Middle Ages
The Tudors and The Reformation
The reformation in England was begun by Henry VIII and had a profound change on Winchester. The 3 monasteries within the city were dissolved and the king's henchmen destroyed St Swithun's shrine in the cathedral. When Henry died, his daughter, Queen Mary, succeeded to the throne. She was a devote catholic and immediately began to reverse the changes her father had wrought on the church. In 1554, Queen Mary married Prince Philip of Spain in Winchester Cathedral.
The Stuarts and The Restoration
At the completion of the English civil war between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, England became a Republic. This state of affairs did not last long however; most people at the time believing that a king - even a pretty bad king - unites, rather than divides a people. And so, King Charles II - the son of the executed King Charles I -was restored to the throne. The new king liked the look of Winchester and planned a grand palace to be designed and built by Christopher Wren. Sadly, the king died before it was completed and the 'grand palace' was never completed and eventually falling into ruin.