Editing Early modern Europe (section)

===England===
{{Further|Early modern Britain|Kingdom of England|Kingdom of Scotland|Commonwealth of England|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
[[File:Elizabeth succession allegory.jpg|thumb|right|'''Elizabeth ushers in Peace and Plenty.'''  Detail from ''The Family of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]: An Allegory of the Tudor Succession'', c. 1572, attributed to [[Lucas de Heere]].]]

This period refers to England 1558–1603. The [[Elizabethan Era]] is the period associated with the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] (1558–1603) and was a [[golden age]] in English cultural history. It was the height of the [[English Renaissance]], and saw the flowering of [[English literature]] and [[English poetry|poetry]]. This was also the time during which [[Elizabethan theatre]] grew.  [[William Shakespeare]], among others, composed highly innovative and powerful plays. It was an age of expansion and exploration abroad. At home the [[Protestant Reformation]] was established and successfully defended against the Catholic powers of Spain and France.<ref>D. M. Palliser, ''The Age of Elizabeth: England Under the Later Tudors, 1547–1603'' (1983)</ref>

The ''[[Jacobean era]]'' was the reign  [[James I of England]] (1603–1625). Overseas exploration and establishment of trading factories sped up, with the first permanent settlements in North America at [[Jamestown, Virginia]] in 1607, in [[Colony of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] in 1610, and at [[Plymouth Colony]] in Massachusetts in 1620. One king now ruled England and Scotland; the latter was fully absorbed by the [[Acts of Union 1707]].<ref>Barry Coward, and Peter Gaunt. ''The Stuart Age: England, 1603–1714'' (5th ed. 2017), [https://books.google.com/books?id=GjElDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 excerpt]</ref>

The tumultuous [[Caroline era]] was the reign of [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] (1625–1645), followed by his beheading by [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s regime  in 1649 . The Caroline era was dominated by the growing religious, political, and social conflict between the King and his supporters, termed the Royalist party, and the [[Puritan]] opposition that evolved in response to particular aspects of Charles' rule. The colonization of North America continued apace, with new colonies in [[Maryland]] (1634), [[Connecticut]] (1635), and [[Rhode Island]] (1636).<ref>Godfrey Davies, ''The Early Stuarts, 1603–1660'' (Oxford UP, 1959).</ref>