire is founded.

The Scottish Cameronians denounce the king; their leaders are killed.

1681

Founding of Pennsylvania.

Charles summons his last Parliament, dissolves it when another exclusion bill is introduced (March).

Oliver Plunket, archbishop of Armagh, is accused in the Popish Plot and executed (July).

Lord Shaftesbury is prosecuted for treason; a London grand jury fails to indict, and he goes into exile (July–November).

1682

Edmund Halley observes and identifies the comet that comes to bear his name.

1683

The Rye House Plot—a plan to seize Charles II— is discovered (June).

The Whigs engaged in this plot are apprehended; Lord William Russell and Algernon Sidney are executed.

1685

Titus Oates (of the Popish Plot) is convicted of perjury and sentenced to life in prison.

King Charles II dies (February) and is succeeded by his brother James VII and II. The first parliament of James II makes generous and longterm grants of revenues.

Rebellion by the duke of Monmouth (England) and the earl of Argyll (Scotland) fails; both are executed (June–July).

The “Bloody Assizes” are held in western England, where George Jeffreys sentences several hundred of Monmouth’s supporters to death. Many hundreds more are transported.

1686

James II begins a campaign of revising laws and charters in favor of Roman Catholics

Case of Godden v. Hales allows a Catholic to hold an army commission.

The Court of King’s Bench rules that the king has the power to dispense with the Test Act.

Ecclesiastical commissions are established by James to administer discipline in the church, even though such a body had been declared illegal.

1687

James expels the Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford, when they refuse to appoint a Catholic as president.

James appoints a Catholic as admiral of the fleet. The king issues a declaration of indulgence, dispensing with the penal laws against Catholics.

1688

James issues another declaration of indulgence, stating his wish that “all the people of our dominions were members of the Catholic church.” He orders this declaration read from all the pulpits, and when seven bishops petition him, pointing out that this will force them to violate the Test Act, he charges them with sedition.

A son is born to James (June 10), guaranteeing a Catholic successor.

The Seven Bishops are acquitted by a London jury (June 30).

A group of Whig and Tory leaders ask William of Orange to come to England to protect “their religion, liberties and properties” (July). William accepts the invitation (September), and James begins to retract some of his measures, but it is too late.

William lands in the southwest, at Torbay (November 5).

James flees into exile, having been unable to mount an effective resistance to William, who enters London in December.

1689

A Convention Parliament meets (January) to debate the terms of the new settlement. There is much discussion of whether James “abdicated” or was deposed. The crown is offered to Mary, with William as regent, but he rejects this, and they are offered the crown jointly (February).

With the crown comes a declaration of rights, listing James’s errors: suspending and dispensing with laws, punishing petitioners, maintaining an army without the consent of Parliament. In addition, several principles are

stated: elections shall be free, Parliaments shall meet frequently, there shall be freedom of speech in Parliament, and Parliament must consent to any taxation or to the formation of an army.

Scottish estates meet in convention (March) and recognize William and Mary, presenting a “Claim of Right” stating that James has been deposed, and that the office of bishop is a grievance.

In Ireland, a Catholic “Patriot Parliament” is chosen, and it welcomes the arrival of James from exile (March). Protestants loyal to William gather in the north.

Coronation of William and Mary (April). Toleration Act removes religious disabilities of

dissenters (May). War with France (May).

Mutiny Act provides basis for exercise of military discipline, but its term is limited to six months (June).

Siege of Londonderry is lifted (July 28); James retreats to Dublin.

William sends army to Ireland under General Schomberg (August).

1690

William lands in Ireland (June), faces James at the Battle of the Boyne on July 1. The armies number about 25,000, and the Williamite forces seize victory with an assault across the river. The casualties are not heavy, but the result is decisive. James quickly leaves and returns to exile, but warfare continues until October 1691.

1691

William’s army continues the campaign in southern Ireland, wins Battle of Aughrim (July 12), and besieges Limerick.

Treaty of Limerick marks the end of the war (October), allows the French troops to leave, and promises lenient treatment for Catholics— promises the Irish Parliament will later ignore.

1692

Massacre of Glencoe. Clan MacDonald had not submitted to King William before a deadline,

and the Campbells kill many of their traditional enemies in a treacherous manner (February).

French plan invasion, but their fleet is destroyed at Cap de la Hogue (May).

1694

The Bank of England is incorporated by act of Parliament. It provides finance for the wars with France, initially raising £1.2 million, which is loaned to the government at 8 percent interest. Parliament has to approve any loans to the Crown, and it is responsible for raising the revenue to pay interest on the debt. This financial revolution establishes the basis for growing economic power.

Triennial Act requires a new Parliament to be elected every three years.

1695

The Bank of Scotland is founded.

1696

A plot to assassinate the king is discovered; Sir John Fenwick and others are arrested (June).

Treason Act requires two witnesses, allows prisoner counsel and a copy of the indictment.

Committee of Trade and Plantations (Board of Trade) founded.

Act for Settling Schools requires every Scottish parish to establish a school and landowners to pay for a schoolmaster.

1697

Sir John Fenwick is condemned by act of attainder (January).

Treaty of Ryswick between England and France ends the Nine Years’ War. Louis XIV recognizes William as king and makes minor territorial concessions (September).

Rebuilt St. Paul’s Cathedral is opened.

1698

London Stock Exchange founded, the number of licensed brokers is limited to 100.