21.Queen Mary I

Mary the first was the Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 1553 until her death in 1558. She was the eldest daughter of Henry VIII. She was the fourth monarch of the Tudor dynasty. During her ruling she decided to restore the Catholic Church in England and reconstruct monasteries. So a lot of Protestants were executed to death. About 300 people were murdered. All this cruelty brought to the Queen a nickname “Bloody”. She was married to Philip, the son of the King Charles V. In the year of 1558 he died, and as she didn’t have any children her successor was her half-sister Elizabeth I.

22.Golden Age of Elizabeth

Elizabeth I was the Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603. She inherited the crown after the death of her half-sister Mary I. The time of her reign is known as “the golden age of England”, because during this period there were a lot of cultural achievements. Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. One of her first moves as queen was to support the establishment of an English Protestant church. Elizabeth's reign is famous for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon. A lot of theatres were built at that time. She died in 1603 at Richmond Palace. As she wasn’t married and didn’t have children just immediately after her death James VI of Scotland was proclaimed as the King James I of England.

23.The Stuarts

The Stuart monarchs, James I, Charles I, Charles II, James II, Mary, who ruled with her husband William III, and Queen Anne, marked the effective end of government by monarchy in England. As the Queen Elizabeth I wasn’t married and didn’t have children just immediately after her death James VI of Scotland was proclaimed as the King James I of England (1603 – 1625). He was the first King of England from the Stuart dynasty. The Stuarts had a lot of difficulties with the English Parliament. During the reign of James I the Parliament was dissolved for 3 times, as it refused to give money to the King and wanted to put the England’s foreign policy under its control. But the Parliament of 1624 got a right to declare impeachment to the officials. The James I’s son – Charles I (1625-1629) continued his father's relationship with Parliament in order to get the right to collect new taxes. Parliament responded with the Petition of Right in 1628. It meant that no taxes of any kind could be allowed without the permission of Parliament. Finally Charles convoked the so-called Short Parliament in 1640, but dismissed it after only three weeks. Then a rebellion broke out in Scotland and Charles was forced to call a new Parliament, the Long Parliament, which officially sat until 1660. Parliament made increasing demands, which the king refused to meet. Finally the English Civil War between the king and the Parliament broke out. The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War on Oliver Cromwell’s initiative. Its soldiers became full-time professionals. They were prohibited from having seats in either the Houses of Lords or Commons. This was to encourage their separation from the political or religious factions among the Parliamentarians.