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None Provided1 Henry VIII married his brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon, in a political marriage (much like most weddings of the time). When Catherine of Aragon had stillborn children as well as early infancy deaths to all of their children, except Mary, Henry VIII began to worry that he would not have a son to heir the thrown. He began to petition the court for an annulment, so that we could marry his mistress Ann of Boleyn. At first Catherine, was kept in the dark of Henry’s plans, he was using the text of Leviticus to justify his annulment. In the book of Leviticus, it states that if a man takes his brother’s wife they shall remain childless. Even though they had a healthy daughter, Mary, this did not count in Henry’s eyes, it was the male heir to the thrown that he wanted. Catherine was adamant in her claims that she had not consummated her marriage with Author, Henry’s brother. The political and legal debate continued for six years, Catherine not only wanted to retain her position, but also her daughter’s position in the kingdom. Things came to a close when Anne became pregnant in 1533. Anne was possibly the person who gave the king the new ideas for religious reform. Henry knowing he had to act fast rejected the decision of the Pope in England and had Thomas Crammer, the archbishop of Canterbury, grant the annulment. Catherine was to renounce the title of Queen and would be known as the Princess Dowager of Wales, something she refused to acknowledge through to the end of her life. Catherine and her daughter were separated and she was forced to leave court. While Henry and Anne were planning for the birth of their first child, the king knew for sure that it would be a boy and had prince written on the documents and then on Sept 7, 1533 around 3:00 pm princess Elizabeth was born. Anne knew she had to produce a son but had two miscarriages shortly after Elizabeth’s birth. Anne’s enemies in the court began to plot against her, using the fact that the King still did not have a male heir to the thrown and the fact that the King had turned his attentions to Jane Seymour, one of Anne’s ladies in waiting. Anne and her brother, George, as well as many other people were brought up on charges of treason and adultery (on Anne’s part). They were sentenced to death. Shortly after Anne’s death the marriage was dissolved and declared invalid. The curious question here was how could Anne of committed adultery if she had never been married to the King? Within 24 hours of Anne’s death Jane Seymour and Henry VIII was betrothed. In 1537 King Henry VIII finally got his long sought over son, Price Edward. Jane Seymour died just two weeks after Edwards’s birth. Jane, in the end, would be the only of Henry’s six wives that was buried with him. The split from Rome had made England vulnerable and Thomas Cromwell had suggested his next wife to be of a political match, much like the first. Anne of Clebes was the chosen match. The marriage took place on January 6, 1540, and by then Henry was already looking for ways to get out of the marriage. The King did not find his new bride attractive and had found an attraction to a young Kathryn Howard. Anne gave the King no problems with his annulment proceedings. Sixteen days after Henry was free of Anne, Henry took his fifth wife, Kathryn Howard. Less than a year into the marriage the rumors of Kathryn’s infidelity began, and after getting enough evidence against the Queen. She was executed February 13, 1542. Eighteen months later the King married Katherine Parr. Katherine was probably more of a nurse than a wife to King Edward VIII, because of his failing health. However she was a very strong mother figure to King Edward’s children and encouraged strong education. Henry VIII died in 1547, secure in the fact that Edward VI would be the heir to the thrown. Edward’s uncle, Edward Seymour was named Lord Protector, and through Edward sought to control England. Protestants were happy the young king was on the thrown but feared what would happen if he died. It was common knowledge that Mary, the king’s oldest daughter and next heir would turn England back to Roman Catholism. Some began rallying behind Lady Jane Grey, a descendant of Henry VIII’s sister, Mary. On July 6,1553 the king died and Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen. Nine days later Mary and her followers rode into England and imprisoned Jane and her followers. Jane was executed February 12,1554 and Mary was the next Queen of England. Queen Mary turned the country back to Roman Cat holism. Since Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church in order to marry Elizabeth’s mother, Anne of Boleyn, many uprisings were done in Elizabeth’s name. Mary seeing this as a threat held Elizabeth in the Tower of London. When it appeared that Mary had become pregnant, Elizabeth was no longer seen as a threat and was allowed to go back to the Hatfield House, under semi-house arrest. After a few months Mary’s belly began to swell, but no baby was coming. Many modern historians believe that she had a large ovarian cyst, and this is what had lead to her failing health and eventual death in November of 1558. News of Queen Mary’s death reached Elizabeth, and Elizabeth survived to be the infamous Queen Elizabeth I of England. Many historians see her reign as the start of England becoming a great power. Throughout her reign Elizabeth was faced with many challenges, one of the biggest being what to do about religion. Religion was of fundamental importance in sixteenth century Europe and was a crucial part of people’s lives. When Elizabeth ascended to the English Throne most rulers believed that uniformity of religion (everybody following the same religion) was the best way to avoid disturbances or even civil war occurring in their countries. Elizabeth was not a fanatic Protestant or Catholic having once declared, “There is only one Jesus Christ. The rest is a dispute over trifles”. Elizabeth realized she would need popular support though and the vast majority of English were Protestant. She realized that in keeping England a Catholic country she would be hugely unpopular amongst the English public and possibly be overthrown. However by returning England to a Protestant state she would have a sizeable minority of Catholics in England who would be disenchanted with her. England had no standing army or police force and a civil uprising amongst Catholics could result in Elizabeth being overthrown. However, England was also surrounded by powerful Catholic countries such as France and Spain, who would possible invade England to make it a Catholic state. This is the Religious threat that faced Elizabeth during her reign. Elizabeth decided to compromise and while she returned Protestantism to England she also kept many of the rituals and traditions of the Catholic Church. She re-established Protestantism via two Acts of parliament, The Act of Supremacy and The Act of Uniformity. Technically these laws meant all Catholics should now believe and follow the Protestant religion. This law was rarely imposed so Catholics in England did not feel threatened and accepted the new Queen. Some historians though, like Christopher Haig believe that her compromise option was indicative of her “not attempt(ing) to solve problems, she simply avoided them”. However other historians like Penry Williams believe that “her moderation in the first part of her reign was probably important in bringing conservatives into sympathy with the new church”. It seems almost certain that her moderate approach helped avoid Catholic uprisings at the start of her reign. Elizabeth also had to deal with the threat of the large Catholic countries around her wanting England returned to a Catholic state. One of her main weapons to stop England being invaded by a Catholic country was not marrying anyone (hence her nickname the Virgin Queen). She courted royal suitors from Spain (King Philip 2nd) and France (Duke Anjou) and this meant that France wouldn’t invade England as she could marry someone from Spain and get there help in a war and vice versa. Elizabeth once said “I shall turn my mind to marriage if it be for the public good”. Queen Elizabeth viewed marriage as a weapon to stop countries from invading England and so she nullified the Catholic threat from nearby countries. In 1568 Elizabeth granted refuge to Mary Queen of Scots (her cousin) who was Catholic and to many Catholics the rightful Queen of England. Then in 1570 the Pope declared Elizabeth an illegal ruler to encourage Catholics to rise against Elizabeth. Overseas there was violence occurring against Protestant people (St Bartholomew’s day massacre and murder of William of Orange). These state of affairs worried Elizabeth and she increased the severity of anti-Catholic laws to try and rid England of the Catholic religion. Elizabeth used Sir Francis Walsingham, effectively as a spymaster on Catholics throughout Europe and he was instrumental in the finding of evidence to convince Elizabeth to execute Mary and also managed to have spies in every major city in Europe who often discovered and stopped Catholic plots. Elizabeth also tried peace talks with Spain but Phillip 2nd decided to invade England anyway to attempt to implement the Catholic religion. The Spanish Armada called “invincible” by the Spanish, was defeated by the English. This was due to a series of Spanish blunders, bad weather, strong winds and the smaller faster English boats. England defeated the Armada and Catholicism. Through out her reign Elizabeth faced many Catholic threats and the ways she combated them was almost always successful. 1. Eakins, Laura E. “Henry VIII”, “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”, “Edward VI”, “Jane Grey”, “Mary I”, “Elizabeth I”. Tudor England. http://tudor.simplenet.com (October 19, 1999). 2. Graves, Michael and Silcock, Robin. Revolution, Reaction and the Triumph of Conservatism English History 1558 – 1700. Longman Paul Limited; Auckland, 1984. 3. Weir, Alison. The Life of Elizabeth 1st. Ballantine Press; New York, 1998. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1713

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