English[1] Rulers and Events: 1485-1820

This webpage is not a list of things you have to memorize. It is a tool for you to use if you have a question about change over time, about major events in the English monarchy, about religion, and about major events in colonization. 

 

Example: How did the religion of the king encourage people in England (and Scotland) to migrate to the Americas?
Look down the “Ruler’s Religion” column. Notice how from 1547 through 1689 there is a swing back and forth between Protestant and Catholic rulers.

 

Think about it: If you and your family could be miserable or die if the king is Protestant and you are Catholic, what would you do?

 

Reign Begins

English Monarchy – Major Events

Ruler’s Religion

Colonization Events – If Religion Determined Who Migrated

1485

Henry VII - beginning of reign of Tudors

1501- Eldest son Arthur marries Catherine of Aragon (Spain—the nation most influential on the Roman Catholic pope)

1509 - At Arthur’s death, Henry VIII marries Catherine

Catholic

-

1509

Henry VIII forms the Church of England[2], an established church[3]  to get a divorce from Catherine

Protestant – at least officially

 

1547

Edward (son of Jane Seymour)

Protestant

 

1553

Mary (daughter of Catherine of Aragon)

Catholic

 

1558

Elizabeth (daughter of Anne Boleyn) - last of reign of Tudors

Protestant

1585-1590 Roanoke

1603

James I, son of Mary Stuart of Scotland - beginning of the reign of Stuarts

Known for belief in divine right of kings

Protestant, but Anti-Puritan

1609 Jamestown

1620 Plymouth – Calvinist Separatists

1625

Charles I, a son

Quartered troops; forced loans; dissolved Parliament (1629) but needed their approval for new taxes so recalled them (1640)

Married a Catholic

1629 Massachusetts Bay Company – Calvinist Puritans

1634 Maryland – Roman Catholics

1642

Civil war, with the military forces named:

§  Roundheads – Puritans and pro-Parliament

§  Cavaliers – Anglicans and pro-king

¾

1644 Rhode Island charter granted

1649

Charles I, reign ended¾beheaded

 

 

1649

The Commonwealth, with Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector

Puritan

1652 Maryland, governor suspended

 

1660

Charles II,

The Restoration

Catholic leanings

1663 Carolinas

1664 New York

1664 New Jersey

1681 Pennsylvania – Quakers

1685

James II, brother

Catholic conversion (1660s); married a Catholic (1670s)

1686 Dominion of New England

1689

William III of Orange and Mary, daughter of James, reign began as part of a Glorious Revolution (glorious because they got rid of a king without having to behead him) Think of it as monarchy by invitation of Parliament.

 

Note: 1690, John Locke, Second Treatise on Civil Government published (written in the 1680s)

Protestant

1691 Massachusetts and Plymouth into 1 royal colony

 

1691 Maryland, royal

1701

Agreement that the Hanovers (German descendants of a daughter of James I) would be the sovereigns, but with limitations such as they had to be Protestant.

Protestant

1702 Jerseys into 1 New Jersey, royal colony

1702

Anne, daughter of James II

Protestant

1703 Delaware - subdivided from Pennsylvania

1714

George I - beginning of reign of Hanovers

 

Protestant

1715 Maryland, proprietary again

1719 Carolinas, proprietors lost control to the colonists

1729 Carolinas, into 2 royal colonies -North and South Carolina

1727

George II, reign began

Protestant

1732 Georgia, proprietary

1751 Georgia, royal - relinquished by the proprietors

1760

George III, reign began—Reminder: the king at the time of the American Revolution

Protestant

 

1820

George III, end of reign

Protestant

 

 

Copyright C. J. Bibus, Ed.D. 2003-2021

 

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

 

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu

 

Last Updated:

2021

 

WCJC Home:

http://www.wcjc.edu/

 

 

 



[1] England begins being called Great Britain c. 1700 (c. = about).

[2] Church of England is also known as the Anglican Church. Why? The word Angles is another name for the English.

[3] Established church – a state church, one that is established by and financed by a government, with membership in that church required for such things as some typeszzz of employment