Mary I- Marriage and Wyatt Rebellion

4 issues of having a female ruler

• woman could not control faction

• can’t lead an army into battle

• seen as the weaker sex

• women would have to marry

Main issue caused by female rule

Marriage, who would they marry (foreign prince v subject) and how can a queen be a subservient wife and a monarch

Issue with marrying an Englishman

would increase the power of his family, cause factional rivalries and bring no wealth and international prestige to the court

Issue with marrying a foreigner

England would be dominated by foreigners and possibly absorbed into a foreign kingdom

Possible candidates for Mary to marry

Edward Courtney earl of Devon

Philip II of Spain

Overview of Edward Courtney

Courtney was a 25 year old English nobleman of royal blood (great grandson of Edward IV) who’s mother (Marchioness of Exeter) was one of Mary’s closest friends

Edward Courtney and Gardiner

Courtney had Gardiner’s backing as they had both been imprisoned in the tower during Edward’s reign

which marriage candidate did the privy council favour

Courtney

Overview of Philip of Spain

26 year old devout catholic who was son of Charles V holy Roman emperor and was due to be king of Spain, Portugal and heir to Burgundy

who wanted Mary to marry Philip

Simon Renard, William Paget and Philip ‘s father Charles V as he wanted to secure the channel and stop the French cutting off the Netherlands

benefits of Mary marrying Philip

an alliance with the Hapsburgs would act as a counter balance to the threat of France, especially with the possibility of a marriage between Mary Queen of Scots and the Dauphin

How did Henry VIII try and mitigate fears about female rule

he consented to Parliament passing an Act in 1544 that put queenship equal to kingship in the law

how successful was Mary in not allowing her gender to limit her power

Very successful, she chose her own husband and limited his constitutional power to King in name only which showed that she ruled with full authority and left Elizabeth a template by establishing the gender free authority of a queen

7 terms of Philip and Mary’s marriage treary

• a child of the marriage would inherit England and the Netherlands but not Spain

• if Mary was to die with no child then Philip has no claim to England

• Philip would have the title of king and be joint sovereign but have no authority in his own right

• Philip could not promote foreigners to hold office in England

• Philip has to uphold English laws

• He could not take Mary or their children out of England without the permission of the nobility

• England would send 6000 troops to the Netherlands if France invaded them

how were the terms of the marriage treaty favourable to England

Philip had no regal power in England, no foreign appointments to English offices, they weren’t supposed to be drawn into Philip’s wars and the crown would go to Elizabeth if the marriage was childless

How old was Mary in 1553

37

when did Philip arrive in England

July 1554

what did the English fear about Philip’s arrival

aside from national distrust of foreigners, they feared the reputation of the Spanish inquisition and the possible influence of Philip’s hard line religious advisors on the English Church

especially feared advisor of Philip

Alfonso de Castro

Why was Alfonso de castro feared

he was an expert on the theory and practice of persecuting heretics

When did Philip return to Spain

1555 and didn’t return until 1557

evidence of French supporting opposition to the marriage

French ambassador was in contact with the rebels and an offer to send a French fleet was made but this never materialised

Who was Sir Thomas Wyatt

son of the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt who had been arrested with Anne Boleyn and an MP, from Kent

Wyatt’s religious views

a committed protestant but did profess loyalty to Mary not lady jane grey

who led Wyatt’s rebellion

primarily nobles:

Wyatt himself

Sir Peter Carew

Sir James Croft

Duke of Suffolk (LJG’s father)

what was the plan of the Wyatt rebels?

marry Elizabeth to Edward Courtenay and carry out simultaneous rebellions in the west country, midlands, Welsh borderlands and Kent supported by a French fleet

why did the Wyatt rebellion fail

Carew, Croft and Suffolk failed to cause their uprisings and Courtney confessed to Gardiner

how many rebels was Wyatt able to raise

3000 in Kent which alarmed the government as they were so close to London

what did some of the royal army sent to crush Wyatt’s do

desert to join the rebellion

Why did Wyatt’s march on London fail

delayed marching into London by a few weeks which gave Mary the chance to raise troops to defend London and rally the people to her cause

what happened to Wyatt when he reached London

he was repulsed at London bridge and the tower and his planned entry, Ludgate was closed so his troops began deserting

how were the Wyatt rebels treated by government

leniently for fear of provoking further revolts, most common rebels pardoned and fewer than 100 executions took place

who was executed after Wyatt’s rebellion

Suffolk, Wyatt and Lady Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley

what happened to Croft after Wyatts

imprisoned but pardoned and released from the tower after 9 months

what can Wyatt’s rebellion be used as an example of

evidence of the unrest caused by a female ruler

why was Wyatt keen declare he was only motivated by opposition to the marriage

England was a religiously divided nation so a patriotic call to oppose foreign dominance would win him more support

what was Wyatt able to exploit

the unknown, a foreign king had never come to England before so people were extremely fearful and he didn’t need evidence for much of his fearmongering to work

evidence of opposition to the marriage being the main cause

forces sent by the Duke of Norfolk to confront Wyatt deserted to the rebels with cries of ‘we are all Englishmen’

why might John Procter’s account of the rebellion which stressed religious causes be untrue

he was writing for the government who wanted to claim the rebellion was motivated by religion as they wanted to portray the rebels as protestant traitors

5 bits of evidence that Wyatt’s rebellion was motivated by religion

• all of the leaders of the 4 pronged attack had protestant sympathies

• the area where Wyatt got the most support was Maidstone in Kent which was religiously radical

• rebels sought advice from deprived Protestant Bishop of Winchester

• No prominent rebels were Catholic

• when rebels reached London they attacked Gardiner’s house

evidence of economic motivations of wyatt rebels

rising unemployment in Kent due to decline of cloth trade and many who took part were from Cranbrook who suffered particularly badly

how many trades involved in wyatts and what does this show

over 30 which makes it difficult to argue with certainty that economic factors played a part

factional motive for Wyatt rebellion

Mary’s arrival had led to a shake up of government offices and many edwardian officials had lost their positions, including most of the leaders of the rebellion

how did Wyatt delay his siege on London

laid siege to Cooling Castle, if he hadn’t he would have entered London before Mary was able to raise troops

evidence Wyatt’s rebellion was a serious threat

• close to London

• many nobles didn’t take sides and appeared to wait to see the outcome which was very dangerous

• Uniting cause that was real, the marriage was indeed very unpopular

evidence Wyatt’s rebellion wasn’t a serious threat

• Wyatt unable to get the support of prominent figures like Norfolk

• No massive campaign against the rebels afterwards (but could have been because of fear for future rebellion)

• Marriage still took place afterwards

Mary’s role in stopping Wyatt’s rebellion

very significant, she ignored the advice of the council and remained in London which forced the rebels to have to take the well defended capital and her speech rallied people to her cause

Examples of Mary’s political skills

stressing her legitimacy not religion to rally support in 1553 and staying in London in 1554