Xinkuan Li (Department of World History, Shanghai Normal University)
Tudor Dynasty, as a Dynasty in Britain that inherits the past and opens up the future, has always been one of the hot spots of British historians, and the inexhaustible Tudors cannot write endless stories, both mysterious and mysterious courts, and unexplained magnificent epics, the coexistence of greatness and bloodshed, which can always inspire infinite associations; the prosperity and conspiracy coexist, constantly leading to endless reverie. In recent years, China has also translated and published many books about the Tudor Dynasty, such as the just-published Tudor Dynasty ([English] Charles Edward Moberley: Tudor Dynasty: 1485-1547, Chinese Publishing House, 2020). The Tudor dynasty received much attention because it essentially opened up modernity through the wise reign of the three main monarchs, Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Elizabeth I.
Tudors: 1485-1547 by Charles Edward Moberley
One
Beginning with the Tudor dynasty, Britain embarked on the path of building a modern nation-state, gradually forming a political structure conducive to modern governance.
The first is the establishment of a relatively complete state administrative bureaucracy. Prior to this, the British administration was the royal government of the Middle Ages, and the administrative body was underdeveloped and its functions were unclear. From the time of Henry VII, the administrative apparatus was actively reformed to strengthen the centralization of power. By the time of Henry VIII, under the auspices of Cromwell, government reforms had been carried out, the Privy Council had been established as the central administrative organ, and the financial institutions had been perfected; the local government had formed a decentralized governance structure of sheriffs, magistrates, and lieutenants, and direct responsibility to the central government. The historian Elton saw the reform of government in 16th-century England as a "revolution" rather than a "revolution" because it introduced "bureaucratic administration in place of the individual control of the king, and management of the whole country in place of the management of the royal clique." The British state apparatus began to transform into a modern one, and the national administrative structure was basically formed, which set the direction for future development. Wallerstein, the founder of the modern theory of the world-system, pointed out: "The development of the state bureaucracy is crucial because it will fundamentally change the rules of politics and ensure that future decisions on economic policy cannot be easily formulated without state institutions." ”
Henry VII
Secondly, starting from Henry VII, parliaments were convened more often to negotiate taxes, and the consulting state was, especially during the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the parliament itself became a powerful tool for strengthening the power of the crown, playing an important role in the Reformation, government reform, and economic development, first, its legislative bills became the most authoritative legal form in the kingdom, and second, its tax voting had legal coercive power, especially the lower house of parliament, and its control gradually fell into the hands of the emerging gentry and industrialists. It becomes a political arena for expressing the demands of emerging economic forces. Parliamentary participation in the administration of the state gradually became the norm, and the establishment of this practice had a profound impact on the subsequent political process, and by the time of the Stuart dynasty, King James I and his successor Charles I, who came from Scotland, were unwilling to follow this practice, and tried to use the theory of the divine right of kings to promote personal despotism, which triggered the English Revolution and civil war, and finally completely resolved this contradiction through the Glorious Revolution, and established the principle of constitutional monarchy and rational rule.
Third, the Reformation was freed from interference with state power by the Catholic Church. Henry VIII's Reformation, politically depriving the Holy See of control of the affairs of the Church of England, declared the King of England to be the supreme head of the Church and had the right to handle all the affairs of the Church, that the Canon Decree was approved by the King, that cases were heard in the country, that taxes of the Church were handed over to the King, that high clergy such as bishops were appointed by the King; that economically, monasteries were dissolved, and ecclesiastical lands were confiscated and sold. The Church of England became a veritable national church. (See Tudor: 1485-1547, pp. 307-346.) During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Britain's religious policy was more tolerant, conducive to the development of freedom of thought, and also conducive to attracting skilled craftsmen persecuted by religion on the European continent to immigrate to Britain, bringing advanced technology to Britain and greatly improving the technical level of Britain.
Henry VIII
Two
During the Tudor period, Britain began to lay the first cornerstone of the modern economy, kicking off the prelude to (hand) industrialization and laying the foundation for the subsequent struggle for hegemony in Europe through mercantilist policies.
Before the Tudor Dynasty, Britain, whether geographically, or from the economic and cultural and technical point of view, Britain is a marginal country in the European world, a considerable part of foreign trade in the hands of Italian merchants and Hanseatic merchants, export commodities structure single, in addition to wool, hides, tin, lead and other raw materials, only wool wool is a manufactured product, the level of British industrial development is far behind other European countries. In the second half of the 16th century, with the encouragement of the Tudor government, especially with the support of Queen Elizabeth, England introduced technology and immigrants, developed new industries that utilized natural resources, and constantly opened up new sources of wealth. The development of these new industries initially met the needs of two types of markets: the military needs of the state and the basic material needs of the toiling masses. A large amount of capital began to pour into new metallurgical industries such as coal mining, copper smelting, zinc smelting, iron smelting, lead smelting, tin smelting, etc., and the brewing industry, construction industry, artillery industry, gun industry, iron and steel industry, wire industry, soap industry, salt industry and other industries also developed in Britain. The UK government has also taken a number of measures to restrict the export of industrial raw materials, including those for the military industry, and to encourage imports. The ban on the export of iron, copper, and bells was not abolished until 1694. These measures allowed Britain to quickly get rid of the situation in which the munitions industry was subject to people. Previously, Britain's military power was heavily dependent on military supplies in the Rhine region and northwestern Europe, and in the war of 1542-1550, Britain was forced to import almost every munition: mercenaries from Germany and Italy, funds from Antwerp, ships and naval supplies from the Baltic Region, anchors, guns and gunpowder from the Low Countries, small arms and equipment from Milan and Brescia, food for the army from Danzig and the Netherlands, bows from Switzerland and the Hanseatic. In this case, it was through the granting of concessions by the government and the guarantee of continuous large purchases that the capitalists were tempted to take the risk of investing heavily in industries such as mining and metallurgy, and finally the British munitions industry developed rapidly. By 1574, due to the rapid development of production, the government had to intervene to control sales and restrict production, because too many cannons were produced, and began to export to the rival countries of Britain.
The introduction of technology and the absorption and re-creation of technology is one of the national policies established since the time of Queen Elizabeth of the Tudor Dynasty. By granting foreign immigration patent rights, introducing foreign advanced technology, or through technology transfer channels such as industrial espionage, digesting and absorbing foreign technology into new technologies in China is an important path for achieving technological progress and upgrading in the early modern period of britain. The Elizabethan government encouraged and protected the technology of foreign immigrants by granting monopoly concessions to attract foreign skilled workers. It is through these measures that britain introduced a large number of flanders textile craftsmen, so that the backward British woolen process was greatly improved, the British iron industry blast furnace technology and cannon casting technology is dependent on the French to introduce, deep well mining is taught by German experts, the earliest manufacturing of paper, saltpeter, copper, brass, steel products and other technologies rely on German technology and German skilled workers. It is the introduction of the latest manufacturing processes in the saltpeter, glass, alum, metallurgy, rope, canvas and other industries that have made these new industries grow rapidly. The concession granted by the government grants, on the one hand, to foreign immigrants a monopoly for a certain period of time, and on the other hand, it also stipulates that new machines or processes must be practical, that these technologies must be passed on to the British during this period, that a certain proportion of British workers should be employed, that the products should not be too expensive, and that the production of similar products by old processes should not be prohibited. In this way, it not only protects the interests of the public, but also enables effective compensation if patent ownership is infringed. It was precisely because Officiation that The English (handicraft) industry took off during elizabeth I that the economic historian John Neff proposed that there was the first industrial revolution in England in 1540-1640.
In addition, the Tudor government actively paved the way for commercial development, in order to promote the development of British overseas trade, through peaceful negotiations with many countries to conclude mutually beneficial commercial treaties, the early Tudor government to develop their own overseas trade one of the main ways, is in the name of the country to sign a series of commercial treaties with various governments, to protect the corresponding rights of British merchants to engage in trade on the European continent, while using treaties with different countries to weaken and attack major commercial opponents. Beginning with Henry VII, the British government gave diplomatic support to London wool exporters, Henry VII signed commercial treaties with Denmark, Florence, France, Spain, the Netherlands, etc., and by the time of Elizabeth I, Britain's diplomatic orientation began to put the interests of the country and the nation first, and actively developed relations with other countries. According to statistics, during the tudor rule, Britain signed a total of 92 bilateral or multilateral treaties with other countries, many of which were commercial treaties. Commercial treaties established advantages through the power of the state to win favorable terms of trade for merchants. (See Li Xinkuan, The Origins of the British Market Economy, People's Publishing House, December 2019 edition, p. 184.) The Tudor government paid the same attention to agricultural development, actively promoting the introduction and cultivation of new crops, developing new technologies for draining swamps and irrigating farmland, and achieving agricultural production and efficiency.
Three
Beginning with the Tudor Dynasty, Britain actively developed naval power, promoted balance-of-power diplomacy, and laid the foundation for Britain to dominate Europe and develop into an empire that never sets.
In order to ensure trade, Britain continued to expand its maritime power and achieve trade purposes through war. The Royal Navy was formally established during the reign of Henry VIII and continued to grow in size. With its powerful naval power, Britain, in developing foreign trade and competing for colonies, did not hesitate to resort to force and wage commercial wars as an extension of its mercantilist policy. The Tudor government also strongly encouraged the development of fisheries and shipbuilding as a reservoir of maritime power. In order to support the development of its own fisheries, the United Kingdom even passed a law to enforce that people should restrict eating meat and fish on certain days of the week. This measure was implemented in England for a century from 1549 onwards. The Privy Council issues annual directives to ensure that the Fisheries Act is enforced. The idea at the time was that a thriving fishery was a vast "reservoir" that could provide trained crews and proper vessels when the navy needed it. Until 1544, the British Navy relied on foreign shipbuilding to build ships, and in this year 50% of the tonnage of the naval fleet was foreign-built, mostly foreign-owned. Since then, the British have used all means to encourage the development of shipbuilding. Passed the Navigation Act, which prohibited the sale of vessels, supported fisheries, built ships over 100 tons per ton of subsidies of 5 shillings, rebuilt strategic ports such as Dover, and forced trading companies to use their own vessels through concessions. In addition, a number of measures have been taken to provide the shipbuilding industry with the necessary raw materials, to preserve timber through draconian legislation, to encourage the cultivation of cannabis for rope making, and to encourage the development of the country's canvas manufacturing industry in Stafford. One of the main purposes of establishing the Moscow Company was to secure tar, wax, ropes, masts, and other naval supplies. As a result of the ongoing incentive policy, the number of British steamships, especially large tonnage ships, increased rapidly. Similarly, the development of the Navy is remarkable. By 1607, the Royal Navy had only 40 ships of 50 tons or more, with a total tonnage of about 23,600 tons, and the total number of personnel equipped for ships was 7,800, and by 1695, the corresponding numbers were more than 200 ships, with a total tonnage of more than 112,400 tons and more than 45,000 personnel, forming a powerful force for maritime hegemony.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Britain embarked on a foreign policy of balance of power, striking at countries that were trying to dominate Europe and accumulating and creating advantages for Britain. In 1588, Britain and Spain fought a decisive battle at sea, and Spain's famous "Armada" collapsed, commercial hegemony was severely damaged, and colonial advantage began to be lost. By the 17th century, Britain passed three Anglo-Dutch wars and navigation laws, destroying the trade and maritime superiority of the "coachman of the sea" Dutch, and in the 18th century, through a series of wars and post-war diplomacy such as the War of the Spanish Succession, the War of the Austrian Succession, and the Seven Years' War, it gradually surpassed and defeated France, created its own era of maritime hegemony, and achieved the hegemony of the Empire that never set.
Elizabeth I
All in all, the Tudor dynasty ushered in a great era. Vientiane is renewed, taking the road of change in politics, economy, society, law, military, diplomacy, etc.; many great figures have emerged in the stormy world, Thomas More, Francis Bacon, Shakespeare, etc., pioneering the atmosphere. After the introduction of modernity in Britain, although the subsequent development has still experienced many twists and turns, the road to modernity in Britain will only become more and more spacious. Of course, non-professional readers may be more concerned about the tudor monarch's love and hatred, the palace secrets of the royal court, keen to talk about the kings' means of cross-cutting, the courtiers' tricks of intrigue, in addition to the British professional historians on every aspect and detail of the Tudor dynasty and society are detailed examination and interpretation, in recent years, many authors have written around the Tudor dynasty, some focus on literature, some focus on historical facts, but basically do both, with vivid and vivid plots, Easy-to-understand language paints a vivid picture of this legendary dynasty, such as Dan Jones's The Empty Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudor Dynasty (Chinese edition), Peter Ackroyd's History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I: Tudors, Macmillan, 2012), Susan Brigden, New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Rule of the Tudors (1485-1603), Penguin Books, 2006, Lyda del Sol's Tudor: Passion, Manipulation, Intrigue, Britain's most notorious royal family tales (Leanda de Lisle, Tudor: Passion, Manipualtion, Muder. The Story of England's most Notorious Royal Family, Public Affairs, 2013), Thomas Penn, Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England, Simon & Schuster, 2013) and much more, even Queen Mary, known as the "Bloody Mary," has been the subject of attention, such as Eamon Duffy, Fires of Faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor, Yale University Press, 2014. It is foreseeable that tudor, the dynasty that opened the way for Britain to modernity, will continue to be the object of historical writing, and those who love history will talk about it after dinner.
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