England Early Modern

King Henry VIII became

Supreme Head of the
Church of England
During the Tudor period,
the Renaissance reached
England through Italian
courtiers, who
reintroduced artistic,
educational and scholarly
debate from classical
antiquity.[52] England
began to develop naval
skills, and exploration to
the West intensified.[53]
[54]
Henry VIII broke from communion with the Catholic Church, over issues relating to his
divorce, under the Acts of Supremacy in 1534 which proclaimed the monarch head of the
Church of England. In contrast with much of European Protestantism, the roots of the
split were more political than theological.[nb 2] He also legally incorporated his ancestral
land Wales into the Kingdom of England with the 15351542 acts. There were internal
religious conflicts during the reigns of Henry's daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I. The
former took the country back to Catholicism while the latter broke from it again,
forcefully asserting the supremacy of Anglicanism.
Competing with Spain, the first English colony in the Americas was founded in 1585 by
explorer Walter Raleigh in Virginia and named Roanoke. The Roanoke colony failed and
is known as the lost colony, after it was found abandoned on the return of the late-arriving
supply ship.[56] With the East India Company, England also competed with the Dutch
and French in the East. In 1588, during the Elizabethan period, an English fleet under
Francis Drake defeated an invading Spanish Armada. The political structure of the island
changed in 1603, when the King of Scots, James VI, a kingdom which was a longtime
rival to English interests, inherited the throne of England as James I creating a
personal union .[57][58] He styled himself King of Great Britain, although this had no
basis in English law.[59] Under the auspices of King James VI and I the Authorized King
James Version of the Holy Bible was published in 1611. It has not only been ranked with
Shakespeare's works as the greatest masterpiece of literature in the English language but
also was the standard version of the Bible read by most Protestant Christians for four
hundred years, until modern revisions were produced in the 20th century.

The English
Restoration restored the
monarchy under King
CharlesII and peace
after the English Civil
War.
Based on conflicting
political, religious and
social positions, the
English Civil War was
fought between the
supporters of Parliament
and those of King Charles
I, known colloquially as
Roundheads and Cavaliers respectively. This was an interwoven part of the wider
multifaceted Wars of the Three Kingdoms, involving Scotland and Ireland. The
Parliamentarians were victorious, Charles I was executed and the kingdom replaced by
the Commonwealth. Leader of the Parliament forces, Oliver Cromwell declared himself
Lord Protector in 1653; a period of personal rule followed.[60] After Cromwell's death
and the resignation of his son Richard as Lord Protector, Charles II was invited to return
as monarch in 1660, in a move called the Restoration. It was now constitutionally
established that King and Parliament should rule together, though Parliament would have
the real power. This was established with the Bill of Rights in 1689. Among the statutes
set down were that the law could only be made by Parliament and could not be suspended
by the King, also that the King could not impose taxes or raise an army without the prior
approval of Parliament.[61] Also since that time, no British monarch has entered the
House of Commons when it is sitting, which is annually commemorated at the State
Opening of Parliament by the British monarch when the doors of the House of Commons
are slammed in the face of the monarch's messenger, symbolising the rights of Parliament
and its independence from the monarch.[62][63] With the founding of the Royal Society
in 1660, science was greatly encouraged.
In 1666 the Great Fire of London gutted the City of London but it was rebuilt shortly
afterwards[64] with many significant buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren. In
Parliament two factions had emerged the Tories and Whigs. Though the Tories initially
supported Catholic king James II, some of them, along with the Whigs, deposed him in
the Revolution of 1688 and invited Dutch prince William of Orange to become William
III. Some English people, especially in the north, were Jacobites and continued to support
James and his sons. After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed,[65] the two
countries joined in political union, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.[57] To
accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national churches of each
remained separate.[66]