Government

• The Failure of Devyse


  ➔ Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen in 1553 but popular support for Mary was quick to appear.

  
  

  ➔ On learning of Northumberland's intentions to proclaim Lady Jane Grey queen Mary gathered Catholic supporters, including members of the nobility, in Norfolk.

  
  

  ➔ Northumberland immediately summoned troops and sent a naval squadron to wait off the coast by Great Yarmouth to intercept Mary should she try to set sail.

  
  

  ➔ However there was little support for Northumberland due to the cruelty with which he put down the Kett rebellion
• Proclaiming Mary as Queen


  ➔ Members of the Council decided to proclaim Mary as queen on 19 July 1553

  
  

  ➔ Northumberland realised his plan had failed and proclaimed Mary as queen in Cambridge on 20 July.

  
  

  ➔ Northumberland's plan failed as he had attempted to:

  - interfere with the legitimate succession

  - promote the claims of his son's wife.
• Was Mary effective in taking the throne?


  Mary had acted:

  Bravely

  Decisively

  Quickly and gathered much support.
• Mary's Problems as Queen

  ➔ She was a Catholic in a mainly Protestant country with many religious divisions.

  
  

  ➔ Also suffered as a female queen.

  
  

  ➔ She had not been brought up to rule with little political education.

  
  

  ➔ Her loyal supporters, such as Robert Rochester and Edward Walgrave Bedingfield had no serious experience in government

  
  

  ➔ She had to rely on those who had served her half-brother and were therefore implicated in religious reforms she did not agree with.
• Mary's Councillors


  Bishop Gardiner - been Henry VIII's secretary but had suffered imprisonment as a Catholic during Edward's reign.

  
  

  Churchmen who had been excluded from influence during Edward's reign.

  
  

  Lord Paget - conservative councillor, who Mary did not trust

  
  

  Cardinal Pole - went into exile under Henry VIII but returned to England as the Archbishop of Canterbury.

  
  

  Mary appointed 50 councillors during her brief reign - led to an insufficient government - supported by the fact that Mary's decision to marry Prince Philip of Spain - was never discussed formally in the Council.
• Who did Mary trust?


  As a consequence Mary relied on the advice from her husband from 1554, Philip of Spain

  
  

  Her trusted group of advisers included Cardinal Pole, who was never a member of the Privy Council.

  
  

  She lost confidence in Paget on account of his opposition to her religious programme, and she never fully trusted Gardiner
• Mary and Parliament


  The relationship between Mary and Parliament was usually one of cautious co-operation.

  
  

  A substantial minority of MP's (about 80) opposed the reversal of Edwardian religious legislation and there was other opposition to Crown policies.

  
  

  Concern for property rights, motivated by self interest, ensured that ex-monastic property would not be restored to the Church - a bill in 1555 to allow the seizure of property of Protestant exiles was defeated.

  
  

  Also quarrelled over the issue of succession.
• The Spanish Marriage 1554


  ➔ Mary wanted to get married to guarantee the Catholic succession and as she was 37

  
  

  ➔ Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, who was Gardiner's choice, possibly to prevent a foreign marriage.

  
  

  ➔ However this caused problems as marriage to an Englishman brought with it the threat of factional rivalry and many saw him as unsuitable.

  
  

  ➔ Mary's personal preference for Philip of Spain was clear

  
  

  ➔ Philip's father Charles V had offered advice and support and Philip agreed to 'do his duty'.
• Response to the Spanish Marriage


  ➔ English public opinion was hostile, as Gardiner predicted and Parliament tried to dissuade her.

  
  

  ➔ In order to ease fears, a detailed marriage treaty was drawn up stating

  
  

  - Philip was to be given the title of King but was to exercise none of the power

  - no foreigners were permitted to hold English offices

  - if Mary died Philip would have no claim on the English Crown.

  
  

  ➔ The couple met for the first time in July 1554 and the marriage ceremony took place in Winchester Cathedral

  
  

  ➔ Philip was unimpressed with both England and his new wife, 11 years older than him.

  
  

  ➔ In 1554 Parliament rejected a bill that in 1555 prevented Philip's coronation as King.
• Plans For The Succession


  ➔ Mary's overthrow of Northumberland and Edward's Devyse had restored Henry VIII's will, established under the Succession Act of 1544.

  
  

  ➔ Under its terms, Mary would be succeeded by Elizabeth should she remain childless.

  
  

  ➔ This was an issue for Mary as Elizabeth was a known Protestant

  
  

  ➔ She believed Elizabeth was illegitimate and had no right to succeed the throne but to deny her the right of succession would require either parliamentary legislation
• The Succession


  ➔ Following Wyatt's Rebellion Elizabeth had been confined to the Tower of London.

  
  

  However, although Mary suspected that Elizabeth was implicated in the rebellion, she had no proof.

  
  

  ➔ Elizabeth was released from the Tower after 2months but effectively kept under house arrest.

  
  

  ➔ Attempts to change the succession came to nothing and Mary was forced to accept that Elizabeth would be her successor as she was childless.

  
  

  Philip had also given his support.

  
  

  ➔ Mary's health deteriorated - she formally named Elizabeth as her successor on 6 November 1558 and died 11 days later.
• POSITIVE CHANGE


  - NAVY was restructured

  + £14,000 per year

  + 6 new ships built

  + 2 new acts reformed how army were raised - vital as there was no English standing army

  
  

  - Recoinage plan drawn up - implemented under Lizz

  
  

  - Local Government in towns given power - more standardised and structured

  
  

  - 1555 poor act - poor had to display badges

  - Enforcement over grain hoarding
• NEGATIVE CHANGE


  - Mary remitted Edwards last subsidy - was popular BUT was huge financial cost to an already fragile economy

  
  

  -Mary changed back to Catholism so put the reign in a state of chaos