of the policy of union with Scotland (March 1550); and the
approach of war between France and the emperor, coupled
with the rising of the princes in Germany, relieved Warwick from
foreign apprehensions and gave him a free hand at home.
Gardiner, Bonner, Heath, Day and Tunstall were one by one
deprived of their sees; a new ordinal simplified the ritual of
ordination, and a second Act of Uniformity and Book of Common
Prayer (1552) repudiated the Catholic interpretation which had
been placed on the first and imposed a stricter conformity to
the Protestant faith. All impediments to clerical marriage were
removed, altars and organs were taken down, old
Establish-ment of Pro-testantism.
service books destroyed and painted windows broken;
it was even proposed to explain away the kneeling at
the sacrament. The liberal measures of the protector
were repealed, and new treasons were enacted; Somerset himself,
who had been released and restored to the council in 1550,
became an obstacle in Warwick’s path, and was removed by
means of a bogus plot, being executed in January 1552; while
Warwick had himself made duke of Northumberland, his friend
Dorset duke of Suffolk, and Herbert earl of Pembroke.
But his ambition and violence made him deeply unpopular, and the failing health of Edward VI. opened up a serious prospect for Northumberland. He was only safe so long as he controlled the government, and prevented the administration of justice, and the knowledge that not only power but life was at stake drove him into a desperate plot for the retention of both. He could trade upon Edward’s precocious hatred of Mary’s religion, he could rely upon French fears of her Spanish inclinations, and the success which had attended his schemes in England deluded him into a belief that he could supplant the Tudor with a Dudley dynasty. His son Guilford Dudley was hastily married to Lady Jane Grey, the eldest granddaughter of Henry VIII.’s younger sister Mary. Henry’s two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, the descendants of his elder sister Margaret, and Lady Jane’s mother, the duchess of Suffolk, were all to be passed over, and the succession was to be vested in Lady Jane and her heirs male. Edward was persuaded that he could devise the crown by will, the council and the judges were browbeaten into acquiescence, and three days after Edward’s death (July 6, 1553), Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen in London. Northumberland had miscalculated the temper of the nation, and failed to kidnap Mary. She gathered her forces in Norfolk and Suffolk, Northumberland rode out from London to oppose her, but defection dogged his steps, and even in London Mary was proclaimed queen behind his back by his fellow-conspirators. Mary entered London amid unparalleled popular rejoicings, and Northumberland was sent to a well-deserved death on the scaffold.
Mary was determined from the first to restore papalism as well as Catholicism, but she had to go slowly. The papacy had few friends in England, and even Charles V., on whom Mary chiefly relied for guidance, was not eager to see the papal jurisdiction restored. He wanted Queen Mary. Restoration of the old religion. England to be first firmly tied to the Habsburg interests by Mary’s marriage with Philip. Nor was it generally anticipated that Mary would do more than restore religion as it had been left by her father. She did not attempt anything further in 1553 than the repeal of Edward VI.’s legislation and the accomplishment of the Spanish marriage. The latter project provoked fierce resistance; various risings were planned for the opening months of 1554, and Wyat’s nearly proved successful. Only his arrogance and procrastination and Mary’s own courage saved her throne. But the failure of this protest enabled Mary to carry through the Spanish marriage, which was consummated in July; and in the ensuing parliament (Oct.-Jan. 1554–1555) all anti-papal legislation was repealed; Pole was received as legate; the realm was reconciled to Rome; and, although the holders of abbey lands were carefully protected against attempts at restitution, the church was empowered to work its will with regard to heresy. The Lollard statutes were revived, and between February 1555 and November 1558 some three hundred Protestants were burnt at the stake. They began with John Rogers and Rowland Taylor, and Bishops Ferrar of St Davids and Hooper of Gloucester. Ridley and Latimer were not burnt until October 1555, and Cranmer not till March 1556. London, Essex, Hertfordshire, East Anglia, Kent and Sussex provided nearly all the victims; only one was burnt north of the Trent, and only one south-west of Wiltshire. But in the Protestant districts neither age nor sex was spared; even the dead were dug up and burnt. The result was to turn the hearts of Mary’s people from herself, her church and her creed. Other causes helped to convert their enthusiastic loyalty into bitter Unpopularity of the Spanish marriage. Philip II. hatred. The Spanish marriage was a failure from every point of view. In spite of Mary’s repeated delusions, she bore no child, and both parliament and people resisted every attempt to deprive Elizabeth of her right to the succession. Philip did all he could to conciliate English affections, but they would not have Spanish control at any price. They knew that his blandishments were dictated by ulterior designs, and that the absorption of England in the Habsburg empire was his ultimate aim. As it was, the Spanish connexion checked England’s aspirations; her adventurers were warned off the Spanish Main, and even trade with the colonies of Philip’s ally Portugal was prohibited. They had to content themselves with the Arctic Ocean and Muscovy; and they soon found themselves at war in Philip’s interests. Philip himself refused to declare war on Scotland on England’s behalf, but he induced Mary to declare war on France on his own (1557). The glory of the war fell to the Spaniards at St Quentin (1557) and Gravelines (1558), but the shame to England by the loss of Calais (Jan. 1558). Ten months later Mary died (Nov. 17), deserted by her husband and broken-hearted at the loss of Calais and her failure to win English hearts back to Rome.
The Spanish and Venetian ambassadors in London were
shocked at what they regarded as the indecent rejoicings over
Elizabeth’s accession. The nation, indeed, breathed
a new life. Papal control of its ecclesiastical, and
Spanish control of its foreign policy ceased, and it had
Accession
of Elizabeth. English national struggle
with Spain.
a queen who gloried in being “mere English.” There
was really no possible rival sovereign, and no possible
alternative policy. The English were tugging at the
chain and Elizabeth had to follow; her efforts throughout
were aimed at checking the pace at which her people wanted
to go. She could not have married Philip had she wished to, and
she could not have kept her sea-dogs off the Spanish Main.
They were willing to take all the risks and relieve her of all
responsibility; they filled her coffers with Spanish gold which
they plundered as pirates, knowing that they might be hanged
if caught; and they fought Elizabeth’s enemies in France and
in the Netherlands as irregulars, taking their chance of being shot
if taken prisoners. While Elizabeth nursed prosperity in peace,
her subjects sapped the strength of England’s rivals by attacks
which were none the less damaging because they escaped the
name of war.
It required all Elizabeth’s finesse to run with the hare and hunt
with the hounds; but she was, as Henry III. of France said,
la plus fine femme du monde, and she was ably seconded by Cecil
who had already proved himself an adept in the art of taking
cover. Nevertheless, English policy in their hands was essentially
aggressive. It could not be otherwise if England was to
emerge from the slough in which Mary had left it. The first step
was to assert the principle of England for the English; the queen
would have no foreign husband, though she found suitors useful
as well as attractive. Spanish counsels were applauded and
neglected, and the Spaniards soon departed. Elizabeth was
glad of Philip’s support at the negotiations for peace at Cateau
Cambrésis (1559), but she took care to assert the independence
Triumph of the new religion.
The Act of Uniformity.
of her diplomacy and of England’s interests. At
home the church was made once more English. All
foreign jurisdiction was repudiated, and under the
style “supreme governor” Elizabeth reclaimed nearly
all the power which Henry VIII. had exercised as
“supreme head.” The Act of Uniformity (1559)
restored with a few modifications the second prayer-book of
