He sixteenth century

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Henry VII

The end of the War of Roses, the victory of Henry Tudor at Bosworth field and his marriage with Princess Elizabeth (House of York) were the events that symbolized the end of the Middle ages in Britain. The year of 1485 is traditionally considered the beginning of the Tudor age. The 16th century was the age of a growing absolutism of monarchy and centralisation of the state.

Henry was a fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer by introducing efficiently ruthless mechanisms of taxation.

Henry's policy was both to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. Up to a point, he succeeded in both. He was not a military man, and had no interest in trying to regain the French territories lost during the reigns of his predecessors; he was therefore only too ready to conclude a treaty with France that both directly and indirectly brought money into the coffers of England. He had been under the financial and physical protection of the French throne. To strengthen his position, however, he subsidized shipbuilding, so strengthening the navy and improving trading opportunities. By the time of his death, he had amassed a personal fortune of a million and a half pounds.

As well as coming to terms with the French, Henry forged alliances with Spain — by marrying his son, Arthur Tudor, to Catherine of Aragon; with Scotland — by marrying his daughter; and with the Holy Roman Empire.

Henry VIII (the son of Henry VII) is one of the most well-known monarchs in English history, chiefly because he took six wives during his life. It was during his reign that the Reformation took place. In the 1530s, Henry used Parliament to pass laws which swept away the power of the Roman Church in England. His quarrel with Rome was nothing to do with doctrine (it was because he wanted to be free to marry again and to appoint who he wished as leaders of the Church in England). In the same decade, he had a law passed which demanded complete adherence to Catholic belief and practice. He had also previously written a polemic against Protestantism, for which the pope gave him the title Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith). The initials FD still appear on British coins today.

Henry VIII

As it was said above Henry opposed to the authority of the Catholic church because he wished he could marry any time he wanted. In 1510 he had married Catherine of Aragon, his elder brother's widow. But by the 1526 she had still not had a son, who could be the heir to the throne after Henry's death. Henry asked the Pope to allow him to divorce Catherine. But the Pope refused. For political and family reasons he wanted Henry to stay married Catherine.

Henry was extremely angry. He persuaded the English bishops to break away from the Catholic Church and establish a new Church in England. The head of which would be the English monarch. In 1531 the Church of England was established in the country and this became a law after Parliament passed the "Act of Supremacy" in 1534. In January 1533 Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn. Only in May Henry's marriage to Catherine was pronounced void and his marriage to Anne was declared valid. He hoped Anne would give him a son to follow him on the throne. The Pope responded to these events by excommunicating Henry. Considerable religious upheaval followed. Parliament passed several Acts that sealed the breach with Rome. So, in 1531 the Church of England was established in the country.

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