Henry VII is also known as Henry Tudor. He was the first Tudor king after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. This battle saw the end of the Wars of the Roses which had brought instability to England. Henry VII was king of England from 1485 to 1509. His second son, also called Henry, inherited the throne and became Henry VIII. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I tend to dominate Tudor history and their lives do overshadow the importance of Henry VII's reign.

The Wars of the Roses had been a constant battle between two of England's most powerful families - the families of York and Lancaster. Henry was a member of the Lancaster family and to bring the families closer together he married Elizabeth of York soon after being crowned king. 

However, the powerful York family remained a threat to him for years to come as they never recognised their defeat in the Wars of the Roses nor did they want a member of the Lancaster family as king of England.

However, Henry was a very difficult opponent. He was a clever man who was determined not to lose his throne. He quickly identified the main problem he faced - the powerful barons of England. They were rich and they had their own private armies. During the Wars of the Roses, they had not been loyal to either side - renting out their private armies to the family that paid the most. Henry had to control them.

Henry had a three-way plan to bring the barons under his control. 

First, he banned all private armies. Any baron who disobeyed this royal command would be committing treason which carried the death penalty. 

Secondly, he heavily taxed the barons to reduce their wealth. The money raised could be used by Henry to develop his own royal army. A powerful royal army was an obvious threat to the barons. 

The third way of controlling the barons was to use the Court of Star Chamber. This was a court run by men who were loyal to Henry VII and they could be relied on to severely punish any baron who angered the king. 

With these three potential punishments against them, the barons, though a threat to Henry VII, were reasonably well tamed by him.

Unlike many kings before him, Henry took a keen interest in financial matters as he knew that a wealthy king was a strong king and a poor king was a weak one. He also knew that money would expand his army and the larger his army was, the more powerful he was in the eyes of the barons. This alone, he believed would keep them loyal.  

                                                   

Though he was very careful with money, he also enjoyed himself. He was keen on playing cards. On January 8th, 1492, he put aside the large sum of £5 for an evening of gambling. We know that he lost £40 playing cards on June 30th, 1492. He regularly tipped those who entertained him - especially musicians - the sum of 33p - not much by our standards, but a good sum of money for an entertainer in Tudor times. He was also very keen on playing Real Tennis.  

To develop better relations abroad, and to avoid costly foreign wars, he had arranged for his eldest son - Arthur - to marry a Spanish princess called Catherine of Aragon. Aragon is in north-east Spain. Such political marriages were common among the children of royal families. Neither Arthur nor Catherine would have had the opportunity to say no to the marriage. 

The marriage lasted only five months as Arthur died. To maintain a friendship with Spain, Henry arranged for Catherine to marry his second son, Henry, the future king of England. Henry VII died before the marriage took place.   

When he died in 1509, the country was by past standards wealthy and the position of the king was good. The barons by 1509 had been all but tamed. Many barons believed that it was better to work with the king than against such a powerful man. 

Henry VIII inherited many advantages from his father's reign as king. The reign of the Tudor family - 1485 to 1603 - is famous for many occurrences and two monarchs stand out (Henry VIII and Elizabeth I), but the 118 years of Tudor England has a great deal to thank Henry VII for as he got the Tudor family off to a stable and powerful start.

Henry's Children and Religion

Henry VIII Children - Edward
The third of King Henry VIII children was Edward who became King Edward VI (1537 - 1553) by his third wife, Jane Seymour. Edward was only 10 years old when he came to the throne of England in 1547 when his father, King Henry VIII died. The young king was a devout Protestant and in 1549 introduced a uniform Protestant service in England based on his Book of Common Prayer.  Edward was a sickly child, it was believed that he suffered from from tuberculosis. He became terminally ill and declared his sisters the Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth illegitimate and naming Lady Jane Grey as his heir to ensure that the Protestant religion remained in England. King Edward VI eventually died on 6 July 1553. Lady Jane Grey became Queen just for nine days but was deposed by the supporters of the rightful heir, Mary - the first of the Henry VIII children.  

Henry VIII Children - Mary Tudor - Bloody Mary
The first of King Henry VIII children was Mary who became Queen Mary I "Bloody Mary" (1516 - 1558) by his first wife Katherine of Aragon. Mary became queen in 1553 and in 1554 Mary married King Philip II of Spain. Mary was eleven years older than Philip. The English Parliament refused to crown him jointly with Mary so he had little power in England. Shortly after their marriage Queen Mary I, Mary Tudor, announced she was pregnant but it was a false pregnancy. Mary returned England to Roman Catholicism. Protestants were persecuted and 300 are burnt at the stake (in later times this led to Queen Mary I, Mary Tudor, being called Bloody Mary). Queen Mary I died on November 17, 1558.

Henry VIII Children - Elizabeth
The second of King Henry VIII children was Elizabeth who became Queen Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603) by his second wife Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth became Queen of England in 1558. Elizabeth immediately repealed the Catholic legislation introduced by Mary. Queen Elizabeth never married, gaining the name of the Virgin Queen. She was, however, linked to many suitors notably Robert Dudley and the young Earl of Essex. England prospered during the reign of Elizabeth and new lands were explored in the New World. During her reign the great Spanish Armada was defeated and England remained safe from foreign invasion. Queen Elizabeth I died 24 March 1603 of of blood poisoning and despite all of the concerns of King Henry VIII regarding a female monarch she is often referred to as the greatest of all England's Kings and Queens.

The Monasteries are closed down

Starting small. Henry VIII took his most decisive step against the power of the church in 1538, when he began the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He did it piecemeal, perhaps to avoid too much outcry at the start. First the small, less powerful houses had their property confiscated and their buildings blighted (made unsuitable for use). They were followed the next year by the large houses. Philosophical concepts of the power of the king over church may have played a part in Henry's decision to suppress the monasteries, but so did greed. The monasteries were rich, and a lot of that wealth found its way directly or indirectly to the royal treasury. Some of the monastery buildings were sold to wealthy gentry for use as country estates. Many others became sources of cheap building materials for local inhabitants. One of the results of the Dissolution of the Monasteries is that those who bought the old monastic lands were inclined to support Henry in his break with Rome, purely from self interest. Attitudes towards the Dissolution. Many of the clerics themselves thought that a change was in order. The difference was, they thought the wealth they possessed should go to charity, "religious and educational enterprises." Everyone else had a personal stake in the matter; Henry wanted money, Parliament wanted to raise money without having to impose unpopular taxes, the gentry saw a chance to increase their own estates, and the merchant middle class saw a chance to become landed gentry themselves. Winners and losers. Henry sold the monastic lands for bargain basement prices, such was his need for ready cash. The real beneficiary of the Dissolution was not the king, but the new class of gentry who bought the lands. The suppression of the monasteries and places of pilgrimages was devastating for those pilgrimage centres that had no other economic base. Income for people on the pilgrim routes dropped, with no way to recover it. The other great loser of the Dissolution was culture; many monastic libraries full of priceless illuminated manuscripts were destroyed, with little or no regard for their value. The fate of the monks and nuns. The monks and nuns were treated quite well as a rule. Only a few who resisted were summarily executed. The others, including 5000 monks, 1600 friars, and 2000 nuns, were given reasonable pensions. Many of the monks and friars went into regular church office, so they could not be said to have suffered. Those who did suffer were the thousands of servants attached to the monasteries. They numbered more than the monks, but there was no pension for them, no golden handshake. The English Reformation was slow to gather steam. Catholics were not mistreated (at least not at first), and in many parts of the country religious life went on unchanged. Catholic rites and symbols remained in use for many years.

Mary , Queen of Scots

Mary, Queen of Scots, was born in 1542 and was executed on 1587. It is generally believed that Mary's execution - ordered by Elizabeth I - was the final reason Philip II needed to launch the Spanish Armada There are few other figures in Tudor England who had such an eventful life, though for Mary, Queen of Scots, it was to end in tragedy.

Mary was Elizabeth I's cousin. Mary had been brought up as a strict Catholic which put her at odds with the Protestant Elizabeth. Mary's father, James V of Scotland, died when she was one. At such a young age, the Scottish lords found it difficult to respect her and  by 1548, Mary was sent to France for her own safety. 

As a young girl, Mary lived in France where she had married the king of France - Francis II. She was fifteen and he was fourteen. 

While in France, Mary lived in luxury travelling from one palace to another. She developed a love of animals - especially dogs - and spent a lot of time learning. She could speak French, Latin, Spanish and some Ancient Greek. Mary could also play the lute with some skill. Her religious teacher was a monk from the priory at Inchmahome in Scotland and she developed very strong views on religion.

Her doting father-in-law, Henry II, had been killed in a jousting accident in 1559. Her mother had died in Scotland in 1560. Her husband, Francis had always been a sickly youth and his death aged sixteen in 1560 surprised no-one but it left Mary a widower at the age of seventeen.  Within just six months she had lost three close members of her family. many say that she never really recovered from this sad period in her life. 

She returned to Scotland as Queen of the Scots aged eighteen in 1561. 

In 1565, she married her cousin, Lord Darnley, when she was 22. He was very unpopular with the people of Scotland as he was a violent, bad-tempered drunkard. During their marriage, Mary's secretary was an Italian called David Rizzio. Darnley got it into his head that they were spending too much time together and in 1566, while Mary was entertaining some of her friends in her private rooms, Rizzio, who was a guest at Mary's supper party, was attacked by a gang including Darnley and stabbed over 50 times. Mary was horrified.

However, in June 1566, Mary gave birth to a baby boy called James. He was to become the king of England when Elizabeth died in 1603. Mary's marriage with Darnley remained full of stress and she became more and more attracted to the Earl of Bothwell.

On February 9th 1567, Mary and Darnley was at a house called Kirk O'Field. Late in the evening she remembered that she had to see some friends and rode off. Scotland was a very dangerous country in the Sixteenth Century and it would have needed a very brave person to venture out at night without being fully guarded. That night, Kirk O'Field was blown up. Darnley's body was found in the garden of the house. The explosion had not killed him - he had been strangled. Just three months later, Mary married Bothwell. He was as disliked as Darnley by the Scots lords and they rose up against Mary. Bothwell escaped to Europe where he died an alcoholic and all but insane. Mary was arrested and held prisoner at Lochleven Castle. 

She was made to give up the throne for James, her son. 


Mary later escaped from her prison and she fled to England where she hoped her cousin, Elizabeth, would look after her. Mary's logic was twofold. First, Mary was a queen and so was Elizabeth. Mary expected a queen to help a queen. Secondly, Mary assumed that their family ties would prove strong. She could not have been more wrong. At the age of 25, the former queen of Scotland started a lengthy spell in a number of manor houses or castles that were her prison.

Simply by being in England, Mary represented a threat to Elizabeth. Why?

Elizabeth had brought what might have passed as religious stability to England. Certainly the religious discord under her half-sister Mary I, had greatly weakened. Elizabeth had a belief that if someone was a Catholic and practiced their beliefs privately and represented no threat to the queen, then she was willing to tolerate their religion. If the Catholics were respectful to the queen and obedient, then Elizabeth could see no reason why they should not be tolerated. The nation greatly benefited from religious stability. Mary, Queen of Scots, threatened this stability. As a Catholic, she might become a focus for all the Catholics who existed in England and a leader for them. In this sense, Mary was a very real threat to Elizabeth.

Another major reason is as follows: there were some who believed that the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn had been illegal. Catholics certainly did not recognise Henry's divorce from the Catholic Catherine of Aragon and there were rumours that Henry had married Anne before his divorce  had actually come through. Therefore, if the marriage was illegal, Elizabeth was illegitimate and had no right to the throne. If Elizabeth had no right to the throne, the nearest legal heir to the English throne was.........Mary, Queen of Scots. Though most people would have found this an absurd idea, it could have acted as an incentive for the Catholics in England to rebel against Elizabeth and put Mary onto the throne. It may also have been a reason for Elizabeth's advisors to decide that England was better off with Mary dead - though they would need proof to convince a court of law about her guilt.

Elizabeth now hit a problem. Her cousin quite clearly posed problems for her. If Mary was sent back to Scotland, from where she had escaped, she may well have been killed and Elizabeth would not accept that a queen (and family) should be treated in such a way. But by being in England, Mary might act as a spur for Catholics to rebel.

Elizabeth's solution was to keep Mary, Queen of Scots, in prison. For the next 19 years, Mary was kept in safe custody in various castles and manor houses. In all this time, Mary never met Elizabeth.

Mary, Queen of Scots, did not help herself. She made it clear to anybody who would listen, that she felt that she should be the queen of England. In 1570, she received the backing of the pope. This meant that there was no reason why a Catholic should not assassinate Elizabeth because it would not be a sin as the pope had said that Mary should be queen of England. Mary was clearly becoming a major problem for Elizabeth and her advisors.

It took many years for the government to build up a case against Mary - even if such a case actually existed! This work was carried out by Sir Francis Walsingham. His spy network kept a close eye on Mary.

In 1586, a man called Anthony Babington devised a plot to kill Elizabeth, rescue Mary and then see her as the next queen of England. Babington wrote in code to Mary to explain what he was doing. Mary wrote back, stating that she agreed with what he was doing.  Walsingham's spies intercepted both letters. Babington was arrested and charged with treason. In September 1586, Babington was executed. Now the government had a case against Mary. She was put on trial in October 1586.

Mary defended herself well but the judges found her guilty of treason. To the judges, who would not listen to her arguments, she said "You are indeed my enemies". The reply was "We are the enemy of the enemies of our queen." The trial lasted just 2 days. 

Mary was found guilty of plotting to kill Elizabeth. She was sentenced to death. In February 1587, Mary was given just 24 hours notice that she would be executed the next day.

How strong was the evidence against Mary?

by 1587, she was in poor health and was frail. Was she in any fit state to become involved in a plot against her cousin?

how did Walsingham's men manage to find the letter by Mary that was hidden in a beer barrel? Did they know where to look? Did they write it?

locked up in a castle, how could Mary know what others were doing or have any way of influencing their movements?

Regardless of this, Babington admitted his part in the plot and he admitted that Mary knew about the plot against Elizabeth all along. However, it is almost certain that his confession was as a result of torture.

Elizabeth hesitated about signing Mary's death warrant. Eventually she did and Mary was executed at Fortheringhay Castle, 70 miles north of London, on February 8th, 1587. Mary was not allowed to have her chaplain present at her execution. 

Mary's execution was a curious affair. She dressed in scarlet, the colour of martyrdom. She had to be helped onto the scaffold as she was so frail. 


She spoke her last words in Latin and then putting her head onto the block said "Into your hands, O Lord" three times, again in Latin. It took two goes with the axe to remove her head. When the executioner lifted up her head, he found that he had a wig in his hand and the actual head was still on the scaffold. No-one had known that she had lost her hair. Then her body moved. Underneath her skirt, a small dog, a Skye terrier, was seen. Mary had brought her dog to her own execution..........

In 1612, her son and the now king of England, James, brought his mother's body to Westminster Abbey where she was buried in a magnificent tomb.

Henry VIII

Henry VII's eldest son was Arthur, Prince of Wales. He married Catherine of Aragon, but died shortly thereafter, leaving the throne to fall to his younger brother Henry. History has not proved kind to the memory of Henry VIII (1509-47).

He is often remembered as the grossly stout, overbearing tyrant of his later years. In his youth, however, Henry was everything it was thought a king should be. A natural athlete, a gifted musician and composer, Henry was erudite, religious, and a true leader among the monarchs of his day.

An older but no wiser Henry VIII

Cardinal Wolsey. Henry had none of his father's drive for the grind of administration. He handed over that role to his advisor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. This Henry was more concerned with cutting a fine figure than with balancing rows of figures like his father, and the result was predictable. Over the course of his reign he managed to turn a bulging treasury into a gaping black-hole of debt.

Thomas Wolsey was the son of a Suffolk wool merchant. He became in turn Bishop of London, Archbishop of York, Cardinal and Lord Chancellor, and papal legate. He was even at one time considered seriously as a candidate for the papacy itself. Wolsey loved luxury and ostentation. He maintained a household of over 1000 people, and at the height of his power he was more king than Henry himself.

Religious Reformers. The whole of Europe was ablaze during Henry's time with the religious fervour of Reformation. Great reformers, religious and secular, called England home. Erasmus, scholar and monk, taught at Oxford, where he agitated for reform within the church. In his In Praise of Folly he lambasted the clergy for "observing with punctilious scrupulosity a lot of silly ceremonies and paltry traditional rules." Sir Thomas More, later Chancellor, wrote Utopia, a vision of an ideal society with no church at all to get in the way of spiritual understanding.

Henry himself, despite his later break with Rome, was not a religious reformer. He was fairly orthodox in his own beliefs, and he passed measures against Lutheranism and upheld many traditional Catholic rites from attack by reformers.

Marriage to Catherine. Henry received a special dispensation from the pope in order to marry his brother's widow, Catherine. The only child of that marriage was a daughter, Mary. Henry desperately wanted a male heir, and as time went on it became obvious that Catherine would have no more children. Henry began to cast around for a solution.

Anne Boleyn. For by now Henry had enough of his marriage, and was eyeing one of the Queen's ladies in waiting, Anne Boleyn. Anne refused Henry's advances without the benefit of a wedding, so Henry sent his chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, to ask the pope for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine. Unfortunately for the powerful Wolsey, he failed, and was deposed from office. Even the "gift" of his magnificent new palace at Hampton Court to Henry could not save Wolsey, who died shortly after his deposition, saving Henry the bother of a mock trial for treason. In Wolsey's place Thomas More was brought in to be Chancellor.

The Act of Supremacy. Henry's situation was now desperate, for Anne was pregnant, and at all costs the child, which Henry was sure must be a son, had to be legitimate. Henry got Parliament to declare that his first marriage was void, and he secretly married Anne. Unfortunately for Henry, the child proved to be female once again, the future Elizabeth I. Over the next several years Henry's wrangle with the pope grew ever deeper, until in 1534 the Act of Supremacy was passed, making Henry, not the pope, head of the church in England. This was not at first a doctrinal split in any way, but a personal and political move.

Sir Thomas More opposed the divorce and was reluctantly executed by Henry. At the foot of the scaffold More is reported to have said, "I pray you, Master Lieutenant, see me safely up, and for my coming down, let me shift for myself".

How was Henry able to carry off the split from Rome? For one thing, the church had incurred a tremendous amount of bad feeling over the years. High church officials were seen as rich, indolent, and removed from the people they were supposed to be serving. The abbeys and monasteries were well off, and certainly subject to jealousy. Feelings against priests and churchmen in general ran high. The church had become too far removed from its spiritual roots and purpose.

Related:

The Spanish Armada

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Background. King Philip II of Spain was the most powerful and (seemingly) wealthy man in Europe in the latter half of the 16th century. His territories in the New World brought him enormous wealth, though the expense of administering that far-flung empire meant that Spain was heavily in debt to foreign bankers.

An English ship in action against the Spanish Armada

England, by comparison, was a relatively small nation, and not a particularly powerful or wealthy one. Why then would Philip spend the money to assemble the largest - and most expensive - naval force ever seen against his island foe?
The answer has many parts. In his youth, Philip was married to his fellow Catholic, Mary, Queen of England. He was not king, indeed the only way the English Parliament would countenance the marriage was if Philip was expressly forbidden from ruling.
He was, rather, Mary's consort, a duty he fulfilled with underwhelming enthusiasm. Philip never cared for Mary, indeed, he said while on his way to his marriage, "I am going to a crusade, not to a marriage feast". He was fueled by a religious desire to father a Catholic heir who would keep England within the Roman Catholic sphere. Mary, by now a middle-aged spinster, certainly did care for her new husband, and even managed to convince herself that she was pregnant at one point, but it was not to be.
When Mary died in 1558 her very Protestant sister Elizabeth came to the throne. Philip was unwilling to let his precarious grasp on England slip away completely; he proposed marriage to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was a master at procrastination, and playing the game of politics. She kept communication open with Philip, and protested her friendship, all the while encouraging English pirates like Hawkins and Drake to seize Spanish ships and goods in the West Indies. Drake was dubbed by the Spanish "the Master Thief of the Unknown World".
In the 1560s Elizabeth also earned Spanish wrath by supporting Protestants in the Netherlands in their revolt against Spanish occupation.
Spain also believed, or at least found it useful to believe, that Elizabeth was illegitimate. Under Catholic principles Elizabeth's father Henry VIII had no right to divorce his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, to marry Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyne. Therefore Elizabeth was born out of proper wedlock, and thus had no right to the throne.
More importantly for the fervently Catholic Philip, he believed that it was his duty to lead Protestant England back to the Catholic faith - by force of necessary. He managed to get papal approval for his invasion, and a promise of money to be delivered after the Spanish had landed in England.
He also got papal permission to name the next ruler of England (by surreptitiously slipping a clause to that effect into the middle of the document of agreement with the pope). Philip planned to name his daughter Isabella as Queen of England, under his control.
The Spanish Fleet. Philip began preparing his invasion force as early as 1584. His first choice as commander was the Marquis of Santa Cruz, but when Santa Cruz died Philip ordered the Duke of Medina Sedonia to take command of the fleet. The Duke was an experienced warrior - on land. He had no naval background, and no interest in leading the Armada, as the invasion fleet came to be called. He begged to be dismissed, but Philip ignored the request.
Cadiz. Despite Spanish precautions, the English were well aware of the Spanish preparations. In a bold move that was apparently against Elizabeth's wishes, Sir Francis Drake sailed a small English fleet to Cadiz, where they surprised a large number of Spanish warships in the harbour. Drake burned and sunk a number of ships and slipped away before the Spanish could rally. Although the blow at Cadiz was more an annoyance than a major setback, the English took heart from this "singeing of the King of Spain's beard".
The Armada sets sail. By May of 1588, however, the Armada was finally ready to sail. The fleet numbered over 130 ships, making it by far the greatest naval fleet of its age. According to Spanish records, 30,493 men sailed with the Armada, the vast majority of them soldiers. A closer look, however, reveals that this "Invincible Armada" was not quite so well armed as it might seem.
Many of the Spanish vessels were converted merchant ships, better suited to carrying cargo than engaging in warfare at sea. They were broad and heavy, and could not maneuver quickly under sail.
This might not at first glance have seemed a problem to the Spanish. They did not intend to engage the English in a sea battle. The ships of the Armada were primarily troop transport. Their major task was simply to carry armed men to a designated landing point and unload them.
Naval tactics were evolving; it was still common for ships to come alongside each other and allow fighting men to engage in hand to hand combat. Advances in artillery were only beginning to allow for more complex strategies and confrontations at sea. At this stage the English were far more adept at artillery and naval tactics than the Spanish, who were regarded as the best soldiers in Europe.
The Spanish plans called for the fleet to sail up the English Channel and rendezvous off Dover with the Duke of Parma, who headed the Spanish forces in the Netherlands. This in itself presented huge problems. Communications were slow, and the logistical problems of a rendezvous at sea were immense.
Also, the Duke of Parma was a very proud man, and resented the fact that Medina Sedonia had been given command of the operation. Throughout the whole Armada affair Parma, while not openly obstructionist, did a poor job of cooperating with his titular commander, Medina Sedonia. He did not believe the enterprise could succeed, and he did the absolute minimum possible to help.
Perhaps worst of all the problems faced by the Armada was Philip himself. The king insisted on controlling the details of the Armada's mission. He issued a steady stream of commands from his palace of the Escorial, yet he seldom met with his commanders, and never allowed his experienced military leaders to evolve their own tactics. He did not listen to advice, which was a shame, for Philip had little military training and a poor grasp of naval matters. He firmly believed that God guided him, and that therefore his mission would succeed.
The English were not idle while the Spanish Armada prepared to sail. A series of signal beacons atop hills along the English and Welsh coasts were manned. When the Spanish ships were at last sighted of The Lizard on July 19, 1588, the beacons were lit, speeding the news throughout the realm. The English ships slipped out of their harbour at Plymouth and, under cover of darkness, managed to get behind the Spanish fleet.
The Battle. The Spanish sailed up the Channel in a crescent formation, with the troop transports in the centre. When the Spanish finally reached Calais, they were met by a collection of English vessels under the command of Howard. Each fleet numbered about 60 warships, but the advantage of artillery and maneuverability was with the English.
Under cover of darkness the English set fireships adrift, using the tide to carry the blazing vessels into the massed Spanish fleet. Although the Spanish were prepared for this tactic and quickly slipped anchor, there were some losses and inevitable confusion.
On Monday, July 29, the two fleets met in battle off Gravelines. The English emerged victorious, although the Spanish losses were not great; only three ships were reported sunk, one captured, and four more ran aground. Nevertheless, the Duke of Medina Sedonia determined that the Armada must return to Spain. The English blocked the Channel, so the only route open was north around the tip of Scotland, and down the coast of Ireland.
It was then that the unpredictable English weather took a hand in the proceedings. A succession of storms scattered the Spanish ships, resulting in heavy losses. By the time the tattered Armada regained Spain, it had lost half its ships and three-quarters of its men.
In England the victory was greeted as a sign of divine approval for the Protestant cause. The storms that scattered the Armada were seen as intervention by God. Services of thanks were held throughout the country, and a commemorative medal struck, with the words, "God blew and they were scattered" inscribed on it.

The Gun Powder Plot

Four hundred years ago, in 1605, a man called Guy Fawkes and a group of plotters attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London with barrels of gunpowder placed in the basement. They wanted to kill King James and the king’s leaders.

Why did Guy Fawkes want to kill King James 1st and the king’s leaders?

When Queen Elizabeth 1st took the throne of England she made some laws against the Roman Catholics. Guy Fawkes was one of a small group of Catholics who felt that the government was treating Roman Catholics unfairly. They hoped that King James 1st would change the laws, but he didn't.

Catholics had to practise their religion in secret. There were even fines for people who didn't attend the Protestant church on Sunday or on holy days. James lst passed more laws against the Catholics when he became king.

What happened - the Gungpowder Plot

A group of men led by Robert Catesby, plotted to kill King James and blow up the Houses of Parliament, the place where the laws that governed England were made. 

Guy Fawkes was one of a group of men

 The plot was simple - the next time Parliament was opened by King James l, they would blow up everyone there with gunpowder. The men bought a house next door to the parliament building. The house had a cellar which went under the parliament building. They planned to put gunpowder under the house and blow up parliament and the king.

Guy Fawkes Discovered

Guy Fawkes was given the job to keep watch over the barrels of gunpowder and to light the fuse. On the morning of 5^th November, soldiers discovered Guy hidden in the cellar and arrested him. The trail of gunpowder at his feet would never be lit.

Guy Fawkes was taken to the Tower of London

He was tortured and questioned about the other plotters. To start with he didn't tell the soldiers anything about the plot. But, eventually he started to tell the truth.

A Celebration

In celebration of his survival, King James ordered that the people of England should have a great bonfire on the night on 5^th November.

The event is still commemorated annually in England on 5^th November by fireworks and burning ‘guys’ (effigies) on bonfires.

The searching of the cellars of Parliament before the opening of each new session, however, was not introduced until 1678.