The War of Roses
Two branches of the royal family were fighting for thirty years over who was
to be king of England. The rivals were called the House
of Lancaster who had a red rose badge or emblem and the House
of York which had a white rose emblem. This war was called The War of
the Roses. Richard III was the leader of the House of York and Henry was the
leader of the House of Lancaster.The last battle took place at Bosworth Field
in 1485. Henry defeated Richard and became King of England . He married Elizabeth
of York to unite the two sides.The two houses were merged to form an alliance
with the Tudor rose as a symbol of unity. Henry VII became the first Tudor king.
American Context for date: 1492 Columbus Discovers
the West Indies
A man called Christopher Columbus was convinced the world was round but many
people thought it was flat and ships would fall off the edge if they went too
far. Columbus said that he could sail to the Spice Islands by going round the
world, westwards instead of east. He set off in 1492 and landed on some islands.
He thought he had reached Asia but he had found America. He did not know that
you could sail westwards to Asia but America was in the way and you had to go
round it. He brought back gold, cotton plants and "Indians" to Portugal.
The conflict took place on the Redmore Plain, located in the parish of Sutton Cheney, neighbouring Market Bosworth. The two Houses had created a succession of wars since the beginning of the reign of Henry VI and this eventual crisis came to a head in August 1485 when a battle more vicious and bloody than previous encounters was fought.
Richard Killed: Henry, Earl of Richmond, led the Lancastrian party as he had a direct claim to the English throne. Meanwhile King Richard III, of York, assembled his army in Nottingham and his offensive was bolstered by the Duke of Norfolk and his men. Lord Stanley, who had pledged his support to Richard but had connections with the Richmond family, assembled his army at Atherstone. The rival Houses approached each other on Redmore Plain on Monday 22nd August 1485. Richard exclaimed: "Bring me my battle-axe and fix my crown upon my head, for by him who shaped both sea and land, King of England this day will I die. And if none will follow me, I will try the cause alone." Sir William Brandon, bearer to the Earl of Richmond, was slaughtered by Richard's own hands. However, Stanley, the betrayer of the House of York, cornered Richard and he was hacked to death, so ending the reign of the last Plantagenet king of England.
His crown was retrieved from its hiding place in
a bush and was placed on Henry's head, and he reigned thereafter as
Henry VII. Richard's naked body was tethered to a horse and taken to
the Town Hall at Leicester to be exposed to public view for two days. During
the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his remains were irreverently snatched and
cast over Bow Bridge into the River Soar. His coffin, it is alleged, was used
as a horse trough at the White Horse Inn. The War of the Roses was over and
the Battle of Bosworth was the last time an English monarch led his army
into battle and knights fought in full armour.
Strengthening of government: Although supported
by Lancastrians and Yorkists alienated by Richard III's usurpation, Henry VII's
first task was to secure his position. In 1486 he married Elizabeth of York,
eldest daughter of Edward IV of Lancaster, thus
uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster. Henry's reign (1485-1509) was troubled
by revolts, sometimes involving pretenders (such as Perkin Warbeck and Lambert
Simnel) who impersonated Edward V or his brother. In 1485, Henry formed a personal
bodyguard from his followers known as the 'Yeomen of the Guard' (the oldest
military corps in existence today).
Henry strengthened the power of the monarchy by using traditional methods of
government to tighten royal administration and increase revenues (reportedly
including a daily examination of accounts). Royal income rose from an annual
average of £52,000 to £142,000 by the end of Henry's reign. Little
co-operation between King and Parliament was required; during Henry's reign
of 24 years, seven Parliaments sat for some ten and a half months.
Marriage: Henry used dynastic royal marriages to establish his dynasty in England, and help maintain peace. One daughter, Margaret, was married to James IV of Scotland (from whom Mary, Queen of Scots and her son, James VI of Scotland and James I of England, were descended); the other daughter married Louis XII of France. Henry spent money shrewdly and left a full treasury on his death in 1509.
Protestantism of Edward: During Edward's reign, the Church of England became more explicitly Protestant - Edward himself was fiercely Protestant. The Book of Common Prayer was introduced in 1549, aspects of Roman Catholic practices (including statues and stained glass) were eradicated and the marriage of clergy allowed. The imposition of the Prayer Book (which replaced Latin services with English) led to rebellions in Cornwall and Devon.
Despite his military ability, Seymour was too liberal to deal effectively with Kett's rebellion against land enclosures in Norfolk. Seymour was left isolated in the Council and the Duke of Northumberland subsequently overthrew him in 1551. Seymour was executed in 1552, an event which was briefly mentioned by Edward in his diary: 'Today, the Duke of Somerset had his head cut off on Tower Hill.' Northumberland took greater trouble to charm and influence Edward; his powerful position as Lord President of the Council was based on his personal ascendancy over the King. However, the young King was ailing.
Northumberland hurriedly married his son Lord Guilford
Dudley to Lady Jane Grey, one of Henry VIII's great nieces and a claimant to
the throne. Edward accepted Jane as his heir and, on his death from tuberculosis
in 1553, Jane assumed the throne. Despite the Council recognising her claim,
the country rallied to Mary, Catherine of Aragon's daughter and a devout Roman
Catholic. Jane reigned for only nine days and was later executed (as was her
husband) in 1554.
Catholicism of Mary: Mary restored papal supremacy in England, abandoned the title of Supreme Head of the Church, reintroduced Roman Catholic bishops and began the slow reintroduction of monastic orders. Mary also revived the old heresy laws to secure the religious conversion of the country; heresy was regarded as a religious and civil offence amounting to treason (to believe in a different religion from the Sovereign was an act of defiance and disloyalty). As a result, around 300 Protestant heretics were burnt in three years - apart from eminent Protestant clergy such as Cranmer (a former archbishop and author of two Books of Common Prayer), Latimer and Ridley, these heretics were mostly poor and self-taught people.
Apart from making Mary deeply unpopular, such treatment demonstrated that people were prepared to die for the Protestant settlement established in Henry's reign. The progress of Mary's conversion of the country was also limited by the vested interests of the aristocracy and gentry who had bought the monastic lands sold off after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and who refused to return these possessions voluntarily as Mary invited them to do. Aged 37 at her accession, Mary wished to marry and have children, thus leaving a Catholic heir to consolidate her religious reforms, and removing her half-sister Elizabeth (a focus for Protestant opposition) from direct succession.
Marriage: Mary's decision to marry Philip,
King of Spain from 1556, in 1554 was very unpopular; the protest from the Commons
prompted Mary's reply that Parliament was
'not accustomed to use such language to the Kings of England' and that in her
marriage 'she would choose as God inspired her'. The marriage was childless,
Philip spent most of it on the continent, England obtained no share in the Spanish
monopolies in New World trade and the alliance with Spain dragged England into
a war with France. Popular discontent grew when Calais, the last vestige of
England's possessions in France dating from William the Conqueror's time, was
captured by the French in 1558. Dogged by ill health, Mary died later that year
possibly from cancer, leaving the crown to her half-sister Elizabeth.
Elizabeth
I
Her Reign: Elizabeth I (reigned 1558-1603), daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, returned England to Protestantism while still managing to secure order. She refused to marry or name her successor as marriage could have created foreign alliance difficulties or encouraged factionalism at home. Her rightful heir was her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, who, threatened by rebellion in Scotland, fled to England. Imprisoned by Elizabeth in 1567, Mary may have plotted with English Roman Catholics and with Spain, France and the Pope. The threat to the English throne which this posed resulted in Mary's execution in 1587 and led to outright war with Spain. In 1588 Philip of Spain's invasion fleet, the 'Armada', was defeated. There were two further Armadas in the 1590s, and an Irish revolt in 1595, assisted by Spain, which was eventually put down in 1601. The financial strains caused by the war against Spain (made worse by poor harvests) meant that Elizabeth did not try to put the Crown on a permanently solvent basis. In addition to sharp debates over revenue-raising measures such as monopolies, Parliament continued its pressure on the Queen to deal with the question of the succession. However, Elizabeth died in 1603 still refusing to name her successor.
Last of the Tudor Dynasty, Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne upon the deaths of her brother Edward VI, who was a pale and sickly youth and her sister Mary. Although she took power amidst a storm of controversy, including that fact that her father, Henry VIII, had declared her a bastard, Queen Elizabeth's reign was extremely successful. In fact, she was an icon for her age, depicted in both word and image. Under her rule, Protestant England successfully deflected the invasion of the Spanish Armada, began its colonization of North America, and prospered in trade.
Various scientific
advances were made by men such as Francis Bacon and Doctor Dee, while Sir
Francis Drake successfully circum-navigated the globe. Literature produced during
this period includes the verse of Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser's allegorical
"The Faerie Queene," as well as much prose.
This too, of course, was the age of Shakespeare. Although he was certainly
not the only dramatist of this period (Christopher Marlowe was also very prominent),
he is the one best remembered by later ages, both for his plays and sonnets.
Shortly before 1600, he and several other players formed "The Chamberlain's
Men," a company based at the Globe Theatre. Members received a share of the
profits dependent on the money which they had originally invested into the corporation.
Originally located north of the London city walls, the Globe was moved across
the river when the lease on its original site ran out. Along with the rest of
Southwarke, it prospered until the Roundheads shut down all of the English theatres
after the Civil War some thirty years hence.
More on the Reign and Life of
Elizabeth I
Her Life: Elizabeth I was 25 years old when she became Queen of England in 1558. Her 45-year reign, which ended with her death in 1603, saw England's emergence as a nation of tremendous political power and unparalleled cultural achievement. Because so much of this English renaissance is directly attributable to Elizabeth's personal character and influence (as well as to the unprecedented length of her reign), it is appropriate that the last half of the sixteenth century in England is identified as the Elizabethan Period.
History of her ascension:The
very fact that Elizabeth became Queen at all almost indicates some predestination
toward greatness and defiance of normal expectations. The daughter of Henry
VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn (who later was executed for treason),
Elizabeth was third in line of succession. Under normal circumstances, it
would be unlikely that she would ever assume the throne. However, as has
often happened throughout history, events did not follow their predicted
course.
The nine-year old Edward became King Edward VI on the death of Henry VIII
in 1547,but he had little opportunity to establish himself as a monarch,
dying at the age of 15. He was succeeded by Mary I (1553-1558), whose relentless
efforts to return England to Catholicism brought about a true reign of terror
and stifled any possibility of forward movement in the nation. When Mary
died suddenly in 1558, Elizabeth I became Queen.
Achievements: In both intellect
and temperament, Elizabeth was well-suited for the role of monarch. She
was exceptionally well-educated, having been tutored at her father's court
by Roger Ascham, one of the most outstanding scholars and thinkers of the
age. Her intellectual interests were broad, ranging from history and science
to art, literature, and philosophy, and she was a remarkably astute political
strategist. Not only did she return the country to internal political and
religious stability in the wake of"Bloody Mary's" reign, she directed England's
course as it became a powerful force among European nations.
England's rise in power: Both
Spain and France felt the effects of England's growing strength and audacity
under Elizabeth's rule. Furthermore, Elizabeth shrewdly perceived that great
political advantage could be gained from her status as an unmarried monarch,
and throughout her reign various political alliances via marriage were hinted
at but never finalized. Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe
(1577-1580) added to the nation's prestige and competitiveness in navigation
and exploration. However, the pinnacle of England's power at sea was the
triumphant defeat of the mighty Spanish Armada in 1588, which secured the
nation's position as a world power. Eleven years later, in 1599, England
entered the arena of world trade and colonization, which it would dominate
for the next three centuries, with the chartering of the East India Company.
Elizabeth was an enormously popular monarch, one of western civilization's
first true cult figures.
Spectacle: The following of"The Virgin Queen," or "Gloriana," as she was called, was extensive; according to many historians, every public appearance became an occasion for grand spectacle, great pageantry, and huge crowds. The Queen's tastes in fashion set the standard for the aristocracy and the rest of society; her love of music, drama,and poetry fostered an atmosphere in which many of England's greatest writers found encouragement and financial patronage. Under Elizabeth's leadership, England experienced the true cultural reawakening or renaissance of thought, art,and vision which had begun in Italy a century earlier.
Her Influence: Elizabeth's
court was a magnet which attracted the most talented individuals of the
era, and, at the Queen's direction, Oxford and Cambridge universities were
reorganized and chartered as centers for learning and scholarly endeavor.
The prosperity, confidence, optimism, and vigor which characterized Elizabeth's
court and reign carried over into many aspects of life. The foremost example
of this influence can be seen in what scholar E.M.W. Tillyard terms "The
Elizabethan World Picture," a widely-held set of assumptions about the inherently
ordered nature of the universe. Belief in this "Great Chain of Being," in
which every single element has its own prescribed place and function in
a hierarchical universe, spilled over into a general love of structure,
intricate design, and elaborate ornamentation which can be
seen in the fashion, music, architecture, and
literature of the period.
Literature
under Elizabeth: The greatest literature created during the Elizabethan
Period falls into two categories: poetry and
drama. Influenced by the Italian sonnets, which
had been introduced into the English language by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503
1542) during the reign of Henry VIII, English poets began to construct their
own variations on the intricate, highly structured poetic form. Others ,such
as Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) in his extraordinarily ambitious poem of homage
to Elizabeth,The Faerie Queene, adapted sonnet patterns into forms
of their own invention.
Even William Shakespeare, who is more commonly associated with drama, varied
the rhyme scheme and patterns of the sonnet form to suit his own purposes
in an elaborate sequence or"cycle" of over one hundred sonnets. The pursuit
of a literary life was viewed as an admirable and worthy endeavor, and poets
shared their work with each other and at court, vying for the praise and
patronage of the Queen and aristocracy. The Queen herself wrote both poetry
and music.
The other great literary achievement of the Elizabethan Period was the drama,
a form which was rooted in centuries of popular folk entertainment and which
had been adapted into the religious plays of the middle ages. As the sixteenth
century progressed, playwrights
increasingly moved their plots from the simplistically religious to the
secular, weaving into their dramas
such diverse elements as legend and myth, classical dramatic forms, intense
exploration of character, and familiar conventions freely adapted from works
of their contemporaries. The dramatic form allowed playwrights to simultaneously
develop plot, theme, complex characters,and poetic language which, at its
best, as in the tragedies of Shakespeare, soared gloriously and memorably,
pushing the English language to new heights of imaginative achievement.
Theater: In an era in which the lives of varied social classes rarely intersected, the theatre was a true common denominator. Everyone, regardless of social class, enjoyed the spectacle of the Elizabethan theatre, and playwrights found themselves writing for highly diverse audiences which reflected the ever-changing makeup and energy of society. It was not unusual for a crowd to take in a morning of public executions, bear-baiting, street carnivals, and fairs before settling down for an afternoon performance at one of the public theatres in London such as The Globe. The most successful playwrights of the day, such as Shakespeare, made certain that their dramas included "something for everybody," whether it be bawdy jokes and physical sight gags for the peasant "groundlings" who stood at the foot of the stage, scenes of action and intrigue for the middle class spectators, or elevated language and characters to appeal to the more educated upper class citizens who sat in the tiered galleries around the outdoor stage.
Conclusion: The last years of Elizabeth's reign were not always politically smooth; in fact, by the 1590's there was at least one serious threat of rebellion, as well as a series of bitter Parliamentary conflicts. But Elizabeth was steadfast as a monarch and held things firmly in control until her death in 1603. She was succeeded by her cousin, King James VI of Scotland, who united the two nations as King James I.England during the reign of Elizabeth I was a country oftremendous ambition, achievement, promise, and gusto.The accomplishments and spirit of the age are traceable to many sociological and cultural factors, but foremost among these is the leadership of the forceful, resourceful, and shrewd Queen Elizabeth I. Her death marked not only the end of the Tudor line, but of a glorious era in English history.