16th Century (1500s)

Question 1

How did Henry VIII’s reign shape the English Reformation? (r.1509-1547)

Answer 1

• Who He Was:
  
  • King known for breaking away from the Catholic Church.
• Impact on Reformation:
  
  • Established the Church of England, initiating the English Reformation.
  • Centralized religious and political authority under the monarchy.
  • House: Tudor

Question 2

What was the significance of the Act of Supremacy in Henry VIII’s reign? (1534)

Answer 2

• What It Was:
  
  • An act passed under Henry VIII.
• Significance:
  
  • Declared the king as the Supreme Head of the Church of England.
  • Marked the official break from the Catholic Church.

Question 3

What was the Dissolution of the Monasteries’ impact on Catholicism in England? (1536-1541)

Answer 3

• What It Was:
  
  • Henry VIII’s policy of closing and seizing the property of monasteries across England.
• Impact:
  
  • Significantly increased royal wealth.
  • Weakened the power and influence of the Catholic Church in England.

Question 4

How did Mary Tudor’s reign earn her the moniker “Bloody Mary”? (r. 1553-1558)

Answer 4

• Who She Was:
  
  • Successor to Edward VI, daughter of Henry VIII.
• Why “Bloody Mary”:
  
  • Known for her persecution of Protestants in an attempt to restore Catholicism in England.

Question 5

How did Elizabeth I’s reign contribute to the development of England? (r. 1558-1603) House of Tudor.

Answer 5

• Who She Was:
  
  • Queen of the eponymous Elizabethan Era, a golden age in England.
• Contributions:
  
  • Marked by the flourishing of English culture and the arts.
  • Defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, establishing England as a dominant naval power.
  • Solidified Protestantism in England.

Question 6

What was the Spanish Armada and why was it significant? (1588)

Answer 6

• What It Was:
  
  • A failed naval invasion by Spain in 1588.
• Significance:
  
  • The English navy defeated the Spanish fleet near the English Channel.
  • Established England as a dominant naval power, marks the fall of Spanish influence.

Question 7

When was the East India Company formed and why was it important? (1600)

Answer 7

• What It Was:
  
  • Formed by royal charter from Elizabeth I.
• Importance:
  
  • Became a powerful force in global trade.
  • Marked the beginning of England’s overseas expansion and influence in Asia and India.

Question 8

What was the Great English Bible of 1539 and what distinguished it from other Bibles? (1539)

Answer 8

• What It Was:
  
  • The first authorized edition of the Bible in English.
• Significance:
  
  • Authorized by King Henry VIII to be read aloud in the Church of England.
  • Distinct for being the official Bible for English-speaking congregations.

Question 9

Who was William Shakespeare and why is he considered the pinnacle of English literature? (c.1564-1616)

Answer 9

• Who He Was:
  
  • A key figure of the English Renaissance.
• Significance:
  
  • Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets are considered some of the greatest in the English language.
  • Profoundly influenced English literature and culture.

Question 10

What was the Scientific Revolution and its importance in England? (c.1600s-1700s)

Answer 10

• A period marked by major advances in science and the approach to scientific inquiry.
• Importance in England:
  
  • Emphasized observation and experimentation.
  • Led to new discoveries in fields like astronomy, physics, and biology.
  • Fundamentally changed how people understood the natural world.

Question 11

Who was Francis Drake and why was he significant? (c.1540 – 1596)

Answer 11

• Who He Was:
  
  • An English sea captain and privateer.
• Significance:
  
  • The first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe (1577-1580).
  • Played a key role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, making him a national hero.

Question 12

What is Caesaropapism, and how could it apply to Henry VIII?

Answer 12

• What It Is:
  
  • Caesaropapism refers to the combination of secular and religious authority under one ruler.
• Application to Henry VIII:
  
  • King Henry VIII embodied this when he became the Supreme Head of the Church of England in 1534.

Question 13

Who was Sir Thomas More, and why was he executed? (c.1478-1535)

Answer 13

• Who He Was:
  
  • Philosopher, author of Utopia, and statesman.
  • Served as Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII.
• Reason for Execution:
  
  • Refused to endorse the king’s divorce and the Church of England.
  • Became a symbol of conscience and integrity.

Question 14

Who was Sir Walter Raleigh and why was he significant? (c.1552-1618)

Answer 14

• Who He Was:
  
  • Explorer, writer, and courtier.
• Significance:
  
  • Known for popularizing tobacco in England.
  • Led expeditions to the Americas, including attempts to establish the Roanoke Colony.

Question 15

Who was Sir Francis Bacon, and how did he influence scientific thought? (c.1561-1626)

Answer 15

• Who He Was:
  
  • Philosopher, statesman, and essayist.
• Influence:
  
  • Often credited as a father of the scientific method.
  • Bacon’s works, including Novum Organum, laid the groundwork for modern scientific inquiry.
  • Emphasized observation and experimentation in scientific thought.

Question 16

What was Francis Bacon’s method of induction, and how did it revolutionize science?

Answer 16

• What It Was:
  
  • Bacon proposed a new method of scientific inquiry based on inductive reasoning.
• How It Worked:
  
  • Instead of starting with general principles, his method required the collection and careful observation of data from specific instances gradually built up to general conclusions.
  • Detailed in The New Organon, this approach was designed to avoid errors and biases from premature conclusions.

Question 17

Who was Edmund Spenser, and what is his most famous work? (c.1552-1599)

Answer 17

• Who He Was:
  
  • Poet best known for The Faerie Queene.
• Significance:
  
  • An epic poem celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I.
  • A masterpiece of allegory and a significant contribution to English literature.

Question 18

What is the Roanoke Colony famously known as?

Answer 18

• “The Lost Colony”.
• Significance:
  
  • Founded in 1585, abandoned five short years later, in 1590.
  • Only clue left behind was the word “CROATOAN” carved into a tree.

Question 19

Name some of Shakespeare’s history plays.

Answer 19

Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Edward III, and King John.

Question 20

Name some of Shakespeare’s comedies.

Answer 20

As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, and Twelfth Night.

Question 21

Name some of Shakespeare’s tragedies.

Answer 21

Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Timon of Athens, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus.

Question 22

What honorifics have been bestowed upon William Shakespeare?

Answer 22

“The Bard of Avon”, referencing his birthplace Stratford upon Avon.
“The Immortal Bard”, referencing his enduring fame.

Question 23

Who was Christopher Marlowe and what works did he author? (c.1564-1593)

Answer 23

• Who He Was:
  
  • Famed English playwright.
  • Contemporary of Shakespeare.
• Notable Works:
  
  • Known for his influential Elizabethan tragedies, such as Doctor Faustus.