1. THE TUDORS

2. The Birth of the Nation State
The century of Tudor rule ( ) is thought of as the most glorious period in English history
Henry VII built the foundations of a wealthy nation state and a powerful monarchy
Henry VIII kept a magnificent court and broke the English Church from the Roman Catholic Church
Elisabeth I defeated the powerful Spanish navy
England experienced one of the greatest artistic periods in its history

3. Less Glorious Facts Henry VIII wasted the wealth saved by his father
Elisabeth I weakened the quality of government by selling official posts in order to avoid asking Parliament for money
Her government tried to deal with the problem of poor and homeless but its laws and actions were cruel in effect

4. The New Monarchy Henry VII
– was far more important in establishing the new monarchy
- he had the same ideas as the growing classes of merchants and gentlemen farmers
- he based royal power on good business sense
- he believed that war and glory were bad for business and that business was good for the state
-therefore he avoided quarrels with Scotland and France

5. During the War of the Roses, England’s trading position had been badly damaged
The strong German Hanseatic League, a closed trading society, had destroyed the English trade with the Baltic and northern Europe
Only after the victory of Bosworth in 1485 Henry VII made an important trade agreement with the Netherlands which allowed English trade to grow again
Many of the old nobility had died or had been defeated in the wars and their lands had gone to the king – Henry had more power and more money

6. The authority of the law had been almost completely destroyed by the lawless behaviour of the nobles and local justice had been broken down
Henry’s aim was to make the Crown financially independent – the land and fines he took from the nobility helped him do this
He was careful to keep the friendship of the merchant and lesser gentry classes and they wanted peace and prosperity
When he died in 1509 he left 2 million pounds as he spent money only on building of ships for the merchant fleet

7. Henry VIII
- was cruel, wasteful with money and interested in pleasing himself
- he wanted to become an important influence in European politics
- he wanted to hold the balance of power between France and Spain – he allied himself with Spain and then changed sides
- he spent money on maintaining a magnificent court and on useless wars and soon his father’s money was gone
- he reduced the quantity of silver used in coins – lead to a rise in prices and to a reduction of the English coinage to a 7th of its value in 25 years

14. The Reformation
Henry disliked the power of the Church who was a huge landowner
He wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon but the Pope didn’t agree
In 1531 he persuaded his bishops to make him the head of Church – it became law after the Act of Supremacy in 1534
It was a political act, Henry remained in the Catholic faith Fidei Defensor
he closed 560 monasteries and religious houses and sold their land – the greatest act of official destruction in the history of Britain

15. Elisabeth I
- she wanted to bring together those parts of English society which were in religious disagreement
- she wanted to make England prosperous
- she made the Church a part of the state machine – the parish became the unit of state administration, she arranged for a book of sermons to be used in church
- she carried Henry VII’s policy much further encouraging merchant expansion
- she recognized Spain as her main trade rival and enemy

16. - she helped the Dutch Protestants by allowing their ships to use English harbours from which they could attack Spanish ships, then helped them with money and soldiers
- English ships attacked Spanish ships on their return from America and the treasure was shared with the queen
- in 1587 Philip decided to conquer England, built a great fleet “Armada” to move his army across the English Channel – destroyed by Francis Drake
- in 1588 Philip started again but was defeated, mostly by weather

17. A New Empire Elisabeth followed two policies:
1. encouraged English sailors to attack and destroy Spanish ships
2. encouraged English traders to settle abroad and to create colonies – this lead to Britain’s colonial empire
The first colonists sailed to America at the end of the century
Sir Walter Raleigh brought tobacco back to England

18. The settlers tried to start profitable colonies in Virginia
England began selling West African slaves for the Spanish in America
More “chartered” companies were established – the right to all the business in its particular trade or region – they had to give part of the profits to the Crown: the Eastland Company, the Levant Company, the Africa Company
Competition with the Dutch for the spice trade with East Indies – lead to three wars before the end of the 17th century

19. Government and Society
A period of far reaching changes, mostly in ideas as a result of the rebirth of intellectual attitudes known as the Renaissance
Tudor parliaments
- the kings didn’t like to govern through Parliament, they seldom called it together
-Henry VIII invited Parliament to make laws, thus giving it an authority it never had before
Parliament strengthened its position during Edward’s reign by ordering the new prayer book to be used in all churches

20. 2 things which persuaded the Tudor kings not to get rid of the Parliament: they needed money and the support of the merchants and landowners
Parliament only met when the monarch ordered it – in the first 44 years of Tudor reign it met only 20 times
During the century the power moved from the House of Lords to the House of Commons because they represented richer and more influential classes
The size of the Commons doubled as a result of the inclusion of Welsh boroughs and counties and the inclusion of more English boroughs

21. Parliament did not really represent the people – monarchy used its influence to make sure that many MPs support royal policy
In order to control discussion in Parliament the Crown appointed a Speaker
Parliament was supposed to do 3 things:
1. agree to the taxes needed
2. make the laws which the Crown suggested
3. advise the Crown but only when asked to do so
The kings tried to obtain money in different ways: Elisabeth sold monopolies – her Parliament complained about its bad effect on free trade