Westminster Abbey is a Gothic church in the City of Westminster in London, where English and British monarchs have been crowned since 1066 and where many are buried. A Benedictine monastery existed on the site from the 10th century, and Edward the Confessor founded a new church there in the 1040s. King Henry III rebuilt the abbey in the Gothic style from 1245, and Henry VII added his chapel in the early 16th century. In 1540, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, King Henry VIII ended the monastery. The church was never again a monastic house, and in 1560 Elizabeth I made it a Royal Peculiar. The abbey contains the tombs of monarchs and memorials to poets, scientists and statesmen.
Before and after
- 6 August 1538Founding of Bogotá
- from 1539 to 1572Origins of Vilcabamba
- from 18 July 1539 to 6 August 1539Siege of Castelnuovo
- 1540Birth of Francis Drake
- 1540Construction of Westminster Abbey
- 1541Founding of Santiago
- 1 October 1541Birth of El Greco
- from 20 October 1541 to 1 November 1541Algiers expedition
- 1542New Laws
More in Art, literature & culture
- 1616Construction of Sultan Ahmed Mosque
- 1623Publication of Macbeth
- 1670Construction of avenue des Champs-Élysées
- 17th centuryRise of ukiyo-e
- 25 April 1719Publication of Robinson Crusoe
- October 1745Publication of God Save the King
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.