1347 |
Calais surrenders to the English Army. |
1348 |
The Black Death, a violent plague, spreads to England from the Continent and kills a quarter of the four million population. |
1353 |
Statute of Praemunire limits appeals to the Pope. |
1356 |
English victory at Battle of Poitiers. Ottoman Turks invade Europe. |
1360 |
Treaty of Bretigny cedes French provinces to Edward III. |
1375 |
Truce of Bruges–English lose most of their gains in France. |
1377 |
Richard II, grandson of Edward III, becomes king. |
1378 |
Great Schism in Western Church begins. |
1380 |
Chaucer writing The Canterbury Tales about this time ; he helps to popularize English as the literary language. |
1381 |
Wat Tyler leads the Peasants’ Revolt, in protest against oppressive taxes for raising money for the war. |
1382 |
John Wyclitfe, translator of the Bible into English and founder of Lollard priests, condemned as a heretic. |
1388 |
Lords Appellant destroy Richard II’s Court Party. |
1399 |
Richard II deposed; Henry IV of the House of Lancaster is king. |
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1400 |
Owen Glendower leads a Welsh rising against the English. |
1401 |
Persecution of the Lollards; the burning of heretics authorized. |
1402 |
Ottoman Turks defeated by Timur the Tartar (Tamerlane). |
1403 |
Battle of Shrewsbury; defeat of the Percies of Northumberland and of the Scots and Welsh rebels. |
1413 |
Henry V becomes king and revives the claim to the French crown. |
1415 |
Victory of Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt in France. Prince Henry of Portugal begins”Age of Discovery.” John Huss burnt at the stake at Constance. |
1417 |
English conquest of Normandy and capture of Caen. |
1420 |
Treaty of Troyes; Henry marries Princess Katherine, the French Icing’s daughter, and becomes Regent of France. |
1422 |
Death of Henry V; he is succeeded by Henry VI, a child of nine months, and war with France breaks out again. |
1429 |
Joan of Arc raises the siege of Orleans, besieged by an English army. Charles VII crowned King of France at Rheims. |
1431 |
Joan of Arc burned by the English at Rouen. |
1450 |
Printing (with metal types) invented by John Gutenberg of Mainz. Jack Cade leads a rising against the unpopular government. |
1453 |
French regain all lost territories except Calais. Henry VI becomes insane. Turks capture Constantinople. Greek scholars flee and set up schools in Italy, where they help in a revival of learning, known as the Renaissance. |
1455 |
Wars of the Roses begin between Yorkists and Lancastrians for control of the country, and last many years. |
1460 |
Battles of Northampton and Wakefield. |
1461 |
Battles of Mortimer’s Cross, St. Albans, and Towton. Edward of York declared king as Edward IV, with the support of the Earl of Warwick, “Warwick he King-maker.” |
1464 |
Battles of Hedgeley Moor and Hexham-Yorkist victories. |
1470 |
Edward quarrels with Warwick and has to flee the country. |
1471 |
Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury leave Edward IV victorious. |
1476 |
William Caxton sets up the first printing press in England. |
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1483 |
The boy King, Edward V, succeeds to the throne: he is imprisoned with his brother in the Tower of London and murdered. Richard of Gloucester becomes king as Richard III. |
1485 |
Battle of Bosworth; Richard defeated. Henry, Earl of Richmond, becomes King Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings. |
1486 |
Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York and unites the Roses. |
1487 |
Bartholomew Diaz rounds the Cape of Good Hope. Lambert Simnel, Yorkist claimant to the throne, defeated. Court of Star Chamber tries offences outside the Courts of Law. |
1492 |
Columbus discovers the outposts of the American continent. Moors driven from Spain back to North Mrica. |
1497 |
Cabot sets sail from Bristol and discovers Newfoundland. |
1498 |
Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut in India. |
1509 |
Henry VIII becomes king. |
1513 |
France invaded; French defeat at the Battle of the Spurs. Scots invade England, but are defeated at Flodden in Northumberland. |
1516 |
Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, Chancellor and Cardinal, becomes the King’s adviser. |
1517 |
Luther’s Ninety-five Theses begin the Reformation struggle. |
1519 |
Charles V becomes Emperor. |
1520 |
Henry VIII meets Francis I of France on the Field of the Cloth of Gold with a view to an alliance. |
1521 |
England renews the war against France. Henry VIII supports. the Pope ‘against Luther; he later receives the title of “Defender of the Faith.” |
1522 |
Magellan’s crew complete their voyage round the world. |
1525 |
Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament published. |
1529 |
The Pope refuses Henry’s request for a divorce from Katharine of Aragon. |
1530 |
Wolsey dismissed by Henry; he dies on the way to trial in London. |
1533 |
Henry, granted a divorce by Archbishop Cranmer, marries Anne Boleyn. |
1534 |
Henry VIII abolishes the authority of the Pope in England and declares himself “Supreme Head of the English Church.” |
1536 |
Beginning of dissolution of monasteries and confiscation of their wealth. |
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1542 |
War with Scotland; Scots defeated at the Battle of Solway Moss. |
1544 |
War with France; capture of Boulogne. |
1545 |
Council of Trent and Catholic Counter-Reformation begin. |
1547 |
Edward VI, aged ten, succeeds to the throne. Duke of Somerset appointed Protector. Scots reject Somerset’s attempt to carry out previously agreed marriage between Edward VI and Mary Queen of Scots. Scots defeated at the Battle of Pinkie, but Mary is sent to France. |
1549 |
Risings follow compulsory use of the new Book of Common Prayer. |
1552 |
Second Prayer Book. |
1553 |
Death of Edward VI. Lady Jane Grey proclaimed queen, but imprisoned and later executed. Mary, Catholic daughter of Henry VIII, succeeds to the throne. Reformation leaders imprisoned. |
1554 |
Marriage of Mary to Philip II of Spain, a leader of Catholicism in Europe. |
1555-6 |
Persecution of Protestants; Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer burnt at stake. |
1556 |
Abdication of Emperor Charles V. |
1558 |
Loss of Calais, last English possession in France. Death of Mary; she is succeeded by Elizabeth, Protestant daughter of Henry VIII. |
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1559 |
Protestantism restored as the national religion. |
1567 |
Mary Queen of Scots deposed by Scottish nobles. |
1568 |
Mary seeks refuge in England, but is imprisoned by Elizabeth. Revolt of Netherlands against Spain begins. |
1571 |
Turkish Navy defeated at Lepanto by Don John of Austria. |
1580 |
Francis Drake returns after sailing round the world. |
1583 |
Colony of Newfoundland established in the New World. |
1587 |
Mary Queen of Scots executed for plots against Elizabeth. |
1588 |
Destruction of the Spanish Armada sent to invade England. |
1594 |
Shakespeare writing playS in London. |
1600 |
Formation of the East India Company. |
1601 |
Elizabethan Poor Law passed. |
1603 |
Death of Elizabeth; James VI of Scotland succeeds her as James I of England, so uniting the two monarchies. |
1604 |
James I upholds the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings at Hampton Court Conference. A new translation of the Bible is suggested. |
1605 |
Roman Catholic Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament discovered; Guy Fawkes and other conspirators arrested. |
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