The Emergence of the

Nation State in England

What were the foundations of the
nation-state in England?

For thousands of years,

people had identified partly
with their immediate ruler –
the lord of their manor – or
with a united Catholic
Europe. Once the
Reformation began, this
would change…
What were the Wars of the Roses?
 During the 15th century, England had experienced many civil wars
 2 rival families were fighting for the throne of England: Lancasters
vs. Yorks
 Ended in 1485 when Henry Tudor (Lancaster) became King
Henry VII
FUN FACT: He was the last English King to win the throne in
battle
 Because his claim to throne was weak, he built support wherever
he could
He married Elizabeth of York to unite the 2 families
 Henry VII
 Henry VII united England after a period of bitter
civil wars, which led to the English nation-state
He was determined to restore law and order
& shift power to central government for
stability. He achieved this by:
forbidding barons from building private
armies
prosecuting and fining many barons
supporting the middle class to gain
power, so he gained rich allies
Developing the Economy

 Henry modernized the economy by:

Removing the guild power to control prices and restrict
manufacturing
Instead, supported the growth of cottage industries: production from
individual people’s homes
Using new laws to help English wool merchants beat foreign
competitors
Helping adventurers (John Cabot) find new trade routes
 By the time Henry died, England was a prosperous, peaceful
country, open to new ways of doing things
Henry VIII - Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zn9wZI-KjY
Henry Wants Out

Shortly after becoming King, Henry VIII

marries Catherine of Aragon, the widow
of his older brother
They just had one daughter and Henry felt he
needed a male heir to secure his place in
power
He then fell in love with Anne Boleyn and
when Anne insisted Henry marry her before
she would return his affections, Henry tried to
divorce Catherine
Response from the Catholic Church
 The Pope refuses
Divorce was almost impossible at this time
Henry fights that it should end because
Catherine had been his sister-in-law, but
the pope turned him down
Henry comes up with the idea that he
could form a new church in England
separate from the Roman Catholic
Church
He would then be able to end the pope’s
interference
Separation from the Catholic Church

 It took several years, but by 1533, the Church

of England was created
Henry divorced Catherine and married
Anne
In 1534, Parliament made Henry the
supreme head of the Church of England
Although it was a Protestant church, many
Catholic ceremonies and rituals were kept
Henry closed all Catholic churches in
England and persecuted anyone who
refused to accept his new Church
He also gains control of church land $$$
A King Becomes a Tyrant
 He showed his cruelty by having Anne convicted of
adultery and witchcraft and executed (no one believed
the charges) because she couldn’t produce a son
 Henry then went through 4 more wives
Jane Seymour giving him his only son
His wives (Divorced, Killed, Died, Divorced, Killed,
Survived)
 Henry did not hesitate to use cruelty and violence against
his “enemies”
 He continually had to deal with Catholic uprisings
 He died in 1547
 Henry VIII’s Successors
 After the reign of Henry VIII, Edward VI (son with Jane
Seymour), became King at 9 and died of Tuberculosis
when he was a teenager
 Edward named Protestant cousin Lady Jane Grey to
succeed him, but she was defeated by Mary’s
catholic supporters
 Mary I, then became Queen and was determined to
make England Catholic again, but her extreme policies
(including, burning Protestants alive), was not popular.
 FUN FACT: This is where “Bloody Mary” comes from
 When Mary I died 5 years later, Elizabeth became
queen.
 During her reign England’s power and prosperity
grew and England became firmly Protestant.
Queen Elizabeth used her intelligence, power, and
diplomacy to make England a prosperous nation-
state.

 * How does her portrait tell us about how she wants to be

perceived?
Elizabeth in Film
 Elizabeth: The Golden Age(2007) – Cate Blanchet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wNboYbgYjo
 Shakespeare in Love (1998) – Judy Dench
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_KXbKa2crI
 Elizabeth I (2005) – Helen Mirren
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNNJySFgZDg

What happens? What’s focused on? How is she

portrayed? Similar/ different from father?
Poetry by Elizabeth I
What is the central conflict? How does this
reflect her life? Can you relate?

From “On Monsieur's Departure”

I grieve and dare not show my discontent,

I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate.
I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned,
Since from myself another self I turned…
Queen Elizabeth I – 1558-1603
 Many people thought that
because Queen Elizabeth
was a woman, she would
be too weak to rule the
country alone.
 She proved them wrong.
She was intelligent,
educated, and skilled in
languages and the arts.
 She never married. Why?
 She treated Catholics fairly
and maintained a good
relationship with
Parliament.
 Queen Elizabeth I

 Under the rule of Elizabeth I, the

English experienced the “Golden
Age” – there was a renaissance
in arts, sciences, and exploration.
 A sense of patriotism emerged
 Elizabeth kept England from
falling under the control of more
powerful countries like Spain.
 Also participated in shady
money-making through piracy
and slave-trade
 She supported exploration and
colonization of news lands: the
British Empire begins!