England under the Tudors.

The Tudor reign spanned just under a century and a quarter between the accession of Henry VII to the throne on 21 August 1485 and the death of his granddaughter Elizabeth on 24 March 1603.
These years are often called the beginning of the heyday of modern England, and 1485 is a turning point in the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age, since events of extreme importance took place during the reign of the Tudors.

Throughout the Middle Ages, England remained the outskirts of Europe; the intellectual, artistic and spiritual quests of Western Europe almost did not affect it. Thus, the revival of the sciences had almost no influence on England in the 15th century, where the level of intellectual life even decreased compared to the 13th-14th centuries. Geoffrey Chaucer, who died in 1400, expressed the spirit of the Renaissance in his work, but his successors could not even come close to his genius. The English Renaissance came towards the end of the Tudor reign and was patronized by the court. During this period, the unity of Western Christendom was undermined by the Lutheran Rebellion and related movements. In England, the course and character of a similar movement was largely determined by the royal court and the sovereign.

Henry VII, who reigned from 1485 to 1509, conquered the throne with the sword. The king whom he destroyed was himself a usurper. Henry's claims had little basis, although he was considered a member of the original Lancastrian line, descended from John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III. In 1486 he strengthened his position by marrying Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV of the York dynasty. Thus the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York came together to form the Tudor dynasty. Henry's strength was also that his father Edmund Tudor belonged to the Welsh nobility and he himself was also born in Wales.

Under the Tudors there was an opportunity to establish closer ties between Wales and England. However, York supporters gathered at the court of Margaret, sister of Edward IV and Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, plotted against the king. Lambert Simnel, the son of a craftsman, was introduced as a member of the House of York and was accepted by some of the Yorkist lords. He landed in England in 1487 with an army of Irish and German mercenaries, but was defeated and exposed. Later, a similar and more serious threat arose when Perkin Warbeck, the son of a Tournai boatman, appeared and claimed to be the younger of the two princes whom Richard III was believed to have killed.

Margaret of Burgundy, Charles III of France and Emperor Maximilian apparently knew who he really was and used him only as a tool of intrigue. However, James IV of Scotland allowed his niece to marry an impostor and on this basis invaded England in 1496. The following year, Warbeck landed in Cornwall with an army, but then deserted and surrendered. Two years later he was executed for his participation in another plot.

The failure of the premature constitutionalism of the Lancastrian supporters and the long turmoil to which the Wars of the Roses led found expression in conspiracies against the king. England needed a strong government that could provide peace to the country. A law passed in 1487 assigned certain members of the Privy Council the function of overseeing actions that undermined public order, such as riots, illegal assemblies, bribery and intimidation of sheriffs and judges, and maintaining bands of livery servants. This tribunal was called the "Star Chamber" and became the most famous of the emergency judicial bodies used by the Tudors in their domestic politics.

Using courts with special powers, as well as advisers and ministers who did not belong to the rank of peers, Henry VII undermined the political power of the nobles, already weakened and discredited by the Wars of the Roses, and concentrated it in his own hands. By establishing fines instead of punishments, the king consolidated his political gains and replenished the treasury. His concern for the economic prosperity of the country found expression in favorable treaties with Flanders, Denmark and Venice and in the strictest interpretation of the privileges which his predecessors had granted to foreign merchants trading in England.

He did a lot to encourage navigation and significant progress in trade. However, while commerce and enterprise flourished, there was turmoil and unrest in the countryside. One of the reasons was the transition from agriculture to sheep farming. The increase in land rates hit tenants, and the general increase in prices placed a heavy burden on small farmers. Overall, however, Henry VII's reign was a time of political and economic progress and peace - albeit filled with conspiracies - and he left his successor a full treasury and a well-functioning apparatus of government.

Henry VIII, who reigned from 1509 to 1547, carried out his father's plan and established an alliance with Spain, marrying just weeks after ascending the throne to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and widow of his elder brother Arthur (1486-1502). Two years later he joined the Holy League, allying with Spain, Venice and the Roman See to fight France. The troops he sent to help Ferdinand were defeated, to which Henry responded with a brilliant, but without serious consequences, campaign in France. While he was on the continent, the Scots invaded England but were defeated at the Battle of Flodden on September 9, 1513.

In this last significant border battle, James IV and many other noble Scots were killed. Finding that the Allies were just waiting to take advantage of his youth and inexperience, Henry concluded a separate peace with France. Territorial interests continued to play an important role; Twice more during the reign of Henry VIII, England and France were at war, but there were no serious clashes.

The generosity, cheerful disposition and splendor of Henry's court were in striking contrast to the avaricious prudence of the former king. For the first 18 years he benefited from the knowledge of his chancellor, Thomas Wolsey, but from the beginning to the end of his reign, political decisions were made in full accordance with the wishes of the king. Henry, apparently, had a good sense of the mood of his surroundings and knew how to direct public opinion to his advantage, since in everything he did he enjoyed the support of his subjects.

During this period, a great controversy broke out on the continent, which eventually resulted in the Protestant Reformation. Such a powerful movement could not fail to affect England. In 1521, Pope Leo X gave Henry the title "Defender of the Faith" for the book he wrote against Luther and in defense of the seven sacraments. Henry's religious beliefs never changed. However, he subsequently entered into a long struggle with the papacy, which in 1534 ended with the abolition of papal jurisdiction in the affairs of the Church of England (although this jurisdiction was temporarily restored less than 10 years after Henry's death).
He was given special permission to marry Catherine of Aragon, although some theologians believed that even the pope could not allow a marriage with the wife of his deceased brother. Catherine gave birth to six children, five of them died during childbirth. The girl who survived was Maria. Henry believed that he needed an heir. The case for divorce was started in May 1527 and submitted to Rome in the summer of 1529, but only four years later the papal court made a decision, and it was a refusal.

Meanwhile, in November 1529, parliament began to meet; his work lasted until 1536. Laws were passed, as a result of which the English Church actually separated from Rome. Among them were laws prohibiting the payment of annats to the pope, appeals to authorities outside England, i.e. to Rome; giving the king the right to control the selection of bishops and obliging the clergy to recognize the spiritual supremacy of the king. The Act of Supremacy of 1534 simply summarized all the previously adopted laws in this regard.

Henry VIII had no intention of helping by accepting the new faith; this follows from the continued persecution of heretics and from the fact that the old Latin forms of rites remained unchanged in the English Church. However, his conflict with papal authority did help the cause of the Reformation, although the reasons for this quarrel had nothing to do with the claims of the Lutheran leaders. The closure of the monasteries in 1536 and 1539 and the distribution of monastic lands generated significant support for the royal policy. Those who defied the will of the king, preaching forbidden doctrines or supporting the papacy, had to pay for their courage with their lives. Therefore the opposition remained weak.

The political and constitutional results of Henry VIII's activities are significant. His power over parliament took unprecedented forms. The disappearance of bishops from the House of Lords led to the fact that for the first time this body began to have a secular character. Although Henry relied heavily on precedents (a number of his predecessors, in particular William the Conqueror, passed laws limiting papal power in England), he changed the ancient nature of the relationship between church and state. He also did much to promote the zealous nationalism that had come to characterize the small island kingdom.

Edward VI was in his tenth year when he came to the throne in 1547. He was the son of Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour. A few days later, the provisions that Henry VIII had provided for the minority of the new king were canceled, and Edward's uncle, soon to become Duke of Somerset, assumed the duties of "Protector of the Realm" and remained in this post until 1550. Somerset's foreign policy was unsuccessful. He wanted to unite England and Scotland, but acted so clumsily that he turned the Scots against him. Somerset invaded Scotland, won victory at Pinky Clay, and retired. The French came to the Scots' aid, and the marriage was arranged between Mary of Scots and the Dauphin of France, rather than the young king of England, as Somerset had planned. Somerset's domestic policy also failed.

Social and economic conditions became increasingly worse, and attempts to improve the situation were of no avail. Finally, in 1550, Somerset resigned, and the Earl of Warwick was in charge of the state affairs of England until the end of Edward's reign. Warwick was entirely deprived of that generosity which was inherent in Somerset, combined with lesser instincts. Knowing that the young king would die without leaving an heir, Warwick decided to prevent the rightful heir, Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, from accessing the throne. For this purpose, he chose Lady Jane Gray, the granddaughter of Henry VII's youngest daughter, and in 1553 married her to one of his sons, Lord Guildford Dudley. However, in the end the plot failed.

The reign of Edward VI was marked by the beginning of the Reformation in England. For the first time, the doctrine and worship of a new kind of Christianity were legalized. In 1549, a new mandatory prayer book and missal (Book of Common Prayer) was approved. It was a translation and adaptation of medieval liturgical books, and was generally Catholic in tone. The next prayer book, published in 1552, already bore clear features of the direction in which the continental reformers went.

Conservative bishops were deprived of their parishes, new prelates were appointed; among the latter there were extremists who, regardless of the law, destroyed altars and showed strong zeal in the fight against “idolatry.” How much all this corresponded to the will of the people is unknown. There were few Lollards in England, and European beliefs were accepted by very different strata of society. There were also voices of protest against the changes, but soon they were no longer heard. Henry VIII did not want any change in religion until his son came of age; but when Edward died on July 6, 1553, at the age of 16, men whom the former king would have cast into the fire for heretical views were at the helm of both church and state.

Mary I, or Mary Tudor, nicknamed Bloody, daughter of Henry VI and Catherine of Aragon, escaped from the troops sent to capture her after the death of Edward and was proclaimed queen in London on July 19, 1553. She considered the beginning of her reign to be July 6, the day of Edward's death, and ignored Lady Jane Grey's nine-day reign. The new queen was committed to the old religion, but she received the support of precisely those eastern counties in which the reform was most widespread. For some time, Maria pursued an extremely moderate policy. Bishops removed under Edward were returned to their parishes, and those who replaced them were in turn stripped of their posts.

Reformers from the continent were ordered to leave England, but no violence was used against English citizens who converted to the new faith. An act of parliament repealed all changes in relation to religion made during Edward's reign: a new prayer book, permission for priests to marry, the appointment of bishops through the granting of patents to them. Everywhere there was a return to the ritual forms of the last years of the life of Henry VIII. There was also opposition, but in general society was not against a return to the old order. However, the later restoration of papal power and the threat of the return of monastic lands caused widespread and stubborn public resistance.

Mary's worst mistake was her marriage to her second cousin, Philip of Spain. The announcement of the engagement served as a signal for the uprising. The main forces of the rebels headed for London, and the situation was saved only by the personal courage and initiative of the queen. But now Mary was frightened and angry, and not a trace remained of her former moderation. The marriage was solemnly celebrated in July 1554. The restoration of the spiritual jurisdiction of papal power caused even greater discontent. With great reluctance, the Third Parliament renewed the laws against heretics and repealed all acts of weakening the power of the pope in England, adopted since 1528. To ensure the adoption of these laws, guarantees had to be given that this would not affect the properties that previously belonged to the monasteries.

The measures taken by Maria to cope with discontent strengthened the opposition forces. When she discovered that those who, out of conviction, accepted a new interpretation of the faith would not give up their ideas, she took the path of repression. The marriage was unhappy and involved England in an unsuccessful war with France; the bonfires in which almost 300 heretics were burned caused irreparable damage to the queen’s authority; discontent was also fueled by the economic downturn. When Mary died on November 17, 1558, England rejoiced.

Elizabeth, who reigned from 1558 to 1603, was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Even though her parents' marriage was declared null and void in 1536, she became queen according to the law of the land and the will of the people. She inherited many of her father's traits. Like him, she had the gift of choosing competent advisers and understood the importance of favorable public opinion. In the religious sphere, she tried not to go to the extremes of her predecessors. The vacancies in episcopal seats that opened up after her accession, including the Archbishopric of Canterbury, made it possible to appoint moderate priests willing to cooperate with the new queen.

Elizabeth maintained the Latin rites until Parliament changed the laws again. The Act of Supremacy 1559 restored the provisions of the previous act passed under Henry VIII; The act of uniformity restored the Book of Prayer, based on the second edition of Edward's Book of Common Prayer, but with some corrections that made it more acceptable to conservative believers. Like all other compromises, her policy in the religious sphere did not completely suit anyone, but over time it was accepted by the majority of the people. The pope announced Elizabeth's excommunication only in 1570. The papal bull freed her subjects from the obligation to remain loyal to the crown. The Queen's disqualification from the throne and the Acts of Parliament passed in response made it extremely difficult for Catholics to remain loyal to both the Church and their own country. The early years of Elizabeth's reign were not marred by the persecution of political opponents, but the rebellion in the north in 1569, the last noteworthy attempt by the English nobility to resist royal authority, forced her to take a more decisive position.

In foreign policy, Elizabeth skillfully played on the rivalry between France and Spain. Sometimes she herself provided assistance, and sometimes she instructed her subjects to help the French Huguenots and Dutch Calvinists, but she did this not because she wanted to become the head of Protestantism, much less out of a desire to encourage rebellion, but simply with the goal of harming France and Spain. In 1568, Mary of Scotland, who was forced to abdicate the throne, arrived in England to seek patronage and protection from Elizabeth. The Queen decided that the least dangerous solution would be to keep her outside England. Mary was the presumptive heir to the English throne, and for almost 20 years remained the center of attraction for forces who wanted to get rid of Elizabeth. In the end, on the verge of war with Spain and under pressure to get rid of Mary, Elizabeth accused her rival of high treason. Mary was executed on February 8, 1587.

Philip II of Spain had every reason to declare war. Sea robbers in the name of Elizabeth plundered Spanish-American ports and ships of the Spanish crown loaded with gold, and the English army fought on the side of William of Orange against Philip in Holland. England also had grievances against Spain. Philip's agents were involved in plots against Elizabeth; The Spaniards assisted the rebels in Ireland.

The Spanish Armada of 130 ships, directed against England in the summer of 1588, consisted mainly not of military vessels, but of transport ships. Nevertheless, the ships carried 22 thousand soldiers who were supposed to conquer England. Along the way, she suffered a serious blow in a battle in which the Spaniards proved to be less competent sailors than the British. The Spanish ships began to raid near Calais. Panicked after the attack by the fireships, the Spaniards cut the tackle. When a storm broke out, the ships were carried into the North Sea, where some were sunk by the British, and the rest were lost at sea or found themselves washed up on the rocky shores of Scotland and Ireland. Only about a third of the fleet returned to Spain. The war continued until the end of Elizabeth's reign, but the defeat of the Armada relieved England of the threat from Spain.

The final years of the queen's reign were marked by the reconquest of Ireland, England's nominal possession since the time of Henry II. It was a costly but quite serious struggle that lasted at least half a century. England has achieved impressive success both domestically and internationally. Elizabeth's reign was also marked by the flourishing of the English Renaissance. Despite its rough and cruel sides, it was an era of great achievements; nevertheless, after the death of the queen in 1603, her heirs were left with difficult problems.

After the death of the last Lancaster, Prince Edward (), the Lancastrian party supported the candidacy of Henry Tudor, who was in France, although there were other contenders who were also related to the Beauforts (for example, the Duke of Buckingham). Taking advantage of the crisis in England after the seizure of power by Richard III, Henry landed in Wales, moved inland, defeated Richard, who fell at the Battle of Bosworth, and became king on August 22. Henry strengthened his rights to the throne by marrying the daughter of Edward IV of York, Elizabeth; thus the houses of Lancaster and York were united.

Since the children of Henry VIII left no offspring, the Tudor dynasty came to an end with the death of Elizabeth I. The dynasty's closest relative was King James VI of Scotland, son of Mary Stuart, who was the daughter of James V, whose mother was Henry VIII's sister Margaret Tudor. Thus, after Elizabeth, the throne passed to James (who became King of England as James I), and the Stuart dynasty began to reign in both kingdoms of the British Isles.

Under the Tudors, England reached America (Cabot's expedition - late 15th century) and began its colonization. An important political event that strengthened the unity of the nation was the naval victory over the Spanish “Invincible Armada” in 1588.

see also

Write a review about the article "The Tudors"

Notes

Literature

• Polydore Virgil. History of England
• Edward Hall. The unification of the two noble families of Lancaster and York
• Tenenbaum B. The Tudors; "Golden age". M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012. - 448 p. - (The greatest dynasties. 1000-year biography). - 3000 copies, ISBN 978-5-699-55743-1

In fiction:

• Bertriss Small "Blaise Wyndham" series - sentimental adventure novels about the era of Henry VIII - "Blaise Wyndham" and "Remember Me, Love". The era of the reign of his daughter Elizabeth Tudor is covered by novels from another series of the writer - “Sky O’Malley”.

Links

The Tudors are a royal dynasty of England of Welsh origin. They ruled during the era when Western Europe transitioned from the Middle Ages to the early modern era. Representatives of the dynasty made changes in government, the relationship between the crown and the people, in the image of the monarchy and in matters of faith. She gave England five rulers: Henry VII (reigned 1485-1509); his son Henry VIII (1509-1547); and then his three children, Edward VI (1547-1553), Mary I (1553-1558) and Elizabeth I (1558-1603).

During the reign of this dynasty, Henry VIII severed all relations with the papacy in Rome (1534), and also began the English Reformation, which culminated in the creation of the Anglican Church under Elizabeth I. During this period, the English Renaissance reached its highest point. During Elizabeth's reign, Spain and the Irish rebels were defeated, the independence of France and the Dutch and the unity of England itself were ensured.

Representatives of this dynasty are among the most famous monarchs of England. Each of them was an interesting, sometimes completely incomprehensible personality.

Origin

The origins of the dynasty can be traced back to the 13th century, but the foundations of the family as a dynasty were laid by Owen Tudor (ca. 1400-1461). He was a Welsh adventurer who served with Kings Henry V and Henry VI and fought for Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses. He married Henry V's Venetian widow, Catherine of Valois. The founder of the Tudor dynasty was beheaded after the Yorkist victory at Mortimer's Cross (1461).

Getting the throne

Owen's eldest son Edmund (c. 1430-1456) was created Earl of Richmond by Henry VI and married Margaret Beaufort, Lady Margaret, who, as the great-granddaughter of Edward III's son John of Gaunt, had a claim to the Lancastrian throne. Their only child, Henry Tudor, was born after Edmund's death. In 1485, Henry invaded the realm of King Richard III and defeated him at Bosworth Field. Henry VII strengthened his position by marrying Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV and heir to the House of York, in January 1486. The Tudor rose symbolized the union by representing the red Lancastrian rose superimposed on the white York rose.

The annexation of the House of York to the House of Lancaster was an important symbolic step, signaling the end of the Wars of the Roses.

Reign of Henry VII

What gave Henry Tudor victory in 1485 was not so much personal charisma as the fact that the main members of the nobility abandoned Richard III at the moment when he most needed their support.

After defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, winning parliamentary approval, and marrying into a rival family, Henry was crowned king. He took part in diplomatic negotiations, ensuring his position, concluding agreements both within the country and abroad. Under him, the Tudor Rose appeared in the coat of arms of the dynasty. He began government reform, increased royal administrative control, and increased royal finances. After his death, a stable state and a wealthy monarchy remained.

Henry VIII

The period of his reign was one of the most eventful in the history of England. The English Tudor monarch Henry 8 is famous for his six wives, which was the result of a desperate desire to have healthy male heirs to continue the Tudor dynasty. Another consequence of this need was the English Reformation, as Henry VIII separated the English Church from the Pope and Catholicism in order to be able to get divorced. Under him, a new powerful military force also appeared - the Royal Navy, and changes took place in the government that tied the monarch more closely to parliament. He was succeeded by his only surviving son.

Edward VI

The son Edward, whom Henry really wanted, inherited the throne as a child (he was 9 years old at the time) and died six years later. Its guardian and de facto ruler was Edward Seymour and then John Dudley. They continued the Protestant Reformation.

This is one of the most tragic figures in the history of the Tudor dynasty. Thanks to the machinations of John Dudley, Edward VI was initially succeeded by Lady Jane Grey, the fifteen-year-old great-granddaughter of Henry VII and a devout Protestant. However, Mary, although a Catholic, received great support. As a result, Lady Jane's supporters quickly switched sides. She stayed on the throne for only nine days. She was executed in 1554 as a result of Thomas Wyatt's rebellion against Mary Tudor. In fact, she did little personally; they tried to use her only as a figurehead.

Maria I

She was the first queen in the history of the Tudor dynasty to rightfully own England. After divorcing her mother, Henry VIII declared her illegitimate. After some time, she became the legal heir to the crown. After taking the throne, Mary Tudor entered into an unpopular marriage with Philip II of Spain and returned England to the Catholic faith. Her policies to restore Catholicism and brutal reprisals against Protestants earned her the nickname Bloody Mary. Even when she fell ill with a deadly fever, Maria continued to worry about the fate of the state. Enmity with her sister did not prevent her from depriving her husband of any rights to the throne and establishing the latter in this capacity.

Elizabeth I

Henry VIII's youngest daughter survived the plot that threatened Mary. One of the nation's most respected monarchs, Elizabeth restored the country to the Protestant faith, fought against Spain and other Protestant nations, and cultivated a powerful image of herself as a virginal queen devoted to her nation. Historians consider her reputation as a great ruler to be erroneous, since she was more eager to smooth out rough edges and make decisions carefully.

During her reign, Elizabeth refused to choose between Edward VI Seymour (descendant of Mary) and King James VI of Scotland (descendant of Henry VIII's elder sister Margaret): the former was heir by Henry VIII's will, and the latter claimed the crown by right of succession. On her deathbed, she appointed as her successor the King of Scotland, who became James I, King of Great Britain.

End of the Tudor dynasty

None of Henry VIII's children had any issue. And after the death of the last of the Tudor dynasty, the throne was occupied by James Stewart of Scotland, the first of the Stuart dynasty and a descendant of Henry VIII's elder sister Margaret. Another dynasty has become history.

Economic development

The history of the Tudor dynasty is filled with a variety of events. By 1485, the state began to recover from the demographic catastrophe resulting from the Black Death and the agricultural depression of the late 14th century. As the 15th century approached, the rate of population growth increased and continued to increase over the next century. The population, which may have dropped to 2.5 million in 1400, had grown to around 4 million by 1600. Population growth required an increase in products and goods. Yeoman farmers, sheep breeders, cloth manufacturers, and merchant adventurers brought about a social and economic revolution. With extraordinary speed, the export of raw wool gave way to the export of woolen fabric. By the time Henry VII took the throne, the Merchant Adventurers, an association of London cloth exporters, controlled the market in London and Antwerp. By 1496 they were a chartered organization with a legal monopoly on the trade in woolen textiles. Mainly due to their political and international importance, Henry successfully negotiated the Intercursus Magnus, a large and long-term, highly profitable commercial treaty between England and Venice, Florence, the Netherlands and the Hanseatic League.

Inflation

Landlords increased the size of their herds to the point that animals outnumbered humans 3 to 1, and as merchants grew rich in the wool trade, inflation altered the economy. England was affected by rising prices, falling real wages and depreciation of money. Between 1500 and 1540 prices in England doubled, and the same happened in the next generation. In 1450 the value of wheat was similar to that in 1300; by 1550 it had tripled. At the time, people were slow to understand that rising prices were the result of inflationary pressures caused by population growth, international war, and the flow of gold and silver arriving from the New World.

Agriculture

Inflation and the wool trade together created economic and social turmoil throughout the history of the Tudor dynasty. The scarcity of land and labour, low rents and high wages that had prevailed during the early 15th century was replaced by a shortage of land, a surplus of labour, high rents and declining wages as a result of economic depression and population decline. The owner who a century earlier could find neither tenants nor workers for his land and left his fields fallow, could now turn his meadows into sheep pens. Rents and profits were rising significantly; the need for labor was reduced, since one shepherd and his dog could do the work of half a dozen men who had previously worked the same field. The medieval system of land use and public utilities was slowly destroyed. The common land of the estate was divided and fenced, and peasants who owned the land by deed or by unwritten custom were evicted.

About 50,000 people were forced to leave their plots of land. Agricultural technologies have been transformed and the gap between rich and poor has widened.

By 1500, the essential economic basis for the future political and social dominance of the aristocrats was being formed: the 15th-century knight was transforming from a desperate and irresponsible landowner willing to support the Wars of the Roses into a respected landowner yearning for strong government and the rule of law.

Dynastic threats

The new dynasty had to be provided not only with the necessary support, it was necessary that all possible contenders for the throne, who had appeared throughout almost the entire history of the Tudor dynasty, were eliminated. Elizabeth of York married Henry; the sons of Edward IV were deprived of the right of succession to the throne; Richard III's nephew Edward Plantagenet, the young Earl of Warwick, was imprisoned and denied the right to inherit by his uncle. But the descendants of the sister and daughter of Edward IV remained a threat to the new government. Equally dangerous was the persistent myth that the younger of the two princes murdered in the Tower of London escaped from his killer, and that the Earl of Warwick escaped from his jailers.

The existence of the claimants acted as a catalyst for further baronial discontent and Yorkist aspirations, and in 1487 John de la Pole, nephew of Edward IV, supported by two thousand mercenaries paid for in Burgundian gold, returned to England from Flanders to support the claims of Lambert Simnel, who presented himself as the true Earl of Warwick. Again Henry Tudor was victorious in the war; At the Battle of Stokes, de la Pole was killed and Simnel was captured and made a janitor in the royal kitchen. Ten years later, Henry had to be confronted again, this time by a Fleming named Perkin Warbeck, who for six years had been accepted in Yorkist circles in Europe as the real Richard IV, brother of the murdered Edward. Warbeck tried to take advantage of the anger of the Cornish people caused by heavy royal taxation and the increasing efficiency of government. He sought to lead the army of Cornwall, stirring up public discontent with the Tudor throne. It was a test of the strength and popularity of the Tudor monarchs, as well as the support of the nobility. The resulting social revolution and further dynastic warfare failed, and Warbeck was imprisoned along with the Earl of Warwick. In the end, both of them proved too dangerous even in captivity, and in 1499 they were executed.

Attempts to destroy the new dynasty did not stop in the next century. Under Henry VIII, the Duke of Buckingham (descendant of Edward III's youngest son) was assassinated in 1521; Earl of Warwick, Countess of Salisbury, were beheaded in 1541, her descendants were expelled from their family lands. In January 1547, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, grandson of Buckingham, was executed. By the end of Henry VIII's reign, the job of eliminating the pretenders had been so well done that Edward III's fertility curse was replaced by the opposite problem: the Tudor line proved sterile in producing healthy male heirs. Arthur's son died in 1502 at the age of 15, and Henry VIII in turn produced only one legitimate son, Edward VI, who died at the age of 16, thereby ending direct male line succession.

The reign of the Tudor dynasty was from 1485 to 1601.

The royal title was born on the shores of Foggy Albion in the 9th century. Since then, the highest throne of the state has been occupied by representatives of various English dynasties. However, the blood relationship of the kings and queens of England was continuous.

This was due to the fact that each new royal dynasty arose from the marriage of its founder with a representative of the previous one. England is a state where over 12 centuries women have become the head of the country six times.

History carefully preserves the names of Mary I, Elizabeth I, Mary II, Anna, Victoria and the living Elizabeth II.

Normans

The first kings of England were representatives of the House of Normandy. Moreover, it is interesting that at first Normandy was just a special duchy, and only then a French province. It began with Norman raids on this northern part of France, and the invaders found refuge between their predatory attacks at the mouth of the Seine River.

In the 9th century, the ranks of the invaders were led by Rognvald’s son, Rolf (Rollon), who had previously been expelled by the Norwegian king. Having won several major battles, Rollo took root in the lands called the Land of the Normans or Normandy.

Seeing that the enemy turned out to be worthy of holding power, King Charles of France met with the invader and offered him the coastal part of the state on his own terms: Rollo had to recognize himself as a royal vassal and be baptized. The ambitious exile from the Norwegian kingdom not only accepted the rite of baptism, but also took Gisella, the daughter of Charles, as his wife.

Thus was the beginning of the Dukes of Normandy. Rollo's great-granddaughter became the wife of King Ethelred of England (House of Saxony) and thus the Norman dukes received the official right to lay claim to the throne of Britain. William II coped with this task perfectly, with whom the royal roots of the Normans began.

This wise leader began his reign by distributing the lands of England to his friends in arms.

And since more and more new detachments of Normans continued to arrive from the north, there was no shortage of replenishment of the army of William II’s comrades. The new rulers of England adopted Christianity and began to speak English, retaining, however, traces of the Scandinavian origin in the Norman dialect. The character of the Normans was visible in their desire to travel and conquer new countries.

After the death of William Longsword, the young Richard became the heir to the Norman duchy. This served as the basis for the claims of the French king, which, despite numerous intrigues, ended in nothing, and after the accession of Richard II to the throne, Normandy began to move closer to England.

This process, not without the help of King Henry, ended with the installation of the new King William on the English throne. Since then, the dynasties of British kings have made repeated attempts to unite England with Normandy, but each time the matter only ended in a new strengthening of family ties.

During the reign of the English king Henry I, new claims to the throne of England began. This time the initiative came from his daughter Matilda, who was then recognized as the legal heir.

After the death of the English king Henry I, Stephen of Blois and Matilda entered into an open war. Matilda was then married for the second time, her husband was Godfrey Plantagenet of Anjou. The latter captured Normandy in 1141, and then King Louis VII recognized his son Henry as head of the Norman duchy.

Plantagenets

From this time the Plantagenet dynasty began. They ruled England from 1154 to 1399. The ancestor of this royal family, Godfrey, received his nickname from his habit of attaching to his military helmet a branch of gorse, the yellow flowers of which were pronounced planta genista.

He became Matilda's husband, and from their marriage Henry was born (1133), who became, after the death of Stephen of Blois, the founder of the dynasty, that is, the man who ascended the throne of England.

This dynasty lasted through the reign of eight kings. They were Henry II, Richard I, John Lackland, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III and Richard II. Edward III became the founder of the next dynasty - the Lancastrians.

Lancaster

This branch comes from the same house as the Plantagenets.

The first representative of the Lancastrian branch to officially ascend to the royal throne was Henry IV.

And his father, John of Ghent, was the son of King Edward III. However, the pedigree introduced its own interpretation into this situation: John of Ghent was the third son of King Edward III, and his second son was Lionel of Clarence, whose descendant in the person of Edmond Mortimer had better chances for the royal crown.

Another royal branch of England, the York dynasty, originates from the same very prolific King Edward III. She comes from Edmund, the fourth son of King Edward III.

Lancasters held the titles of earls and dukes. Henry III Plantagenet became the parent of Edmund, he was the youngest son of the king and he bore the modest title of earl. His grandson Henry became, through the efforts of Edward III, who ascended the throne at that time, a duke.

Henry's daughter Blanca became the wife of Edward III's son, John Plantagenet, who was later created Duke of Lancaster. The eldest son of John and Blanca became the founder of the dynasty, it was Henry IV.

This royal house lasted from 1399 to 1461, just a short time. And all because the grandson of Henry IV - Henry VI - died on the battlefields, just like the son of Henry VI - Edward. 24 years after this family name, representing the dynasties of England, died out, the throne was headed by Henry from the Tudor family - relatives of the Lancasters on the female side.

Tudors

The history of this royal house is very interesting. It comes from Wales, a branch of the Coilchen family, and any member of this family automatically has the right to own England. Owen Tudor's son, Maredid, married Henry V's widow, Catherine of France.

The sons of these Tudors, named Edmund and Jasper, were half-brothers of Henry IV. Having ascended the throne, this king of England bestowed earldoms on the sons of the Tudor family.

Thus, Edmund became Earl of Richmont, and Jasper - Earl of Pembroke. After this, the family ties of Lancaster and Tudor were sealed once again. Edmund took as his wife Margaret Beaufort.

She was the great-granddaughter of the founder of the Lancastrian branch, John of Gaunt Plantagenet. Moreover, this happened thanks to the legalized line, which included the descendants of John’s mistress, Katherine Swynford, who previously could not lay claim to the highest throne of England. From the marriage of Edmund and Margaret Beaufort, the future king of England, Henry VII, was born.

The fading Lancastrian branch provided significant assistance to the Tudor dynasty by supporting Henry Tudor, despite the fact that the Beaufort relatives also included the notorious Duke of Buckingham.

Richard III seized power in England, but could not maintain it, and then Henry ascended the throne, marrying Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV, and marking the beginning of the unification of the Lancaster dynasty with the Yorks.

The Tudor royal dynasty after the death of Henry VII continued with the reign of Henry VIII. He had three children. They headed the highest throne of England after his death. These were representatives of the Tudor branch, King Edward VI and queens - Mary I "Bloody" and Elizabeth I.

After the death of Elizabeth I, the Tudor dynasty died out. The closest surviving relative was the Scottish king James VI, who was the son of Mary Stuart, daughter of James V. He, in turn, was born into the world by Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII. Thus began a new royal dynasty - the Stuarts.

Stuarts

The Stuart dynasty ascended to the throne in 1603. This surname belongs to the descendants of Walter, who rose to prominence under Malcolm III (11th century). Since then, the glorious dynasty has known many heroes, victories and disasters.

There is a lot of French blood in the Stuart branch (Magdalene of Valois, Mary of Guise and other royal names).

Mary Stuart, the mother of James V, was an orphan and found herself entirely in the hands of Elizabeth I. She deposed the Scottish heiress from the throne and executed her in England. The survivor, Mary's son, James VI, united England, Scotland and Ireland, although he ruled for only 22 years.

In general, historians speak unkindly about the reign of the Stuarts. Representatives of this dynasty are Charles I, James II, Mary Stuart, Anne Stuart and James III. This branch died out with the death of Henry Benedict, who was the grandson of James II.

Hanover

This royal dynasty ruled England from 1714-1901. They originate from the German Welfs. They ascended the throne due to the fact that Catholics close to the Tudors were cut off from the opportunity to take the government of the country into their own hands.

The first Hanoverian king did not speak English at all. Historians believe that we are talking about the Regency, which was replaced by the Victorian era. Ruling persons: George III, George IV, William IV and Victoria. Another branch of this dynasty is the Dukes of Cambridge.

Yorks, Windsors and other dynasties

No list of names in the royal dynasties would be complete without the Yorks, whose reigns were minimal (Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III), the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha dynasty (Edward VII and George V), and the ruling Windsor dynasty (George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II).

By the beginning of the 16th century. England was a relatively small state on the western edge of Europe. At that time it occupied only part of the British Isles. Scotland remained an independent kingdom, often hostile to England, and Ireland had yet to be conquered.

England at the beginning of the Tudor era

The population of England at the beginning of the century was about 3 million people, while approximately 10 million people lived in Spain and 15 million people in France.

In England, the highest power belonged to the “king and parliament,” that is, the sovereign with the assembly of the estates.

A feature of the political structure of England was developed local self-government. Locally, in the counties, a major role was played by justices of the peace and officials with broad powers representing the interests of the crown - sheriffs. Both were elected from among large local landowners. Another feature of England was its developed judicial system. The English have been brought up for centuries in the habit of solving controversial problems through the use of law. The island position of the state also predetermined the absence of a standing army and increased attention to the navy. The famous Royal Navy dates back to Tudor times.

Features of the socio-economic development of England

The leading branch of the English economy was the production of cloth, and the raw materials for it were provided by sheep farming. The development of these interconnected industries determined the course of transformations in economic life, and at the same time, changes in the structure of English society. It is noteworthy that the new capitalist structure was formed in the countryside, and not in the city, as in most other European countries. Among the nobles, enterprising people stood out, whose economy was market-oriented. Such entrepreneurs began to be called new nobles. Rich townspeople also bought up land, turning into landowners. On this basis, a rapprochement between the new nobility and the city elite took place. In agriculture, the preconditions for the agrarian revolution were created - the process of eliminating peasant land ownership and the peasant community, and the formation of capitalist relations in the countryside.

The development of sheep farming required the expansion of pastures, for which landowners carried out massive fencing, seizing peasant lands under various pretexts and surrounding them with fences. First, communal lands were fenced off, then it was the turn of arable land.

During the Tudor era, enclosures became so widespread that they became a truly national disaster. A law adopted in 1489 prohibited the fencing and destruction of large peasant estates. Thanks to this, the independent economy of the most prosperous peasants in England was preserved. By the 16th century the entire English peasantry had personal freedom, but enclosures deprived many peasants of their land. The result was mass beggary, the emergence of a whole layer of poor people, deprived of any means of subsistence - paupers. Already in 1495, the first law on punishment of vagabonds and beggars appeared. Subsequently, several more laws were passed that increased the punishment for vagrancy.

In addition to cloth making, mining has also developed in England for a long time, in the 16th century. New branches of production arose - the production of glass, paper, sugar. It was here that the first form of production of a new, capitalist type appeared, which was called manufacture (from the Latin words “hand” and “manufacture”).

Manufacture was still based on manual labor, but was already different from the medieval craft workshop, in which a thing was made completely - from the preparation of raw materials to the finishing of the finished product - by the same people. In manufacturing production, a single labor process was divided into separate operations, which led, firstly, to an increase in labor productivity and, secondly, to the improvement of special professional skills in each narrow area of ​​specialization. For example, merchants who purchased wool from sheep farmers distributed it to impoverished peasants and artisans to make yarn for a predetermined fee. The yarn was then passed on to weavers, who wove it into cloth, after which the cloth was taken to dyers. The result was a product suitable for sale.

Under such a system, former peasants and artisans turned from independent producers into hired workers, and the merchants who hired them turned into capitalist entrepreneurs. At the same time, manufactured goods were much cheaper than handicraft products, due to the mass nature of their production. Since hired workers worked at home, such a manufacture is called dispersed, in contrast to a centralized one, in which all the craftsmen worked in one place.

England produced many goods for which there was demand abroad. This, in turn, contributed to the development of foreign trade. The Great Geographical Discoveries were of decisive importance for the development of the English economy. Thanks to this, the country, located on the outskirts of Europe, suddenly found itself at the crossroads of new routes of international trade and was actively involved in its process.

Reign of Henry VIII

The most important changes in the history of England are associated with the name of the second king from the Tudor dynasty.

Henry VIII inherited from his father a strong centralized state, capable of successfully solving both domestic and foreign policy problems. Royal power was stronger than ever, the state treasury was full.

However, fencing continued to be a serious problem. Laws passed under Henry VIII prohibited the conversion of arable land into pasture and limited the number of sheep per owner. But these measures could not stop the seizure of peasant lands.

In connection with the spread of beggary, a law was passed according to which able-bodied beggars were subject to punishment and only those unable to work received the right to collect alms with written permission.

Henry VIII reformed the English church, driven by the idea of ​​bringing it under his control.

In 1541, Henry VIII proclaimed himself king of Ireland, which served as a signal for increased colonization. The conquest of the Emerald Isle now took place under the slogan of the Reformation, since the Irish remained faithful to the Catholic faith. The national conflict has since turned into a religious one, making the gap between the two peoples insurmountable. The conflict with Scotland, which traditionally relied on the help of France in the fight against England, also deepened.

At the same time, Henry VIII pursued an active foreign policy in Europe, which involved England in a war with France. Three times during his reign he fought with this country, and twice the Scots took advantage of this advantageous situation, trying to defend their interests. Both times they suffered heavy defeats, which ended in the death of the Scottish kings. These tragic events brought the young Mary Stuart (1542-1567) to the throne in Scotland.

Henry VIII, among other things, is known for having married six times. He divorced two of his wives, who were foreigners, two were executed on charges of treason, one died at the birth of his only son, Henry VIII. He had daughters from his first two wives. Each of the three children of Henry VIII visited the English throne and left their mark on the history of the state.

Elizabethan England

During the reign of the last of the Tudors, Elizabeth I (1558-1603), England was completely transformed. First of all, Anglicanism was finally established as the state religion. The parliamentary “Act of Supremacy” obliged the entire population of England to perform divine services in accordance with the rites of the Anglican Church. Parliament also confirmed the supremacy of the crown in church affairs. The Queen was proclaimed "the supreme ruler of this kingdom and all the other dominions and countries of Her Majesty, equally in spiritual and ecclesiastical affairs, as well as secular."

Elizabeth paid great attention to the daily life of her subjects, issues of economic and trade development, as well as numerous social problems, the unresolution of which threatened to result in serious upheavals.

Under the conditions of the “price revolution,” there was a strong drop in the wages of hired workers. A law passed in 1563 gave justices of the peace the power to set salaries in each district of England depending on the time of year and the prices of goods. The law encouraged agricultural work: only those who were not accepted for training in agriculture could become apprentices to a craftsman. It was forbidden to move to work in another county or city without special permission. Every Englishman was obliged to have some specific occupation or job. The working day was set at 12 hours. The collection of special donations for the maintenance of the poor was introduced.

According to the law of 1572 “On punishing vagabonds and providing assistance to the poor,” beggars over 14 years of age were subjected to scourging and branding for the first time, declared state criminals for the second, and subject to execution for the third. Another law established "houses of correction" in each county for beggars and vagrants. London landlords were prohibited from renting out premises. A special law established that only one family could live in each house.

The change in the structure of English society was accompanied by a change in the composition of Parliament and its political significance. At the end of the 16th century. The role of the House of Commons is strengthening, in which new nobles and entrepreneurs began to predominate. A serious conflict was brewing in the relationship between the queen and the changed composition of parliament. The first clash occurred over the issue of trade monopolies, which restricted the freedom of activity of those entrepreneurs who were not part of the monopoly companies. The Queen was forced to cancel some of her grants. However, this only temporarily muted the conflict. The further development of this crisis will become one of the most important reasons for the violent upheavals of the 17th century.

Foreign policy of Elizabeth I and the transformation of England into a maritime power

Queen Elizabeth strongly encouraged the creation of their own companies in England to trade with various parts of the world, while simultaneously displacing Italian and German traders from their country. An important episode of this policy was the expulsion of German merchants from the country in 1598. The slave trade played a major role in the development of England as a trading power. For his “deeds,” the first English slave trader was elevated to knighthood. In 1600, the English East India Company was created, which received a monopoly on trade with all of East Asia. In the East Indies, England had to enter into fierce competition not so much with the weakened Spain and Portugal, who could no longer protect their possessions from the invasion of other powers, but with the growing strength of the Netherlands, where a similar company was founded in 1602.

Thanks to a massive increase in foreign trade, London entered its era of prosperity. In 1571, the queen's financial adviser, the outstanding economist T. Gresham, nicknamed the “King of Merchants,” founded the London Exchange, one of the world's first institutions of its kind. The rise of the Port of London was largely facilitated by the Spanish defeat of Antwerp during the War of Dutch Independence. Along with the Dutch Amsterdam, the capital of England began to quickly turn into one of the largest centers of world trade and finance.

The rapid development of foreign trade and navigation, as well as the desire to seize colonies, led England to a collision with Spain. It was Spain, which had the largest colonial empire and a powerful fleet, that turned out to be the main obstacle to the development of English merchant shipping.

The contradictions between the two powers intensified due to religious differences. Elizabeth I sought to strengthen the national Anglican Church, and Philip II supported English Catholics. Both monarchs helped their coreligionists abroad, so their interests collided wherever religious conflicts occurred - in the Netherlands, France, Germany. The King of Spain was dissatisfied with the actions of the “royal pirates”, as well as with the support that Elizabeth I provided to the Dutch rebels. The result of the accumulated contradictions was the first Anglo-Spanish War, which lasted almost 20 years (1585-160S).

In 1588, the Spanish king sent a huge fleet - the "Invincible Armada" - to conquer England. Its defeat was the central event of the war. The defeat of the “Invincible Armada” marked a turning point in the history of relations between the two states and had a great impact on the entire international situation. From this moment on, the gradual decline of Spain's maritime power began and, conversely, the strengthening of England's position as a maritime power.

It is noteworthy that the equipment of many English ships was made from Russian materials - timber, hemp, linen, iron. This gave rise to one of the directors of the Moscow company, created in England specifically for trade with the Russian state, to declare that the Armada was defeated thanks to it.

Another important goal of Elizabeth I's foreign policy was the settlement of relations with Scotland.. This ultimately led to the unification of the two states and to a change of dynasties on the English throne. The Catholic Mary Stuart did not find support among her Protestant subjects and was forced to abdicate in favor of her son James and leave Scotland. Close ties with Catholic Spain and certain rights to the English throne made her a dangerous rival of Elizabeth I. Therefore, in England she was arrested and executed after twenty years of imprisonment. Following the childless Elizabeth, James Stewart ascended to the English throne under the name of James I. The Stuart dynasty was established in England for more than a century.

Culture of Tudor England

In the 16th century England has ceased to be the backwaters of Europe, which is clearly reflected in its culture. The beginning of the century was the heyday of English humanism, the central figure of which was the author of the famous “Utopia,” Thomas More. Both the book and its author gained European fame.

A national tradition of painting, mainly portraiture, emerged in England. A distinctive Tudor style was formed in architecture. Changes in architecture were dictated by the needs of the time.

The new nobility preferred to build cozy estates instead of the gloomy castles of the old nobility. The townspeople needed more spacious and comfortable housing. A freer layout now distinguished rural settlements. Each family sought to purchase a separate house with a plot of land - a cottage.

A distinctive feature of English culture during the time of Elizabeth I was the flourishing of dramatic art. England was the birthplace of modern theater. Instead of the usual traveling troupes of artists moving from place to place, the first theater with a permanent premises, which was called the “Theater,” opened in London in 1576. By the beginning of the 17th century. there were already 20 of them - much more than in any other country.

The most famous among them was the Globe, in which the talent of the greatest English playwright, William Shakespeare (1564-1616), flourished. Shakespeare began with historical chronicles and comedies, many of which are still staged today (The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, Twelfth Night "). But his genius was most fully expressed in the genre of tragedy. Shakespeare created unsurpassed masterpieces in this area - “Romeo and Juliet”, “Hamlet”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, “Macbeth”. With unprecedented power, he showed the complex spiritual world of man. Shakespearean images still occupy an honorable place in the world classics of dramatic art. The names of his heroes have become household names. With his sonnets, written in the early period of his creative work, Shakespeare also enriched world poetry.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, the great English philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626) began his career. The son of a major political figure, he was also mainly involved in politics. At the same time, Bacon became the founder of empirical (from the Latin “empirio” - “experience”), that is, verifiable by experience, philosophy of the New Age. His thought most clearly reflected the onset of new times. One's own search, verified by practical experiment, and not blind adherence to authority, henceforth turned into the main way of knowing the truth. From that time on, practical orientation became a distinctive feature of English philosophy.

Act against the destruction of villages, 1489 (statute of Henry VII)

“The King, our sovereign and sovereign, especially and most of all desires that such abnormalities and abuses be eliminated as are harmful and dangerous to the common good of his country and his subjects living in it; he remembers that great difficulties are increasing every day due to the devastation, demolition and deliberate destruction of houses and villages in this kingdom of his and due to the conversion to pasture of lands that were usually under arable land. In consequence of this, idleness, the basis and beginning of all evils, increases every day... agriculture, one of the most profitable occupations in this kingdom, comes into great decline, churches are destroyed, worship ceases... the defense of this country against our external enemies is weakened and deteriorated to the great displeasure of God, to the overthrow of the policy and good government of this country, and against this no hasty measures are taken.”

References:
V.V. Noskov, T.P. Andreevskaya / History from the end of the 15th to the end of the 18th century