On the death of Henry VIII his 10-year-old son becomes king of England as Edward VI

John Knox is captured in St Andrews and is sent to serve in the French fleet as a galley slave

The first version of the English prayer book, or Book of Common Prayer, is published with text by Thomas Cranmer

Mary I succeeds to the English throne, and devotes her energies to the restoration of the Catholic faith

Mary I causes grave offence in England by her marriage to the Catholic heir to the king of Spain

The Muscovy Company is granted a monopoly by the crown to trade with Russia, as the first of the English chartered companies

Elizabeth I succeeds peacefully to the throne of England, after the turmoil of Mary's Catholic reign

Mary Queen of Scots marries the heir to the French throne, who a year later succeeds as Francis II

With its strong French connection, the Scottish royal name of Stewart begins to be spelt Stuart (there being no 'w' in native French words)

John Knox returns to Scotland from Geneva and inspires the Protestants to march on Edinburgh

A year after Mary has become queen of France, her husband Francis II dies

Mary Queen of Scots returns from France to Edinburgh, and to an inevitable clash with John Knox

Marlowe and Shakespeare are born in the same year, with Marlowe the older by two months

Mary Queen of Scots marries her Catholic cousin, Henry Darnley

Mary Queen of Scots' secretary, David Rizzio, is dragged from her presence and stabbed to death

Mary Queen of Scots' husband Darnley is treacherously involved in the murder of her secretary, Rizzio

The mathematician, astrologer and alchemist John Dee moves to a house in Mortlake on the site of the building now known as the Queen’s Head

The Book of Common Prayer and the New Testament are published in Welsh, to be followed by the complete Bible in 1588

Darnley is murdered, almost certainly at the instigation of Mary Queen of Scots' lover, Bothwell, whom she marries just three months later

A casket of letters seems to incriminate Mary Queen of Scots herself in the murder of her husband, Darnley

The events of this year give the Protestant nobility the occasion and opportunity of deposing Mary Queen of Scots

On the removal of Mary from the Scottish throne, her one-year-old son succeeds her as James VI

Mary Queen of Scots flees across the border to seek the help of her English cousin, Elizabeth, but finds herself kept under close guard

A rebellion in the north of England aims to put Mary Queen of Scots on the English throne

Pope Pius V excommunicates the English queen, Elizabeth I, causing a severe crisis of loyalty for her Catholic subjects