Queen Mary I! 1553 - 1558. Flashcards
Was Mary popular when she came to the throne?
- Mary was accompanied by an entourage as she rode into London 3rd August.
- She may’ve been celebrated as a Catholic ruler, and also by those who were still loyal to her mother, Catherine of Aragon.
- People may’ve cheered Mary on.
Parliament had to pass a law when Mary came to the throne - what was it?
Parliament felt the need to pass a law that essentially stated Mary was a ruler in her own right and should be listened to as much as her brother, father and grandfather had been. But the need for this suggests that maybe people weren’t willing to listen to her.
Preparation to be queen:
- There had not been a female ruler since the 12th century and she was not even queen.
- Mary, therefore, was the first Queen Regent of England.
- Mary had been well educated, but had not been trained to rule.
- there were certain doubts among some about having a female ruler.
Mary’s aims and ambitions:
- She was a passionate Catholic and devoted to Rome.
- She wanted to return England to Catholicism and make a friend of Spain.
Bloody Mary?
- This was likely invented by her opponents, as Protestants became very prominent after her rule.
- A large number of people were killed over a short period of time.
- However, we must take in other factors: her personality, marriage to Philip, perspectives of economy and finances, the role of council and parliament etc.
What were some problems faced by Mary in 1553?
1) She was a woman with no credible male heir.
2) She was a bastard, but this did not worry people as Catherine of Aragon was very popular.
2) Her Catholicism wasn’t a problem, but she was devoted to Rome. There was a sense that Roman Catholicism was un-English.
3) Was she too friendly with the Hapsburgs? She relied heavily on the imperial ambassador, Simon Renard.
What were some positives of Mary as a person?
She was intelligent and dignified, and had shown real steely determination during the acession crisis.
What was a huge problem Mary had with sucession?
She was 37 when she took the throne in 1553 and recognised the urgency of getting married and producing an heir.
When did King Philip II of Spain (of Spain!) leave England? What problems did this cause?
He left in August 1555. This caused issues because Mary couldn’t have an heir without her husband by her side! This followed a phantom pregnancy on 13th April, so there was a bit of panic about heirs.
Why was Mary’s marriage beneficial, given her Spanish husband?
1) any child of the marriage would not be ruler of Spain. They would inherit England and the low countries - Belgium, the Netherlands.
2) Philip had no direct claim on England - even if Mary died before him.
3) Philip could possess no sovereign authority in his own right (despite being called king - it was in name only) and he had to uphold the laws of England.
4) Philip was forbidden from bringing foreigners into the English government.
Reasons for opposing the Spanish match?
1) Philip was Catholic and Protestants feared that he would add strength to Mary’s determination to reverse the Reformation in England.
2) Philip was heir to the throne of Spain and its extended empire in Europe and the Americas. Many assumed he would use England as a tool to further Spanish ambitions and have little regards for the interests of England.
3) there was also the issue of how France would react if England and Spain drew so closely together and what these relations meant for Scotland.
When was the Wyatt Rebellion?
February 1554, when plans for Mary and Philip’s marriage was being made.
Who was Sir Thomas Wyatt?
He was a gentry member in Kent, and a Protestant!
The rebellion was super anti things. What was it against?
The plot was labelled as both anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish.
Mary had two phantom pregnancies in her reign and died childless. When did she accept her sister as her heir?
6th November 1558 - Elizabeth was named Mary’s successor.
What was the plan of Wyatt’s?
They would overthrow Mary, replacing her with Edward Courtenay. He was the great-grandson of Edward IV, and the only male claiment to the throne, as well as being one of Mary’s suitors. He would strengthen his claim by marrying Princess Elizabeth.
What happened to Princess Liz following the Wyatt Rebellion?
She was put in the Tower of London.
But Philip wouldn’t actually have that much power in England - why were people so negative?
There was lots of Xenophobia at the thought of a Spanish king.
In July 1554, Mary married King Philip II of Spain (of Spain!). Was it a success or a failure. Why?
A failure. There was a strengthened alliance with Spain against France, but there was also distrust and resentment. They also failed to produce an heir. The English public feared a Spanish leader and a loss of their independance.
Mary’s marriage to Philip should’ve proved a strong alliance, but it was actually a weak political alliance. Why?
Philip only spent about 14 months in England - his priorities lay in Spain. Additionally, Mary’s support of Philip in war led to the loss of Calais in 1557 and this hurt English prestige and tarnished Mary’s legacy.
A lack of an heir was also a problem religiously. Why?
It led to Protestant Elizabeth’s reign, and reversed Mary’s Catholic reforms.
In May 1555, there was the election of Paul IV as Pope. What was the problem with this?
- He was very anti-Spanish and this renewed the war between the Hapsburgs and France. It also made it very difficult for Mary to get his approval in turning England back to Catholicism.
- In December 1555, he allied with France, sparking a war between Charles V, Philip II and France. Spain won! A peace was made, but the Pope still refused to recognise Charles’ abdication and the appointment of his brother Ferdinand I, as this had happened without his approval.
July 1556 - Invasion of France by the Earl of Pembroke. What happened? Was it a success or a failure?
It was a success! Mary declared war on France, and sent the Earl of Pembroke onwards with 7, 000 men. They joined the army led by Savoy and won a decisive victory at St Quentin July 1556. Plus there was no direct attack on England. A win all the way round!
In April 1557, Philip pressured Mary into declaring war on France - the French invasion of Scarborough. It was mostly a success, with some failures on the way. Why?
Mary undid the diplomacy of Northumberland by being anti-French, whom she declared war on in June 1557 and sent troops across the channel to join Spain’s forces.
- They achieved victory in the battle, but they were unsuccessful in what followed up in their loss of diplomacy.
In 1558, there was a failed invasion of France! What happened?
When France recovered from the war the previous year, they seized Calais from the English in June 1558.
- This made Mary very unpopular and was humiliating for her as Calais represented the last outpost of the great mediaval empire and there was no attempt to reclaim the land.
- It showed Mary’s marriage was more of a convenience for Spain than for England.
- the full scale attack on the port of Brest in the summer that year was also a disaster.
What were Mary’s religious aims and who supported her?
1) she wanted to restore the Catholic faith and re-establish links with Rome.
2) She was supported in her efforts by Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1554. He had narrowly missed being elected the pope and was determined to bring England back to the papacy.
3) Mary was accused of intimidating and suppressing and oppressing those who opposed her. She did believe, however, she was performing a cathartic exersice to save men’s souls from Hell through burning them.
What happened in 1553 that was significant to religion?
The Repeal of the Edwardian Settlement.
What happened in 1554-1555 that was significant to religion?
Restoration of Papal authority and the Repeal of the Henrician Settlement.
What happened in 1555 that was significant to religion?
Mary came into conflict with the anti-Spanish Pope over Philip’s foreign policy.
What happened in Feb 1555 that was so significant to religion?
The first burnings.
What happened in 21st March 1556 that was HIGHLY significant to religion?
Archbishop Cranmer was burned.
In 1563, John Foxe would publish his ‘Book of Matyrs’. What did he paint Mary as?
The devil incarnate.
How did Mary repeal Edward’s religious changes?
1) October 1553: House of Commons passed the First Act of Repeal. This swept away all the religious legislation approved during the reign of Edward VI. Now the doctrine of the Churh was restored to what it had been at the death of Henry VIII.
2) November 1554: parliament met and passed the Second Act of Repeal in January 1555. This abolished all doctrinal legislation passed since 1529, including the 1534 Act of Supremacy. This reinstated the Pope as head of the church, but did not restore monastic lands.
Why did the acceptance of Statute law (a law made by parliament) present problems for Mary?
This suggested that parliament, rather than the monarchy, held the ultimate authority over laws and relying on them to restore Catholicism implied the acceptance of Protestant-led judgements, undermining her Catholic objectives. Acknowledging statute law validated her father’s legal reforms, which included England’s break with the Catholic Church.
Were the Monastic lands ever restored?
No! The restoration of Church lands and property could not be restored as it was too complex and divisive an issue to be easily resolved.
Mary saw her warm weclome to the throne as a welcome to Catholocism and in doing so, she made some mistakes. What were they?
She failed to recognise that the country had undergone a massive change for about a generation and these religious changes had to be done slowly and cautiously, rather than rushing in.
Were Mary’s burnings a success? Why?
1) Mary and her government were establishing their authority, but no more so than Henry VIII had done in 1530s and 1540s when faced with what was seeen as heresy laws.
2) Mary killed around three hundred people. Yes, this was horrific, but less so when put into context: Henry VIII had killed around 72000.
Were Mary’s burnings a failure? Why?
Instead of frightening people out of Protestantism, it made people question what was so great about it that people were willing to die for it. Quite unwillingly, Mary turned these people into public heroes, especially as these burnings were often done among their own communities.
How did moderate Catholics view the burning of 289 Protestant ‘heretics’?.
They saw it as an extremist move. Most of those killed were from humble origins.
How did Pole’s legatin Synod of 1555-1556 (trying to establish Catholic practices across local parishes) go?
In the North, it was very well received, but almost ignored in areas of the South, like Kent.
What intellectual developments for Catholics were there under Mary?
1) Mary and Pole had little interest in humanism.
2) Pope Paul IV placed the work of Erasmus into a prohibited list.
3) Books published were designed to encourage Catholic reformat at a local level.
What intellectual developments for Protestants were there under Mary?
1) Many Protestants fled to Europe when Mary was in power. John Foxe was one of these.
Many of the Socio-economic problems Mary faced were similiar to her predecessors:
1) Inflation caused by contuned population growth and rise in prices.
2) By 1559, an agricultural worker’s wages had dropped to 59% of what it had been fifty years earlier due to inflation.
3) Increased poverty and vagabondage (homelessness).
4) Harvest failures in 1555 and 1556 coupled with outbreaks of ‘sweating sickness’ in 1556 and 1558.
5) decline of cloth exports due to saturation of overseas markets.
How did Mary try to improve international trade routes?
1) She continued with her brother’s government interest in developing trade links with Russia and the Baltic.
2) The Muscovy Comapany was given a charter in 1555. It imported useful naval supplies and sold herbs, wool and metalwork to Russians in return.
When did Mary implement the Book of Rates?
1558
But the new Book of Rates saw no real benefit to Mary’s government - why?
Mary’s reign was too short to mean that it had no real impact (this is true for a lot of the things she does!)
Why did Mary’s government struggle to balance the books?
There was a long-standing system of expecting the crown to fund the government from its own resources, which was inadequate for Mary’s government.
What does Loades, a historian, say about Mary’s financial management?
“On the whole, Mary’s financial management had been tight and effective.”
How did English debt compare to the rest of Europe?
Compared to monarchs in France and the Empire, the English crown was far less in debt. It is largely thanks to Henry VII, who had been the only one able to balance the books (though, at a political cost).
What did the ‘Retail Trades Act’ of 1554 do?
It protected merchants’ monopolies.
What did the ‘Weaver’s Act’ in 1553 and ‘Woolen Cloth Act’ in 1557 do?
They fined those who were making cloth outside the traditional jurisdiction of towns.
Mary’s government responded positively to those suffering from economic change - how?
They would grant twice as many requests for charters of incoperation as previous governments did. This helped towns to raise revenues for poor relief and to generally protect themselves against competition from other towns.
