Spain in the 16th Century

Ferdinand died on Jan. 23, 1516, and the crowns of the Spanish kingdoms devolved on his grandson, Charles I (1516-56), the ruler of the Netherlands and heir to the Habsburg dominions in Austria and southern Germany. When Charles arrived in Spain, in September 1517, the country was apprehensive of the rule of a foreigner. Charles, inexperienced, speaking no Spanish, and surrounded by Burgundian councillors and courtiers, did not initially make a good impression. The different Cortes of Castile, Aragon, and Catalonia granted his financial demands but attached to them much pointed advice and criticism.

On June 28, 1519, Charles was elected Holy Roman emperor as Charles V and prepared to go to Germany. As Charles set sail (May 20, 1520), the Castilian revolution had already begun. The towns, led by Toledo, formed a league and set up a revolutionary government. When the more radical and popular elements in the cities were gaining control of the comunero movement and beginning to spread it to the nobles' estates did the nobles combine to raise an army and defeat the comunero forces at Villalar (April 23, 1521).

Sir William Burghley

William Cecil Burghley was born in 1520 in England. He married 1535 Mary Cheke and had a son called Thomas, Mary died 22 February 1544. William Cecil served Queen Mary as a diplomat and was elected a Member of Parliament. In October 1551 he was knighted. In 1558-1572 he served Queen Elizabeth I as secretary. In 1571 Sir William Cecil is created Lord Burghley. Lord Burghley and Sir Francis Walsingham were instrumental in convincing Queen Elizabeth to have Mary Queen of Scots executed in 1587.He died on 4 August 1598.

Drzewiecki, Macek

France in the 16th Century

In France, the first half of the century saw the reign of François Ier, who brought the art and culture of the Italian Renaissance to France and encouraged the new humanistic learning. His contemporaries were Henry VIII of England and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, whose Hapsburg territories stretched from Hungary to Spain.

In the second half of the century, the dynastic struggles continued and the characters of many of the emerging nations of Europe were formed. Henry VIII of England was eventually succeeded by Elizabeth, perhaps England's greatest monarch. Her age was one of genius, exploration, and growing national pride. Charles V divided his empired between his son Philip II, who received Spain and the Netherlands, and his brother Ferdinand, who received the eastern territories (Austria/Hungary) and the imperial title. Philip II was the most powerful monarch of the age, controlling an empire that stretched completely around the world. The mind-boggling riches of the New World were his, and for the most part they were spent making war to enforce Catholicism in the Netherlands and elsewhere. By the end of the century, Spain had declared bankruptcy twice.

By: Ilievski Boban and Zivotic Aleksandar

HENRY THE 8th by michi, marcus, edi (don)

Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France, from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.
Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy. Although in the great part of his reign he brutally suppressed the Protestant reformation of the church.

Henry became impatient with what he perceived as Catherine's inability to produce the heir he desired. All of Catherine's children died in infancy except his daughter Mary. Henry wanted a male heir, to avoid rival claims to the crown like those which had caused the Wars of the Roses before Henry's father, Henry VII, became king.In 1525, as Henry grew more impatient, he became enamoured with a charismatic young woman in the Queen's entourage, Anne Boleyn. Anne at first resisted his attempts to seduce her, and refused to become his mistress as her sister Mary Boleyn had.

The breaking of the power of Rome in England proceeded little by little. In 1532, a lawyer who was a supporter of Anne, Thomas Cromwell, brought before Parliament a number of acts including the Supplication against the Ordinaries and the Submission of the Clergy, which recognised Royal Supremacy over the church. Following these acts, Thomas More resigned as Chancellor, leaving Cromwell as Henry's chief minister.

Henry married 6 times

Late in life, Henry became grossly overweight (with a waist measurement of 54 inches/137 cm) and had to be moved about with the help of mechanical inventions. He was covered with suppurating boils and possibly suffered from gout. His obesity dates from a jousting accident in 1536 in which he suffered a leg wound. This prevented him from exercising and gradually became ulcerated. It undoubtedly hastened his death at the age of 55, which occurred on 28 January 1547 in the Palace of Whitehall

Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk

Born
10 March 1536(1536-03-10)
Died
2 June 1572 (aged 36)Tower Hill , London, England

Cause of death
Executed
Resting place
St Peter ad Vincula, London, England
Nationality
English
Title
4th Duke of Norfolk
Spouse(s)
Mary FitzAlan, Margaret Audley, Elizabeth Leyburne
Children
5

He was an English nobleman, also the 1st Earl of Southampton.
Howard was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by Joh Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Howard's patronage. His father predeceased him and so Thomas inherited the Dukedom of Norfolk upon the death of his grandfather, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk in 1554.
Norfolk was related to Queen Elizabeth I of England through her mother's family and was trusted with public office despite his family's history and, although he claimed to be a Protestant, his prior support for the Catholic cause.

First wife
Thomas Howard's first wife was Mary FitzAlan, who after the death of her brother Henry in 1556 became heiress to the Arundel Estates of her father Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel. She died after a year of marriage having given birth to a son Philip Howard, who later became 20th Earl of Arundel. It is from this marriage that the present Duke of Norfolk takes his name of 'FitzAlan-Howard' and why his seat is in Arundel. Though her funeral effigy is there, Mary FitzAlan was never buried at Framlingham, but at the church of St. Clement Without, Tempel Bar and then at Arundel.

Second wife
Thomas next married another heiress, Margaret daughter of Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden. She also died young.
Margaret's children by her marriage to Norfolk were two boys and two girls. Both Mary and Margaret have their tomb effigies at St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham.

Third wife
After Margaret's death, Thomas married Elizabeth Leyburne, widow of Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre of Gillesland.
Norfolk made remarkable marriage plans whereby Elizabeth's three daughters by Dacre became the wives of the sons of his own

Attempted fourth marriage, plots and death
Elizabeth I imprisoned Norfolk in 1569 for scheming to marry Mary, Queen of Scots.
Following his release, he perhaps participated in the Ridolfi plot with King Philip II of Spain to put Mary on the English throne and restore Catholicism in England and was executed for treason in 1572. He is buried at St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London.
Norfolk's lands and titles were forfeited, although much of the estate was restored to his sons. The title of Duke of Norfolk was restored, four generations later, to Thomas Howard.

My Opinion

I think he was a ruther evil person and somehow that is fastinating too.