I’d like to tell you the history of the Tudor Kings. The house consisted of six persons. They are Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Jane Grey, Mary I and Elisabeth I.

The Tudor kings.

I’d like to tell you the history of the Tudor Kings. The house consisted of six persons. They are Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Jane Grey, Mary I and Elisabeth I.

In the Tudor era in little more than century the nation was transformed from a medieval kingdom to a modern state, from an insignificant offshore island into a major world power. Catholics, Protestants and Puritans fought for men’s souls, while bold explorers broadened the horizons of the known world. The 118-year span of Tudor rule had seen monumental events that influenced many subsequent generations.

London became the largest city in Europe. England’s population doubled from 2 million people to over 4 million people. Coal Mining grew by eight times. Henry VIII built a multi of warships: The Great Henry and The Mary Rose. Trade relations were established with many countries including Russia. Shakespeare and other talented writers created the reputation of the English as literary nation.

England had been ruled for over 300 years by a family called the Plantagenets. But, from 1455 to 1485, fighting broke out between two branches of the family: the Yorks and Lancasters, who each claimed the throne. This was known as the “Wars of the Roses”. In 1485, the Lancastrian heir, Henry Tudor, fought the Yorkist king, Richard III. Richard was killed and Henry was crowned Henry VII, the first king of the new Tudor dynasty.

As for the period of time when Henry VII was the king, it was in this reign that the great Christopher Columbus, on behalf of Spain, discovered what was then called The New World. The king and the merchants of London and Bristol fitted out an English expedition for further discoveries in the New World, and entrusted it to Sebastian Cabot, of Bristol. He was very successful in his voyage, and gained high reputation, both for himself and England.

Then Henry VIII became a king. At that time those who held the reformed religion were called Protestants, because their leaders had protested against the abuses and impositions of the unreformed Church. One of the most awful features of this reign was that Henry VIII was always trimming between the reformed religion and the unreformed one$ so that the more he quarreled with the Pope, the more of his own subjects he roasted alive for not holding the Pope’s opinion.

England under Edward VI was such kingdom where the young sovereign had been brought up in the principles of the Protestants religion. And the Protestants religion was really making progress. The decorum of churches became modest. The believers did not have to confess themselves to priests. The prayers were translated from Latin into English for everybody to understand them. The first English Prayer Book was published in 1549. Church services were also held in English.

Then Mary I became a queen. She is known as Bloody Mary. She soon began to snow her to put down the Reformed religion, and put up the unreformed one. Mary Protestants field from the kingdom to avoid the risk of being arrested. The prisons were fast filled with the chief Protestants. A new parliament was packed, in which there were no Protestants. The Pope’s messenger Cardinal Pole arrived and made a great speech to say that all was forgotten and forgiven, and that the kingdom was solemnly made Roman Catholic again.

As far as England under Elizabeth I is concerned, that reign had been a glorious one, and is made forever memorable by the distinguished men who flourished in it. Apart from the great voyagers, statesmen, and scholars, whom it produced, the names of Bacon, Spenser, and Shakespeare, will always be remembered by the civilized world. It was a great reign for discovery, for commerce, for English enterprise and spirit in general. It was a great reign for the Protestant religion and for the Reformation which made England free.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04