The Tudor age the english reformation and their role in british history

     Ministry of the Education of the Russian Federation 
 

     Moscow State Pedagogical University 

     Foreign Languages Department (English) 
 
 
 
 

Group 105 

CHUDAKOVA Vera 
 
 
 

THE TUDOR AGE

 
THE ENGLISH REFORMATION

 
AND THEIR ROLE IN BRITISH HISTORY 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Supervisor:

E.V.Sachkova 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

     Moscow, 2010

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I. The Reign of the House of Tudors

I.1. The Establishment of the Dynasty

I.2. The Tudor Monarchs

I.3. Domestic Politics

I.3.1. Attitude to Parliament

I.3.2. Social Policy

I.3.3. Religion

I.3.4. Economic Policy

I.3.5. The Growth of Naval Power

I.4. Foreign Affairs

I.5. Territory Changes

I.6. The Development of Science, Literature and the Arts

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

INTRODUCTION

     If you have a look at the Tudors’ portraits you will see that everything about these people speaks Power. Autocratic, they controlled the state with ruthless efficiency, re-establishing the governing authority at home and at the same time gaining the respect of other European nations.

     The age of the Tudors has left its impact on the history of Great Britain as a watershed. The reign of this dynasty is usually associated with the end of medieval twilight in England and the beginning of the age of development and flourishing. The Tudors ruled the country for 118 years (1485-1603). During this time, they made Britain a world power, laying the foundation for The British Empire. This fascinating historical period saw great geographical discoveries, monumental changes in religion, government and the arts, and ended in ‘Golden Age of Elizabeth’.  

I. THE REIGN OF THE TUDOR DYNASTY

I.1. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DYNASTY

     The first monarch of the House of Tudors, Henry VII, was half Welsh and came from a decent well-known family. On August, 22^nd, 1485, he defeated Kind Richard III at Bosworth Field, many of whose supporters changed sides, and was hailed as King on the field of victory. To establish and secure this title, in 1485 Henry Tudor married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV, thus united the Lancastrians and the Yorkists and put an end to the wars of the Roses. The new dynasty adopted a new crest – the Tudor rose which was made by crossbreeding of red and white roses. 

I.2. THE TUDOR MONARCHS

HENRY VII (1485-1509)

     When he became king of England de juro, he turned out to be a dedicated king who enforced political and financial obligation to the Crown. Thus, Henry VII made it illegal to have private armies for everyone except him. What is more, he established heavy taxation on those who opposed to the king. He also restored the king’s government by introducing the Court of Star Chamber, a civil and criminal court of law, which was held for the same reason: to establish absolute monarchy. In addition to this, Henry Tudor established the Justices of the Peace in order to destroy corruption. He was also known to be the shrewdest businessman ever to sit on the English throne. But in spite of his thriftiness, Henry VII invested lots of money into the Navy and introduced artillery. When he died in 1509 he left a united, peaceful (thanks to his political talent) and prosperous country with enormous king’s treasury (₤2 million). 

HENRY VIII (1509-1547)

     There is some controversy over Henry’s character, nevertheless all the historians agree he was a vicious and extravagant tyrant greedy for glory, whose iron hand controlled the government and kept people in fear. Henry VIII was quite handsome in his youth but later suffered a lot from obesity. He died because of his immoral way of life at the age of fifty six and in the end could be moved only with the help of mechanical devices. Unlike his father, he displayed little enthusiasm in the affairs of the state and left running the country to the advisors like Thomas Cromwell and Cardinal Woolsey. Henry is notorious for his six marriages which occurred because of his anxiety to have a successor. His first wife was a Spanish princess Katherine of Aragorn, the widow of his elder brother Arthur. This marriage was to serve political and financial purposes. After numerous pregnancies survived only one daughter – Mary, unhappily fated to figure as ‘Bloody Mary’ in history. Henry concluded that God denied him a legitimate heir because this marriage had been forbidden by the Holy Bible. His second wife became Ann Boleyn, Katherine’s lady-in-waiting, an ambitious young woman and a skillful manipulator who was determined to become the queen. Seeking for a divorce, Henry threw himself into what he called his ‘Great Matter’ which brought about the brake with the Roman Church. When she failed to produce a male heir to the throne she was accused of adultery and executed. Her daughter Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. It is curious to know that some historians supposed Anne Boleyn had an extra finger. A month later Henry married Jane Seymour, who managed to give him the son he sought so obsessively. Sadly, she died shortly after his birth. Jane Seymour was his only truly beloved wife. Then he married a German princess Ann of Cleves which was a political match. Henry had only seen a painting of her before they were married. But as it turned out the portrait didn’t do her justice (Thomas Cromwell said she was ‘like a Flanders mare’). She seemed repulsive to Henry and soon he divorced her. His last-but-two wife was Catharine Howard, Anne Boleyn’s cousin, whom Henry called ‘Rose without a Thorne’. She shared her cousin’s fate but, unlike Anne’s sentence, Catherine’s was fair as he had several love affairs indeed. His sixth and the last wife became Catherine Parr, a wise rich widow. She had four husbands and survived Henry who died in 1547 leaving England with empty treasury.

     EDWARD VI (1547-1553)

     When Edward succeeded to the English throne he was too young (9 years) to do any governing so his ministers ruled for him. They were led by the Duke of Somerset, the ‘Good Duke’, as ordinary people called him, who brought Edward up a devoted Protestant. Under the influence of his advisors, he left Lady Jane Grey the throne to secure the Protestant succession. She was unwilling to be the queen but was forced to. As Mary was a rightful heir, she claimed the throne. Jane Grey was the queen for only nine days and subsequently was captured in the Tower and executed. Edward IV is said to have smiled only once in his life and died of tuberculosis at the age of 15. 

     MARY I (1553-1558)

     Mary I was liked by the people at first because of her deprived childhood and was warmly welcomed on the English throne. But then everything changed dramatically. She was a loyal Catholic and declared it illegal to be a Protestant and everyone who opposed to her decision was persecuted. Mary is infamous for burning 300 Protestants at the stake (religious toleration was unknown in Mary’s age). Still, all Mary’s efforts to restore Catholicism were in vain and her reign only strengthened new faith. Furthermore, her marriage to Spanish king Philip II was very unpopular as England was involved in war with France. Mary died of cancer childless and loathsome in 1558.  

ELIZABETH I (1558-1603)

     She imprinted herself on the memory of the world more vividly than any other monarch in English history. She wisely ruled the country for more than four decades and her reign is remarkable in every respect. She was a dignified and extraordinary queen, who patronized the arts and spoke 4 foreign languages frequently. She was called the Virgin Queen as she never married. Many a foreign king (including Ivan the Terrible) proposed to her but she said she was married to England. If she agreed, she would lose her power to her husband but Elizabeth didn’t want to subject herself to any man. However and suppose she had several lovers and some historians consider it a myth suppose she had a son. The queen encouraged trading and cultural achievements, kept England from being thorn apart by the religious wars and withstood both assassination plot held by Mary Stuart and the massive military thread of the Spanish Armada.  

     I.3. DOMESTIC POLITICS

     I.3.1. ATTITUDE TO PARLIAMENT

     Striving for absolute royal power, the Tudors tried to control the Parliament and to hold it on the leading string. Only two circumstances made them put up with it: the need for money and the support of gentry and bourgeoisie. They summoned it as few times as possible. The sovereigns relied upon the Parliament as long as it was a handy tool in their hands. But using The Parliament for strengthening their own decisions, the Tudors inevitably made it more important and it opposed to the strong royal power. Thus, when Elizabeth needed subsidies and conflicted with the Parliament, she had to sell monopolies and state posts in order to be financially independent from the Parliament, and it certainly corrupted and weakened the government.

     I.3.2. SOCIAL POLICY

     The Tudor age was an era of enterprise and opportunity when people of humble background could achieve greatness and glory. It was the time of social inequality when some achieved fame and fortune while others dragged a wretched existence in poverty. In contrast to the XIV century, when the population reduced from c.5 million people to 2, 5 million because of plague and war, the Tudor age was marked with unprecedented demographic growth: the population doubled and London became the largest city in Europe. The most important social changes were made by Elizabeth I who passed the first Poor Law in 1601, according to which all poor people were taken to workhouses where the disabled should be supplied with provision while the able-bodied were to labor for their own support. Still, the standards of living were unbearably low there. Elizabeth also had a great impact upon education as during her reign clever boys of low social classes as well as noble ones were accepted to Grammar schools.

     I.3.3. RELIGION

     In the XVI century many protested against abuses of the Roman Church which was an independent, powerful and prosperous institution. But being a true Catholic, Henry VII strongly disapproved of it for which he got the title ‘Fidei Defensor’ from the Pope. Still, his treasury was empty and rich monasteries attracted his attention. So when Henry conflicted with the Pope about the divorce he badly needed, he broke with the Church most willingly. His motives were material and personal, rather than religious. In 1534 Henry VIII adopted the Act of Supremacy and pronounced himself the head of the Church of England. He initiated dissolution of monasteries and execution of those who refused to adopt new faith, though the king himself remained Catholic. He confiscated monasteries’ lands and property to the Crown. Under Edward VI Protestantism was established by law. Mary led a reaction in favor of Romanism, but her successor Elizabeth reinstated the Protestant form of worship. The results of the English revolution were economic and spiritual independence and the strengthening of absolute monarchy; it upheld the sanctity of the royal power and changed the English mentality.

     I.3.4. ECONOMIC POLICY

     The Tudor monarchs encouraged trading of fabric and wool (the Woolsack, the symbol of wool’s importance to English economy, is still in the House of Lords) and expansion of English merchants around the world. Elizabeth I initiated the production of glass and paper and invited foreign craftsmen. 

     I.3.5. THE GROWTH OF NAVAL POWER 

     The Tudor dynasty developed and established the greatest maritime power in the world. The first Tudor monarch, Henry VII, spent a great deal of money on building warships. His son Henry VIII established a permanent navy, which is among his most significant achievements. He inherited only 5 vessels from his father. In his own reign he built 59 ships, bought another 26 and captured a further 13. Henry VIII also was the first to build warships which carried heavy guns for sinking enemy ships (the most famous are the mighty Great Harry and Mary Rose, and the sinking of the latter was a great disaster). Elizabeth built 200 more ships for the war with Spain and the victory over Invincible Armada gave the British Navy great prestige. Its well-designed ships became the most powerful and the English began to build their own empire all over the world. 

     I.4. FOREIGN AFFAIRS

     The Tudors were flexible politicians who tried to achieve their aims by political manoeuvres. Thus, Henry VII maintained peace with other countries by political matches: he married his elder son to a Spanish princess, one daughter to the French king and the other to the king of Scotland. But when it was impossible to avoid war, Elizabeth I managed to defeat Invincible Spanish Armada in 1588. Unfortunately, queen Mary I wasn’t so successful in the war with France. All in all, Tudor foreign policy was directed at establishing diplomatic relations and gaining international authority. 

     I.5. TERRITORY CHANGES

     In 1536 Henry VIII signed the Act of Union with Wales. Unlike his half Welsh father, Henry VIII didn’t feel for this country and wanted them to adopt English culture. Welsh names were changed (they didn’t have surnames) and the official language became English. During Elizabethan Age England explored American colonies, one of which was called ‘Virginia’ in honor of the queen. Due to the discovery of the new American territories, tobacco and potato became known in England. The only lost territory, yet a very painful to the English nation, was the port of Calais (1558), the last English possession in France, which happened during the reign of Mary I. 

     I.6.THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE AND THE ARTS

     The Tudors were contemporaries of such great people as Thomas More (the autor of ‘Utopia’), William Shakespeare (the greatest playwright ever; his theatre ‘The Globe’ appeared in 1597), Francis Bacon (philosopher, the author of a famous expression ‘Knowledge is Power’), Hans Holbein and many other outstanding personalities. Thanks to geographical discoveries, Henry III was the first who saw the modern map of the world.

     CONCLUSION

     To sum up, the Tudor dynasty did everything in their power to bring the English nation on the brink of becoming a major world power. England has come a long way since Henry Tudor arrived in 1485 to find a divided and dispirited nation. Just over one hundred years later the Tudors fulfilled their destiny and sowed great seeds for the future. 

     BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Felicity Hebditch. Tudors. – London, 2003
2. Wilhelm Busch. England under the Tudors. King Henry. – New York, 2009
3. Alison Weir. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. – New York, 2000
4. David Henry Montgomery. The Leading Facts of English History. – London, 2009
5. Jane Resh Thomas. Behind the mask: the life of Queen Elizabeth I.- New York, 1998
6. Norman Leslie Jones. The English Reformation: religion and cultural adaptation. – Padstow, 2002