MARY
BACKGROUND
1516 was born to Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII
1525 was sent to Ludlow as princess of Wales (marcher lordships)
1527 is the start of the divorce proceedings
1528 was called back to court
1533 was declared as illegitimate (lady Mary)
1534 was forced to live in Liz’s household as a servant and not allowed to see her mother, resisted the oath of succession and supremacy, was now effectively a lady in waiting (HVIII had threatened execution, but this was unlikely to have gone ahead, but regardless her allowances were cut and Chapuys convinces her to take the oath
1536 she took the oaths due to fear of the threats from Henry VIII and was finally able to return to court
1544 she was put back into the succession (influence of Parr who she gets on well with as she is of a similar age)
1549 somerset is in charge and she is largely left alone, practices catholicism but doesn’t flaunt it
1550 she comes under real pressure from Northumberland to conform and contemplated leaving England
1553 was the succession crisis, she was 37 years old and she marched to London with Elizabeth by her side in a show of solidarity as Liz was now Mary’s heir
Unlike her father and brother, her succession to the throne was not unchallenged, Edward and Northumberland both tried to keep her off the throne and Mary had to gather a force to take the throne thus temporarily the Tudor line was broken and her succession insecure and whilst she gained support, uncertainty was rife as she was a 37yr old unmarried woman (no heir of the body)
ELTON - ‘rather stupid’ ‘manifest portent of strife’
There was general support for Mary due to her position as a daughter of Henry, however Mary misinterprets her support, thinks its because of her RC, when its reality its more due to her legitimacy - eg Bishop of London (Ridley) supports her despite being a protestant as she was named heir by Henry VIII
Tudor dynasty still realtively popular
Historians often view Mary in a rather negative light (largely due to elizabethian propagada)
First woman to be crowned Queen - Empress Matilda was only ever ‘lady of the English’
death celebrated in England for the next 300 years
Catherine of Aragons influence was withstanding and was always the most popular of Henry’s Queens
THE MARRIAGE
Three key candidates - Philip of Spain (strongly encouraged by his father CV, religious fanatic, a foreigner, fear of spanish inquistion, Duke of Milan so experinced at governannce, has a son so a proven breeder, Don carlos from Isabella of Portugal, titles, traditional alliance with Spain) Edward Courtenay ( a yorkist, wishy washy catholic, been in England, incarcrated with Gardiner under Henry/Ed, father was executed as part of the exeter conspiracy) and Reginald Pole (a catholic, a cardinal, Mary’s cousin, a Yorkist, in and out of England for years, had a claim to the throne, not yet ordained)
October 1553 Mary raised the issue with Parliament (mary only became queen in August so one of the first issues raised) said she would marry Philip
Gardiner was worried about this and didn’t want to be pushed into a Spanish war, so he pushed Courtenay. Surprising as Paget was a moderate religious politician yet he was backing Philip and Gardiner who was overtly catholic backed Courtenay. Gardiner likely backs Courtenay as both were in the tower together (surrogate father figure)
November petition against Spanish marriage reached Mary and Gardiner was blamed for this. Gardiner actually had nothing to do with this (but was backing Courtenay). Gardiner then falls out of favour and to get back into favour Gardiner proposes the burnings (only suggests burning prominent) 284 were burnt due to pole. Treaty was actually sent by nobles and some members of the PC
December 1553 the marriage treaty is put before the Privy council
April 1553 the treaty is ratified as it is agreed to by Parliament (after Wyatts rebellion)
The government then splits between Gardiner and Paget (until Gardiners death)
THE TREATY - favourable to England which philip does as he needs an ally in the Hapsburg Valois war. Children would inherit England and the Netherlands (England push for this as want trade and don’t realise how bad the decline will get). Don Carlos will inherit Spain despite not really being suitable to be king as he inherited the castilian madness and was likely killed on the orders of Philip. If there were no children then Philip would have no say in England and Liz would inherit. Philip was given the title King, rule as joint sovereigns but didn’t have any soveriegn power in his own right. Foreigners were not allowed to hold office in England. PII had to uphold the laws of England. PII not allowed to take Mary and the children of England without the permission of nobles. England would uphold the treaties of 1543 and 1546 which said England would help the Netherlands with 6000 men if attacked by france, this also helps with trade so also good for England.
There was no courtship before the marriage, hardly knew each other
Met each other for the first time 2 days before they got married, the ring that Mary got came from CV and not PII
Language problems occured, eg PII didn’t speak English and Mary spoke hardly any Spanish, PII didn’t help as he was also socially awkward, but he did make an effort to be nice, gave the english nobles gifts and even tried to drink beer, but he had a mistress, Christina of denmark, didn’t like Mary and was instead repulsed by her, friction between Philips english and Spanish ones, Spanish were disgusted at the lack of respect shown to P, such as having a lower throne,
Mary thought she was pregnant twice at the end of 1554 and start of 1558 as there were signs of pregnancy for both
When Mary was dying she thought she saw kids dancing around her bed
Godmother to lots of kids at court
When Philip leaves in 1554 Mary stands at the end of the gangway crying until his ship disappears
After 1st pregnancy the Polish ambassador came to congratulate Mary and the court burst out laughing in front of her
Mary loves Philip instantly from his portraits but Philip is unbothered and physically repulsed by her, he felt ‘moderate sadness’ when she died
Philip brought Christina to court, so Mary knew and openly flaunted her
on state occasions Philip had silver plate and Mary gold
Philip was pelted with snowballs when he went to church
ARTS
little influence of Humanism
Catholicism was very traditional, brought up by her mother on a pre-couner reformation catholic theology, so it was very medieval, not reforming like the post 1543 council of trent catholicism which was trying to modernise itself in the face of the challenge from luthernism and humanism
court was seen as very backwards and did not attract the intellectuals of the day
Pole governance of the church (top down) was not influenced by humanist ideas
catholicism became less intellectual and more basic (due to the aim of converting england back to rome after the reign of Edward)
List of prohibited books banned anything that was humanist (similar to roman index of prohibited books)
Printing presses went abroad or underground as they were often owned by protestants, so there weren’t presses to print new material
Were 2 new books of homilies (first Bonners then Poles)
Edgeworth wrote and published a collection of catholic sermons in 1557 ‘sermons very fruitful’
Pope Paul IV regarded Erasmus as a heretic, so too then did Mary
Despite their disagreements, Pole was keen to promote papal supremacy
Protestant exiles sent lots of literature back to England
Foxe spent much of his exile in Strasbourg collecting accounts of the burnings for his book of martyrs (1563 - Liz)
Whittingham translated the Bible whilst in Geneva but this was viewed with suspicion by Liz as it was seen as too puritan
Brevity of Mary’s reign meant that catholicism was never fully re-establisbed
Different theories regarding Mary’s pregnancy, 1)stomach cancer, 2) phantom pregnancy (for the 1st was pregnant for 11 moths and only not when she told she wasn’t pregnant), 3) combination, 4) ED (anorexia) as it explains symptoms 5) Weir’s account based on French ambaassador, a non canceous tumour (mole) that is expelled but there is no medical record for this
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLICY
Mary had Paulet as lord treasurer (worked for Northumberland) and was a gifted financier, also Marquess of Winchester and the main economy main
Exchequer was expanded to incorporate the court of augmentations, first fruits and tenths and now handled 75% of crown income (1256k per annum)
Continuation of Nl policy, which is a continuation of Cromwell’s rev in gov
rents from crown land are re-evaluated and raised (approximately 40k per annum)
paulet works for Henry, Ed, Mary, Liz and then retires quietly
rents from crown land had not been re-assessed for years, not bringing on loads of money but some more
Exchequer pursues crown debtors, eg Sr Egerton owed £7497 but some favourites, or people Mary needed on side get away, eg Lord Pembroke
Book of rates is revised, revised customs duties as this had last been done in 1501 and did not increase with inflation. Customs revenue increased from 29k in 1556 to 82k in 1558 but Mary dies in November so this mostly benefits liz
cost of calais garrison is removed (not recognised at the time)
Plans made to restore the silver content after NL ends debasement but this only occurs in 1560 (Liz)
Williams ‘adequate’
Loades ‘considerable achievement’
At the beginning of the reign the dept is 185k, by the end its 300k so only increases by 115k, which is impressive considering that Mary went to war
1555 and 1556 saw the heavist rain in this period
worst harvests in this period (bar 1596), whaich caused a massive price increase and inflation
1556-8 there was a flu epidemic that killed 1 in 10, only time since records began that the death rate was 2x higher than normal and the highest death rate since the black death
1559 the agricultural workers wage had dropped by 59% of what t had been 50 years earluer
living below the poverty line, enclosure continued as they tried to salvage trade
surprising that there was no rebellion due to the poor living standard
major social issues but cant blame Mary for this as her government policies were responsive and as effective as any other government could have been (eg stockpils grain)
Antwerp still in decline
Some think that her societal reforms were influenced by her catholic charitable personality
1555 ACT - act to stop enclosure and increase grain supplies (people are able to gown and consume and sell stock, employment increases)
encouraging of larger towns to stockpile food to keep expenses small and organise poor relief (food prices decrease and now affordable living standrads)
Free london hospitals for orphans, paupers, sick children and adults and the insane (solved the problem of urban unrest like the increase in crime and mortality rate
increased trade and production of goods stabilise England
counteract Antwerp and trade with the Baltic counties set up companies and selling goods abroad, bringing money into the economy
legalised and officialised wool and cloth, with weavers, woolen cloth and retail trade acts between 1555 and 1557 and an increased incentive for the unemployed to work and industries to produce
but counteracted by changes to the economy, but still partially resolves the increased unemployment rate and maintain standards of living
didn’t introduce a national programme to halt enclosure leaving many dispossed vulnerable
locals still depended on parish charities and JPs but mary continued parliamentay poor legislation, enforcement remained variable and relief often hit inadequate rural areas
more of a continuation of edwardian reforms than one of radicla change (LOADES AND GUY)
MAry’s legislation to control vagrancy and regulate licensed veggars was intended to reduce visible poverty, critics argue it criminalised poverty rather than address structural causes
naval and defence expenditure increased offered short term employment and demand for shipbuilding andprovisioning, helping some urban industries but much of the benefit was temporary
1555 POOR ACT - extended earlier tudor por legs and introduced measures (eg licensed beggars required to wear badges) inteded to organise parish relief and shame slmdgivers into supporting the poor
governments response to the 155-6 food crisis was partly addressed by hoc - emergency corn imports and local subsidies were arranged but were patchy, showed limited central capacity
RELIGIOUS POLICY
August 1553 - Mary issued a proclomation stating that she wouldn’t change anything until parliament met, as she’s just dealt with the succession crisis (unstable) and was worried about protestant rebelling against her
August 1553 - Many prominent Protestant clergy were sacked
September 1553 - Cranmer was arrested along with Bishops Latimer, Hooper and Ridley
Autumn 1553 - Parliament met, refused to repeal the act of supremacy but did pass the first act of repeal. This restored the church to what it had been in 1547 (act of six articles and National catholicism)
December 1553 - Mary gave up the title Supreme head of the church
January 1554 - Mass exodus of 800 marian exiles to the continent, nobles, gentry and upper clergy left, the ordianry and lower clergy have to stay (no money) thus those are the ones who were burnt
March 1554 - Royal injunctions, bishops are ordered to supress protestantism, remove married clergy, restore holy days, RC ceremonies, Parliament also meets (also discuss the marriage treaty in April) services are now in Latin, 800 clergy lose their jobs, mass, transubstantation, no clergy wives, more flee abroad
March 1554 - More Protestant bishops removed, eg Hereford, York and replaced by RC
April 1554 - Parliament initially rejected the reintroduction of the heresy laws, but agreed when promised that former monastic lands would not be restored to the church, also Gardiner proposes the burnings here
November 1554 - Pole returned to England and lifted the excommunication from a service at St Paul, Pole now directing the religious changes
November 1554 - Parliament passed the second act of repeal which undid all the papal legislation since 1529, but still doesn’t touch the monastic lands. Those who had monastic land in 1536 keep it and the few Wolsey dissolved were returned. The ex monastic land that is returned causes a decrease in 60k per annum
January 1555 - Bonners Book of Homilies (RC book) it replaces Cranmer’s homilies and these are now all catholic
January 1555 - Commission to consider refounding some religious houses, but does'n’t actually occur and the only real action considering monastic land
February 1555 - John Rogers the biblical translator is the first protestant to be burnt
October 1555 - Bishops Ridley and Latimer burnt in Oxford
November 1555 - gardiner died and cranmer is deprived of his archbishopric ‘cranmer’s degredation’
December 1555 - Pole made Archbishop of Canterbury and the London Synod meets where they make the 12 decrees
February 1556 - Synod issues the 12 decrees of westminster which removes abuses in the church
March 1556 - Cranmer burnt in Oxford and Pole made Archbishop of Canterbury
March 1556 - Pole argued with Pope Paul Iv, deprived of being a legate
June 1557 - Pole called to Rome to answer charges of heresy, Mary refused to let him go
November 1558 - five protestants burnt at canterbury, the last to die
17th November 1558 - Mary and Pole died
Pole wants to reform the church (within Rc) but Pope is suspicious of these reforms, likely Pole believed these were protestant but pope dislikes Pole and wanted to use this against him
Issues with restoring Rc due to brevity of the reign and the lack of a catholic heir
Pole rejected the help of the Jesuits in 1555, they were an order of priests who offered to come to England and to preach and evangalisise about RC, but their presence may have created more problems than it solved, Militant society of Jesus, established in 1540 in Spain but Pole won’t use them as they have total obedience to the Pope
The bishops should have been the strong reforming force but six sees were left empty throghout the reign
Catholic leaders and writers probably wished to inform rather than persuade, as they thought that heresy was a najor problem that a few burnings would solve
propaganda opportunities were not always seized, such as nothing was made of the debates between the leading Protestants and Catholics in April 1554, or the recantation of Sir John Cheke or Cranmers
Marian government failed to realise the potential of literacy and printing of critical works, outnumbered publications that supported Mary’s policy 2 to 1. Protestants own the printing presses when they flee, either take or destroy them, so no presses for Pole’s top down policies and there are only 1 to 2 presses owned by the government
Pole was unfamiliar with the realm (left as a teen and doesn’t come back after the exeter conspiracy so doesn’t understand what happened to England’s church) did not give his ecclasasticul policy his full attention owing to his responsibility between the Hapsburgs and the French
Pole’s scheme to overhaul thechurch finance required two huge surveys, one of pensions to former monks and members of the clergy and the other poor benefices, took 18 months and was a huge an adminitrative task (don’t have time)
Pope Julius III was a staunch personal friend of Pole, died in MArch in 1555
Bishoprics not filled as Pole falls out with the Pope
Foxe wrote ‘Foxe’s book of martyrs’ published in 1563 as a piece of protestant propaganda as it justifies Liz’s settlement and this is where we get the ‘bloody mary’ myth. Foxe was even present at some burnings, on others (eg Crans) he relied on firsthand accounts such as “J.A’
roughly 284 burnings, mostly common people with only 5 bishops and 51 women. people of all ages (eg Alice Downs was 60 years old) and a pregnant woman burnt at Guernsey
‘there goes our good shepherd doctor taylor’
Most burning were in London and the South East (kent, Sussex, Lewes Priory, Colchester, at London the main spectacle was Smithfield
The burning of Wade in Dartford was so busy that people complained the cherry pickers didn’t bring enough cherries for them to eat
PROCESS - accusation of heresy, tried, condemned, given chance to recant/sign recantation, if they did then local JP will know and keep an eye, if accused then no second chances
When Cranmer’s burnt they try to get him to recant, he did but Mary wanted him burnt anyway (what he did to Catherine of Aragon) which was a missed propaganda campaign and he made a PR move by sticking the hand that recanted with into the fire and holding it there
pro-government writers such as Hogarde published tracts in the defence of the regime, he wrote ‘the displaying of the protestants’ in 1556 which attacked the protestants
it is estimates that around 19k copies of the 1552 prayer book were in circulation
Heresy acts were revived in 1555
Manyc hurches and parishes willingly restored catholic practices, evidence from Duffy’s study of Morebath and Sampford Courtenay suggests popular enthusiasm for returning to traditional worship
restoration of RC depend heavily on the lifespan of the marriage, the absence of an heir left the settlement unstable
Many commissioned new catholic publications including the reprinting of the sarum missal and the use of Pole’s catechism for instruction, reflecting attempts at genuine spiritual renewal
reports from London and canterbury suggest some crowds were horrified rather than inspired by the executions
Knox’s ‘first blast of the trumpet’ in 1558 portrayed Mary as a tyrannical, bloodthirsty ruler
Oxford disputations (1554) betweeb catholic theologians and imprisoned protestant bishops were intended to demonstrate catholic intellectual dominance but disended into polemic and disorder
Pole’s top down strategy began after he became archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal (even Wolsey didn’t get here) he wanted to reform through 4 key aspects. 1) Visitations, bishops should carry out visitations of their dioceses to ensure catholicism is of a high quality. 2) 12 decrees of westminster, 1555 synod met and came up with a plan to improve the catholic church in England, known as 12 decrees (to end abuses). 3) Literature, catholic new testament is published, new book of homilies, new catechism but don’t have the printing presses to do this. 4) Education, set up seminaries, to train priests and he wants them in all main cathedrals, Pole was chancellor of Oxford and Cambridge with intention of improving quality of education. Wnated visitations of oxford and cambridge (teaching proper humanist and theological curriculum) establishes 2 new colleges, St Johns at Oxford and Trinty at Cambridge
GOVERNMENT
Traditional view - Mary had a poor relationship with her parliaments, especially over religion and marriage, Elton’s view is that she doesn’t get on with them due to religion and marriage
However, parliament met more frequently and legislated more under Mary than in the reign of ed, Mary followed Henry’s lead on discussing with and getting support of Paril in marriage, religion and war with france (despite some of them being the royal perogative
Parliament passed lots of legislation which is not a sign of a conflict in crown and parliament
However, parliament did have concerns over the return of monastic lands, in the third parliament they would not agree to a bill reconciling England with Rome unless she agreed monastic land would not be touched. Similiarly, a bill confiscating the lands of protestant exiles was not passed
HOC and HOL did work together on the rules, such as curtailing Philips power in England and MAry’s desire to exclude Liz from the succession.
Parl worked with Mary on social and economic matters, eg retail traders act and woollen cloth act (not as contencious)
Both Mary and parl made compromises, such as Mary compromising with parliament over the coronation of philip
monastic lands are a big problem as they always used it as a bargianing point and its never fully resored
a substantial minority of Mps (about 80) opposed the reversal of edward’s religous legislation, concern for property rights, motivated by self interest, ensured ex monastic property would not be restored by the church, quarrels over the succession and a bill in 1555 was defeated which would allow the seizure of protestant exiles of land
a sizeable group of opposition, but not outwardky protestant, just try to slow things down/block them
MARYS FIRST PARLIAMENT 1553 - SUCCESSES - the divorce of Queen Catherine was annulled to establish the legitimacy of Mary, treason laws were repealed, the acts of uniformity repealed to sweep away the religious changes of the last 6 years, concerned elections of bishops, marriage of priests and keeping of festivals, only 80 Mps out of 359 voted against it. FAILURES - parliament refused revival of papal power and declined her longing to dispense with her title of supreme head of the church, no papal supremacy, refused restoration of church lands, refused to attach a penalty for people failing to attend catholic nass during church services, both houses of parliament petitioned the queen requesting her to marry and englishman and she refused
MARYS SECOND PARLIAMENT APRIL 1554 - AIMS - religion - RECENT PRIOR EVENTS - marriage arranged between Philip and Mary, Wyatt’s rebellion, Gardiner wanted to push through a raft of religious changes including religion, papal authority. secularised lands and succession which was bound to raise the political temperature to fever pitch and would see Paget and his adverseries in the council black his proposals. SUCCESSES - ratification of Mary’s marriage to Philip passed through smoothly, the restoration od the bishopric of Durham was passed by 201 votes to 120. FAILURES - fifteen bills failed to complete their passage through the lords in April as supporters of Paget rebelled, very unsuaual. Mary’s proposed Heresy bills were defeated as they werre designed to stop people speaking out against Catholicism. The split in the council (Gardiner vs paget) was now playing out here)
MARYS THIRD PARLIAMENT NOVEMBER 1554 - FOCUS - religion - RECENT PRIOR EVENTS - marriage had occured, mary reportedly pregnant, stage set for the reunion with Rome, thus religious change appeared inevitable so the lords succombed, almost a quarter of all eligible peers stayed away from the entire session of the lords, 106 members of the commons were absent in January, this was so serious that 60 politicical absentees were indicated and 29 fined. SUCCESSES - parliament agreed on a reunion with rome, heresy bills passed after being defeated in the previous parliament. FAILURES - parl had failed to back a return of lands to the church taken during the reformation, perhaps unsurprisingly as many of the members of parliament were major landowners, Pole was dismayed by this.
MARYS FOURTH PARLIAMENT 1555 - FOCUS - religion. RECENT PRIOR EVENTS - restoration of heresy laws see the burnings resume, lord chancellor Gardiner died three weeks after parliament reopened, less heated environment but greater willingness to rebel. SUCCESS - repeal of antipapal legislation from HVIII, bill to return first fruits and tenths to the papacy passed (but only 193 votes to 126) FAILURES - a bill to allow the seizure of property of Protesant exiles was defeated
MARYS FIFTH PARLIAMENT 1558 - FOCUS - war and taxation. RECENT PRIOR EVENTS - war against France, 1558 would see the loss of Calais, summoned to deal with France and the loss of calais and consequence of Philips war. SUCCESSES - lords and commons united to raise taxes for the defence of the realm, demonstrates that both could be effective when united against a common cause, Act for the taking of the Musters obliged every section of society to contribute to men, horses and equipment at a local level for military use. Guy calls it a ‘landmark in military organisation’
Graves - ‘no tudor monach had a more disunited council’
Gardiner offered Courtenay as a candidate for marriage, which may have caused factional rivalry as the husbands family would inevitably become more influential.
English public opinion was hostile towards Mary’s choice to marry Philip, as Gardiner predicted, parliamentary delegation had attempted unsuccessfullaay to dissuade Nary from her intentions
Mary and later Phhilip never attended any Privy council meetings, both were aware of the goings on in the gov
Privy chamber had little influence as it was all women, mostly friends and servants
COUNCILLORS- churchmen who were excluded from influence under Ed, some of Edward’s more conservative men (eg Paget), Gardiner, her fathers secreatry and a steadfats upholder of religious conservativism, causing him to be imprisoned
Mary appointed 43 councillors, led to ineffectual decision making, claim is backed by the idea that marriage (Mary;s most important decision) was not discussed with the council
Seemed to regard councillpr as an honorary title, working council was much smaller and dominated by paget and gardiner
Working council had about 20 trusted advisors who led day to day running of the country, dominated by Gardiner, Paget and paulet who worked effectively to create 3 major developments. 1) 1554 the councillptd established a system of committees which excluded the more casual councillors, committess were set up to deal with matters such as naval administration and the sale of crown lands. 2) In 1555, PII helped to establish an ‘inner council’ of nine trustworthy men - the select council. 3) When PII left England in 1555 and Gardienr died Paget was able to dominate and complete the reforms, establishing a conciliar form of government.
Mary lost confidence in Paget as he wasn’t fully pro her religious reform, and Gardiner who hadn’t supported CofA with the BWR
When Gardiner died in 1555 this created a gap (pole didn’t involve himself in secualr matters) so she increased her trust in renard (spanish ambassador) and PII
Mary’s council was split along religous lines, with a pro catholic group under Gardiner and conservative group under Paget. Mary packed her council full of loyalists, domianted by the KENNINGHALL GROUP (Earl of Oxford, Earl of Arundel, Sir Robert Rochester, Sir Edward Walgrave and sir Henry Jerningham)
this caused concern with the more conservative councillors, these factional rivalries did impact policy, such as Gardiner and Paaget
Some have established that the creation of the committee system in 1554 may have been paget’s attempt to stop Gardiner from controlling the whole council
Gardiner’s attempt to revive the heresy laws in 1554 were blocked when paget urged the lords to block his proposal
Rivalry became even more evident when a similar bill, supported by Paget was passed a few months later
Doran - the queen listened too much to Spain and too little to England
Guy - she worked harder at being queen than any Tudor except her father
Loades - The marian council was no failed expirement - it endured
Loades - The Marian regime could govern, but not inspire
Dickens - the burnings turned law into theatre
Loades - she consolidated rather than transformed Tudor Government
Duffy - even loyal catholics feared for their title deeds
Loades - the revellion revealed a crisis of confidence in the queen’s judgement
Haigh - Gardiner’s death robbed her of the one man able to bridge crown and council
Loades - a facade of consultation masking a very narrow inner circle
Guy - the system worked because Mary trusted competence, not faction
Edwards - Mary showed prudence not subservience
Haigh - Parliament was compliant though seldom enthusiastic
Houlbrooke - her council machinery worked with quiet efficency
Guy - the marian treaury showed more realism than its reputation allows
Haigh - at county level order survived the storm of religion
Edwards - Mary ruled the provinces with steady, inherited hands
Haigh - Parliament’s caution masked its fear of being ignored
Pollard - Calais was the price of Spain’s friendship and Mary’s misfortune
Loades - her naval policy laid the foundation for Elizabeth’s navy
FOREIGN POLICY
Mary secured marriage to Philip of Spain, aligning england with the powerful Hapsburg dynasty and strengthening. catholic ties across Europe
The 1554 marriage treaty limited PII’s powers in England,- he held no independent authority and England was not to be dragged automatically into Spanish wars
English nobility largely supported the war in 1557,reflecting wider revived national pride and participation in wider christendom
Alliance with Spain isolated England diplomatically from France and the papacy, especially after Pope Paul IV allied with France against Spain
Despite Wyatt’s rebellion, Mary’s leadership in rallying Londoner’s at the guildhall in her defiant speech (I am your queen, to live and die amongst you all) reinforced her authority
Mary’s loyalty to philip and Spain led to English hostility with the papacy - by 1557 England was technically at war with the Pope
Naval reforms under Mary (expanding the fleet from 3 to 21 ships and creating a regular funding system) laid the groundwork for future naval strength under Liz
Calais had been increasingly costly to maintain and strategically obselete given England’s limited continental ambitions
PII’s limited interest in England after 1555 (he left the country after a few months) undermined the marriage’s intended diplomatic and dynastic benefits
The english contribution to the 1557 campaign was minor (around 7,000 served at the battle of Saint-Quentin) but their role was negligable in the spanish victory
Heavy taxation and war expenditure (raising 117,000 for the 15557-8 campaign) strained england’s economy and cause for popular discontent
The fall of Calais forced England to rethink its strategic priorities and turned future monarchs towards naval expansion rather than continental ambitions
England’s entry into the Hapsburg-Valois war in 1557 was prompted by Philip’s persuasion rather than by english needs (some historians argue)
The victory at Saint-quentin was widely celebrated in England, bolstering Mary’s prestige, rather than by English needs
Loss of Calais (January 1558) after a rapid french assault - ended 200 years of english presence on the continent, striking a major blow to national pride
The return of Pole and the reconciliation with Rome (1554) symbolised England’s restoration to the Catholc church and the european catholic church
The french advance on Calais coincided with England’s overreliance on Spain, Mary’s foreign policy lacked independence
English forces captured Le Conquet and assissted Spanish troops in operations along the French coast (1557-8), showing limited military capability abroad
Englands dependence on Spain limited any real religious independence
Calais’ defences were poorly maintained and undermanned (only about 2,000 troops) reflecting long term neglect but ultimately falling under Mary
Arms and militia act passed, old systems of raising army by nobles was disbanded and instead was raised by Jps and the lord lieutenants in each county, this system lasted for the next 300 years, the at also improved the procedures for supplying weapons to the militia
During Mary’s reign the armed forces significantly improved, the navy ahd declined after the treaty of Bolougne as England was in a defensive alliance with France. navy was reorganised and improved, a naval treasurer was established and improved (spend money on the navy), six new ships created and old ones repaired, improvements amd eto docks and ironic as much of this was done by Philip (which harmed him in the armada)
The spanish alliance was inevitable once Mary became Queen (1st action in october is to bring up the marriage)
1553 the Habsburg Valois wars were going on (fighting over the HRE and Fr border area) which explains why Philip was keen for the marriage and England is still worried about the auld alliance
France feared the potential alliances and de Noialles (french ambassador) backed Wyatt’s rebellion and the plan to marry Liz to courtenay. France also agreed to have boats off the Thames industry (blockade)
1554 was the marriage treaty of Philip and Mary, Wyatt’s rebellion so not much happens in foreign policy
Spring 1555 Mary showed genuine desire to be at peace and acted as a mediator between France and Spain at Gravelines (near calais), but this didn’t work as neither side was interested.
September 1555 it became obvious that Mary was not pregnant so Philip left England (and becoming more clear that Charles would abdicate)
February 1556 PII and HII signed the treaty of vaucelles which created peace between france and Spain (buying time and PII just inherited so was buying time)
July 1556 an alliance between HII/Fr and the papacy (Pope Paul IV) occured (which explains why the treaty doesn’t last) as the Pope was very anti-spain (Italian and hatep spain due to the Italian wars so encouraging France to restart the wars)
Spetember, PII attacked the papacy/italy (makes the first move so technically breaks the treaty) so HII counterattacked and England came under immediate pressure to join the war on the side of Philip (France as mobilisng to fight on three fronts, Calais, Netherlands and Italy) which was a ridiculous situation as PII was asking M to attack the papacy whilst she was trying to return England to the papacy
Strong opposition to the war in England (dont want to get involved with a spanish war) as the marriage treaty said they wouldn’t (only defend the netherlands if attacked by france and in 1554 the Pope was made head of the English church and Pole has started the burnings)
October 1555- January 1556 Charles abdicated so Philip became PII of Spain (CV was disillusioned, esp with the HRE and protestantism and CV feels he has lost the religious schmalkaldic war)
January 1557 England sent 6000 troops to the Netherlands which is done as a defensive measure to protect the netherlands under the marriage treaty but Philip didn’t get any offensive help from England, March 1557 PII returned to England and asked for PC for help but they refused, but Mary did eventually go to war, AS France was openly tolerating protestant exiles, rumours that Henry was going to attack Calais began and in april 1557 protestant exile Thoas Stafford tried to invade England with French help and landed at Scarborough, didn’t work as he was arrested within 3 days of landing. NOT FORCED INTO WAR BY SPAIN
June 1557 England declares war on france, navy put into the channel to patrol it and garrisons reinforced with the border with Scotland (expecing auld alliance to kick in)
July 1557, Scottish raids on the border begin as expected, troops put on a war footing in calais, July 1557, 7000 men sent to france to fight led by the earl of Pembroke, Philip’s army had 70,000 men and in August 1558 he won the battle of Saint Quentin (with minimal help from England). Hapsburg-Valois rivalry ends, banrupts both countries and in 1559 Philip declares banruptcy and there are no more battles after this.
But 6,000 men are still in Netherlands but these are only defensive troops
France had just lost the war but wanted something so head to calais for easy pickings
Mid winter 1558 launched a surprise attack across the frozen marshes of the calais pale (surprise as don’t normally fight in winter as its not campaign season). Calais lasted three weeks but this was impressive consnsidering how many were left
2000 English troops in Calais, had not reinforcements and stood no chance against 27,000 French troops. English gov raised an army of 7000 to attack, fleet of 140 left England to attack Brest. plan was to swap one port for another, but only succeeded in taking le conquet which is a fishing village. Brest was France’s main port (atlantic and pivotal for meditteranian trade), France then kick them out of Le Conquet.
calais been held since 1328
Philip and HII both camped near Amiens both ready for battle but prepared for negotiations, but both are running out of monet. October 1558 peace talks begin at Cateau Cambresis ,PII initially asked for Calais back but in Novemebr Mary died so he abandoned it especially as Liz refused to marry him. April 1559 Peace of Cateau Cambresis was signed and technically Liz ‘lost’ Calais
THE LOSS OF CALAIS - ECONOMICALLY - Historian Crowson called it ‘crippling’ on the economy but Tittler says it was not as bad as the Calais merchants weren’t that important to the economy anymore, also didn’t need to garrison anymore. Merchants of the Staple move out. TERRITORIALLY - last bit of territory left over from 100yrs warm was inevitable that France would try and take it at some point. MILITARILY - Calais had been used to launch HVIII’s invasions but FP had changed. DIPLOMATICALLY - loss of Calais seen as the failure of the relationship with Sp and a result of the Spanish marriafe, PII abandoned England at the end. MORALE - England had ruled Calais since 1347 so that was seen as humiliating, Mary said when she died Calais would be engraced on her heart (protestants reinforce this)
WYATT’S REBELLION
Aim was to replace Mary with liz and Courtenay
When rebellion failed the gentry continued to oppose Mary in parl, such as stopping the coronation of PII, stooping Mary from disinheriting Liz and taking back the monastic land
People didn’t want rebellio, too close to 1549 chaos and succession crisis of 1553
Renard was pushing for Liz’s execution (actually sent her to the tower)
Wasted time repairing the wheels of the cannon and the broken bridge
Norfolk was too old to sort out the revels, should have sent a more able, younger general
Aims of the rebels were unclear, no set of articles some discussion of possibly releasing LJG
loss of support for Mary when Norfolk’s troops deserted and joined the rebels at Rpchester
People at ludgate drew back and let the rebels get to the gate
Mary lost control of the south east, notably Rochester
Mary was determined to stay in london, even though privy council said she shouldn’t, gave an inspiring speech at Guildhall and got support
Executed LJG even though she was not involved, shows just how worried Mary was
Renard got wind of the plot and Courtenay confessed early on
Didn’t send body parts of those executed to the 4 corners of the realsm, thought people would blame the spanish and feared rebellion
Carew - np support due to role in W’ern, Coventry even took up arms against Suffolk
lots of protestants at this point support Mary as she hadn’t started burning at this point (bloody mary)
Poor timing, winter months were a bad time to rebel as cold and lacked daylight
Rebellion planned for march but brought forward to January (unprepared)
Court conspiracy from men in gov and involved key nobs, eg Suffolk (father of LJG)
Liz arrested and put in tower of London
Mary offered the rebels a pardon
Married PII and brought Rc back with the second act of repeal which is what the rebels tried to stop (Unsuccesful)
rebels got within 0.5km of Mary
Xenophobia - fear of Spaniards and spain made this a popular rebellion, fear of soanish war and spanish government
Fellowes argued had it had more noble support then it may have succeeded, other risings may have occured
Ludgate remained closed to the rebels so could get into the city, when they retreated the mob turned on them and killed them
only executed 90 rebels and not liz, as feared this would cause more problems
only 1 of 4 rebellions actually happened
Cv thought Mary would lose the rebellion
rebels slow on reaching london, delayed to attack Lord Cobham’s house and burn Gardiner’s library, allowed Mary to fortify london bridge
had to detour along thames to Kingston once they relaised london bridge was fortified
Privy council wanted to use spanish troops, M said this was a bad idea
had a force of 2500-3000 rebels
POLITICAL - Croft was lord lieutenant of Ireland, Suffolk the father of LJG, Wyatt lost his position in local gov (major landowner), fear of losing key positions in powers, had held offices under Edward
ECONOMIC - kent was suffering from a decline in the cloth idustry and there were 30 different types of tradesmen listed in a list from the rebels at Cranbrook, Kent, (could show economic hardship, or variety of people present) rising unemployment since 1551 due to a slump in Antwerp, which had been declining since 1549, rising unemployment
MARRIAGE - people were worried about the terms of the treaty, which were currently published but not ratified, but people still concerned (foreign wars, advisors), justified to some extent (eg Croft lost his position in Ireland), (highly prot), worried about Philips role, have to pay/use resources fir war, genuine fears over succession, even treaty doesn’t alleviate worry
RELIGION - BIG, Proctor in 1554 wrote ‘the history of Wyatt’s rebellion; a gov propagandist working for Mary, claimed religion was the main cause of(Mary would encourage this as otherwise its religion). Wyatt says religoon is not the cause (despite being protestant), as he likely can attract more support for anti-spanish marrigae. But! All the leaders were protestant (lots burnt in Maidstone later), likely instigated by Bishop o Winchester (prot under Ed) but he also had a personal gripe.
1) Some gentry at court plotting against Mary, plan is to depose her (serious) and put Liz on the throne. The four main leaders are Wyatt, Carew, Croft and Grey. Some argue that initially Suffolk got involved to put LJG on the throne (daughter) but this is not the overrall aim (Liz). Courtenay was another leader and the plan is to marry Liz and to ascend to the throne (but he’s not the main leader). No idea what Liz’s role was as there is no written evidence, if there was any it was destroyed but its likley that she knew of the rebellions occurance, explains why LJG dies and not liz. Plans to occur in March (good weather) but CV’s ambassadors arrive early and PC agree to the marriage by January (faster than expected) so they move up the rebellion to January 1554
2) Explains why ¾ of the rebellions fail. Meantime, renard gets wind of the plot, he went to Mary and Mary went to Gardiner, Gardiner went to Courtenay (father son relationship) and Courtenay tells him everything. Carew (Devon) not interested as still feeling the aftereffects of W’ern and mostly catholic anyway and Carew helped to put down W’ern (burn barns). Ieicester, don’t want to rebel, when Suffolk reaches coventry they turn against him and he has to run. Kent is succesfull as more protestant, initially goes to maidstone and get 2,500 men (raises flag) but uses anti-spanish propaganda to get 3,000. Also fails to get support from Herefordshire
3) Norfolk, old (80) only has 500 men (sent to deal with rebellion) who desert at Rochester known as the ‘white coats’ (switch) professionally trained soldiers,
4) Mary performs a rallying speech at Guildhall ‘as a mother love her children, so do I love you’, an important speech that’s epic for her image. The rebels plan is to go across London bridge and go to St pauls (Mary here). Marching to the bridge but detour to gravesend (take a cannon). They attack Cooling Castle (Cobham’s house) which delays them. Mary then fortifies London bridge, so on Wyatt’s arrival he can’t cross. No other bridges across the Thames so he dithers and attacks gardiner’s house and burn his library down (further delays). then he goes to Kingston on Thames and has to cross but the bridge is broken. Also, cannons wheels break on journey so wastes more time fixing this and they eventually just ditch it). then waste time rebuilding the bridge (whole day) and then march overnight to Knightsbridge, then to Charing Cross. Lost a few men along the way but have their first major battle here (royal army fire first) and many men leave. Continue marching to St Pauls and get to Ludgate via Fleet Street. At fleet streetm Londoners let them pass but at the gate (ludgate) gate is closed and londoners wont let them in, Within a half km of Mary! So retreat down fleet street and Londoners attack at the bottom of ludgate hill
5) 90 executions, including Wyatt, 20 of these were gentry leaders, six hundred pardoned and only 2 executed fro treason (wyatt and suffolk), some minor novles executed. LJG and her husband Dudley also executed