1485
Henry Tudor takes the crown as Henry VII upon the defeat of Richard III at Bosworth Field.
1488
On the death of his father, James III, James IV becomes king of Scotland.
1503
James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, the daughter of Henry VII.
1509
On the death of his father, Henry VII, Henry VIII accedes to the throne.
1509
Henry VIII marries his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
1511
England joins the Holy League in a war against France and Scotland.
1512
War is declared between England and France.
1512
The Royal Mail is founded.
1513
James IV of Scotland dies in the battle of Flodden, where his forces are defeated by the English.
1514
A peace treaty is signed between England and France.
1514
James V, aged just one year old, accedes to the throne of Scotland.
1514
Work begins on the palace at Hampton Court.
1516
Mary Tudor, later Mary I, is born to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.
1517
Martin Luther produces his 95 Theses in Wittenberg.
1520
Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France meet at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
1521
Martin Luther is excommunicated by Pope Leo X.
1525
Revolts in England in lead to the abandonment of the Amicable Grant tax.
1526
Hans Holbein the Younger visits England for the first time.
1526
The Tyndale Bible is the first English language bible to appear in print. It is banned and William Tyndale is later executed.
1527
Henry VIII begins annulment proceedings against Catherine of Aragon.
1527
Henry VIII sponsors the first attempt to reach the North Pole and Northwest Passage under John Rut.
1532 - 1590
Life of Francis Walsingham, secretary and spymaster to Elizabeth I.
1533
Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, annuls the marriage between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.
1533
Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn.
1534
Elizabeth Tudor, later Elizabeth I, is born to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
1534
The Act of Supremacy establishes Henry VIII and subsequent monarchs as the head of the Church of England, further enforced by the Treasons Act in the same year.
1535
Thomas More and John Fisher are executed under the Treasons Act of 1534.
1536
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, the policy of appropriating income and property from the church, begins.
1536
Anne Boleyn is beheaded on charges of adultery. Eleven days later, Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour.
1536
The 'Pilgrimage of Grace' - religious opposition to monastic dissolutions produces rebellions in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Cumberland.
1537
Jane Seymour gives birth to a male heir, the future Edward VI, but dies shortly after.
1539
The Great Bible, the first authorized edition in English, is published for use in services of the Church of England.
1540
Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves. Their marriage is annulled later the same year.
1540
Henry VIII marries Catherine Howard.
1541
Henry VIII is declared King of Ireland by statute of the Parliament of Ireland.
1542
Catherine Howard is beheaded on the charge of adultery.
1542
Mary Stuart accedes to the thrones as Mary I of Scotland, also known as Queen of Scots.
1543
Henry VIII marries his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr.
1543
Henry VIII proposes a marriage pact between his son, Edward, and Mary Queen of Scots; he is rejected by the Scottish parliament.
1543
Henry VIII, with the support of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, declares war against France.
1544
Henry VIII launches a punitive expedition into Scotland, known as the 'Rough Wooing', in response to his rejected marriage pact.
1544
English forces sack Edinburgh.
1544
English forces invade France.
1545
A Scottish army defeats the English at the Battle of Ancrum Moor.
1545
A French fleet enters the Solent but is repulsed; in the conflict, the English ship Mary Rose sinks.
1546
A peace treaty is signed between England and France.
1547
On the death of Henry VIII, his son Edward VI accedes to the throne with Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, as Lord Protector.
1547
Hostilities resume between England and Scotland as Lord Somerset defeats the Scottish army at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh.
1547 - 1619
Life of Nicholas Hilliard, goldsmith and artist who painted portrait miniatures of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England.
1548
French troops arrive in Scotland to support them in the war against England.
1548
Mary Queen of Scots escapes to France.
1549
France formally declares war against England.
1549
English forces abandon their position in Scotland.
1549
Kett's Rebellion in East Anglia against landowners; ends in Battle of Mousehold Heath outside Norwich.
1549
Peasants in the West Country revolt in protest against the newly published Book of Common Prayer.
1550
Porcelain known to have arrived in Britain. It is documented in Henry VIII's jewel house.
1550
A peace treaty is signed between England and France.
1551
A formal peace is agreed between England and Scotland.
1552
Further Protestant reforms include a revised Prayer Book and a new Act of Uniformity.
1553
On the death of Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey accedes to the throne. She is quickly replaced by Mary I of England.
1554
Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger leads an unsuccessful uprising in protest of Mary's decision to marry Philip II of Spain.
1554
Mary I marries Philip II of Spain.
1554
Mary I returns England to Catholicism and revives the Heresy Acts.
1555
The first executions of Protestants under the Heresy Acts take place.
1556
A plot to usurp Mary I is discovered and the conspirators in England executed.
1557
England joins Spain in a war against France.
1558
French forces capture Calais, the final English stronghold in France.
1558
On the death of Mary I, Elizabeth I accedes to the throne.
1558
Mary Queen of Scots marries the Dauphin Francis of France.
1559
With a new Act of Supremacy, Elizabeth I restores England to Protestantism.
1559
On the death of Henry II of France, Francis and Mary become king and queen of France.
1561
Mary Queen of Scots returns to Edinburgh a year after the death of her husband, Francis II of France.
1561 - 1626
Life of Francis Bacon.
1652
Conflict between Protestants and Catholics breaks out in France. Elizabeth I supports the Protestant Huguenots and captures Le Havre.
1562
John Hawkins begins to lead expeditions to Spanish colonies in the New World.
1653
Le Havre is recaptured by French forces.
1563
The Statute of Artificers imposes maximum wage rates, regulates labour and implements compulsory service for unmarried people not in apprenticeship.
1564 - 1616
Life of William Shakespeare.
1564 - 1593
Life of Christopher Marlowe.
1565
Mary Queen of Scots marries her cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.
1565
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, leads a rebellion in Scotland protesting the marriage between Mary and Lord Darnley.
1566
Conspirators murder David Rizzio, secretary to Mary Queen of Scots.
1566
James Stuart, later James VI of Scotland and I of England, is born.
1567
Lord Darnley, husband of Mary Queen of Scots, is murdered at Kirk o' Field; Mary herself is implicated in the murder.
1567
Mary Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, Lord Bothwell.
1567
The first National Lottery is held with a grand prize of £5,000.
1567
Mary Queen of Scots is forced to abdicate and her son, James VI accedes to the throne of Scotland.
1567
The first permanent theatre in England, the Red Lion playhouse, is built in Whitechapel, London.
1568
A fleet of English privateers, including a ship commanded by Francis Drake, clashes with Spanish forces in the New World .
1568
Mary Queen of Scots is defeated at the Battle of Langside.
1568
Mary Queen of Scots flees across the border to seek the protection of Elizabeth I but is detained and imprisoned.
1568
The Bishop's Bible is published by the Church of England.
1569
An unsuccessful revolt among Northern Earls seeks to depose Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary Queen of Scots.
1569 - 1573
First Desmond Rebellion, as Irish factions attempt to resist English expansion in Ireland.
1570
Elizabeth I is excommunicated by Pope Pius V.