• 1534, England Henry VIII and Parliament break away from the Roman Catholic Church
  • 1554, England Mary I of England marries Phillip II of Spain and England restores papal jurisdiction.
  • 1559, England The Acts of Supremacy and Allegiance declare Elizabeth Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
  • 1571, England The Thirty-Nine Articles approved by Parliament as the doctrinal creed of the Church of England.
  • 1604, England The Hampton Court Conference meets to discuss Puritan demands for changes in the government of the Church of England and a new translation of the Bible (Millenary Petition, 1603). Requests for changes in episcopacy are denied.
  • 1611, England King James Bible published.
  • 1620, England On September 16th, the Mayflower departs Southampton England.
  • 1620, New England Signing of the Mayflower Compact on November 21st; Mayflower drops anchor at Cape Cod.
  • 1620, New England The Mayflower drops anchor at Plymouth Harbor on December 17th.
  • 1620, New England Landing party from the Mayflower arrives on shore at Plymouth Harbor on December 21st.
  • 1621, New England Formal peace treaty negotiated between the Wampanoag tribe and the pilgrims on March 22nd.
  • 1623, New England William Bradford declares a day of Thanksgiving.
  • 1633, England William Laud becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • 1636, New England Roger Williams flees to Rhode Island and founds Providence.
  • 1637, New England Pequot War and founding of New Haven colony
  • 1636, New England Harvard College established for the formal education of ordained ministers.
  • 1636, New England On October 4th, General Court of the Plymouth Colony institutes first legal code in North America.
  • 1642, England English Civil War begins.
  • 1645, England Archbishop Laud executed after being tried by Parliament in 1644.
  • 1649, England Charles I executed by order of Parliament.
  • 1662, England The Great Ejection or Uniformity Act, in which 2,400 priests are ejected from Anglican church because of their insufficiently conformist views.
  • 1688, England Glorious Revolution occurs, wherein William of Orange invades England and James II flees to France.
  • 1689, England In England, the Act of Toleration gives Conformists and Nonconformists some freedom to worship as they please. The Act excludes Catholics and atheists.
  • 1691, New England Plymouth Colony annexed to Massachusetts Bay Colony on October 17th.
  • 1691, New England Salem witch trials begin on March 1st.
  • 1699, New England Brattle Street Manifesto published shortly after the Church in Brattle Square begins meeting. The congregation represents a more liberal branch of New England Puritanism.
  • 1701, New England Yale College established to train future leaders for a godly society.