MARY
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The Spanish Marraige
Mary had to candidates for marriage and needed to produce a Catholic heir quickly as she was 37. The two candidates were:
Edward Courtenay (Earl of Devon)
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Philip of Spain
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The Decision
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The Reaction
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Wyatt's Rebellion
Events: (1554 January, Kent)
(Although rebellions had been planned in Kent, Devon, Hertfordshire and Leicestershire, the only significant one was in Kent)
1. Marched to London to stop the marriage, or replace her with Elizabeth (Wyatt had a force of 3000)
2. Duke of Norfolk sent to stop it – but failed
3. Mary fortifies London
4. Wyatt was delayed on his march
5. Mary gets to fortify London better
6. Wyatt went upstream to Kingston and sought to attack the city from the West - Wyatt got ½ a km away from the tower of London
7. Rebels could not breach the city’s defences and were forced to surrender
8. Wyatt and chief supporters were captured and executed - Only 90/3000 rebels were killed
Reasons for the march:
(Although rebellions had been planned in Kent, Devon, Hertfordshire and Leicestershire, the only significant one was in Kent)
1. Marched to London to stop the marriage, or replace her with Elizabeth (Wyatt had a force of 3000)
2. Duke of Norfolk sent to stop it – but failed
3. Mary fortifies London
4. Wyatt was delayed on his march
5. Mary gets to fortify London better
6. Wyatt went upstream to Kingston and sought to attack the city from the West - Wyatt got ½ a km away from the tower of London
7. Rebels could not breach the city’s defences and were forced to surrender
8. Wyatt and chief supporters were captured and executed - Only 90/3000 rebels were killed
Reasons for the march:
- Social (xenophobia)
- Religion (Maidstone, the urban supporters, were protestant)
- Economy (decline in the local cloth industry and poor people wanted to vent their frustrations)
- Social (Gentry had lost office in the country)
Government
Problems
- England was plagued by religious divisions. As a fervent Catholic, Mary was unlikely to be able to calm these divisions.
- Mary had not been brought up to rule- she did not have the political experience to meet the challenges which faced her. Most of her close advisers e.g. Rochester and Bedingfield lacked political experience too.
- Mary had as many as 50 councilors, which led to faction and inefficiency. Evidence for this is the fact that Mary’s marriage was never discussed in Council.
- Mary’s relationship with these key figures had difficulties. Paget disagreed with Mary’s plan to make England Catholic; she never fully trusted Gardiner (he had failed to support Catherine of Aragon at the time of the divorce) but his death left a gap in government that Mary never filled. Meanwhile, Archbishop Pole took little interest in secular (non-religious) issues.
Solutions
- Mary retained some of Edward’s councillors who did have experience (although she picked those who were more sympathetic to Catholicism.)
- She also re-appointed Bishop Gardiner and other more Catholic churchmen, who had served Henry but been excluded under Edward.
- Mary saw “councillor” as an honorary title; her “working” council was much smaller, and dominated by trustworthy figures such as Winchester and Paget
- Mary was still able to rely on the advice of Philip and of Ambassador Simon Renard (though this could be a problem in itself!)
Mary's Non-Religious Policies
Financial
- Northumberland's government had suggested reforming the revenue collecting system- Mary put some of these reforms into effect.
- The system was streamlined- three different "Courts" had been involved, but there was now to be just one organisation- the Court of the Exchequer (though it took on board some of the more modern methods which had been used by the other two courts.)
- Mary drew up re-coinage plans (to stop the inflation problems caused by Henry's and Somerset's debased coins).
- She also drafted a new Book of Rates to improve customs revenue.
(BOTH OF THESE POLICIES BENEFITED ELIZABETH AS MARY DIED BEFORE THEY COULD BE IMPLEMENTED!)
- Mary cancelled the last part of Edward's final subsidy (tax)- this made her popular but led to falling government revenue.
- Royal debt rose (though not significantly considering England was at war with France)
Military
- Completely reorganized the administration and finance of the navy
- Six new ships were built and other's repaired
- Finance budget for peace time: £14, 000
- Treasurer of the navy was Benjamin Ganson
(THIS IS WHAT WOULD HELP ELIZABETH DEFEAT THE SPANISH ARMADA)
Towns
- Mary encouraged strong local government- giving out charters which gave many towns new rights and led to strong local government.
- The powers and structures of local councils were made more consistent across the country- this improved the quality of government.
Poor Relief
- Strong enforcement on law against grain hoarders
- Encouraged the conversion of pasture land to tillage (where crops may be grown)
- Work with local and regency councils
Administrative Reforms - Summary
These were unglamorous but necessary reforms, which Elizabeth later reaped the benefit from. They were not revolutionary, however, and Mary largely built on the reforms of Cromwell.
Revenue reform:
Report of 1552 Commission was followed up with a reduction in money-collecting departments and a restoration of the importance of the Exchequer; more could have been done but Winchester wanted efficiency without revolution.
Royal finances:
a) Survey of Crown Lands led to a review of rents and fines which netted another £40,000 p.a.
b) Customs rates were reviewed for first time since 1507; implemented 1558, doubled revenue – even more successful than Henry VII!
The Navy:
Suffered under Northumberland’s cutbacks; under Mary six new ships were built and in 1557 a regular peacetime allocation of funds was begun. Lord Howard and Ben Gonson were key players in this.
The Militia:
Land forces had also been improved - e.g. the Militia Act placed the calling of troops in the hands of JP's and Lord Lieutenants rather than the landowners where the power of the latter was in decline; Weapons Act modernized weaponry in their hands.
The Coinage:
Good and bad coins were in circulation in '53 and plans were laid for a complete re-coinage; unimplemented under Mary due to harsh economic climate of 1556-57 but took place in 1560-1.
Towns:
Mary passed Acts protecting the rights of towns involved in retail trading and cloth-making against rural rivals.
Report of 1552 Commission was followed up with a reduction in money-collecting departments and a restoration of the importance of the Exchequer; more could have been done but Winchester wanted efficiency without revolution.
Royal finances:
a) Survey of Crown Lands led to a review of rents and fines which netted another £40,000 p.a.
b) Customs rates were reviewed for first time since 1507; implemented 1558, doubled revenue – even more successful than Henry VII!
The Navy:
Suffered under Northumberland’s cutbacks; under Mary six new ships were built and in 1557 a regular peacetime allocation of funds was begun. Lord Howard and Ben Gonson were key players in this.
The Militia:
Land forces had also been improved - e.g. the Militia Act placed the calling of troops in the hands of JP's and Lord Lieutenants rather than the landowners where the power of the latter was in decline; Weapons Act modernized weaponry in their hands.
The Coinage:
Good and bad coins were in circulation in '53 and plans were laid for a complete re-coinage; unimplemented under Mary due to harsh economic climate of 1556-57 but took place in 1560-1.
Towns:
Mary passed Acts protecting the rights of towns involved in retail trading and cloth-making against rural rivals.
Foreign Policy
1554- Marriage between Mary & Phillip II SpainMotives:
Successes:
Failures:
Historian’s Views:
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1556-War with FranceEnforced by:
Motives:
Successes:
Failures:
Historian’s views:
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Religion
Just because Mary was Queen - it didn't make the Church Catholic. She needed to pass laws to make the Pope the Head of the English Church- and in order to pass these laws, she needed the support of Parliament. Mary wanted England to by fully Catholic and she also wanted the parliament to agree to her heresy laws (which would allow her to burn Protestants.)
(Haigh – “The real hallmark of the Marian Church ….was local enthusiasm…..which produced large sums of money”)
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Restoring Catholocism
- Mary faced several problems. Protestantism was still popular in parts of London and the South East. In law, the Protestant Church was the official Church of England. Also, many politicians had gained from buying monastic land- they did not want to give this up.
- 800 leading Protestants went into exile at centres of European Protestantism.
- Early policies – senior Protestant clergy imprisoned; foreign Protestants ordered to leave England; Edward’s religious laws repealed; clergy who had married were removed (this led to severe shortages of clergy)
- However, Mary was not able to make the Catholic church the official church in law until 1555
Monastic Land
To make England fully Catholic again, she needed the monasteries (where monks lived because it was an important part of the Catholic church, but the land had been sold by Henry when he closed them down and created the Church of England.
The biggest problem in getting this land back was that many MPs had bought this land and didn't want to give it back - but Mary and the Pope wanted and needed them to. MPs tried to bargin with Mary that they would vote for a Catholic church and heresy laws if they could keep the land.
The Pope wanted the MPs to make him head of the Church before giving them the land, but the MPs wouldn't stand for this and made things too hard for Mary so he agreed to let the MPs keep the land so then they would pass the laws making him Head of the English Church and the heresy laws too- in 1555.
The Pope refused to give the MPs absolution of conscience - which basically meant that they could keep the land, but they would be in trouble with God after death. This, however, would have worked in the favour of Mary if she had been Queen longer because it meant that the monastic land would be back in the hands of the church when these MPs died as they would leave it in their will to the church so that they would not go to Hell or Purgatory.
The biggest problem in getting this land back was that many MPs had bought this land and didn't want to give it back - but Mary and the Pope wanted and needed them to. MPs tried to bargin with Mary that they would vote for a Catholic church and heresy laws if they could keep the land.
The Pope wanted the MPs to make him head of the Church before giving them the land, but the MPs wouldn't stand for this and made things too hard for Mary so he agreed to let the MPs keep the land so then they would pass the laws making him Head of the English Church and the heresy laws too- in 1555.
The Pope refused to give the MPs absolution of conscience - which basically meant that they could keep the land, but they would be in trouble with God after death. This, however, would have worked in the favour of Mary if she had been Queen longer because it meant that the monastic land would be back in the hands of the church when these MPs died as they would leave it in their will to the church so that they would not go to Hell or Purgatory.
Bloody Mary?
289 Protestants were burnt at the stake during Mary’s reign -
- Bishops Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer were the most famous- but the number also included 25 clergymen, 52 women, and 8 gentry
- 75% of the victims were from South East England and East Anglia
- Many argue that this policy backfired – there was much public sympathy for the victims (especially as so many were “ordinary” people) Some seen as martyrs
- Also, the burnings did not remove Protestantism (unlike in other European countries)
- Others claim Mary would have succeeded in her aims if she had had more time (heresy laws reintroduced in 1555; Mary died in 1558)- after all, most of England remained Catholic
- Servants and young people were soon banned from watching burnings- this is evidence that the Council was worried the burnings were not removing Protestantism
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