Editing History of England (section)

==Tudor England==
{{main|Tudor period}}
{{further|Early Modern Britain|English Renaissance}}

=== Henry VII ===
[[File:Henry_VII_and_Family.jpg|thumb|Portrait of the [[House of Tudor|Royal Tudors]]. At left, Henry VII, with Prince Arthur behind him, then Prince Henry (later Henry VIII), and Prince Edmund, who did not survive early childhood. To the right is Elizabeth of York, with Princess Margaret, then Princess Elizabeth who didn't survive childhood, Princess Mary, and Princess Katherine, who died shortly after her birth.]]
The [[Tudor period]] coincides with the dynasty of the [[House of Tudor]] in England that began with the reign of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]. Henry engaged in a number of administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. He paid very close attention to detail and, instead of spending lavishly, concentrated on raising new revenues.<ref>Sydney Anglo, "Ill of the dead: The posthumous reputation of Henry VII", ''Renaissance Studies'' 1 (1987): 27–47. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24410008 online]</ref><ref>Steven Gunn, ''Henry VII's New Men and the Making of Tudor England'' (2016)</ref> Henry was successful in restoring power and stability to the nation's monarchy following the civil war. His supportive policy toward England's wool industry and his standoff with the [[Low Countries]] had long-lasting benefit to the economy of England. He restored the nation's finances and strengthened its judicial system.<ref>{{cite web |date=5 February 2012 |title=Henry VII |url=http://tudorhistory.org/henry7/ |access-date=17 October 2013 |publisher=Tudorhistory.org}}</ref> The [[Renaissance]] reached England through Italian courtiers, who reintroduced artistic, educational and scholarly debate from classical antiquity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hay |first=Denys |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jzm2Vu9h-CYC&q=italian+influence+on+the+english+renaissance&pg=PA165 |title=Renaissance essays |publisher=A&C Black |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-907628-96-5 |page=65 |access-date=26 December 2010}}</ref> England began to develop [[English Navy|naval skills]], and exploration intensified in the [[Age of Discovery]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal Navy History, Tudor Period and the Birth of a Regular Navy |url=http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118040146/http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-date=18 January 2012 |url-status=usurped |access-date=24 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Goldwin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdOTQUDgH54C&q=england+under+the+tudors+by+goldwin+smith |title=England Under the Tudors |publisher=Forgotten Books |isbn=978-1-60620-939-4 |page=176 |access-date=26 December 2010}}</ref>

With [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]'s accession to the throne in 1485, the Wars of the Roses came to an end, and Tudors would continue to rule England for 118 years. Traditionally, the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]] is considered to mark the end of the Middle Ages in England, although Henry did not introduce any new concept of monarchy, and for most of his reign his hold on power was tenuous. He claimed the throne by conquest and God's judgement in battle. Parliament quickly recognised him as king, but the Yorkists were far from defeated. Nonetheless, he married Edward IV's eldest daughter Elizabeth in January 1486, thereby uniting the houses of York and Lancaster.

Most of the European rulers did not believe Henry would survive long, and were thus willing to shelter claimants against him. The first plot against him was the [[Stafford and Lovell rebellion]] of 1486, which presented no serious threat. But Richard III's nephew [[John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln]], hatched another attempt the following year. Using a peasant boy named [[Lambert Simnel]], who posed as [[Edward, Earl of Warwick]] (the real Warwick was locked up in the Tower of London), he led an army of 2,000 German mercenaries paid for by [[Margaret of York|Margaret of Burgundy]] into England. They were defeated and de la Pole was killed at the difficult [[Battle of Stoke]], where the loyalty of some of the royal troops to Henry was questionable. The king, realizing that Simnel was a dupe, employed him in the royal kitchen.

A more serious threat was [[Perkin Warbeck]], a Flemish youth who posed as Edward IV's son Richard. Again with support from Margaret of Burgundy, he invaded England four times from 1495 to 1497 before he was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Both Warbeck and the Earl of Warwick were dangerous even in captivity, and Henry executed them in 1499 before Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain would allow their daughter Catherine to come to England and marry his son Arthur.

In 1497, Henry defeated Cornish rebels marching on London. The rest of his reign was relatively peaceful, despite worries about succession after the death of his wife [[Elizabeth of York]] in 1503.

Henry VII's foreign policy was peaceful. He had made an alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]], but in 1493, when they went to war with France, England was dragged into the conflict. Impoverished and his hold on power insecure, Henry had no desire for war. He quickly reached an understanding with the French and renounced all claims to their territory except the port of Calais, realizing also that he could not stop them from incorporating the Duchy of Brittany. In return, the French agreed to recognize him as king and stop sheltering pretenders. Shortly afterwards, they became preoccupied with adventures in Italy. Henry also reached an understanding with Scotland, agreeing to marry his daughter Margaret to that country's king [[James IV of Scotland|James IV]].

Upon becoming king, Henry inherited a government severely weakened and degraded by the Wars of the Roses. The treasury was empty, having been drained by Edward IV's Woodville in-laws after his death. Through a tight fiscal policy and sometimes ruthless tax collection and confiscations, Henry refilled the treasury by the time of his death. He also effectively rebuilt the machinery of government.

In 1501, the king's son [[Arthur, Prince of Wales|Arthur]], having married [[Catherine of Aragon]], died of illness at age 15, leaving his younger brother [[Henry, Duke of York]] as heir. When the king himself died in 1509, the position of the Tudors was secure at last, and his son succeeded him unopposed.

===Henry VIII===
[[File:After Hans Holbein the Younger - Portrait of Henry VIII - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|King [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]]]

[[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] began his reign with much optimism. The handsome, athletic young king stood in sharp contrast to his wary, miserly father. Henry's lavish court quickly drained the treasury of the fortune he inherited. He married the widowed [[Catherine of Aragon]], and they had several children, but none survived infancy except a daughter, [[Mary I of England|Mary]].

In 1512, the young king started a [[War of the League of Cambrai|war in France]]. Although England was an ally of Spain, one of France's principal enemies, the war was mostly about Henry's desire for personal glory, despite his sister [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary]] being married to the French king [[Louis XII]]. The war accomplished little. The English army suffered badly from disease, and Henry was not even present at the one notable victory, the [[Battle of the Spurs]]. Meanwhile, [[James IV of Scotland]] (despite being Henry's other brother-in-law), activated his alliance with the French and declared war on England. While Henry was dallying in France, Catherine, who was serving as regent in his absence, and his advisers were left to deal with this threat. At the [[Battle of Flodden]] on 9 September 1513, the Scots were completely defeated. James and most of the Scottish nobles were killed. When Henry returned from France, he was given credit for the victory.

Eventually, Catherine was no longer able to have any more children. The king became increasingly nervous about the possibility of his daughter Mary inheriting the throne, as England's one experience with a female sovereign, Matilda in the 12th century, had been a catastrophe. He eventually decided that it was necessary to divorce Catherine and find a new queen. To persuade the Church to allow this, Henry cited the passage in the [[Book of Leviticus]]: "If a man taketh his brother's wife, he hath committed adultery; they shall be childless". However, Catherine insisted that she and Arthur never consummated their brief marriage and that the prohibition did not apply here. The timing of Henry's case was very unfortunate; it was 1527 and the Pope had been imprisoned by emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], Catherine's nephew and the most powerful man in Europe, for siding with his archenemy [[Francis I of France]]. Because he could not divorce in these circumstances, Henry seceded from the Church, in what became known as the [[English Reformation]].

The newly established [[Church of England]] amounted to little more than the existing Catholic Church, but led by the king rather than the Pope. It took a number of years for the separation from Rome to be completed, and many were executed for resisting the king's religious policies.

In 1530, Catherine was banished from court and spent the rest of her life (until her death in 1536) alone in an isolated manor home, barred from contact with Mary. Secret correspondence continued thanks to her ladies-in-waiting. Their marriage was declared invalid, making Mary an illegitimate child. Henry married [[Anne Boleyn]] secretly in January 1533, just as his divorce from Catherine was finalised. They had a second, public wedding. Anne soon became pregnant and may have already been when they wed. But on 7 September 1533, she gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth. The king was devastated at his failure to obtain a son after all the effort it had taken to remarry. Gradually, he came to develop a disliking of his new queen for her strange behaviour. In 1536, when Anne was pregnant again, Henry was badly injured in a jousting accident. Shaken by this, the queen gave birth prematurely to a stillborn boy. By now, the king was convinced that his marriage was hexed, and having already found a new queen, Jane Seymour, he put Anne in the Tower of London on charges of witchcraft. Afterwards, she was beheaded along with five men (her brother included) accused of adultery with her. The marriage was then declared invalid, so that Elizabeth, just like her half sister, became a bastard.

Henry immediately married [[Jane Seymour]], who became pregnant almost as quickly. On 12 October 1537, she gave birth to a healthy boy, Edward, which was greeted with huge celebrations. However, the queen died of [[puerperal sepsis]] ten days later. Henry genuinely mourned her death, and at his own passing nine years later, he was buried next to her.

The king married a fourth time in 1540, to the German [[Anne of Cleves]] for a political alliance with her Protestant brother, the [[Duke of Cleves]]. He also hoped to obtain another son in case something should happen to Edward. Anne proved a dull, unattractive woman and Henry did not consummate the marriage. He quickly divorced her, and she remained in England as a kind of adopted sister to him. He married again, to a 19-year-old named [[Catherine Howard]]. But when it became known that she was neither a virgin at the wedding, nor a faithful wife afterwards, she ended up on the scaffold and the marriage declared invalid. His sixth and last marriage was to [[Catherine Parr]], who was more his nursemaid than anything else, as his health was failing since his jousting accident in 1536.

In 1542, the king started a new campaign in France, but unlike in 1512, he only managed with great difficulty. He only conquered the city of Boulogne, which France retook in 1549. Scotland also declared war and at [[Battle of Solway Moss|Solway Moss]] was again totally defeated.

Henry's paranoia and suspicion worsened in his last years. The number of executions during his 38-year reign numbered tens of thousands. His domestic policies had strengthened royal authority to the detriment of the aristocracy, and led to a safer realm, but his foreign policy adventures did not increase England's prestige abroad and wrecked royal finances and the national economy, and embittered the Irish.<ref name=twsBucholz1>Robert Bucholz, Newton Key, via Google Books, John Wiley & Sons Publishers, 31 December 2019 – History – 472 pages, {{ISBN|978-1-4051-6275-3}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=KfjYvfVOYwoC&dq=wreck+royal+finances&pg=PA101 Early Modern England 1485–1714: A Narrative History], retrieved 27 March 2020, see pages 102, 104, 107, 122–3</ref> He died in January 1547 at age 55 and was succeeded by his son, Edward VI.

===Edward VI and Mary I===
[[File:Circle of William Scrots Edward VI of England.jpg|thumb|Portrait of [[Edward VI]], {{circa|1550}}]]

Although he showed piety and intelligence, [[Edward VI]] was only nine years old when he became king in 1547.<ref name=twsBucholz1/> His uncle, [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset]] tampered with [[Will of Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII's will]] and obtained [[letters patent]] giving him much of the power of a monarch by March 1547. He took the title of Protector. While some see him as a high-minded idealist, his stay in power culminated in a crisis in 1549 when many counties of the realm were up in protest. [[Kett's Rebellion]] in Norfolk and the [[Prayer Book Rebellion]] in [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]] simultaneously created a crisis while invasion from Scotland and France were feared. Somerset, disliked by the Regency Council for being autocratic, was removed from power by [[John Dudley, Earl of Warwick|John Dudley]], who is known as [[Lord President Northumberland]]. Northumberland proceeded to adopt the power for himself, but he was more conciliatory and the Council accepted him. During Edward's reign England changed from being a Catholic nation to a Protestant one, in schism from Rome.

Edward showed great promise but fell violently ill of [[tuberculosis]] in 1553 and died that August, at the age of 15 years, 8 months.<ref name=twsBucholz1/>

Northumberland made plans to place [[Lady Jane Grey]] on the throne and marry her to his son, so that he could remain the power behind the throne. His plot failed in a matter of days, Jane Grey was beheaded, and [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] (1516–1558) took the throne amidst popular demonstration in her favour in London, which contemporaries described as the largest show of affection for a Tudor monarch. Mary had never been expected to hold the throne, at least not since Edward was born. She was a devoted Catholic who believed that she could reverse the Reformation.<ref>Ann Weikel, "Mary I (1516–1558)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online edition, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18245, accessed 25 Aug 2011]</ref>

Returning England to Catholicism led to the burnings of 274 Protestants, which are recorded especially in [[John Foxe]]'s ''[[Book of Martyrs]]''. Mary then married her cousin [[Philip II of Spain|Philip]], son of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles V]], and King of Spain when Charles abdicated in 1556. The union was difficult because Mary was already in her late 30s and Philip was a Catholic and a foreigner, and so not very welcome in England. This wedding also provoked hostility from France, already at war with Spain and now fearing being encircled by the Habsburgs. Calais, the last English outpost on the Continent, was then taken by France. King Philip (1527–1598) had very little power, although he did protect Elizabeth. He was not popular in England, and spent little time there.<ref>Glyn Redworth, "Philip (1527–1598)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online edition, May 2011 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/22097, accessed 25 Aug 2011]</ref> Mary eventually became pregnant, or at least believed herself to be. In reality, she may have had [[uterine cancer]]. Her death in November 1558 was greeted with huge celebrations in the streets of London.

===Elizabeth I===
{{main|Elizabethan era}}
[[File:Elizabeth I Rainbow Portrait3.jpg|thumb|[[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]]]]
After Mary I died in 1558, [[Elizabeth I]] came to the throne. Her reign restored a sort of order to the realm after the turbulent reigns of Edward VI and Mary I. The religious issue which had divided the country since Henry VIII was in a way put to rest by the [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement]], which re-established the [[Church of England]]. Much of Elizabeth's success was in balancing the interests of the [[Puritans]] and Catholics; historian Robert Bucholz paraphrasing historian Conrad Russell, suggested that the genius of the Church of England was that it "thinks Protestant but looks Catholic."<ref name=twsBucholz1/> She managed to offend neither to a large extent, although she clamped down on Catholics towards the end of her reign as war with Catholic Spain loomed.<ref>J. B. Black ''The Reign of Elizabeth, 1558–1603'' (Oxford History of England) (2nd ed. 1959) [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3769587 online edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522071347/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3769587 |date=22 May 2012 }}</ref><ref>J. A. Guy, ''Tudor England'' (1990) [https://www.amazon.com/Tudor-England-John-Guy/dp/0192852132/ excerpt and text search]</ref>

Despite the need for an heir, Elizabeth declined to marry, despite offers from a number of suitors across Europe, including the Swedish king [[Erik XIV]]. This created endless worries over her succession, especially in the 1560s when she nearly died of smallpox. It has been often rumoured that she had a number of lovers (including [[Francis Drake]]), but there is no hard evidence.

Elizabeth maintained relative government stability. Apart from the [[Revolt of the Northern Earls]] in 1569, she was effective in reducing the power of the old nobility and expanding the power of her government. Elizabeth's government did much to consolidate the work begun under [[Thomas Cromwell]] in the reign of Henry VIII, that is, expanding the role of the government and effecting common law and administration throughout England. During the reign of Elizabeth and shortly afterwards, the population grew significantly: from three million in 1564 to nearly five million in 1616.<ref>[http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-atoz/population] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080523191332/http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-atoz/population|date=23 May 2008}}</ref>

The queen ran afoul of her cousin [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], who was a devoted Catholic and so was forced to abdicate her throne (Scotland had [[Scottish Reformation|recently become Protestant]]). She fled to England, where Elizabeth immediately had her arrested. Mary spent the next 19 years in confinement, but proved too dangerous to keep alive, as the Catholic powers in Europe considered her the legitimate ruler of England. She was eventually tried for treason, sentenced to death, and beheaded in February 1587.

====Elizabethan era====
[[File:Elizabeth I, Procession Portrait..jpg|thumb|The Procession Picture, {{circa|1600}}, showing Elizabeth I borne along by her courtiers]]

The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen [[Elizabeth I]]'s reign (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the [[Golden age (metaphor)|golden age]] in English history. The symbol of [[Britannia]] was first used in 1572 and often thereafter to mark the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over the hated Spanish foe. In terms of the entire century, the historian [[John Guy (historian)|John Guy]] (1988) argues that "England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the [[Tudor dynasty|Tudors]]" than at any time in a thousand years.<ref>John Guy (1988) ''Tudor England'', Oxford University Press, p. 32 {{ISBN|0192852132}}</ref>

This "golden age"<ref>From the 1944 Clark lectures by [[C. S. Lewis]]; Lewis, ''English Literature in the Sixteenth Century'' (Oxford, 1954) p. 1, {{OCLC|256072}}</ref> represented the apogee of the [[English Renaissance]] and saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature. The era is most famous for [[Elizabethan theatre|theatre]], as [[William Shakespeare]] and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant [[Reformation]] became more acceptable to the people, most certainly after the [[Spanish Armada]] was repulsed. It was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland.

The Elizabethan Age is viewed so highly largely because of the periods before and after. It was a brief period of largely internal peace after the horrible violence and disorder of the [[Wars of the Roses]], and battles between Catholics and Protestants during the [[English Reformation]]; and it preceded the violent turmoil of the [[English Civil War]] and battles between [[Parliament of England|parliament]] and the monarchy during the 17th century. The Protestant/Catholic divide was settled, for a time, by the [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement]], and parliament was not yet strong enough to challenge royal absolutism.

England was also well off compared to the other nations of Europe. The [[Italian Renaissance]] had ended due to foreign domination of the peninsula. France was embroiled in religious battles until the [[Edict of Nantes]] in 1598. Also, the English had been expelled from their last outposts on the continent. Due to these reasons, the centuries long conflict with France was largely suspended for most of Elizabeth's reign. England during this period had a centralised, organised and effective government, largely due to the reforms of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] and [[Henry VIII]]. Economically, the country began to benefit greatly from the new era of [[Transatlantic crossing|trans-Atlantic]] trade.

[[File:Expedición de Francis Drake 1585-1586.jpg|thumb|Sir Francis Drake's voyage 1585–86]]
In 1585 worsening relations between [[Philip II of Spain]] and Elizabeth erupted into war. Elizabeth signed the [[Treaty of Nonsuch]] with the Dutch and permitted [[Francis Drake]] to maraud in response to a Spanish embargo. Drake surprised [[Vigo]], Spain, in October, then proceeded to the [[Caribbean]] and [[Battle of Santo Domingo (1586)|sacked Santo Domingo]] (the capital of Spain's American empire and the present-day capital of the Dominican Republic) [[Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1586)|and Cartagena]] (a large and wealthy port on the north coast of Colombia that was the centre of the silver trade). Philip II tried to invade England with the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588 but was famously defeated.

The Armada was not just a naval campaign. The build-up of land forces to resist a Spanish invasion has been described as an administrative feat of massive scope. A survey taken in November and December 1587 showed 130,000 men in the militia, of whom 44,000 were members of the trained bands, being drilled and led by experienced captains and sergeants. By May 1588 the London bands were drilling weekly. To give warning of the enemy's approach, beacons were built, manned twenty-four hours a day by four men. Once the beacons were lit, 72,000 men could be mobilised on the south coast, with another 46,000 protecting London. For the many Englishmen caught up in the Armada the experience must have been very profound and frightening. Some shared the intimacy of beacon watching, hoping for the best, but ready to light their warning fires in case of the worst.<ref name=Carlton>{{cite book |last1=Carlton |first1=Charles |title=This Seat of Mars: War and the British Isles, 1485–1746 |url=https://archive.org/details/thisseatmarswarb00carl |url-access=limited |date=2011 |page=[https://archive.org/details/thisseatmarswarb00carl/page/n80 42]|publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300139136 }}</ref> [[Deloney]], a London silkweaver, played on their fears in his {{lang|enm|italic=no|"New Ballet [Ballad] on the strange whippes which the Spanyards had prepared to whippe English men"}} (1588).<ref name=Carlton/> The political philosopher [[Thomas Hobbes]] recalled that his mother was so frightened that she prematurely gave birth to twins, of whom he was one.<ref name=Carlton/> All were terrified about what might happen if the Spanish invaded.<ref name=Carlton/> Stories of the [[Sack of Antwerp]] in 1576, in which the Spanish led by [[Sancho d'Avila]] raped, tortured and murdered as many as 17,000 civilians, were grist for playwrights and pamphleteers such as [[George Gascoigne]] and [[Shakespeare]].<ref name=Carlton/> The former remembered seeing civilians at [[Antwerp]] drowned, burned, or with guts hanging out as if they had been used for an anatomy lesson.<ref name=Carlton/> Few Englishmen, women and children doubted they faced similar fates had the Armada landed.<ref name=Carlton/>

[[File:English Ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588 RMG BHC0262.jpg|thumb|left| The Spanish Armada and English ships in August 1588, (unknown, 16th-century, English School)]]

====Foreign affairs====
In foreign policy, Elizabeth played against each other the major powers France and Spain, as well as the papacy and Scotland. These were all Catholic and each wanted to end Protestantism in England. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs and only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Ireland. She risked war with Spain by supporting the "[[Elizabethan Sea Dogs|Sea Dogs]]", such as [[Walter Raleigh]], [[John Hawkins (naval commander)|John Hawkins]] and Sir [[Francis Drake]], who preyed on Spanish merchant ships carrying gold and silver from the New World. Drake himself became a hero—being the first [[Francis Drake's Circumnavigation|Englishman to circumnavigate the world]] between 1577 and 1580, having plundered Spanish settlements and treasure ships.

The [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|major war came with Spain, 1585–1603]]. When Spain tried to invade and conquer England it was a fiasco, and the defeat of the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588 associated Elizabeth's name with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history. Her enemies failed to combine and Elizabeth's foreign policy successfully navigated all the dangers.<ref>Charles Beem, ''The Foreign Relations of Elizabeth I'' (2011) [https://www.amazon.com/Foreign-Relations-Elizabeth-Queenship-Power/dp/0230112145/ excerpt and text search]</ref> The following year, an [[English Armada]], also known as the Counter Armada or the Drake–Norris Expedition, of a similar size to the Spanish one, was sent against Spain in order to drive home the advantage that England had gained. Led by [[Sir Francis Drake]] as admiral and [[John Norris (soldier)|Sir John Norris]] as general, it was however also a disaster.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=J H |title=Europe Divided (1559–1598) |page=351 |date=1982 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9788484326694}}</ref> In 1596, England sent their [[Capture of Cádiz|second Armada]] to Cádiz, led by [[Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham|Charles Howard]] and the [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|Earl of Essex]] the campaign was a signal victory. In revenge, Spain sent their [[second Spanish Armada]] to England a few months later, but this was met with disaster by storms before it saw England. Undeterred, a [[third Armada]] was sent the following year but near the English coast another storm dispersed the fleet, losing more ships sunk or captured.<ref>{{citation |last=Bicheno |first=Hugh |title=Elizabeth's Sea Dogs: How England's Mariners Became the Scourge of the Seas |year=2012 |pages= 289–293|publisher=Conway |author-link= Hugh Bicheno |isbn=978-1844861743}}</ref>

The War ended with both sides seeking peace in order to stop the costly conflict with the [[Treaty of London, 1604|Treaty of London]] in 1604, which validated the [[status quo ante bellum]].<ref name="Morgan">Hiram Morgan, 'Teaching the Armada: An Introduction to the Anglo-Spanish War, 1585-1604', ''History Ireland'', Vol. 14, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 2006), p. 43.</ref><ref name=":1">Paul Allen, ''Philip III and the Pax Hispanica, 1598-1621'' (New Haven, 2000).</ref> It amounted to an acknowledgement by Spain that its hopes of restoring [[Roman Catholicism]] in England were at an end and it had to recognise the [[Protestant]] monarchy in England. In return, England ended its financial and military support for the Dutch rebellion, ongoing since the [[Treaty of Nonsuch]] (1585), and had to end its wartime disruption of Spanish trans-Atlantic shipping and colonial expansion.

===End of Tudor era===
In all, the [[Tudor period]] is seen as a decisive one which set up many important questions which would have to be answered in the next century and during the [[English Civil War]]. These were questions of the relative power of the monarch and Parliament and to what extent one should control the other. Some historians think that Thomas Cromwell affected a "Tudor Revolution" in government, and it is certain that Parliament became more important during his chancellorship. Other historians argue that the "Tudor Revolution" extended to the end of Elizabeth's reign, when the work was all consolidated. Although the [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]] declined after Elizabeth's death, it was very effective while she was alive.

Elizabeth died in 1603 at the age of 69.