tains, including Sir Francis Drake and Sir
John Hawkins, carried out raids and pi-
racy against Spanish ports and ships. At
home, Elizabeth held a lively court, engag-
ing musicians and playwrights to entertain
her and holding processions in towns
throughout the realm. Elizabethan poetry
and drama brought the English language
to a peak of its expressive intensity. The
end of Elizabeth’s reign in 1603 also
brought about the end of the Tudor dy-
nasty, as Elizabeth had remained unmar-
ried throughout her life and left no heirs.
James I, the first of the Stuart dynasty, as-
cended the throne.
SEEALSO: Henry VIII; Spanish Armada;
Tudor dynasty
England ...........................................
While new scholarship and art were flow-
ering in fifteenth-century Italy, England
was recovering from defeat in the Hun-
dred Years’ War, and English claimants to
the throne from the houses of York and
Lancaster were fighting a long and bloody
civil war. In 1485, when Henry Tudor de-
feated his rival Richard III at the Battle of
Bosworth Field, the Tudor dynasty was es-
tablished. Returning to political and social
stability, England began absorbing human-
ist ideas from the continent. English
schools followed the new humanism, in-
structing their students in Latin, Greek,
and the classical authors. The first printed
books spread literacy, while scholars from
the continent, notably Desiderius Erasmus,
arrived seeking patronage. In 1509, with
the start of the reign of Henry VIII,
England’s Renaissance took its first steps
at the king’s royal court, where the painter
Hans Holbein worked and the renowned
scholar Sir Thomas More served the king
as lord chancellor. The classical languages
were taught at Saint Paul’s school, founded
by John Colet; William Lily wrote a Latin
grammar in the 1520s and Thomas Elyot a
dictionary of Latin and English words.
The pivotal year in English Renaissance
history was 1536, when Henry established
the Church of England. The king became
the supreme head of the church, which
adopted many of the doctrines of Martin
Luther and Protestant Reformation. Catho-
lic property was seized and members of
the church were arrested or driven into
exile. Monasteries were closed and nuns
and monks forced to renounce their vows.
As monastic property was confiscated,
large collections of books, including
manuscripts of ancient Greek and Latin
authors, spread to the universities. During
the Tudor dynasty, religion played an im-
portant role in English foreign policy.
Henry’s reign was followed by those of
his son Edward and daughter Mary. Ed-
ward supported the cause of reform. Dur-
ing his reign the EnglishBook of Common
Prayerwas published, advancing Protes-
tant doctrine. Mary, however, was a fer-
vently devout Catholic. She restored the
traditional faith and had many Protestant
leaders and nobles executed. After a short
reign, she died without an heir, passing
the throne to her Protestant half sister
Elizabeth. Tutored by Roger Ascham, one
of the foremost scholars of Latin and an-
cient literature, Elizabeth had an open
mind to new ideas and encouraged hu-
manist education. The queen was a lively
and intelligent leader who enthusiastically
patronized scholars and artists. English lit-
erature, art, architecture, and music flour-
ished in the Elizabethan age of the late
sixteenth century.
Music, drama, and pageantry were
hallmarks of Elizabeth’s royal court. Italian
forms, such as the sonnet and the madri-
gal, were taken up in English poetry and
music. The composer Thomas Morley setEngland