AQA Unit 3 The Triumph of Elizabeth 1547-1603

Chronology: Key Events in The Triumph of Elizabeth: Britain 1547–1603

1547 Death of Henry VIII and accession of Edward VI. Edward Seymour made Lord Protector and Duke of Somerset. Victories in the war against Scotland.

1548 Radical Protestant reforms encouraged by Edward VI. Commissions sent round the country by Somerset to investigate peasant grievances.

1549 Execution of Thomas Seymour for plotting against his brother, Somerset.
Book of Common Prayer issued. Kett’s rebellion. Western rebellion. Somerset deposed by the Earl of Warwick (Northumberland).

1550 Somerset pardoned and restored to the King’s Council. Peace treaty to end war against Scotland and France.

1551 Success of Northumberland’s policies to stabilise the royal finances.

1552 Execution of Somerset. Cranmer’s Second Book of Common Prayer introduced.

1553 Marriage of Northumberland’s son to Lady Jane Grey. Declaration by Edward VI that Jane Grey is his true heir and that his sisters Mary and Elizabeth are both illegitimate. Death of Edward VI. Mary Tudor proclaimed Queen. Execution of Northumberland.

1554 Execution of Jane Grey. Failed Protestant rebellion led by Thomas Wyatt. Marriage of Mary I and Philip of Spain. The Church in England restored to obedience to the Pope.

1555 Elizabeth named as Mary’s heir. Burnings of Protestants including bishops Latimer and Ridley. Philip leaves Mary and returns to Spain.

1556 Burning of Archbishop Cranmer.

1558 Loss of Calais to France. Death of Mary Tudor and accession of Elizabeth I.

1559 Anglican Church Settlement. Elizabeth’s rejection of marriage to Philip II.

1560 Treaty of Edinburgh.

1562 Recovery of Elizabeth from life-threatening illness.

1563 Publication of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

1566 Recall of Parliament. Demands for Elizabeth to marry to secure the succession.

1568 Mary Queen of Scots placed under house arrest in England, following her abdication as Queen of Scotland.

1569 Failed revolt of the Northern Earls. Defeat of John Hawkins at San Juan de Ulloa.

1570 Elizabeth I excommunicated by the Pope.

1571 Ridolfi plot to assassinate Elizabeth. Negotiations for marriage to Duke of Anjou.

1572 Duke of Norfolk executed for treason. Promise by Elizabeth to defend Huguenots.

1575 Elizabeth’s refusal to accept the offer to be Queen of the Netherlands.

1579 Failed negotiations concerning the Alencon marriage. Rebellion in Ireland.

1580 Return of Francis Drake from his three-year voyage round the world.

1581 Execution of the Jesuit Edmund Campion. Harsh anti-Catholic laws passed.

1583 Increased pressure on Puritans after Whitgift made Archbishop of Canterbury.

1585 Treaty of Nonsuch. Foundation of English colony in Virginia.

1586 Exposure of Babington plot and trial of Mary Queen of Scots.

1587 Execution of Mary Queen of Scots.

1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada. Death of Robert Dudley.

1590 Death of Francis Walsingham.

1596 Rebellion in Ireland. Oxfordshire rising after series of bad harvests.

1598 Reform of the Poor Law. Death of William Cecil, Lord Burghley.

1601 Failed rebellion by Earl of Essex and his execution. Completion of new Poor Law.

1603 Death of Elizabeth and succession of James I.