Early Modern England
Title page from Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Centralized government consolidated under the Tudors
• Henry VII (1485-1509)
• Henry VIII (1509-1547)
• Edward VI (1547-1554)
• Mary I (1554-1558)
• Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
The Tudors
Henry VII (1485-1509)
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VII became King of England in 1485, after deposing
his cousin, Richard III
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VII became King of England in 1585, after deposing
his cousin, Richard III
Henry’s claim to the throne was tenuous, based on
illegitimate succession
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VII became King of England in 1585, after deposing
his cousin, Richard III
Henry’s claim to the throne was tenuous, based on
illegitimate succession
But Henry claimed to inherit the throne both through the
“Yorkist” and the “Lancastrian” successions
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VII became King of England in 1585, after deposing
his cousin, Richard III
Henry’s claim to the throne was tenuous, based on
illegitimate succession
But Henry claimed to inherit the throne both through the
“Yorkist” and the “Lancastrian” successions
This claim was part of the ideological basis upon which he
began to consolidate power under the central government
The Tudors
Henry VIII (1509-1547)
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VIII continued his father’s program of centralizing
government bureaucracy
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VIII continued his father’s program of centralizing
government bureaucracy
In 1533 Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church over the
disagreement about his divorce
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VIII continued his father’s program of centralizing
government bureaucracy
In 1533 Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church over the
disagreement about his divorce
England became a protestant nation, with Henry VIII as the head of
the Church of England
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VIII continued his father’s program of centralizing
government bureaucracy
In 1533 Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church over the
disagreement about his divorce
England became a protestant nation, with Henry VIII as the head of
the Church of England
Henry VIII confiscated all property of the Roman Catholic Church
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VIII continued his father’s program of centralizing
government bureaucracy
In 1533 Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church over the
disagreement about his divorce
England became a protestant nation, with Henry VIII as the head of
the Church of England
Henry VIII confiscated all property of the Roman Catholic Church
Henry VIII transformed many church schools into public “grammar
schools”; this promoted a rise in literacy
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Henry VIII continued his father’s program of centralizing
government bureaucracy
In 1533 Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church over the
disagreement about his divorce
England became a protestant nation, with Henry VIII as the head of
the Church of England
Henry VIII confiscated all property of the Roman Catholic Church
Henry VIII transformed many church schools into public “grammar
schools”; this promoted a rise in literacy
Henry distributed confiscated church lands to his loyal followers
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
Many British subjects developed a sense of national pride in the
country’s independence from the Pope
Radical protestants were emboldened; religious dissent would
also have political consequences tending toward democracy
The Tudors
Edward VI (1547-1554)
The Tudors
Mary I (1554-1558)
The Tudors
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power
• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power
• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence
• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating
national power
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power
• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence
• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating
national power
• Elizabeth managed the tensions among factions of the nobility;
each faction expected to take control of the government, without
staging a military coup, by influencing her choice of a husband
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power
• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence
• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating
national power
• Elizabeth managed the tensions among factions of the nobility;
each faction expected to take control of the government, without
staging a military coup, by influencing her choice of a husband
• Elizabeth never got married
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power
• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence
• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating
national power
• Elizabeth managed the tensions among factions of the nobility;
each faction expected to take control of the government, without
staging a military coup, by influencing her choice of a husband
• Elizabeth never got married
• Elizabeth’s navy defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588
Centralized Government and Tudor Monarchy
• Elizabeth I continued policies of Tudor power
• Elizabeth maintained protestant independence
• Elizabeth’s army defeated Scottish uprising, further consolidating
national power
• Elizabeth managed the tensions among factions of the nobility;
each faction expected to take control of the government, without
staging a military coup, by influencing her choice of a husband
• Elizabeth never got married
• Elizabeth’s navy defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588
• Under Elizabeth, England began efforts to establish colonies in
Ireland and the Americas