Mary Flashcards
Causes for failure of Lane Jane Grey plot
Mary
↳acted decisively & without hesitation
↳legitimate claim
↳Catholicism got committed & broad support
Northumberland
↳not mobilise full military
↳not act decisively enough
↳unpopular
Reception of Mary’s succession
London street decorated & citizens cheered
↳recognition as rightful queen?
↳reflect hopes return to Catholicism?
Problems faced 1553
Authority
↳first female monarch
↳loyalty of nobles & gov ministers
↳potential rebellions
Had no heir
Insolvent crown finances
Relations w/ France & Scotland
Economic hardship
Reaction to counter-reformation
Mary’s aims
Restore Catholicism
Establish royal authority
Secure succession
Potential marriage candidates
Edward Courtenay
↳Gardiner’s choice
↳Mary felt English marriage risked factionalism
Philip of Spain
↳Not popular with the English
Marriage treaty cause
Parliament worried England become subservient to Spain
Agreed to marriage - condition treaty signed
Marriage treaty motivation
Any children inherit England & the Low Countries - not Spain
↳Philip can’t leave country with children without permission from nobility
Philip nor his heir inherit throne if Mary dies/has no heirs
Philip not possess sovereignty in own right
↳doesn’t account for influence
Philip not promote foreigners to English office
Evidence Spanish marriage unpopular
Hostility because Spain perceived as enemy under Henry VIII
Parliament delegation led by Gardiner tried to dissuade Mary
Sparked Wyatt Rebellion 1554
England became Spain pawn
Philip helped Cardinal Pole return as Papal Legate 1554 to negotiate return of Pope
Philip’s name on all official docs & worked closely with councillors (eg. Paget & Renard) to influence policy
Keen to get English support for war in France - persuaded navy build 6 ships
England didn’t become Spainish pawn
Parliament refused Philip’s coronation 1555 & wouldn’t include him in new treason law 1554
Mary joined war with France after French supported attack by Thomas Stafford
(Yorkist - weak claim to throne)
Causes of Wyatt Rebellion
Spanish marriage
↳influence of foreigners at court
Counter-reformation
Decline of cloth industry
Lady Jane Grey’s father involved
↳some support for removal of Mary
Wyatt planned replace Mary with Edward Courtenay
Outline of event - Wyatt Rebellion
- 4 rebellions March 1554
- Forced move to Feb - difficult keep secret
- 3/4 failed immediately
↳Only Wyatt gain popular support - approx. 3000 men - Marched to London - London Bridge closed
↳Failed convince Londoners join
Outcome of Wyatt Rebellion
Mary ordered execution of Wyatt, LJG & Guildford Dudley (LJG husband) & approx. 100 others
Elizabeth arrested
↳released - lack of proof of involvement
Wyatt Rebellion significant threat?
Yes
↳Threatened capital
↳Demonstrate large opposition & possible dynastic threat
↳Showed Protestantism strong in sections of society
↳Showed popular suspicion to Spanish marriage & damaged her reputation
Mary’s main advisors
Lord Paget
↳Close to Somerset - marred relationship w/Mary
Gardiner
↳Supported divorce/break from Rome but retained conservative Catholic views
↳Imprisoned for opposing Book of Homilies
↳Mary never really trusted
Cardinal Pole
↳Left England 1532 - oppose break from Rome
Simon Renard
↳Imperial Ambassador of Charles V - not working completely in England’s interest
↳Influence declined after Spanish marriage - Philip not trust
Problems with gov at start of reign
Fundamental religious differences
Mostly Protestant council & Parliament
Not brought up to rule - little political experience
↳loyal supporters also little experience
Had to rely on men responsible for policies she opposed
Who included in council
Gardiner
Paget
Churchmen excluded under Edward
More conservative councillors
Use of council
Appointed 50 councillors
↳led to inefficient & faction-ridden gov
Most important decisions never discussed with council
↳awarded title ‘councillor’ more honorary title
Working council smaller & dominated by figures eg. Gardiner & Paget
↳Most trusted advisor, Pole, never member
Most trusted advisors - Philip & Renard
↳caused suspicion in gov & weakened authority in popular opinion
Relationship with council
Never really at ease with key councillors
Had to rely on Gardiner - gov weakened by death in 1555
Relationship with Parliament
Cautious cooperation
Substantial minority MPS opposed reversal of Edward’s reforms - majority passed
Opposed Mary over property rights
↳motivated by self-interest
↳Mary chose not to overrule - monastic lands not return to Church
Tried to oppose marriage & clashed over issue of succession
War with France background
French-Spanish conflict for over 30 yrs
Spanish marriage - England not easily neutral party
Pope anti-Spanish & supported France
↳war w/France - opposes Pope
War with France key events
Mar 1557 Philip tried persuade Mary join & support Spanish w. funds/naval support/troops
April 1557 France provoked
↳supported invasion of Thomas Stafford - attempt remove Mary
June 1557 Mary declares war
July 1557 7000 troops sent to France
↳initial success at Battle of St Quentin
↳defeated Scottish border raids
Jan 1558 French captured Calais - last remaining possession in France
Significance of loss of Calais
Loss of trade through port
↳market declining importance
Prestige - claimed land around Calais since 1347 & loss humiliating
Springboard for Henry VIII’s invasion
↳expensive to maintain & defend
↳strategically becoming less important
Protestants used as evidence of God’s punishment for reversion to Catholicism & Spanish marriage
Strengths of foreign policy
Navy reorganised, improved & managed better
↳no. battleships increased 5-21
Recruitment troops reorganised
↳Troops raised by JPs & Lord Lieutenants not lords & gentry
↳System of militia (Militia Act 1558) last over 300 yrs
Philip brought £40,000 of bullion from Spain - improved finances
Problems facing counter-reformation
Political elites favoured Protestantism
↳financially benefitted
Protestantism official religion
↳protected by Statute
Protestantism entrenched in London & parts of South East
Causes of counter-reformation
Mary’s personal beliefs
Spanish influence
Popular support for Catholicism/dislike of Protestantism
Support from some members of clergy
Pressure from Pope/Cardinal Pole
Others approach to religion
Gardiner - not keen to return papal supremacy (lose some power)
Renard - worried about impact reclaiming Church lands (opposition to reform)
Charles V - urged caution to avoid unrest
Philip - hoped gain credit with Pope
Cardinal Pole - main aim papal legate restore papal supremacy (increases power)
Counter-reformation phase 1:
Aug-Sep 1553
↳prominent Protestant clergy removed
↳Archbishop Cranmer arrested
↳Latimer, Ridley & Hooper imprisoned
Oct 1553
↳Parliament pass First Act of Repeal - removed legislation approved under Edward (doctrine restored to Catholicism)
↳Parliament refused repeal Act of Supremacy - Mary gave up title ‘Supreme Head of the Church’
Jan 1554
↳approx. 800 Protestants fled to Germany & Switzerland
Mar 1554
↳Royal injunctions ordered bishops repress heresy, remove married clergy & restore Holy Days
↳Gardiner deprived hundreds married clergy of their living
↳Key bishops removed & replaced by committed Catholics
Counter-reformation phase 2:
Nov 1555 - Parliament passed Second Act of Repeal
↳Undid legislation since 1529
↳Removed Act of Supremacy & restored Pope
↳Church lands & property not restored
↳Mary effectively acknowledged Supremacy of Parliament over Church
Counter-reformation phase 3:
Commissioned new publications & educating clergy
Possession of treasonable books resulted in death penalty
1555
↳publication of Bonner’s Book of Homilies
Feb
↳John Rodgers (translator of bible) burned under restored heresy laws - 1st martyr
Oct
↳Ridley & Latimer burned for heresy in Oxford
Dec
↳Cranmer replaced with Pole
Nov
↳5 Protestants burned in Canterbury
Mar 1556
↳Burning of Cranmer in centre of Oxford - originally ‘recanted’ then decided to stand by belief & withdrew
Impact of burning Protestants
Approx. 300 executed for heresy
↳most commoners dying for personal beliefs
↳John Foxe’s ‘Book of Martyrs’ published 1563
Reason for burning
Helped ‘cleanse their souls’
Ensured total destruction of corpse & prevent use of body parts for relics
Evidence reforms were popular
New Catholics priests easily recruited from places eg. Lancashire & Kent
Evidence reforms unpopular
Little opposition to return to Protestantism under Elizabeth
Est 19,000 copies of 1552 Prayer Book circulated & more Protestant writings circulated that Catholic works
Foxe gives impression martyrs well supported at burnings
Economic hardship
Population growth
↳2.5 million (1520) to 3 million (1550)
↳increased demand for food/goods & high level of inflation
Inflation
↳caused by debasement since 1540
Harvest failure
↳1548, 1555, 1556
↳widespread hunger & loss of income
↳contributed to increased prices
Epidemics
↳’sweating sickness’ 1557 & 1558
↳6% mortality - highest annual death toll since Black Death
↳widespread hardship/loss of income/food shortage
↳increased poverty/vagrancy/social discontent
Policy to manage economic hardship
Enforcing laws against grain hoarding
Encouraging people to grow crops - not graze animals on farm land
Neither effective at dealing with scale of problems
Affect of economic hardship on Mary’s authority
Monarch expected to focus on security, royal authority, patronage, law & order
Crisis damaged popularity
hardship viewed as evidence of losing God’s favour
↳Protestants interpreted as punishment for counter-reformation
Domestic policy
Changed administration of revenue collection
New Book of Rates modernised setting of customs revenues
↳increased crown income over 200% in just 1 year
Court of the Exchequer took over Court of First Fruit and Tenths & Court of Augmentations
Devised plans for recoinage & ways to support trade after loss of Calais
Cut general expenditure & increase revenue from Crown lands
Left relatively minor debt of £227,000
