The social impact of religious and economic changes under Mary 1

==Religious change + its social impact==

Mary’s greatest desire was to restore Catholicism to England - this desire was not unpopular. In many areas, locals began restoring Catholic practices even before Mary’s government instigated religious changes, showing that Protestantism was far from entrenched by 1553. However, Mary proceeded cautiously as a number of problems had to be resolved.

Problem	Actions
Strong Protestant minority in ==London== + other parts of south.Reformed ==Protestant Church of England== had been established by statute lawMany political elites on whose support Mary depended had acquired ==Church land== and had no desire to return it	Beginning of reign:- Some prominent Protestant clergy, including ==7 bishops,== were deprived of their livings- Foreign Protestants were ordered to leave the country- Around ==80 MPs== voted against the religious changes of Mary’s first Parliament
==Pope Julius III== demanded that the Church submit to Rome before dispensations to landowners of ex-Church property could be gained	First Parliament (Oct 1553):- Edwardian religious legislation was repealed but the legal status of the Church of England was upheld- The Church was restored to its state of ==1547==- Clergy who had married could be deprived of their livings1554:- Pope Julius agreed not to try to claim back Church land that had been sold (reduced opposition to the return of Catholicism from MPs + landowners)- ==Cardinal Pole== was sent to England as legate and Archbishop of Canterbury to facilitate a change to Catholicism
==Act of Repeal== provoked furious debates particularly directed against Pope ==Paul IV (Pope from 1555)== dismissed Pole as papal legate April 1557	Third Parliament (Nov 1554- Jan 1555):- Restored ==heresy laws (1554)==; these made it punishable by death to deny papal supremacy- ==Act of Supremacy 1555== made the Pope the leader of the Church again

Key religious reforms

In 1553, Mary repealed earlier religious legislation and restored the Catholic faith. Under the heresy laws, Mary persecuted Protestants including the ==Oxford martyrs== (Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer). Around 280 Protestants were burnt at the stake, mainly in East Anglia.

The persecutions under the heresy laws made Mary increasingly unpopular.

Other religious reforms

==Pole== tried to introduce reforms into the Church and increase the number of priests. He appointed bishops to preach + oversee their parishes. He also proposed that each cathedral should have a seminary for training priests. However, Mary’s reign was too short for these reforms to have much impact and while some areas (e.g. Durham + Lancashire) embraced his reforms, many others did not.

Economic change + its social impact

Mary inherited a serious economic situation in 1553. This worsened during her reign as inflation continued, culminating in serious distress in 1556-58. There was a series of ==bad harvests and epidemics==, including the ==plague.==

Long term Population growth combined with limited increase in productivity caused inflation
Medium term Debasement of coinage worsened inflation
Short term Harvest failures ==1555== and ==1556== caused severe food shortages + strain on real wages for the poor. Impact of ‘sweating sickness’ ==1557== and ==1558.== High taxation to pay for war against France

==Attempts by gov. to address the issues:==

==1556-58==: re-coinage plans were drawn up
==1555==: ==Poor Law Act== extended Act of 1552 and ordered licensed beggars to wear badges; this was intended to encourage fellow parishioners into donating more aims for poor relief
Encouragement was given to the conversion of pasture land to crop farming
Movement of industries from town to countryside was discouraged in attempt to reduce urban deployment

Not all areas were a success, however, and any benefits were not realised until Elizabeth’s reign. One area of economic success was in the reorganisation of the administration and finance of the navy; 6 new ships were built and others were repaired - this laid the foundations for the powerful navy of Elizabeth’s reign.

==Wyatt’s rebellion==

Causes:

anti-Spanish sentiment in England led to resentment of the marriage alliance
Some Protestants determined to prevent Catholic changes.
Social + economic grievances.

Events:

4 simultaneous uprisings in ==Devon== (led by Edward Courtenay, Gardiner’s candidate for Mary’s husband), ==Hertfordsire,== ==Leicestershire== and ==Kent==
However, the only serious uprising was in Kent where Wyatt raised a force of around ==3000== men.
Wyatt’s rebels tried to march on London but were repelled and Wyatt was forced to surrender within a month.

Consequences:

Although the rebellion failed, it demonstrated the extent of popular hostility to the Spanish marriage and shows that Protestant religious opinions could not be ignored.
==LJG== was executed
Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower but released upon proof of her innocence

Intellectual developments, including religious and humanist thought

The reintroduction of Catholicism weakened the influence of humanism; ==Pope Paul IV== regarded the humanist ==Erasmus== as a heretic and banned Catholics from reading his books.

Religious thought was largely centred on Catholic reform at a parish level. Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London, published ==A Profitable and Necessary Doctrine==, which explained the faith in a straightforward manner, and a new book of homilies.

Protestants, who were forced into exile, were divided in their thinking. Some were happy to use the 1552 Prayer Book and to operate within existing structures, while others (e.g. ==John Knox==) wanted to move in a yet more radical direction.

[[Summary[[

[[The shortness of Mary’s reign, coupled with a delay in restoring the structure of the Catholic Church, meant that Mary was unable to restore Catholicism fully[[
[[Economic + social distress worsened under Mary I, culminating in severe hardship 1556-58[[
[[Wyatt’s rebellion demonstrated that neither Mary’s foreign marriage nor her religious reforms enjoyed universal support; the kingdom remained divided[[