After his success at the battle of Novara Louis XII was able to take control of the city of Milan and it's surrounding area.

The secret treaty signed by Loius XIII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon who agreed to both invade Naples and remove King Frederick from power. Once it had been captured it was agreed that Italy was to divided between France and Spain.

King Henry VII held a tournament at the Tower of London.

Urquhart Castle was given as a gift to the Grant family by King James IV of Scotland with the understanding that extensive building work was to be carried out. This included the construction of a new tower and supporting buildings so that the surrounding lands could be better protected.

Pope Julius II declared Louis XII was no longer the rightful King of France. Venice and Spain joined the League to remove the French king from power. King Henry VIII also joined the League declaring war on France.

Henry prepared an invasion fleet and set sail for Calais.

The French cavalry arrived to assist the town of Therouanne which was under siege from the English. The French horsemen were attacked and turned and fled with the English in hot pursuit across the area of Guingate. The battle was known as the Battle of the Spurs due to the speed of the French retreat from the battlefield. The town of Therouanne fell to the English a couple of weeks later. The English entered the town and raised it to the ground.

After the victory at Therouanne, Henry turned to Tournai. The town fell to the English who entered it but this time took control and stationed a garrison there. Thomas Wolsey was given the bishopric of the town.

King James IV of Scotland's invasion of England came to an end at the Battle of Flodden where he was killed. The English were led by Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. King Henry VIII was in France at the time.

Wolsey negotiated a peace treaty between England and France whereby King Louis XII married the younger sister Mary of King Henry VIII and had to pay Henry pension money owed to him under the treaty of Etaples. Peace should be maintained not less than a year after the first of them should die.

Pope Leo X made proposals for a new crusade and sent word to the leading European countries for support. King Henry VIII and Thomas Wolsey were not convinced that it was a good idea.

The Treaty of London or Universal Peace was signed in London between the major European countries, England, France, Burgundy and many more. For Cardinal Wolsey this treaty was a plan to produce a peaceful Europe. The treaty stated that the countries must not attack one another and if they did the other countries would come to the aid of those being attacked. Within the treaty was the agreement that Mary, the 2 year-old daughter of King Henry VIII, would marry the French dauphin.

The Field of the Cloth of Gold was a meeting between King Henry VIII and King Francis I of France somewhere between Guines and Ardres near Calais. The meeting included a series of tournaments and jousts. The extravagant nature of the event giving the meeting its name.

The Treaty of Bruges was conducted in secrecy at Bruges between King Charles V, the Holy Roman Emporer, and Thomas Wolsey. In the terms of the treaty Wolsey promised Charles that King Henry VIII would join him in a joint campaign against France and Francis I. The meeting was held in secret because England was supposed to be a mediator in the dispute between Charles and Francis. The joint attacks of France would have to wait until March or May of 1523.

John Owen first cast cannons made from brass in England.

A short rebellion began and lasted a couple of weeks and was the prelude for a much larger rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. The Lincolnshire rebellion began in response to Henry VIII's unpopular policies, including the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Rebels also had grievances against Henry's unpopular advisers like Thomas Cranmer. The rebels consisted of both common people and land owners alike, but some land owners were forced to take part. The rebels reached Lincoln where they were assured King Henry VIII would listen to their demands if they disbanded. Meanwhile Henry ordered that an army should be sent to Lincoln to defeat the rebels. By the time that army, led by the Duke of Suffolk, reached Lincoln the rebels had dispersed.

A large rebellion began in north in Yorkshire following those in Lincolnshire. Known as The Pilgrimage of Grace this rebellion again protested against the unpopular policies and advisers of King Henry VIII. They wanted Henry to put a stop to the dissolution of the monasteries and the removal of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer and Henry's adviser Thomas Cromwell. The leader of the rebellion was Robert Aske, a lawyer and excellent organiser. Somewhere between 30,000 and 35,000 rebels were involved and they took control of Pontefract Castle which fell to them without any resistance.

The Duke of Norfolk met with leaders of the rebels on Doncaster Bridge where their demands were heard. The Duke asked the rebels to disband promising that their demands would be considered. The rebels complied with the request to disband and returned home. King Henry VIII made no attempt to consider their demands.

At Pontefract the rebel leaders presented a list of demands. The rebels were assured of free pardons.

Although the main leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace were remaining peaceful and waiting for Henry VIII to look into their complaints others were not so trusting. Several uprisings occurred in the north east of England where Carlisle was besieged. The Duke of Norfolk was able to deal with the rebels and many of those suspected of taking part were hung in their villages as an example to the rest.

King Henry VIII summonsed the leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace to him in London where the rebels believed they would discuss terms with the King as they had been promised free pardons. Instead, Henry had the rebels arrested. They were sent back to their home lands where they were tried and executed.

King Henry VIII had a pair of castles built at the mouth of the River Fal near Falmouth in Cornwall. The River mouth is a natural deep water harbour and needed protecting from invasion. These were Pendennis and St. Mawes Castles.

King Henry VIII renewed his claim on the Scottish throne and sent his army in the north of England into Scotland. The army was met by a Scottish army led by George Gordon the 4th Earl of Huntley at Haddon Rig in Teviotdale. The Scots defeated the English led by Robert Bowes.

The battle at Solway Moss ended in a terrible defeat for the Scottish when they were overrun by a much smaller force of English troops led by Sir Thomas Wharton. Several high-worth Scottish prisoners were taken and transported to the Tower of London for future ransom. The shock of the defeat is supposed to have been so great for the Scottish king, James V, that he died just a few weeks later.

James V of Scotland died. It is thought that the shock of the defeat of the Scottish army at Solway Moss a few weeks earlier led to his death. His daughter Mary was only a week or so old when he died and she became queen, known as Mary Queen of Scots. James Hamilton, Earl of Arran became regent of Scotland as Mary was too young to rule.

At Greenwich a treaty was signed by the Scots and King Henry VIII swearing firstly peace between the two nations and secondly the agreement that Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, should marry Henry's son Edward. Although these two treaties were initially agreed they had been rejected by the Scots by the end of the year. King Henry at first wanted Mary to be brought to England but two sides agreed that she should remain in Scotland until her tenth birthday.

King Henry VIII built Southsea Castle at the entrance to Portsmouth harbour to protect against French invasions.

King Henry VIII built Hurst Castle, another of his chain of gun-fort castles on the south coast of England designed to defend England from a French invasion. The castle was built on a spit of land stretching out into the Solent.

After the collapse of the Treaties of Greenwich, which were supposed to bring peace between England and Scotland and the marriage of Prince Edward to Mary, King Henry VIII tried to get agreement through force. The King sent the Earl of Hertford (Lord Hertford) with an army to Scotland and in May they attacked and destroyed Edinburgh. This was the first military action in a series of engagements between England and Scotland now known as the Rough Wooing.

King Henry VIII watched from Portsmouth as the Mary Rose, the flag ship of his navy, mysteriously sank with the loss of hundreds of lives.

After a lengthy siege failed to take the well defended castle at St. Andrews, Mary of Guise asked the French for help. The castle at St. Andrews was captured and the Protestant leaders and John Knox were taken into custody.

A condition of King Henry VIII's will was the marriage of his son Edward to Mary, Queen of Scots. It was his hope to unite the two nations. But the Scottish refused to comply. So Somerset, the Protector of England took an army in Scotland. These events were part of a series known as the 'Rough Wooing'.

Thousands of Scots gathered near the town of Musselburgh, just to the east of Edinburgh. They faced an English army led by the Duke of Somerset. The Scots had a good position on the battle field but wasted it when they attacked. The Scots were heavily defeated. The defeat at Pinkie Cleugh was a threat to Mary, Queen of Scots, and so she was secretly moved from Stirling Castle to the Augustinian Inchmahome Priory located on an island on lake Menteith.

To comply with the agreement to marry Mary Stuart to the French Dauphin, the young queen was moved from Inchmahome Priory to Dumbarton Castle on the banks of the River Clyde on the west of Scotland. It was here that she waited before sailing to France.

The request of the Scottish Regent, Mary of Guise, for help to fight the English was answered by the arrival of an army of several thousand French. The assistance came on condition that her daughter Mary Stuart should marry the French Dauphin, Francis and is known as the Treaty of Haddington.

The war between England and Scotland and France was ended with the signing of the Treaty of Boulogne. The English withdrew from Scotland. This allowed the French king, Henry II to concentrate on his enemy, Charles V, The Holy Roman Emporer.

Mary Tudor called for support against the Duke of Northumberland and Lady Jane Grey. Large numbers of supporters gathered around her at Kenninghall Manor in Norfolk with supplies and weapons.

The Duke of Northumberland and an army of some 3,000 men travelled to Cambridge in an attempt to stop Mary Tudor. Moving on to Bury St. Edmunds the Duke came up against a much larger army supporting Mary. Accepting defeat, Northumberland was arrested and taken back to London to be held in the Tower of London.

Mary Tudor arrived at London to a huge welcome. Entering through Aldgate she was met by Elizabeth, Anne of Cleves and many others. Mary quickly ordered the release of her supporters that had been locked up at the Tower of London. The Duke of Northumberland and his supporters were placed in the Tower of London to await trial and execution.

Several groups around the country were unhappy with the proposal of marriage between Mary and Philip of Spain. In Wales a group was led by Sir James Croft. In Devon another group was led by Sir Peter Carew. The Duke of Suffolk was in Leicestershire, but it was only Sir Thomas Wyatt from Kent who managed to get a force together.

Queen Mary sent a letter to Elizabeth asking her to come to London. This was, Mary said, for her own protection because to the rebels threatening to prevent the marriage of Mary to Philip of Spain. Mary could have been unsure of Elizabeth's involvement in the plots against her and it was best to keep Elizabeth close where she could be watched.

Sir Thomas Wyatt and this followers reached London but he was to learn that the other groups of rebels around the country had been defeated and their leaders arrested. The entrance into London was blocked by the Londoners whose support for Mary was higher than the rebels. After a short fight the rebels were defeated leaving many dead and Wyatt was captured. on 11th of April 1554. Elizabeth was also held in the Tower for a while as it was suspected she was involved in the plots because she would have benefited if they had succeeded.

Sir Thomas Wyatt was executed at Tower Hill for leading the rebellion against Queen Mary. Wyatt denied that Elizabeth had been involved in any part of rebellion.

Philip returned to England and Mary's side. During his stay he attempted to persuade the Queen to declare war on France.

Thomas Stafford, a Protestant, and a small number of followers who had fled from Mary's persecution captured Scarborough Castle on the Yorkshire coast. They did so by entering the castle on market day disguised as peasants. When enough of his men had entered the castle they took control of the gates and let in the rest of the small army. Their hope was to start an uprising against the Queen and this endevour may have been aranged by Henry II, the French King. But within three days Thomas Stafford had been captured. He was taken to London and executed.

The defences of Calais had not been maintained as Queen Mary had been spending the country's wealth elsewhere and when the French laid siege to the city it did not take long for it to fall. The shock of losing Calais was felt all over England.

In Scotland, the regent, Mary of Guise had designs to place put her daughter Mary on the throne of England. There were many Protestants in Scotland and Queen Elizabeth had been secretly helping them in their opposition of the regent and her daughter. There were fears in Scotland that Mary of Guise, a devote Catholic, would secure French assistance and make Scotland a French territory, The Lords of the Congregation, who by now now were a powerful force in Scotland, pushed for an agreement with England that English help would be provided against a French invasion. Queen Elizabeth agreed to this and the treaty was signed at Berwick by the Scots and the Queen's representative, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk.

Mary Stuart's mother, Mary of Guise, died in Scotland leaving the country in a state of civil war.

The Treaty of Richmond was signed in secret by Queen Elizabeth and Louis Bourbon prince of Condé, the leader of the Huguenots. The Huguenots were French Protestants or French Calvanists. In return for Elizabeth's military assistance in France the prince promised the return of Calais to the English.

George Gordon, the 4th Earl of Huntley rebelled against Queen Mary and at the battle of Corrichie his supporters were defeated by the Earl of Moray. Huntley died at the battle but not from a wound but because he was overweight and the strain of the events was too much for him.

As part of the secret treaty of Richmond, an English garrison was allowed to station itself at Le Havre and would swap the town for Calais once Calais was recaptured. The garrison of around 3,000 men was lead by the Earl of Warwick.

The Huguenots abandoned their treaty with Elizabeth and abandoned the English garrison at Le Harve. An outbreak of the plague struck the garrison leaving many dead or dying. Although reinforcements were sent to assist, the Earl of Warwick had little choice but to leave the town and return to England. The returning men bringing the plague back to England with them.

Queen Mary managed to escape from Lochleven Castle and found support from the Hamiltons. A large army was raised.

At the battle of Langside, the Hamiltons' army was defeated and three days later Queen Mary had fled to England. By the 18th of May Mary was at Carlisle Castle.

Francis Throckmorton was found guilty of carrying messages with details of an assassination attempt to murder Queen Elizabeth, an invasion by Spain and the freeing of Mary Stuart from captivity. Along with the Earl of Northumberland, Throckmorton was put in the Tower of London before being executed for treason. Before his death, Throckmorton revealed that Queen Mary knew about the plot.

In response to the assassination threat to Queen Elizabeth an agreement signed by her supporters was devised. Those who signed agreed to prevent those who plotted against the Queen to succeed to the throne if the assassination was successful. They also agreed to prosecute anyone who would benefit whether they were involved in the assassination or not. The third agreement promised to chase down and kill those who carried out the assassination attempt. This move was hoped to prevent supporters of Mary Stuart directly or indirectly taking part in any more plots against the Queen.

A plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth was uncovered. The person accused and found guilty was Dr. Parry, a supporter of Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scots. It was found that he had been assisted by Thomas Morgan, Mary Stuart's assistant who was looking after her affairs in Paris. Parry was executed for treason but no other action was taken.

Drake's mission was to attack Spanish ships in their harbours and capture supplies. After he sailed new orders were sent to prevent him attacking Spanish harbours but he did not receive the message.

In mid-afternoon Drake's small fleet or four ships sailed in to Cadiz harbour and opened fire with their cannons on the many cargo boats lining the docks. By the end of the day the harbour was alight with the flames of the burning ships.

To put down the Irish revolt led by Hugh of O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, Queen Elizabeth sent the Earl of Essex to Ireland with a large army. The Queen had given him instructions regarding the campaign againt The Earl of Tyrone, but Essex ignored them all. Rather than bringing the Irish rebellion to an end by force, the two Earls agreed a peace treaty, When word of this reached Elizabeth, she baned Essex from returning to England. Essex was angered by this and even planned to return to England and remove Elizabeth from the thone. But he was pursuaded against this course of action.