1540s in England

1540s in England:
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Events from the 1540s in England.

1 Incumbents
2 Events
3 Births
4 Deaths
5 References
6 See also

Incumbents

Monarch - King Henry VIII (to 28 January 1547), King Edward VI

Events

1540
- January - Dunstable Priory closed down as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
- 6 January - King Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort.^[1]
- March - Waltham Abbey is the final priory to close due to the Dissolution of the Monasteries.^[2]
- 9 July - Henry divorces Anne of Cleves.^[2]
- 28 July - Thomas Cromwell, is executed on order from the king on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.^[3]
- Statute of Wills makes it possible to dispose of real estate by will.
- Regius Professorships endowed at Cambridge University.^[2]
1541
- 23 June - Henry proclaimed King of Ireland.^[2]
1542
- 13 February - Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, is executed for adultery.^[3]
- 24 August - Battle of Haddon Rig: Scottish victory over the English.
- 24 November - Battle of Solway Moss: English victory over the Scots.^[2]
- Act of Parliament creates six new dioceses: Bristol, Chester, Gloucester, Oxford, Peterborough and Westminster.
1543
- 11 February - Henry allies with Emperor Charles V against France.^[2]
- March - Consolidating Act of Welsh Union: Parliament establishes counties and regularises parliamentary representation in Wales.^[2]
- 1 July - Treaty of Greenwich between England and Scotland (repudiated by Scotland 11 December).^[2]
- 12 July - King Henry VIII marries his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr.^[3]
- Thomas Tallis becomes a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal.
1544
- March - Third Succession Act, reinstating Princesses Mary and Elizabeth to the line of royal succession, given Royal Assent (having been passed by Parliament in July 1543).^[2]
- 3 May - Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford captures Leith and Edinburgh from Scotland.^[2]
- 19 July–18 September - Italian War of 1542–1546: Henry VIII leads the First Siege of Boulogne in France.^[2]
- The Rough Wooing of Scotland begins.
- English coinage debased.^[2]
1545
- 25 February - Scottish victory over the English at the Battle of Ancrum Moor.^[2]
- Italian Wars: The French attempt to invade the Isle of Wight.^[2]
- 19 July - Henry VIII's flagship the Mary Rose sinks during the Battle of the Solent.^[1]
- The French are defeated at the Battle of Bonchurch.
- Sir Thomas Cawarden becomes the first Master of the Revels to be head of an independent office.^[2]
1546
- 7 June - Treaty of Ardres ends the Italian War, Henry VIII returns territories captured from France.^[3]
- December - Trinity College, Cambridge founded.^[2]
- Navy Board established.^[2]
1547
- 19 January - Execution of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey for treason.^[3]
- 28 January - Edward VI succeeds his father Henry VIII as King.^[3]
- 31 January - Edward Seymour becomes Lord Protector of England.^[2]
- 20 February - Edward VI is crowned at Westminster Abbey.^[1]
- 10 September - Battle of Pinkie: An English army under Edward Seymour, now the Duke of Somerset, defeats a Scottish army under James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, the Regent. The English seize Edinburgh.^[2]
- Edward Seymour begins the construction of Somerset House, London.^[2]
- Treason Act makes it high treason to interrupt the line of succession to the throne established by the Act of Succession; and requires two witnesses to prove a charge of treason.
- Six Articles repealed.^[2]
1548
- John Bale writes Kynge Johan, the earliest English historical drama.^[2]
1549
- 15 January - Act of Uniformity imposes the Book of Common Prayer.^[2]
- 9 June
  - Book of Common Prayer introduced in churches.^[1]
  - Prayer Book Rebellion against the Book of Common Prayer breaks out at Sampford Courtenay in Devon and in Cornwall.^[3]
- July - Kett's Rebellion in Norfolk against land enclosures;^[3] rebellion in Oxfordshire against landowners associated with religious changes.^[4]
- 6 August - Prayer Book Rebellion: Battle of Clyst Heath - John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford defeats rebels.
- 8 August - France declares war on England.
- 9 August - England declares war on France.^[2]
- 17 August - Battle of Sampford Courtenay: Prayer Book Rebellion quashed.
- 26 August - Battle of Dussindale, near Norwich: Kett's Rebellion quashed.^[2]
- 10 October - Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset loses the position of Lord Protector, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick assumes his powers but does not acquire the title.^[3]
- 5 December - Cardinal Reginald Pole receives 26 votes at the Papal conclave, only two short of the requisite two-thirds majority to be elected as Pope.
- The spire of Lincoln Cathedral is blown down.^[5]

Births

1540
- 24 January - Edmund Campion, Jesuit and Roman Catholic martyr (died 1581)
- c. February or March - Sir Francis Drake, explorer and soldier (d. 1596)
- 11 June - Barnabe Googe, poet (died 1594)
- William Byrd, composer (died 1623)
- Christopher Hatton, politician (died 1591)
- George Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, nobleman (died 1604)
- Lettice Knollys, lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I (died 1634)
- Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton (died 1614)
1541
- Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, nobleman (died 1576)
1542
- 6 June - Richard Grenville, soldier and explorer (died 1591)
1543
- Thomas Deloney, novelist and balladeer (died 1600)
1544
- April - Thomas Fleming, judge (died 1613)
- 24 May - William Gilbert, scientist (died 1603)
- Thomas Hobson, carrier and origin of the phrase "Hobson's choice" (died 1631)
- George Whetstone, writer (died 1587)
1545
- 2 March - Thomas Bodley, diplomat and library founder (died 1613)
- John Field, Puritan clergyman and controversialist (died 1588)
- John Gerard, botanist (died 1612)
- Nicholas Breton, poet and novelist (died 1626)
- Lady Douglas Sheffield, lover of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (died 1608)
- Sir Francis Drake Born
1546
- 5 May - Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, politician (died 1623)
- 24 June - Robert Parsons, Jesuit priest (died 1610)
- Thomas Digges, astronomer (died 1595)
- Tobias Matthew, archbishop of York (died 1628)
1547
- Peter Bales, calligrapher (died 1610)
- George Carey, Baron Hunsdon, politician (died 1603)
- Richard Stanyhurst, translator of Virgil (died 1618)
1548
- Edward Manners, Earl of Rutland (died 1587)
- William Stanley, soldier (died 1630)
1549
- 30 November - Sir Henry Savile, educator (died 1622)
- John Rainolds, scholar and Bible translator (died 1607)

Deaths

1540
- 28 July - Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, statesman (executed) (born c. 1485)
- 30 July - Thomas Abel, priest (martyred) (born c. 1497)
- 30 July - Robert Barnes, reformer (martyred) (born 1495)
- Elizabeth Blount, mistress of King Henry VIII (born 1502)
1541
- 27 May - Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (executed) (born 1473)
- 24 November - Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII and queen of James IV of Scotland (born 1489)
- 10 December - Thomas Culpeper, courtier (executed) (year of birth unknown)
1542
- 13 February - Catherine Howard, fifth wife of King Henry VIII (executed) (born c. 1522)
- 3 March - Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, illegitimate son of King Edward IV (year of birth unknown 1461–1475)
- 6 October - Thomas Wyatt, poet and diplomat (born 1503)
1543
- 19 July - Mary Boleyn, mistress of Kings Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England (born 1500)
- 20 September - Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland (born 1492)
- Margaret Lee, lady-in-waiting, sister of poet Thomas Wyatt (born 1506)
1544
- 30 April - Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, Lord Chancellor (born 1488)
1545
- 24 August - Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, politician and husband of Mary Tudor (born c. 1484)
- 18 October - John Taverner, composer (born c. 1490)
- William Latimer, churchman and scholar (born c. 1467)
- Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, noblewoman (born c. 1477)
1546
- 26 March - Thomas Elyot, diplomat and scholar (born c. 1490)
- 16 July - Anne Askew, Protestant (burned at the stake) (born 1521)
1547
- 19 January - Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, poet (born 1517)
- 28 January - King Henry VIII (born 1491)
- Edward Hall, chronicler and lawyer (born 1498)
1548
- 7 September - Catherine Parr, queen of Henry VIII (born c. 1512)
1549
- 10 March - Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, politician and diplomat (born 1508)
- April - Andrew Boorde, traveller (born 1490)
- 15 April - Henry Somerset, Earl of Worcester (born 1496)
- 7 December - Robert Kett, rebel (executed) (year of birth unknown)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 147–150. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 215–218. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
^ Rosen, Adrienne (2010). "Tudor Rebellions". In Tiller, Kate; Darkes, Giles (ed). An Historical Atlas of Oxfordshire. Chipping Norton: Oxfordshire Record Society. pp. 82–3. ISBN 978-0-902509-68-9.
^ "1549". Lincoln Cathedral. http://www.lincolncathedral.com/xhtml/default.asp?UserLinkID=235. Retrieved 2010-10-21.

1540s in England

Contents

Incumbents

Events

Births

Deaths

References

See also