| 1509-1547 | reign of Henry VIII |
| 1534 | Henry's split with Rome |
| 1547-1553 | reign of Edward VI |
| 1553-1558 | reign of Mary |
| 1558-1603 | reign of Elizabeth I |
| 1580s | first English plantations in Ireland |
| 1600 | establishment of the English East India Company |
| 1603-1625 | reign of James I |
| 1607 | establishment of the Jamestown colony |
| 1620 | Mayflower... |
| 1625-1649 | reign of Charles I |
| 1628 | Petition of Right (against taxes and arbitrary royal power) |
| war with Scotland | |
| 1640 | Short Parliament |
| 1640- | Long Parliament |
| 1642-1649 | War of the Three Kingdoms |
| 1649-1660 | the Commonwealth |
| 1651 | first Navigation Act |
| 1660 | the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy |
| reign of James II | |
| 1688 | the Glorious Revolution |