The Elizabethan era is an unlikely happenstance when one considers the confusion and machinations of England's Line of Succession. Much of the blame can be placed on Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, who in his pursuit of a male heir, produced a tangled web suitable for various political interpretations.

Mary (I) was the only surviving child of Henry with Catherine of Aragon. This marriage was deemed legitimate by Papal dispensation because Catherine had been briefly married to Henry's older brother Arthur.

Elizabeth (I) was Henry's second child with Anne Boleyn. Henry contended his marriage to Catherine had (always) been invalid and when the Pope balked, converted England to a Protestant nation along the way. Mary was declared illegitimate and removed from Succession.

Edward (VI) was Henry's first son with his third wife, Jane Seymore. With a male heir, Mary and Elizabeth were both declared illegitimate and removed from the Line of Succession. Henry went on to have several more wives, but thankfully no more children.

Later in life Henry restored both to the Line of Succession, but these wishes were frustrated by the young King Edward's support of Lady Jane Grey upon his death. Catholic Queen Mary followed Lady Jane Grey and upon Mary's death Protestant Elizabeth took the throne.

Elizabeth's legitimacy was challenged by Catholic France who supported Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. Mary's son James (I) would take the throne after Elizabeth.

1452

Leonardo da Vinci born (4/15)

1466

James Cook is born (10/27)

1473

Nicolas Copernicus born in Poland (2/19)

1477

William Caxton establishes England's first printing press

1478

Thomas More born (Feb 7)

1485

Death of King Richard III, Last of the Plantagenets (8/22)

1491

Henry VIII born (Jun 28)

1492

Columbus sets sail for Cathay (8/3)

1498

Toothbrush invented (6/26)

1505

Reformationist John Knox born

1509

Henry VIII marries Catherine (Jun 11)
Henry VIII crowned (Jun 24)
John Calvin born (Jul 10)

1516

Princess Mary born to Henry VIII and Catherine (Feb 18)

1517

Luther nails 95 Theses to door of Castle Church, Wittenberg (Oct 31)

1519

Magellan leaves Spain on the first Round the World passage (Sep 20)

1521

Martin Luther excommunicated
Magellan killed in Phillippines (Apr 27)
Martin Luther translates Greek Bible into German

1526

Tyndale Bible published in English

1525

Henry VIII begins seeking an annulment

1532

Henry VIII secretly marries Anne Boleyn

1533

Public marriage to Anne (Jan 25)
Mary declared illegitimate
Princess Elizabeth born to Henry VIII and Anne (Sep 7)

1534

Act of Supremacy passed recognizing the King as the "supreme head on earth of the Church in England"

1535

Thomas More executed for failing to swear to the Act of Supremacy

1536

Catherine dies.
Anne Boleyn executed for treason (May 19)
Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour (May 30)
Lady Elizabeth declared illegitimate

1537

Prince Edward (VI) born to Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
Queen Jane dies in childbirth (Oct 24)
Lady Jane Grey born

1538

Church of England established

1540

Henry marries and separates from Anne of Cleves (Jan 6 - Jul 9)
Henry marries Anne Boleyn's cousin Catherine Howard (Jul 28)

1542

Catherine Howard executed for treason (Feb 13)
Mary (Stuart) born in Scotland (Dec 8)

1543

Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr (Jul 12)
Henry VIII restores Mary and Elizabeth in Line of Succession
Mary Stuart (age 9 months) crowned Queen of Scots

1547

Henry VIII dies (Jan 28)
Edward VI crowned at age 9 (Feb 20)
Elizabeth (age 14) lives with Catherine Parr

1548

Elizabeth leaves Catherine Parr's household because of rumors of an affair between Elizabeth and Thomas Seymour, Catherine's husband
Catherine Parr dies in childbirth
Mary Stuart engaged to the Dauphin and sent to France

1549

Thomas Seymour tried and executed for treason

1551

Elizabeth returns to court in London

1553

A sick King Edward makes John Dudley's son's wife Jane Grey next in Succession.
King Edward VI dies at age 15 (Jul 6)
Lady Jane Grey crowned at age 16 (Jul 10)
Crown relinquished to Mary I (Jul 19)
John Dudley (Northumberland) executed (Aug 22) Queen Mary I crowned (Oct 1)

1554

Mary I marries Philip II of Spain
Lady Jane Grey executed
Mary I repeals the Act of Supremacy and restores Catholicism.
Wyatt's Protestant rebellion and rumors of Elizabeth's involvement have her imprisoned in the Tower of London on false charges.

1555

Church of England reunited with Rome
(Bloody) Mary I has 300 heretics burned at the stake

1556

Philip II crowned King of Spain

1558

Mary Stuart marries Francis II (Dauphin) of France (Apr 24)
Mary I dies with no heir (Nov 17)
Elizabeth I crowned at age 25
Mary Stuart declared Queen of England by France

1559

Francis II (age 15) crowned King of France (Jul 10)

1560

Francis II dies (Dec 5)

1561

Sir Francis Bacon born (Jan 22)
Mary (Stuart) Queen of Scots returns from France to Scotland

1564

Christopher Marlowe born
Galileo Galilei born in Pisa, Italy (Feb 15)
William Shakespeare baptised in Stratford-on-Avon (Apr 26)

1565

Mary Stuart marries Lord Darnley, strengthening her claim to the throne of England.

1565

Prince James (I) born to Mary Stuart

1567

Lord Darnley murdered
Mary marries Lord Bothwell
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots dethroned and imprisoned by the Scotish Lords.

1568

Mary Stuart flees imprisonment to England, where she is imprisoned by Elizabeth.

1570

Church of England separated from Rome
Elizabeth excommunicated

1572

Ben Jonson born

1573

John Donne born
Michelangelo Buanarroti born in Caprese, Italy (Sep 28)

1582

Shakespeare married

1587

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotts beheaded for conspiracy

1588

Spanish Armada defeated
Shakespeare writes Comedy of Errors
Thomas Hobbes born, philosopher (Apr 5)
Robert Dudley (Leicester) dies

1589

Henri III of France assassinated

1596

Shakespeare writes Romeo and Juliet

1596

Rene Descartes born (Mar 31)

1599

Globe Theater built

1601

Irish uprising crushed

1602

Elizabeth I dies
James VI of Scotland becomes James I the King of England

1605

Guy Fawkes' Plot (Nov 5)

1607

Jamestown (Virginia) founded

1611

King James Bible published in English

1620

149 Pilgrims set forth from England aboard the Mayflower (Sep 6)

1629

Salem, Massachusetts, is founded (Sep 14)

References

Monarchs Index And Information