the 16th Century Britain and American culture 英美文化的.pptVIP

the 16th Century The beginning of the modern period? Why? the invention of printing spread to Europe. It was easier to make books, and much cheaper, thus new ideas and science could spread more quickly and widely. Voyages and important discoveries were made. Around the beginning of the 16th century, Columbus discovered America. Some other explorers made the first around the world voyage. Freedom of thought in religion. Pope’s power declined. England turned from a Catholic country into a Protestant country. Pope in Rome was not too powerful at that time because of King Henry VIII. Henry VIII: loved power and different women. He had altogether 6 wives, one after another, and killed two of them. Pope in Rome didn’t approve of his divorce for not having a son, so he broke away from Rome and declared himself to be the head of the Church of England. Henry Ⅶ, founded the Tudor Dynasty -----a centralized monarchy of a totally new type Bloody Mary* Daughter of Henry VIII, devoted Catholic, and burned a lot of Protestant to death. She even tried to kill her half-sister, Elizabeth. The Parliament Three parts: the Crown, the House of Lords and the House of the Commons. Among the three, the House of the Commons is the most powerful and the Crown has the least power. A proposal is called a bill, when the Queen assent to it, the bill became law. Usually the Queen can only say yes to a bill and has no power to refuse it. The power of the House of Lords is limited, but it is the Supreme Court in Britain. The proposal of motion gets passed in the House of Commons by a majority vote. The person in charge of meetings in the House of Commons is called the Speaker. Lord Chancellor does the same thing in the House of Lords as the Speaker does. Parliament has three main functions: to make laws, to control and criticize the executive government; to control the raising and the spending of money.