Early Modern England

Title page from Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

Centralized government consolidated under the Tudors

• Henry VII (1485-1509)• Henry VIII (1509-1547)• Edward VI (1547-1554)• Mary I (1554-1558)• Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

The Tudors

Henry VII (1485-1509)

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

Henry VII became King of England in 1485, after deposing his cousin, Richard III

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

Henry VII became King of England in 1585, after deposing his cousin, Richard III

Henry’s claim to the throne was tenuous, based on illegitimate succession

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

Henry VII became King of England in 1585, after deposing his cousin, Richard III

Henry’s claim to the throne was tenuous, based on illegitimate succession

But Henry claimed to inherit the throne both through the “Yorkist” and the “Lancastrian” successions

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

Henry VII became King of England in 1585, after deposing his cousin, Richard III

Henry’s claim to the throne was tenuous, based on illegitimate succession

But Henry claimed to inherit the throne both through the “Yorkist” and the “Lancastrian” successions

This claim was part of the ideological basis upon which he began to consolidate power under the central government

The Tudors

Henry VIII (1509-1547)

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Henry continued his father’s program of centralizing government

bureaucracy

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Henry continued his father’s program of centralizing government

bureaucracy

• In 1533 Henry broke with the Catholic Church over the

disagreement about his divorce

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Henry continued his father’s program of centralizing government

bureaucracy

• In 1533 Henry broke with the Catholic Church over the

disagreement about his divorce

• England became a protestant nation, with Henry as the head of the

Church of England

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Henry continued his father’s program of centralizing government

bureaucracy

• In 1533 Henry broke with the Catholic Church over the

disagreement about his divorce

• England became a protestant nation, with Henry as the head of the

Church of England

• Henry confiscated all property of the Roman Catholic Church

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Henry continued his father’s program of centralizing government

bureaucracy

• In 1533 Henry broke with the Catholic Church over the

disagreement about his divorce

• England became a protestant nation, with Henry as the head of the

Church of England

• Henry confiscated all property of the Roman Catholic Church

• Henry transformed many church schools into public “grammar

schools”; this promoted a rise in literacy

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Henry continued his father’s program of centralizing government

bureaucracy

• In 1533 Henry broke with the Catholic Church over the

disagreement about his divorce

• England became a protestant nation, with Henry as the head of the

Church of England

• Henry confiscated all property of the Roman Catholic Church

• Henry transformed many church schools into public “grammar

schools”; this promoted a rise in literacy

• Henry distributed confiscated church lands to his loyal followers

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Henry continued his father’s program of centralizing government

bureaucracy

• In 1533 Henry broke with the Catholic Church over the

disagreement about his divorce

• England became a protestant nation, with Henry as the head of the

Church of England

• Henry confiscated all property of the Roman Catholic Church

• Henry transformed many church schools into public “grammar

schools”; this promoted a rise in literacy

• Henry distributed confiscated church lands to his loyal followers

• Many British subjects developed a sense of national pride in the

country’s independence from the Pope

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Henry continued his father’s program of centralizing government

bureaucracy

• In 1533 Henry broke with the Catholic Church over the

disagreement about his divorce

• England became a protestant nation, with Henry as the head of the

Church of England

• Henry confiscated all property of the Roman Catholic Church

• Henry transformed many church schools into public “grammar

schools”; this promoted a rise in literacy

• Henry distributed confiscated church lands to his loyal followers

• Many British subjects developed a sense of national pride in the

country’s independence from the Pope

• Radical protestants were emboldened; religious dissent would

also have political consequences tending toward democracy

The Tudors

Edward VI (1547-1554)

The Tudors

Mary I (1554-1558)

The Tudors

Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power

• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power

• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence

• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating

national power

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power

• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence

• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating

national power

• Elizabeth managed the tensions among factions of the nobility;

each faction expected to take control of the government, without

staging a military coup, by influencing her choice of a husband

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power

• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence

• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating

national power

• Elizabeth managed the tensions among factions of the nobility;

each faction expected to take control of the government, without

staging a military coup, by influencing her choice of a husband

• Elizabeth never got married

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power

• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence

• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating

national power

• Elizabeth managed the tensions among factions of the nobility;

each faction expected to take control of the government, without

staging a military coup, by influencing her choice of a husband

• Elizabeth never got married

• Elizabeth’s navy defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588

Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy

• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power

• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence

• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating

national power

• Elizabeth managed the tensions among factions of the nobility;

each faction expected to take control of the government, without

staging a military coup, by influencing her choice of a husband

• Elizabeth never got married

• Elizabeth’s navy defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588

• Under Elizabeth, England began efforts to establish colonies in

Ireland and the Americas