The Renaissance

declared papal authority ended in his
realm and founded the Church of England.
He then married Anne Boleyn, who gave
birth to a single daughter, Elizabeth. Anne
ran afoul of powerful nobles allied with
the king and was accused of treason and
incest, which brought about her arrest and
execution. Henry’s third wife, Jane Sey-
mour, died giving birth to the king’s sole
male offspring, Edward.

At the age of nine, Edward VI suc-
ceeded his father in 1547. This young and
sickly king died in 1553, leaving the throne
to his half sister Mary, daughter of Cathe-
rine of Aragon. A loyal Catholic, “Bloody
Mary” made futile attempts to return En-
gland to the Catholic Church, ordering the
seizure and execution of several Protestant
nobles and clergymen. Mary died in 1558
without an heir, which brought the acces-
sion of her half sister Elizabeth, daughter
of Anne Boleyn. Devoted to the memory
of her mother, Elizabeth felt determined
to reign in the religious conflict and po-
litical intrigue that plagued the Tudor
court since the time of Henry VII.

Elizabeth restored the Church of En-
gland and encouraged playwrights, musi-

cians, and poets at her court. Talented men

such as William Shakespeare, Christopher

Marlowe, and Ben Jonson flourished dur-

ing the Elizabethan Age, when England

was also home to a leading scientific phi-

losopher, Sir Francis Bacon. During her

reign England began to colonize North

America, and the English captain Sir

France Drake led the first voyage of En-

glish ships around the world. She also de-

feated the attempt by her cousin, the

Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, to over-

throw her, and regretfully ordered Mary’s

execution in 1587. In the next year, an im-

mense armada of Spanish warships was

sent by the king of Spain, scattered by

storms in the English Channel, marking

the rise of English power on the continent

and the beginning of a steady decline in

the power of Spain.

With Elizabeth remaining unmarried

and childless, the Tudor dynasty came to

an end with her death in 1603. The throne

passed to James I, the king of Scotland

and the first monarch of England’s Stuart

dynasty.

SEEALSO: Edward VI; Elizabeth I; England;

Henry VIII

Tudor dynasty