PHILIP II., ELIZABETH, HENRY IV. 885 Her son James, the heir to the crowns of Scotland and England, after having tried to gain the support of the Catholics, decided to accept Protestantism. When Elizabeth died (1603) the Anglican Church was the established church. The reign of Elizabeth was a time of prosperity for England. Notwithstanding the persecutions and the plots, the country lived very nearly at peace with the rest of the world, while France, the Low Countries and Spain were ruined by war. The disasters in the neigh- boring countries enriched England, the weavers and the Protestant merchants from Belgium, persecuted by Philip II., came and settled in the English towns, bring- ing with them the art of manufacturing cloth, linen and lace. The Protestant sailors of England, enemies of the King of Spain, began to pillage the Spanish and Portuguese ships, and grew rich in carrying on the business of corsairs. The queen, through expediency, issued proclamations forbidding these acts of piracy, but she herself furnished money to the corsairs, and shared the profits with them. London became a great city of 300,000 inhabitants. The merchants united for the purpose of forming com- mer^ial companies. The English had up to that time been only a nation of peasants; they began to form a class of industrials, of merchants and of sailors. And it was this class which defended England from the attacks of Philip II. and which has maintained the Protestant religion. With her sailors and the revenues from the imposts, Elizabeth was able to play the role of a powerful sovereign; she was able to be the head of the Protes-