Timeline of the English Reformation

This is a timeline of the Protestant Reformation in England. The list is not complete and you are welcome to expand it.

Date Event Significance to the Reformation in England
1496 Catherine of Aragon's hand secured for Arthur, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VII Brought Catherine of Aragon to England and kept her in the consciousness of the Tudor dynasty.
1501, October Arthur marries Catherine
1502, April Arthur dies of tuberculosis
1503 Henry VII's wife dies; considers taking Catherine, but decides to pass her to his son Henry VIII
1504 Pope Julius II confirms the marriage between Catherine and Henry
11 June 1509 Henry VIII marries Catherine
1514, December A boy born to Catherine; dies 6 weeks later
18 February 1516 Princess Mary born
31 October 1517 Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany, formally beginning the Protestant Reformation
1521 Pope Leo X rewards Henry VIII for his written attack on Luther by granting him the title "Defender of the Faith" Henry remains allied with Rome
1524, May William Tyndale expelled from the Catholic Church
1525 Thomas Cromwell helps to suppress 29 monasteries
1525 The New Testament of the Tyndale Bible (in English) is published in Worms, Germany. Although banned in England, Tyndale's work heavily influenced subsequent approved Bible translations.
1527 Henry VIII sure of intentions to divorce Catherine
1527, May Catherine appeals to Rome
1529, June Court opens in England for divorce case
1529, August Peace of Cambrai
9 August 1529 Writs for new parliament; Thomas Wolsey removed as Lord Chancellor
9 October 1529 Wolsey charged on Praemunire
1530, April Wolsey returns to his see at York
1530, Summer Writs of Praemunire against 15 clergy
1530, November Wolsey dies on his journey back to London and the Tower
1530 Cromwell part of the King's council's inner ring
1531 Henry makes claims to imperial title
1531 Henry extends protection to clergymen denying papal supremacy
1532 Duke of Norfolk, Duke of Suffolk, Earl of Wiltshire fall out of favour
1532, March Supplication Against the Ordinaries
1532, March Act in Conditional Restraint of Appeals
1532, May Submission of the Clergy
16 May 1532 Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England
1532, December Anne Boleyn becomes pregnant
1533, January Thomas Cranmer appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
1533, 25 January Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn at Whitehall [1]
1533, March Statute in Restraint of Appeals
1533, May Cranmer declares Henry's marriage null and void
1533, 4 July John Frith burned at the stake
1533, September Princess Elizabeth born
1534 Henry begins negotiations with Paul III
1534, January to March Act Concerning Ecclesiastical Appointments and Absolute Restraint of Annates, Act Concerning Peter's Pence and Dispensations, Act of Succession
1534, March Clement VII pronounces marriage valid
1534, April Elizabeth Barton ('Nun of Kent') executed
1534, November Act of Supremacy, Treason Act, Act of First Fruits and Tenths
1535 Henry adds "of the Church of England in Earth, under Jesus Christ, Supreme Head" to his royal style. Henry proclaims himself, not the Pope, to be the head of the Church of England
1535 Bishop Gardiner's De Vera Obedientia published
1535 The Coverdale Bible, compiled by Myles Coverdale published in Antwerp. The first complete Modern English translation of the Bible (not just the Old Testament or New Testament), and the first complete printed translation into English. Coverdale's translation of the Psalms was adopted by Cranmer for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer and remained for centuries the translation of the psalter prescribed for liturgical use in the Anglican church.
1535 Cranmer appoints Hugh Latimer, Edward Foxe, Nicholas Shaxton to episcopacy
1535, May Middlemore, Exmere, Newdigate locked up for seventeen days. Ten more starve
1535, 22 June John Fisher executed
1535, 6 July Thomas More executed
1536 Ten Articles; Act Extinguishing the Authority of the Bishop of Rome; Campeggio visits England
1536, January Anne miscarries again
1536, March First Act of Dissolution
19 May 1536 Anne Boleyn is executed
1536, April 'Reformation parliament' dissolved
1536, 1 October Pilgrimage of Grace, Phase One
1536, 4 October Pilgrimage of Grace led by 18 members of the gentry
1536, 13 October York taken by 10,000 'pilgrims'
1536, 8 December Duke of Norfolk offers pardon to rebels
1537 Bishops' Book published, John Rogers produces the Matthew Bible
1537, January Bigod's Rebellion, a further phase of the Pilgrimage of Grace, led by Sir Francis Bigod
1537, 12 October Jane Seymour gives birth to Prince Edward at Hampton Court Palace.
1538 'Exeter Conspiracy'
1539 Publication of the Great Bible compiled by Miles Coverdale This is the first English translation of the Bible to be authorised for use in parish churches.
1539 Second Act of Dissolution; Henry VIII intervenes to halt the doctrinal reformation
1540, 6 January Henry marries Anne of Cleves
1540, 9 July Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleves is annulled
1540, 28 July Thomas Cromwell is beheaded
1540, 30 July Robert Barnes is burned at the stake
1540, 30 July Thomas Abel is hanged, drawn and quartered.
1543 Cranmer is arrested on grounds of heresy, The King's Book is published
1544 Bishop Gardiner is targeted
1546 'Creeping to the Cross' added to the list of forbidden practises
1547, 28 January Henry VIII dies, Edward VI accedes to the throne aged 9 Henry had appointed a Council of Regency dominated by Protestants, ensuring the continuation of the Reformation.
1547 The First Book of Homilies introduced by Thomas Cranmer
1549 The First Book of Common Prayer is introduced by Thomas Cranmer and the Act of Uniformity 1549 This makes the Book of Common Prayer the only lawful form of public worship
1549 Putting away of Books and Images Act orders the removal of religious books and the destruction of images in churches
1549, June–August The Prayer Book Rebellion in the West Country against the imposition of the new liturgy, especially amongst Cornish speakers who knew no English
1552 The Second Book of Common Prayer is introduced by Thomas Cranmer, the use of which is enforced by the Act of Uniformity 1552
1553, 6 July Edward VI dies aged 15, leaving the throne to his Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey and excluding both his half-sisters.
1553, 19 July Jane is deposed after the Catholic Princess Mary gathers military and popular support in Suffolk, arriving in London on 3 August
1553, December First Statute of Repeal nullifies all religious legislation passed under Edward VI
1554, 26 January Start of Wyatt's rebellion in protest at Mary's planned marriage to Prince Philip of Spain
1554, 12 February Lady Jane Grey is executed
1554, 25 July Mary marries her cousin Philip, who becomes King of England in a coregency with Mary
1554, 30 November Mary persuades Parliament to request that the Papal Legate, Cardinal Reginald Pole, obtain Papal absolution for England's separation from the Catholic Church. This effectively returned the Church of England to Catholicism.
1554, November Revival of the Heresy Acts restored the death penalty for those that denied the principles of Catholicism. More than 300 people would be executed during Mary's reign, mostly by burning at the stake, earning her the title of Bloody Mary, even though Queen Elizabeth executed many more people during her reign
1555, January Second Statute of Repeal removes all Protestant legislation passed since 1529
1555, 16 October Former bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were burned at the stake in Oxford.
1556, 21 March Thomas Cranmer burned at the stake in Oxford.
1558, 17 November Mary dies and her half-sister Elizabeth I accedes. Philip's English title lapses with the death of his wife.
1559, 15 January Elizabeth is crowned. Because of her Protestant views, only the low-ranking Bishop of Carlisle is willing to officiate The last Catholic coronation of a British monarch
1558-59 Elizabethan Religious Settlement, a compromise which secured Protestant reforms but allowed some Catholic traditions to continue.
1559 Act of Supremacy 1558 confirmed Elizabeth as Head of the Church of England and abolished the authority of the Pope in England. Final break with the Roman Church
1559 Act of Uniformity 1558 required attendances at services where a newly revised Book of Common Prayer was used.
1560 Geneva Bible published in Switzerland Published by Sir Rowland Hill. Although never authorised for use in England, it was the first English Bible to be divided into verses and became popular with Dissenters.
1568 Bishops' Bible published A compromise between the vigorous but Calvinist Geneva Bible and the Great Bible, which it replaces in parish churches.
1570, 27 April Regnans in Excelsis a papal bull declaring Elizabeth a heretic and threatening those who obeyed her laws with excommunication.
1587, 8 February Mary, Queen of Scots is executed
1588, 8 August The Spanish Armada is defeated by the English fleet, aided by high winds
1597 Irish Rebellion led by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone
1603, 11 July James VI of Scotland crowned King of England
1605 Gunpowder Plot foiled, Guy Fawkes is executed(1606)
1609 Plantation of Ulster
1611 King James Bible first published and used throughout the English speaking world.
1625, 27 March Charles I crowned King of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1642 English Civil War breaks out Issues largely centered on the Church of England's being seen as too Catholic
1648 The end of the Thirty Years War
1649, 30 January Triumph of the Puritans, execution of King Charles I
1660 Restoration of King Charles II
1688 The Glorious Revolution

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