Mary I

Background Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was brought up as a strong Catholic but ostracised at Court following the annulment of her parents’ marriage. She was declared illegitimate by Act of Parliament in 1534 but was restored in After Edward’s accession, Mary continued to practise her Catholic faith, despite her brother’s attempts to prevent this. Once she had acceded to the throne, there could be no doubt about her commitment to the restoration of Catholicism.

Accession to the throne Mary’s accession was, on the whole, greeted with enthusiasm by the people of England. In East Anglia it was the ordinary people who first joined her cause and after she was proclaimed Queen in London on 19 July 1553 there is much evidence to suggest popular rejoicing in many parts of the country. Why was she welcomed back with such enthusiasm? Traditional thoughts were that the people were glad to see the rightful succession upheld. They had disliked the idea of Northumberland manipulating the succession to suit himself at the cost of disinheriting Henry’s daughter. However, Haigh argues that devotion to the Catholic faith was behind the enthusiasm. Indeed, the ‘old religion’ was taken up again with enthusiasm, before the laws from Edward’s reign had been reversed. For example, in Yorkshire there were masses from the beginning of August. Churchwarden accounts show that Latin service books were being bought quickly and where possible altar stones were restored. Altars, images and crucifixes were set up and processions began again. All of this happened well ahead of the law, there was no compulsion, people did this because they wanted to. Evidence suggests that parishes went to some expense to do this, e.g. in Sherbourne in Dorset. Did everyone feel this enthusiastic to see Mary and Catholicism restored? In parts of London, Essex and Kent there was some resistance – note that these were the areas with significant Protestant minorities.

Initial Problems She was inheriting a kingdom with fundamental religious divisions. Holding such firm views herself meant this problem was unlikely to be resolved in her reign. She lacked political instinct as she had not been brought up to rule. Most of her loyal and trusted supporters who administered her household such as Robert Rochester, Edward Waldegrave and Sir Henry Jerningham were not politically from the front rank and had no serious experience in government. She was therefore forced to rely to some extent on those who had served her half-brother and who were implicated in the introduction of the religious reforms she detested.

Who helped Mary to rule? Bishop Gardiner: he had been her father’s secretary and his imprisonment in Edward’s reign meant he was bound to find favour with Mary. He was joined by other churchmen who had been excluded from influence during Edward’s reign and some of the more conservative councillors who had served Edward at times In the end she appointed as many as 50 councillors. Did this lead to inefficient and faction ridden government? For example, she did not discuss her decision to marry Philip formally in Council. However, Mary seems to have regarded ‘councillor’ as an honorary title and the working council board was much smaller and was dominated by experienced figures such as Gardiner, Winchester (William Paulet, served Edward, Mary and Elizabeth as key financial administrator) and Paget. Cardinal Pole, a trusted adviser, was never a member of the Privy Council. Mary was never at ease with her key councillors and she kept her household separate from her Council. She lost confidence in Paget due to his opposition to the detailed programme for the restoration of the English Church to Rome. She never fully trusted Gardiner who had failed to support her mother during the break with Rome. However, he was indispensable and his death left a gap in government that was never really filled, especially as Pole only dealt with secular issues (non- religious). As a consequence she relied on the judgement of two men she trusted implicitly: Philip II of Spain (her husband) and Simon Renard, the ambassador of her cousin and father-in-law, Charles V.