T IMELINE
2-5 September
The Great Fire of
London rages
through the city,
destroying St Paul’s
Cathedral and around
13,000 homes. The fire
starts accidentally in
the house of the king’s
baker in Pudding Lane
and spreads quickly23 April
William
Shakespeare
dies on what’s
believed to
have been
his 52nd
birthday,
less than
a month
after
signing
his will23 July
Riots break out in Edinburgh after
a new Scottish Book of Common
Prayer, promoted by Charles, is
used in St Giles’ Cathedral. The
tome, which closely resembles the
English Book of Common Prayer, is
an attempt to ensure greater religious
conformity across Charles’s three
nations. The Scots are outraged at
what they see as a move towards the
reintroduction of Catholicism4 November
Mary Stuart,
daughter of
James II,
marries her
cousin William
of Orange in
London6 February
Charles II dies and, with no
legitimate heirs (although he
fathered up to a dozen children
outside marriage), his brother
James II accedes the throne5 July
Isaac Newton’s Principia is published.
Formulating the laws of motion and
universal gravitation, it dominates
scientific theory for the next
300 years
5 November
Protestant conspirators beg William of Orange to
rescue them from the Catholic James II. William
raises an army in the Netherlands and lands in
Torbay. Many
defect to support
William and
James II flees the
country. The
following February,
William and Mary
are proclaimed
king and queenMarch
Determined to regain
control of England,
James II sails to
Ireland with 20,
French troops. The
Catholic Irish are
eager to help his bid
and James II is soon
in control of most
of Ireland13 April
Needing money in
order to send
troops into
Scotland, Charles
summons a new
parliament.
However, MPs
refuse to grant him
the money and the
king opts to
dissolve parliament
a month later22 August
Civil war breaks out.
The broadly Royalist
north and west – the
Cavaliers – fight the
mainly Parliamentarian
south and east – the
Roundheads. Charles
receives support from
Wales and Cornwall;
however, with control
of London, parliament
has the advantage2 July
Oliver Cromwell
leads the Eastern
Association
forces to victory
at the battle of
Marston Moor.
The following
June, parliament’s
New Model Army
crush the
Royalists at the
battle of Naseby27 March
At the age of 24, Charles I –
the second son of James VI
and I and Anne of Denmark –
becomes king upon his
father’s death. Just over a
month later, his marriage to
the teenage French princess
Henrietta Maria is held in Paris
(though Charles himself is
absent). His coronation is held
at Westminster Abbey the
following February1666 1675 1677 1685
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10 March
Outraged when parliament passes
three resolutions condemning
his financial and religious
policies, Charles I dissolves
parliament and imprisons nine
parliamentary leaders. He then
embarks on more than a decade
of personal rule, a period of
English history known as the
‘eleven years’ tyranny’
June
With Sir
Christopher Wren’s
designs for
reconstructing St
Paul’s Cathedral
approved, building
work commences.
It is finally
completed in 1710