The Mid-Tudor Crisis

Wyatt's rebellion

Wyatt's rebellion of January-February 1554 had its origin in an abortive conspiracy to depose Mary, and place Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon on the throne with the Princess Elizabeth as his consort.

Sir Thomas Wyatt was deeply opposed to Mary marrying Philip of Spain and carried on raising troops even when the main conspiracy began to unravel.

From his base at Allington castle in Kent, he raised a force of about 3,000. The rebels marched from Maidstone to London.

	The rebels advanced slowly, and in the meantime Mary rallied support in London. Wyatt's forces reached Ludgate - only two miles from the Tower of London - but when the Londoners failed to join their cause, they were forced to surrender.
	Wyatt was beheaded 11 April 1554, and his head and severed limbs displayed around the city.
	Both opposition to the Spanish marriage and Protestantism seem to have played a part in motivating the rebellion. Mary suspected Elizabeth of complicity but was never able to find firm proof.

Mary's foreign policy

The French ambassador had made promises of support to the Wyatt conspiracy, and the French helped Sir Thomas Stafford equip a small force that landed at Scarborough in April 1557. This force was crushed, and Henry II's best efforts to persuade Scotland to invade England met with failure.

Finally, England joined Spain in the war with France and sent a force of about 7,000 men to help the Spanish army besieging St. Quentin (near Paris). England also lent Spain naval support.

Medal struck by Henry II to commemorate the capture of Calais.
(The legend reads maiora sequentur - greater things to follow).

The main consequence of the war was the loss of Calais. The costs of maintaining and protecting this enclave far exceeded its economic benefits, but the loss of England's last toe-hold in France was generally regarded as a national humiliation. Even if Mary had lived and Philip made greater efforts to retrieve the lost enclave, the recognition in Europe that England was militarily incapable of defending the territory undermined the nation's prestige.

Government and administration

Mary retained many members of Northumberland's Privy Council. Indeed, William Paulet, Marquis of Winchester and William Lord Paget had sat in Henry VIII's Council. In addition, she appointed her own favored advisors: The chief of these was Bishop Stephen Gardiner.

Only about twenty of the fifty or so Privy Councilors sat on a regular basis, and an inner council of six men (Stephen Gardiner; Henry Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel; Bishop Thomas Thirlby; William Lord Paget; Sir Robert Rochester and Sir William Petre) controlled policy.

Cardinal Reginald Pole (1500-88)

Mary was also heavily dependent on the advice of the Imperial ambassador Simon Renard, and later in her reign Reginald Pole played an ever greater role.

Mary's reign was a time of administrative continuity, although some revenue offices (Exchequer, Wards and the Duchy of Lancaster) were reformed.

Mary also enhanced the English navy's capabilities. Artillery support from its guns helped the Spanish defeat the French in the Battle of Gravelines (July 1558).

Coughton Court Gatehouse
completed c. 1530

The Mid-Tudor Crisis?

	England suffered in many ways during the 1540s and 1550s. Inflation, debasement and bad harvests caused considerable economic disruption. Increasing population, epidemics of influenza and sweating sickness, and unsuccessful warfare also decreased living standards.
	To social and economic problems were added the disorder caused by political weakness. Henry VIII lost his grip during his last years, and was succeeded by a youth at the mercy of rival factions. Edward in turn was followed by a sick woman, married to a foreigner, who adopted policies in religion that were generally unpopular.
	The religious changes added to the sense of disruption and uncertainty. An ecclesiastical system that had been stable for centuries was reformed, and then reformed further only to see the changes soon reversed.
	Yet despite these problems, the only serious rebellions were those of 1549 and 1554, both of which were soon suppressed by determined government action.
	Even the religious gyrations were largely accepted quietly, and not only by the laity - most clergymen remained in place throughout Henry's break with Rome, Edward's Protestant fervor and Mary's Catholic reaction.
	English central and local government continued to function reasonably efficiently and the society's hierarchical structure was never seriously threatened.