chapter 15

• Mary had two aims with her foreign policy:

  1. Restore England to papal supremacy
  2. Marry Philip II - heir to Spanish throne
• Mary declared war on France in 1557 after French troops landed at Scarborough
• Calais was lost in January 1558
• Reorganisation of admin and finance of the navy:

  • Six new ships were built + many were repaired
  • peace time naval budget of £14,000 → But Elizabeth reduced this
• Mary also reformed the methods of raising troops via two acts of parliament which John Guy states was a ‘landmark in English military organisation’
• the Wyatt Rebellion lasted from January --> February 1554
• Causes of the Wyatt rebellion:

  • opposition to the Spanish marriage
  • Religion
  • Wanting to depose Mary in favour of Elizabeth or Lady Jane Grey
  • Decline in the Cloth industry caused some poverty
• Nobles in 4 locations supported the Rebellion: 

  1. Thomas Wyatt - Kent 
  2. Edward Coutenary (earl of Devon) - Devon 
  3. Sir James Croft - Herefordshire
  4. Duke of suffolk (lady Jane Grey’s father) - Leicestershire
• The Wyatt rebellion had widespread support, but not popular support, as only 4000 people joined the march to London
• The Wyatt rebellion was the most dangerous rebellion as it reached the gates to the city of london
• Elizabeth was briefly placed in the tower due to being implicated in the Wyatt rebellion
• Mary was 37 when she became Queen
• Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was nephew of Catherine of Aragon and Cousin of Mary
• Mary's 3 priorities were:

  1. Restoring Catholicism
  2. securing the Succession
  3. War with France - was unnecessary but desired anyway
• Mary was ‘inexpert in worldly matters’ states Renard (Ambassador of Charles V) probably as she had not been prepared/educated to be queen
• Mary promoted several trusted Catholic supporters but they had no experience and ‘they were quite unsuited to be a  monarch’s council’ - states Loades
• 'the privy council’s… commitment to recatholicization was lukewarm” - Guy
• Mary kept clear distinctions between the Privy council and the Court, whereas Edward had let the two overlap
• Jennifer Loach regarded Mary's new council as “efficient and sensible”

  However, it had a large membership of up to 50 people
• Cardinal Pole joined the council in 1554 but was only concerned with religious matters and became unpopular due to wanting to reclaim the monastic lands from nobles.
• Mary became heavily reliant upon advice from philip and renard. 
• Key Terms of Mary and Philip’s marriage treaty:

  • A child of the marriage would inherit England and the low countries, but not Spain.
  • Philip, nor any of his own heirs he had without Mary would have any claim to the English throne.
  • Philip was to receive the title king but couldn’t possess any sovereign authority
  • Philip alone was not allowed to promote foreigners
  • He had to uphold the laws of England
• Parliament refused to coronate Philip as King

  and refused to add his name to the Treason Law - (would have allowed people to commit treason against him)

  This shows the marriage was unpopular
• the 1544 succession act stated that if Mary was to die with no heir then Elizabeth would become Queen

  Mary wanted to avoid this as Elizabeth was protestant and also represented the mistreatment of her mother, Catherine of Aragon
• November 6th 1558 - Mary officially named Elizabeth as her successor
• 1554 Act for regal power stated that Mary's power as Queen is equivalent to the power of any English King