Mary I Flashcards
(25 cards)
1
Q
What were Mary’s religious aims in coming to the throne?
A
- Reinstate traditional Catholic values
- Mother (Catherine of Aragon) had been strict Catholic
2
Q
What did the First Act of Repeal do?
A
- October 1553
- removed religious legislation approved during reign of Edward VI
- Doctrine of Church of England restored to what it had been at death of H8
3
Q
What did the Second Act of Repeal do?
A
- January 1555
- abolished all doctrinal legislation passed since 1529
- This included 1534 Act of Supremacy = Pope reinstated as head of church
- Didn’t include restoration of Church lands / property = too complex and divisive issue
4
Q
What methods did Mary use to reinstate Catholicism?
A
- Gov policy divided into 2 strands: education and persecution
- emphasis on better training and supervision of parish priests
- Bishops instructed to set up local training schools and make regular visits to observe work of priests in their area
- National decrees laid down standards expected from priests
- New editions of Prayer Book and Bible issued
5
Q
What were the burnings?
A
- Protestants who wouldn’t renounce faith burned at stake in local community as warning
- Feb 1555 = executions began, claiming high-ranking victims (Cranmer) as well as ordinary people unable to escape abroad
6
Q
What were the successes of the burnings?
A
- 300 suspected Protestants burned
- Mary’s gov asserting royal community
- Death of Cranmer
7
Q
Why was the burning of Cranmer particularly significant?
A
- In Oxford, 1556
- Had driven introduction of Protestantism in 1533 when became Archbishop of Canterbury through to end of Edward VI’s reign
- Under Mary had accepted that supporting Protestantism was an error but decided to stand by religious convictions
8
Q
What were the failures of the burnings?
A
- Death toll increases = opposition to policy
- Graphic murders = those facing execution public heroes
- Instead of frightening people back to Catholicism, burnings raised questions about what was so powerful and important about Protestantism that people were prepared to die for it
- This picked up by English Protestants who fled abroad = produced propaganda associating Catholicism with intolerance = undermined Mary’s authority
9
Q
How was M’s marriage to Philip arranged?
A
- M considered as possible wife for Charles V
- 1553 = M spoke w/ imperial ambassador and personal friend, Simon Renard, about marrying Charles’ son
- M and Renard worked on marriage alliance without consulting Privy Council
10
Q
Why was there opposition to the royal marriage?
A
- Philip Catholic:
= Protestants feared he’d strengthen Mary’s determination to reverse Reformation - Philip heir to Spanish throne and its empire in Europe and Americas
= Worry he’d use England as tool to further Spanish ambition
= Would have little regard for interests of country - How would France react to England and Spain drawing together closely?
- What would this mean for relations with Scotland?
11
Q
What were the marriage agreements?
A
- Philip called King but had none of powers associated with title
- Philip forbidden from brining foreigners into English government
- Had no claim to throne in event of Mary’s death
12
Q
What was the aim of Wyatt’s rebellion?
A
- Overthrow Queen
- Replace her with Edward Courtenay (great-grandson of fifteenth-century Yorkist King, Edward IV, and only male claimant to throne)
- Courtenay to marry Princess Elizabeth to strengthen his thin connection to Tudor crown
13
Q
How was Wyatt’s rebellion motivated by the marriage?
A
- Despite marriage agreements, still lots of xenophobia in country
- Wyatt feared the gov would be controlled by Spain or by Spanish interests
14
Q
How was Wyatt’s rebellion motivated by religion?
A
- Rebels supported Protestantism
- John Proctor identified religion as cause in book written immediately after
= Book commissioned by government
= put focus on religious discontent to divert attention away from the unpopular marriage
15
Q
How was Wyatt’s rebellion motivated by economic issues?
A
- Kent = cloth industry in decline for a while = economic hardship
- People used situation to air grievances
- Local politics caused instability
- Some gentry families jockeyed for positions of influence in county and at court
16
Q
What was the original plan for Wyatt’s rebellion?
A
- Rebellions against Mary to begin in March 1554
- One in Devon where Western rebellion had occurred
- One in Leicestershire led by Lady Jane Grey’s father
- One on Welsh border
- One in Kent, led by Wyatt
17
Q
Why did Wyatt’s rebellion plan change / fail?
A
- Difficult to keep plans secret
- Plotters advanced timetable to beginning of Feb to keep surprise
- 3 of 4 uprisings failed to materialize
- Only Wyatt able to gather sufficient men (300,000 total)
- Wyatt marched rebel army to London = London bridge closed against him
- Confusion = Wyatt failed to convince Londoners to join him
- Rebellion collapsed within a week
18
Q
How was Wyatt’s rebellion a failure?
A
- Only 1 of 4 uprisings happened
- Rebellion collapsed within a week
- Failure of City to support Wyatt = danger posed by rebels reduced
- Mary ordered execution of Wyatt, Lady Jane Grey and her husband along with 100 other conspirators
- Princess Elizabeth arrested on suspicion of being accomplice
19
Q
How was Wyatt’s rebellion a success?
A
- Unlike Western Rising and Kett’s Rebellion of 1549, Wyatt’s actions threatened the capital
- Mary realised threat of Lady Jane Grey
20
Q
What were the successes of war with France?
A
- June 1557 = Mary declared war on France and sent troops across Channel to join her husband’s forces
- Achieved victory in Battle of Saint-Quentin (Spain too financially exhausted to follow this up)
21
Q
What were the failures of war with France?
A
- Within a year, France recovered = seized Calais from English = blow to national pride (Calais last outpost of great medieval empire)
- Severed England from continent
- Symbolized limited role country would play in European affairs
- Humiliating example of how Mary’s marriage had become more of convenience for Spain than England
22
Q
How did Mary strengthen royal government?
A
- Privy Chamber more established
(Managed daily running of gov / Committees dealt w/ specialized issues (e.g.: war against France)) - Increased efficiency of revenue collection
(Northumberland begun campaign 1552 by setting up royal commission / More responsibility transferred to Exchequer) - New Book of Rates introduced May 1558 to improve Crown income from custom duties
- Plans to revalue currency following the ‘Great Debasement’ of 1540’s
23
Q
What was the 1558 Militia Act?
A
- Laid down system of Commissioners of Muster
- Responsible for organizing recruitment of regional militias in wartime
24
Q
What was the 1558 Arms Act?
A
- Established better procedures for supplying weapons to royal forces
25
Why might Mary not deserve her poor reputation?
- More Protestants killed under Cromwell in 1530’s than under Mary
- Compared to what happening in places in Europe, policy moderate
- Suffered some divisions within Privy Councilors but so did other Tudor monarchs
- Her foreign policy ill advised but no more foolish than other expeditions of Tudors
- Didn't live long = couldn't establish rule or show she could manage without being dominated by husband
