Monarch – Edward VI (until 6 July 1553), Jane (disputed, 6 July to 19 July 1553), Mary I (starting 19 July 1553, until 17 November 1558) and Philip (starting 25 July 1554, until 17 November 1558), then Elizabeth I
By July – fifth and last outbreak of sweating sickness in England. John CaiusofShrewsbury writes the first full contemporary account of the symptoms of the disease.
24 February – the privileges of the Hanseatic League are abolished in England.
15 April – Ale Houses Act 1551 receives royal assent, providing for licensing of taverns for the first time.[2]
24 September – the Debatable Lands on the border of England and Scotland are divided between the two kingdoms by a commission creating the Scots' Dike in an unsuccessful attempt to halt lawlessness here, but giving both countries their modern borders.
9 July – Lady Jane Grey is summoned by Northumberland to Sion House and informed for the first time that she is to be queen. On the same day, Mary writes from Kenninghall requiring the Privy Council to proclaim herself as queen.
10 July – Lady Jane Grey is proclaimed Queen of England by the Privy Council and the proclamation is set into print and sent around the country. She refuses to make her husband king[7] and would be the country's first queen regnant.[2]
12 July – Mary arrives at Framlingham Castle where she gathers armed supporters.
c. 13 July – troops headed by Northumberland march from London to resist Mary, reaching Cambridge probably on 15 July.
15 July – the naval fleet intended to blockade Mary's access to the East Anglian coast largely transfers its loyalty to her and she has the use of its ordnance.
19 July – the Privy Council and Thomas White, Lord Mayor of London, proclaim the Catholic Queen Mary as the rightful Queen. Lady Jane Grey is imprisoned within the Tower after using the title of queen for nine days.[1]
30 July – Mary is greeted at Wanstead on the approach to London by her half-sister Elizabeth, who has ridden out from her new London residence, Somerset House.[8]
3 August – Mary rides triumphantly into London to claim the throne, accompanied by Elizabeth.[1][9]
Approximate date – Ralph Roister Doister, the first known comedy in the English language, is written by London schoolmaster Nicholas Udall for his pupils to perform. Gammer Gurton's Needle by "Mr. S." follows.
9 February – Wyatt's rebellion collapses and he surrenders in London.[1]
12 February – after claiming the throne of England the previous year, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason as is her husband – he publicly on Tower Hill and she privately within the Tower of London, where she has remained since the proclamation.[6]
17 March – Princess Elizabeth is imprisoned in the Tower of London, suspected of involvement in Wyatt's rebellion.[2]
Richard Eden translates The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, urging his countrymen to follow the lead of Spain in exploring the New World.[13]
1556
January – Soldier Sir Henry Dudley, from France, plots to raise an invasion force which is planned to land on the Isle of Wight, march on London, remove Queen Mary to exile in Spain and place the Protestant Elizabeth on the throne. By July, the plot is discovered and abandoned.
Mary's widower Philip II of Spain offers his hand in marriage to Elizabeth provided she adopts the Catholic faith. She takes time before replying and he remarries elsewhere the following year.[16]
1550s in England 