Mary I-Religion

What did Mary’s supporters see as a miracle

the fact that Edward VI died at such a young age and that attempts to exclude Mary from the throne had failed

What did Mary misinterpret her popularity as when she came to the throne?

popular support for her desire for religious reform when it was more about dislike for Northumberland and respect for legitimate sucession

When did Cardinal Pole return and what was his aim

not until 1554 with the aim of restoring Papal Authority as Mary’s supporters including the Pope had warned her not to act to quickly and lose her throne

who was particularly unenthusiastic about restoring papal authority

Stephen Gardiner, Mary’s most trusted advisor

what was mary’s main failure when it comes to papal supremacy

she failed to realise that the royal supremacy was in fact popular with all of the nobility and gentry, even the most ardent conservatives

Mary’s 7 religious aims

• Undo religious changes made since 1529

• Restore Papal authority

• Restore traditional Catholic practices and belief in transubstantiation

• Re-establish dissolved religious houses

• End clerical marriage and restore status of priests

• Secure long term future of Catholicism in England by marrying and having heirs

• Persecute those who do not agree with views

Mary’s 2 most challenging aims

restoring Papal authority as the nobles didn’t support it

re establishing the dissolved religious houses as loads of the land had been sold to nobles who didn’t want to give it back

First Statute of repeal date

October 1553

what did the First Statute of repeal do?

undid religious changes made under Edward and restored the religious situation to that of 1547 when the 6 articles were in place

what did the first statute of repeal not do

repeal the act of supremacy which suggests some anti papal feeling

when did Mary give up her title as supreme head of the church

by the end of 1553

impact of the first statute of repeal

was a cautious move that meant the return of many traditional catholic practices and beliefs like transubstantiation without returning to full Catholicism

how popular was the first statute of repeal

there was lively but not hostile debate about the measure

evidence of opposition to the first act of repeal

there was enough opposition in Parliament to refuse to repeal the act of supremacy and to pass a law that fined people who missed church

what arguably stopped serious opposition to the first act of repeal

The arrest and imprisonment of Cranmer, Hooper and Ridley and other leading Protestant Bishops meant major source of opposition in the lords removed

Protestant exile

in the early months of 1554 some 800 committed Protestant gentry and clergy left England to the continent but this was not an option for common people who were the ones who were usually burned

Royal injunctions date

Spring 1554

what did the Royal injunctions do

restored some traditional Catholic practices like Holy days, processions and ceremonies but also the deprivation of a lot of married clergy

deprivation of clergy

married clergymen losing their jobs, only restored if they abandoned their wives

Parliament refuses to pass heresy laws and why

April 1554, stating they wouldn’t agree unless promises were made that their former monastic land wouldn’t be restored to the church (more about themselves than religious opposition)

when was removal of the protestant clergy

at the same time of the Royal Injunctions in spring of 1554

Removal of the Protestant clergy

7 of the 26 total Bishops removed by March 1554, 4 due to being married

who were the 4 bishops who were imprisoned and eventually burned

Latimer, Ridley, Cranmer and Hooper

how many lesser clergy were deprived

about 800

percentage of the lesser clergy deprived in London and Norwich

25%

Norwich lesser clergy reinstated

40 of 243 lesser clergy initially deprived were reinstated once their denounced their wives

When did Cardinal Pole arrive in England and what might this suggest

November 1554, suggests there could have been some concerns with his safety until then

Cardinal Pole and papal relations

was on good terms with Pope Julius III which helped restore Papal authority but by he didn’t get on with Pope Paul IV who removed him as legate in 1557

second Act of repeal date

November 1554

what did the second act of repeal do

ended royal supremacy and returned England to Papal supremacy by repealing all religious legislation back to the break with Rome plus a compromise with landowners to allow the legislation to pass

compromise within second act of repeal

property rights of all of those who had bought church land since 1536 protected, acts as evidence for Mary recognising the authority of parliament over some acts of religion

what land was Mary able to return to the church

the monastic lands still owned by the crown which were worth about £60,000

heresy laws restored

1555

first burning

February 1555, biblical translator John Rodgers

when was Cranmer burned

March 1556

when did Gardiner die and what was the significance

November 1555, it removed a restraining influence on Mary as he had begun to oppose the burnings as he believed that they were not effective and burnings increased after he died

how many burnings

around 280

why did Paget refuse to allow the heresy laws to pass

he wanted a guarantee those who owned ex church lands would not have to return them

evidence of lack of opposition to the burnings

some evidence spectacles were welcomed by some like the Kent cherry growers who liked the crowds as they could sell more cherries

local authorities and the burnings

without support from local authorities the burnings wouldn’t have happened as prosecutions only happened when people were reported and local authorities enforced the rules

london apprentices and the burnings

magistrates issued orders for the burnings to take place early in the day due to disruption caused by unruly apprentices rather than sympathy to victims

where did most of the burnings take place and why

south east due to the concentration of protestants and because the area is closer to London so central authorities might have been concerned about threat to government

provenance if given a letter to JP urging them to arrest heretics

JPs were unpaid and had many different duties so it could just be a reminder rather than a policy of pressure from central government

5 factors that hindered the catholic restoration

Pole’s relationship with Paul IV

brevity of the reign

vacant bishoprics

rejection of help of jesuits

pole’s administrative strategy

Mary and the Jesuits

Pole rejected their help in 1555

who were Jesuits

an order of priests who offered to come to England and preach and evangelise about Catholicism

how many sees vacant in 1558 and why

7 as Pope refused to ratify Mary’s appointments as Pole had been stripped of legate status and refused to return to Rome

issue with Pole’s strategy

focused on a legalistic approach to restore stability to the church and its finances which depended on support of the bishops (which was hard because of vacancies) and long winded surveys that took 18 months rather than ecclesiastical policy

Pope Paul IV

violently anti Hapsburg, stripped Pole of Legate status and refused to confirm Marian appointments to Bishoprics

critical works of Marian reformation

outnumbered supportive publications two to one

what 4 methods did Mary use to promote her religious aims

• improving the standards of the clergy

• censorship and suppression of Protestantism

• Catholic propaganda

• Persecution

Westminster Synod date

1555

what did westminster synod approve

passing of 12 decrees in 1555

content of 12 decrees

seminaries established in every diocese to train priests and discussed abuses like pluralism and absenteeism

Refoundation of Benedictine house at Westminster

February 1556

refoundation of some small religious houses

June 1557

Example of a place of success for Pole’s policies

Oxford university where he was able to remove and replace leading figures with Catholics to reduce protestant influences on academia

4 policies of censorship under Mary

• register of proscribed writers

• slandering of Mary and Philip made treason

• possession of some treasonous books could result in the death penalty by the end of her reign

• Commissions with the power to seize books created

2 pro catholic propaganda examples

Government sponsored sermons at St Pauls Cross

pro government writers like Miles Hogarde published tracts in defence of Mary’s regime like ‘the displaying of the protestants’

opposition to the burnings

unclear, John Foxe’s book of martyrs suggests there was but large numbers attended the burnings with relatively little disturbance

provenance for John Foxe

was in exile so not there and only receiving accounts from other protestant allies

Book was placed in every church under Elizabeth so very much became the accepted narrative

new catholic texts published under Mary

Catholic New Testament and a new Book of Homilies, had little time to make an impact

how many copies of Edward’s second prayer book remained

19,000 which meant a Protestant underground could be sustained

long term failure of Catholicism for Mary

failure to produce a catholic heir to continue the progress as well as inability to restore most monasteries and nunneries

how Catholic was England by 1558 doctrinally, normal people and nobles

Doctrinally fully catholic

Hard to tell about the general population but there is evidence parishioners paid to restore churches and had generally conservative beliefs but were more likely to take the lead from their local elites so whether legislative changes happened in practice depended on attitudes of local elites

Most nobles just prepared to hold the views of the monarch in place as long as their personal rights defended

general conclusion about the religious beliefs of england in 1558

neither religion had a strong hold, elites supported royal supremacy but landowners willing to follow faith of the monarch and mass population didn’t have strong formalised convictions apart from pockets of strong beliefs

how successful was Mary in achieving her religious aims

Achieved several of her religious aims in the short term: papal authority restored, Catholic practices reintroduced, and clerical marriage ended. However, the burnings failed to lead to conversions, the monastic system was not restored, and her most critical failure was failure to produce an heir so her changes had no lasting impact and her reign was just a temporary reversal rather than a permanent restoration of Catholicism

Exile religious opposition

was able to flood England with anti catholic books and pamphlets which was obviously very effective as proclamations were issued in 1558 ordering the death of people in possession of such literature