Key Figures
Who was Elizabeth I?
-queen of England 1558-1603, last Tudor monarch
-protestant, Elizabethan Era
-cultural movements, start of English expansion overseas
Who was Henry VIII?
-king of England 1509-1547
-know for having 6 wives, desired male heir
What are the three branches of the British government?
-Legislative (Parliament: House of Commons, House of Lords)
-Executive (Prime Minister, Cabinet)
-Judicial (Courts)
What was the Magna Carta?
-document signed by monarch in 1215 that limited the power of the monarch and subjected monarch to laws
Where did the mission Aretmis II go?
around the moon
Who was Charles 1, and what type of right did he believe he had?
-king of England 1625-1649
-Divine Right (believed he was a direct representative of God and could not be challenged)
What is the mnemonic to remember the fate of Henry VIII’s wives?
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived
What is the House of Commons and what is its role?
-elected chamber of parliament (members of parliament [MPs] elected by British people, serve max 5 years but can be reelected)
-pass legislation, hold prime minister accountable, taxation/spending
Who signed the Magna Carta, and did they want to?
-King John
-no, he had refused a common charter to lords/barons to give them rights
-only signed because they threatened civil war
What was the dress code of the Met Gala last week?
Fashion is art
What were the two sides of the English civil war?
-Charles I and the Royalists (typically Catholic)
-Parliamentarians (typically protestant)
What happened to parliament in 1629?
-Charles I dissolved parliament to make decisions and raise taxes on his own
What is the House of Lords and what is its role?
-chamber of parliament
-members are selected by the prime minister and formally appointed by the monarch, serve for life
-some members have a hereditary position
-revise and review laws passed by the House of Commons
Wars of the Roses: when, who vs who, and why?
-1455-1487
-Lancaster family vs York family
-right to throne
What American airline just went out of business?
Spirit Airlines
Why were taxes unpopular under Charles I?
-illegal taxes
-raised taxes without parliament’s approval
-used taxes to fight his war in Scotland
When and what was the English Renaissance?
-peaked mid 1500s-1600s during the Elizabethan Era
-cultural and intellectual movement
-arts and new ways of thinking flourished
-Shakespeare
What is the Prime Minister and how do they obtain the role?
-head of the executive branch
-elected to House of Commons as a member of parliament
-become leader of majority political party in House of Commons after a general election (at least every 5 years, can stay in position with enough seats in parliament)
How did the Wars of the Roses end?
-Battle of Bosworth: Richard III (York) was killed, Henry VII became king (Lancaster) but married Elizabeth of York
-unified families into the Tudors
What was the highest grossing box office movie in the US in April 2026?
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Explain the significance of the Spanish Armada to British history.
-Britain asserted its naval/military power
-resisted domination by a Catholic country
-increased national pride
-viewed as a strong nation, started to venture overseas to develop an empire
Why was the reign of Henry VIII a turning point for the relation between the monarch and the church?
-broke from Pope and Catholic Church
-named monarch head of English Church
-increased royal control over religion
-distanced England from Catholicism
What powers does the monarch have today?
-open and dissolve parliament, appointing prime minister, approve laws, ceremonial head of military
-all done on advice of the government
-prerogative powers = powers formally held by the monarch that are now in the hands of other members of government
Who led the Suffragettes in the 1910s and what did they want?
-Emmeline Pankhurst
-equal voting rights for men and women
-greater female voice in politics and society
Who recently visited the White House and joked, “"Dare I say that, if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French...!"
King Charles