Do you think the Tudor Age was crucial to the development of England, or do you think it left England behind?

Answer 1

The Tudor age was crucial to the development of England. It was the period when the merchant class/middle class began to emerge from the medieval feudalism. Much of this had to do with the Tudor promotion of "new men" who were not nobility, but rather gentry and yeoman.

The Tudor period also experienced the dissolution of the monasteries, which transferred a lot of wealth in the form of land and buildings from the church to these new men, since many of them were into making profits they often resold this land which meant it was put into a stream of commerce that created wealth. Similarly, since Henry VIII was always looking for ready cash for a war or to build a palace, he sold a lot of crown lands, pumping wealth into the economy on these new men.

During the reign of Elizabeth I the development of some companies began--like the East India Company (founded in 1600) given monopoly privileges on all trade with the East Indies. This was the beginning of the British mercantile Empire.

During this time there was a tremendous outgrowth in the arts--especially the literary arts--remember this is the time of people like Dryden and Shakespeare to name a few--they depended on the patronage of the English crown and the Tudors' "new men."

Also during this time the English also saw the development of its first navy. John Hawkins took the Spanish galleon and chopped off a lot of the superstructure to make a lower, sleeker, faster and more manoeverable ship...this was the foundation of early English Naval strength. Elizabeth also supported privateers that made her wealthy but which also meant that Englishmen were exploring the globe--so you have the exploits of Drake for example. All of this is the underpinning of England's economic growth and the development of its empire in the next 2-3 centuries to follow.

The Tudor period is the fist period when England began to be viewed as a single nation, so you can say that a national identity developed at this time.

Another step forward was the emergence of the regular sitting of Parliament. Henry VIII required Parliament to approve much of his new religious program and used an Act of Parliament to settle the succession after him. This is the root of the modern Parliamentary power, prior to the Tudors it met irregularly and was considered merely an advisor to the King in most aspects. The Tudor use of Parliament as an instrument to further their programs, created a more permanent and more powerful institution that was beginning to exercise more power. Similarly, the use of the Privy Council, eventually lead to the development of the Cabinet system and the power of the Prime Minister, who of course became the head of government (the King remaining only the head of state today). Origin of the modern minstry is the Tudor period.

The Tudors also made great advances in law, the English law courts were very heavily weighed down by procedure, litigation took a long time and could be affected by wealth. The Tudors created the Court of Star Chamber which many times cut through the law court's red tape and did justice...the early Court under the Tudors was a flexible, fair instrument of justice--later of course, it became a court used to support tyranny and the royal supremacy, but the early court was a novel development in law.

The Tudors understood that they needed the support of the people--perhaps because they only had weak claims to the English throne in the first place--because of this, the knew that they had a public that had to be wooed to keep its support. It was therefore a successful ruling house, unfortunately Elizabeth was the last of them. I posit that had there been more Tudors of her and her father and grandfather's qualities, the English Revolution which happened under the Stuarts, might never have happened.

The downside is that the Tudors came as close to being divine right absolute monarchs as ever there was in England. And it could be that this successful absolutism directly caused the Revolutions because the Stuarts were not as adept as the Tudors at maintaining it....

Answer 2

Yes it was crucial. It lifted Britain out of the shadow of a long series of civil wars (The Wars of the Roses) and saw what they call Englands "Golden Age" under Queen Elizabeth I.
Most importantly it drew England out of the Middle Ages and in to the Renaissance!
It saw it's Navy being founder - the formation of the Church of England - expansion into the New world and the defeat of an invasion attempt by the World Superpower at he time - Spain.
It really shaped ALL that came after!!!

Answer 3

England is still there, isn't it?