AN INTRODUCTION

TO SIXTEENTH
CENTURY ENGLAND
:Prepared by
Sarah Abdul-Rahman

CONTENTS
Aims
A

historical background of the Sixteenth

Century
the

civil war

Queen

Elizabeth I

Conclusion

AT THE END OF THE LCTURE

STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:

Explain the Elizabethan age, Renaissance,

Jacobean and Tudors.
Give a historical background to the Sixteenth
Century.
Explain the story of the civil war
Discuss the personality and achievements of
Elizabeth I

A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
The

Sixteenth Century was called Elizabethan age,

the Renaissance, the Jacobean age, the age of the

Tudors.

 Elizabethan
As

an adjective, Elizabethan designates the reign of

Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland,15581603,

and the literature, art, music and architecture
produced in those years.

 Renaissance:

The

noun renaissance, from the French

renascence, literally means rebirth. Capitalised, and

with the direct article, The Renaissance defines the
artistic, literary and scientific revival which took place
in Europe from the 14th Century to the mid-17th
Century (the end-date is disputed).

 Enhancement

of national identity

and pride, an increase in English

international

power

and

the

inception of a capitalist economy

were the major achievements of the
English Renaissance

Jacobean:

The term Jacobus is derived from the Latin

for James.

The

adjective Jacobean is used solely to

identify the period of the reign of King James

I of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1603
to 25.
It

also refers to literature, architecture,

furniture and style of decoration produced

during that period.

The

Tudors

Tudor

is the family name of the line of

monarchs who lead the English throne

from (1485-1603). Their period started
with

Henry

Elizabeth I.

VIII

and

ended

with

THE CIVIL WAR

 At

the beginning of the 16th C. Henry VIII

was the king of England. His wife was

Catherine of Aragon.
She

was his brothers wife. He married

her after the death of his brother.

Therefore, she did not give birth to a male
child.

 Anne

Boleyn was Catherines maid. She

was very beautiful and admired by many

Lords and knights. King Henry VIII loved
her.

He

wanted to divorce Catherine in order

to marry Anne.

 He

sent a letter to the Pope asking him for

divorce but the Pope refused so that he

separated

England

from

the

Roman

church and in this way he got the divorce.

The Anglican Church or the Church of
England was established.

 Henry

VIII married Anne and she gave

birth to Elizabeth.

In

1536, Anne was executed because she

was accused of adultery, incest, witchcraft

and conspiracy against

the king. As a

result, Elizabeth was acclaimed to be

illegitimate.
Henry

immediately married Jane Seymour.

 This

story caused religious problems in

England because the ruler of England is

also the head of the church. So every time
the ruler changes, there might be a major
change in religion.
After

Henrys death, Edward IV pushed

England to Calvinism.

 When

Edward VI died, Mary shifted

religious policy towards Catholicism.

The

result of Henrys change is a

civil war between religious sects.

 On

the death of Mary I, Elizabeth acceded

to the throne.

She

immediately faced religious strife,

economic instability and war with France.

 Socially,

there was a difference in the

social classes:

Kings

Noblemen
Knights

peasants

and Lords

QUEEN ELIZABETH I

Virgin Queen, Elizabeth of England,

Elizabeth Tudor

During

the period of Elizabeth I (1558-

1603) Problems were not so bad because

Elizabeth was a particularly able ruler.

 Frugal

Monarchy: she did not raise the

taxes.
She

was a great diplomat. She promised

marriage to reduce social problems.

She

was an excellent speaker who could

unite her people by giving the a clear

common vision.

 She

encouraged exploration to benefit

from colonies and increased trade.

She

managed to keep religious problems

at minimum with her policy of

latitudinarianism.

Latitudinarianism is a policy that includes as

many people as possible within the Church of
England and limited people to Catholic and
Puritan believes only.

This means that while other European countries

went through periods of civil war, England had a
relative Golden Age.

Therefore, the sixteenth Century is Called

Renaissance period.

 Elizabeth

is famous of wearing very

ornamented clothes.

She

was not beautiful.

She

encouraged the theatre.

At

the last period of her life, she was

depressed because of her friends death.

She

died in 1603. After her death, James

I, a distant relative, became the king.

CONCLUSION

The 16th century was called the Elizabethan age

because Elizabeth I came to the throne, The
Renaissance because there was a development in
many aspects of life in England.

The family of the Tudors ruled England at that

time.

The story of Henry VI and Anne Boleyn caused

resulted in the civil war.

 There

was a difference between the social

classes.

Elizabeth
England

I was a particularly able ruler.

witnessed a golden age during

her period.