The history of England took a sharp turn with the Norman Conquest in 1066 by William the Conqueror. France speaking at first, the ruling class changed over the centuries and were now essentially 'English' in the full sense that the adjective can accomodate. They had over the centuries continued to war with France over disputes over territories which they claimed belonged to them. This would continue until the last of the disputed territories, Calaise, fell to the Frence in the reign of Queen Mary. This, in hindsight, turned out fortuitous for England; she became relatively free from the disputes that plagued the countries on the Continent. There any dispute in one country spilled easily and quickly across the borders. The English Channel made such spillages from the Continent more difficult; it is a great more difficult to organize an attack across the waters than simply marching across an invisible border on land. This also provided England with opportunities denied to the land-locked countries on the Continent.
England had been plagued by a long series of internecine wars known as the Wars of the Roses before Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, and had himself enthroned as Henry VII, and establishing a dynasty that included the most importat players of the English Reformation: Henry VIII, Edward VII, Mary, and Elizabeth.
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