Page 35 - All About History 48 - 2017 UK
P. 35

Bloody Mary On Trial







                                                                                        By 19 July, Mary had won the day without a
                                                                                      drop of bloodshed: Lady Jane was deposed, and
                                                                                      Mary was proclaimed queen to the great joy of
                                                                                      her subjects. Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of
                                                                                      London, and, on 3 August, Mary entered London
                                                                                      in triumph: the dark days of uncertainty and
                                                                                      turmoil she had experienced throughout her life
                                                                                      now appeared to be at an end, and she had at last
                                                                                      come into her rightful inheritance.
                                                                                      Queen Mary

                                                                                      On 1 October, Mary’s achievements seemed to be
                                                                                      complete when she succeeded in becoming the
                                                                                      first queen regnant of England to be crowned. A
                                                                                      queen regnant reigning supreme in England was
                                                                                      unprecedented, and thus Mary had no example
                                                                                      from which to follow. This certainly later worked
                                                                                      in her half-sister Elizabeth’s favour, as she was able
                                                                                      to learn from Mary’s mistakes. Mary, however, had
                                                                                      good reason to believe that a woman could rule
                                                                                      successfully. Her maternal grandmother, Isabella of
                                                                                      Castile, had been an effective monarch in her own
                                                                                      right, and Mary’s mother had always believed that
                                                                                      her daughter could do the same.
                                                                                        Four days after the coronation, Mary’s
                                                                                      parliament met and passed the First Statute of
                                                                                      Repeal. This erased all of the religious policies that
         Mary’s entry into London, accompanied by over
         800 followers, proved very popular with the crowds                           had been put in place by Edward VI, for Mary was
                                                                                      determined that England ought to be returned
                                                                                      to the Catholic Church under the jurisdiction of
                                                                                      the pope. At the same time, she was given the
                                                                                      opportunity to correct a wrong that had remained
                                                                                      with her for many years: the marriage of her
                                                                                      parents, which had been denounced by Thomas
                                                                                      Cranmer, was declared to be valid, finally securing
                                                                                      her own legitimacy.
                                                                                        In a further step to secure her position, in April
                                                                                      1554, parliament passed the Act for Regal Power.
                                                                                      This consolidated the queen’s power “as fully and
                                                                                      absolutely” as it had been in any of Mary’s male
                                                                                      predecessors: despite her sex, her authority was to
                                                                                      be on a level with theirs.
                                                                                        Though Mary was queen in her own right,
                                                                                      it never occurred to her that she would rule
                                                                                      alone. From her infancy she had been primed for
                                                    An extract from Edward VI’s diary, about his
                                                    father’s attempt to change Mary’s religious views


                                                 THE LOSS OF CALAIS

                                                 The recapture of England’s last continental possession stung
                                                 With her husband Philip’s   could not be said of the English   Machyn recorded that it was, “…
                                                 encouragement, Mary finally   garrison stationed at Calais, and   the heaviest tidings to London and
                                                 agreed to lend English support   on New Year’s Day 1558, 27,000   to England that ever was heard of.”
                                                 to Spain’s war against France in   French troops attacked the town. On   Moreover, plans to try to regain
                                                 March 1556. It was an unpopular   7 January, it surrendered and was   possession came to nothing. For
                                                 move, and stretched the country’s   declared a reclaimed land.   centuries, blame for the loss of
                                                 already limited resources to the   Calais was the last English   Calais has been aimed squarely at
                                                 limit. Under the leadership of the   possession in France, and had been   Mary. This is too simplistic a view,
                                                 Earl of Pembroke, the English Army   in its hands since 1347 when Edward   however, and at the time it was
                                                 fought well and achieved a decisive   III captured the town. The loss was   not seen in this way. It is therefore
                                                 victory against the French at Saint   both disastrous and humiliating   unfair to attribute it wholly to
                                                 Quentin in 1557. However, the same   for England, and the diarist Henry   Mary’s actions.


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