Mary
– even though she was a Catholic – was the heir to the throne but she had no
experience of government as she was never expected to need it. The reign of Edward VI – under the influence
of his chief ministers – moved the Church of England nearer to Calvinism. Many Continental Reformers made their way
across the Channel, Chantries were
dissolved thus putting more property into the hands of the gentry and
aristocracy. The new Prayer Book of 1549
shocked Devon and Cornwall Catholics into revolt. But how many set about reversing this state
of affairs? The twin objectives of her
reign were to restore the Catholic faith and to negotiate a marriage that would
hopefully ensure that the succession would not pass to her half-sister, the
Princess Elizabeth.
Mary’s
first Parliament in late 1553 made a beginning by declaring her mother’s
marriage legal and valid. A consequence
of Henry’s annulment of his marriage to Catherine would be that Mary was
illegitimate. The Parliament of Mary
also repealed most of Edward’s religious legislation. But the gentry and aristocracy had no
intention of handing back the monastic lands that they had acquired and so the
monasteries were never restored.
In
view of the need for an heir – Mary was thirty seven when she became Queen –
marriage had to be arranged pretty quickly.
The Emperor Charles V – who was a cousin of Mary – suggested his son
Philip who had just become a widower.
They married but there was no heir.
In
1556 Cardinal Reginald Pole succeeded Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of
Canterbury. Parliament revoked the
supreme headship of the Church and it acknowledged the authority of the
Pope. It said that the Pope had sent
Pole ‘to call us home again into the right way from whence we have all this
long while wandered.’
Three
laws against heresy were revived. Mary’s
instincts had been, at first, for patience towards Protestants but as
opposition to her developed her attitude stiffened. A first victim was John Rogers, a London
preacher who was burned at the stake at Smithfield in February 1555. The former Bishop of Gloucester and the
deposed Bishop of St David’s went to the stake at Carmarthen in March. Latimer, Ridley, Cranmer and three hundred
others followed. Moderate Catholics were
dismayed.
The
ambassador to the Emperor, Renard, who had been a valued adviser when she first
became Queen appealed to her to be moderate but his influence was in decline
and she listened to voices such as Philip and Pole. But she bears the main responsibility since
she could certainly have stopped these atrocities. She had some achievements to her credit –
reform of the currency, strengthening the navy, reorganising the customs – but
her great ambition collapsed. The first
act of Elizabeth’s first parliament was to reclaim the governorship of the
Church. The burnings that Mary
authorised discredited the Catholic Church and sowed a harvest of hatred. Ironically, while hoping to do the opposite,
Mary played a big part in ensuring that England did not re-embrace the Catholic
faith.
Nevertheless,
when Mary died in November 1558 England did not suddenly cease to be a Catholic
Kingdom. Unlike the reforms of Henry
VIII which were suddenly imposed on the people by the King’s will and upheld by
violence Elizabeth’s approach, at first, was much more conciliatory. She allows Mary to be buried according to the
Catholic Rite in Westminster Abbey which gave Catholics some hope. But the Ambassador of Venice speaks of his
fears: ‘Until now I have believed that the matters of religion would continue
in the accustomed manner, her majesty having promised this with her own mouth
many times. But now I have lost faith
and I see that little by little they are returning to the bad use. On Christmas Day, the Bishop of Carlisle sang
High Mass and her majesty sent to tell him that he was not to elevate the
host. To which the good Bishop replied
that thus he had learnt the Mass and that she must pardon him as he could not
do otherwise. So the Gospel being ended
her majesty rose and departed.’
The
Queen’s premature departure from Mass left little doubt that the kingdom is set
to leave the Catholic Church again.
Elizabeth’s very existence is the result of Henry’s split with Rome. It
was to marry Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, that her father divorced his
first wife. He broke from Rome and had
himself proclaimed Supreme Head of the Church in 1534. Twenty five years later Elizabeth struggles to
get the Supremacy Bill through Parliament.
At the fourth attempt it is passed by a majority of three votes but the
Queen was not acknowledged as Supreme Head of the Church because she was a
woman. She is acknowledged as its
Supreme Governor. The Act of Uniformity
passed on the same day re-established the Prayer Book of Edward VI as the
authorised version. All office holders –
clergymen, judges, J.P’s, Mayors, and University Graduates are required to
swear an oath acknowledging Elizabeth as Supreme Governor of the Church. Henceforth it was compulsory to attend Church
of England services every Sunday and Holy Day.
Those who fail - recusants – are to be fined a shilling for each day
they fail to attend.
