Mary I: Character & Royal Authority (AQA A Level History: Component 1: Breadth study): Revision Note

Summary

• Mary I was England's first queen regnant: the first woman to rule in her own right

  • She came to the throne aged 37 in 1553 on a genuine wave of popular support

• Her aims were clear: restore Catholicism, secure the succession through marriage, and assert royal authority

  • She was deeply pious and inflexible

  • Her Catholic faith was genuine and shaped every decision she made

• Her key ministers were Gardiner (Lord Chancellor), Paget (a senior councillor, later Lord Privy Seal) and Cardinal Pole (Archbishop of Canterbury)

  • Both Gardiner and Paget advised caution on the pace of religious change

  • Mary often ignored their advice

• Mary defeated Wyatt's Rebellion (1554) through decisive personal action, but the rebellion showed how quickly popular support had eroded

• Her government carried out genuine administrative reforms, including rebuilding the navy and modernising revenue collection

• Historians disagree on her rule

  • Elton calls her arrogant and unsuited to rule

  • Revisionist historians argue she faced structural problems no male monarch would have faced

Mary I: Character, Aims & Her Claim to the Throne

• Mary I became queen in July 1553

  • She was England's first queen regnant (the first woman to rule in her own right, not as regent or consort)

Her claim to the throne

• Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

  • She was declared legitimate at birth and initially treated as heir to the throne

  • Henry's annulment of the marriage in 1533 made her illegitimate in English law

  • She was restored to the succession by the 1544 Succession Act, though never formally re-legitimised

• Her claim was reinforced by Henry VIII's will, which placed her ahead of Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey

• When Northumberland's coup collapsed, widespread popular support carried her to the throne

  • Gentry and nobility rallied to her at Framlingham Castle in Norfolk, Catholic and Protestant alike

  • They backed her on grounds of legitimacy, not religion

Character

• Deeply pious

  • Her Catholic faith was not a political position; it was the defining feature of her personality

  • She had been raised a Catholic by her mother, Catherine of Aragon

  • Henry VIII's treatment of her mother, her faith and her own legitimacy had left her resilient but inflexible

• Brave and decisive

  • She acted with courage in the succession crisis and in the face of Wyatt's Rebellion

• Politically inexperienced

  • During her younger years, she had been in enforced isolation

  • She had never held office, nor even been trained to govern

• Impatient

  • She interpreted popular support at her accession as enthusiasm for Catholicism

    • She moved too quickly to reaffirm Catholicism

• Poor health

  • She was 37 at accession and suffered recurring illness

    • Time pressure, therefore, shaped many of her decisions

Aims

• Mary's aims were clear and consistent from the start of her reign

The challenge of being a female monarch

• Mary was England's first queen regnant; no woman had ruled England in her own right before

• Contemporary political thinking held that women were unsuitable rulers: too emotional and too easily manipulated

  • A queen was expected to need a husband, and the husband was expected to dominate proceedings

• Mary knew her position, and the thinking around her; she worked hard to assert her authority and limit Philip's role

  • But the widespread assumption that Philip would take control undermined her authority in public perception

    • When Philip left England for extended periods, her government was visibly weakened

Mary I & her Ministers: Gardiner, Paget & Pole

• Mary selected a large Privy Council of around 40 members

  • It drew on Catholic conservatives from Henry VIII's reign and experienced officials from Edward VI's government

    • This gave her a breadth of experience but made the Council unwieldy and prone to faction

• Her three most important ministers were the following:

Simon Renard: the Imperial Ambassador

• Simon Renard was Charles V's ambassador in London

  • He was not a minister, but he was crucial to how Mary actually made decisions

  • He became Mary's most trusted confidant on the question of Spanish marriage

  • Mary consulted Renard before consulting her own Privy Council on the marriage plans

• This was seen as a serious political error

  • It undermined Council trust

  • It gave the impression that English foreign policy was being made by Spain

The problem with Mary's Council

• Gardiner and Paget both advised caution on the pace of religious restoration

  • Mary largely ignored them

• The Council was too large to function efficiently

  • Committees were needed to manage specialised business

• Factional rivalry between conservatives and pragmatists meant the Council rarely spoke with one voice

• Mary's tendency to rely on personal confidants (Renard, later Pole) rather than the Council weakened collective government

Royal Authority under Mary I: How Effectively Did She Govern?

• Mary came to the throne with genuine popular support

• The key question is why this support eroded so quickly and whether her government was ever truly secure

Early strengths

• The succession crisis

  • Mary acted decisively at Framlingham

  • She rallied support personally, refused to be intimidated and moved quickly

  • The only serious coup against the Tudors lasted just nine days

• First Act of Repeal (October 1553)

  • This swept away all Edwardian religious legislation

  • It was passed by Parliament with little opposition

    • This suggests that Protestantism had not taken deep root among the political nation

    • Parliament had supported Edward’s reforms, but was equally willing to reverse them under Mary

• The marriage treaty (January 1554)

  • This was carefully negotiated to limit Philip's power

  • Philip was to be styled King, but his powers were strictly limited by the marriage treaty

  • Foreigners were forbidden from holding English government offices

  • Philip had no claim to the throne if Mary died childless

Wyatt's Rebellion, February 1554

• When plans for the Spanish marriage became public, Sir Thomas Wyatt, a Kentish gentleman, led a rebellion

• Around 3,000 rebels marched on London

  • London Bridge was closed against them

• Mary responded with personal courage

  • She stayed in London and addressed the city directly

  • The rebellion collapsed within a week

• Wyatt was executed

  • Lady Jane Grey and her husband (Guildford Dudley) were also executed

    • Mary had been reluctant to act against Jane, but Wyatt's rebellion made keeping her alive too dangerous

• Princess Elizabeth was arrested on suspicion of complicity

  • She was released when no evidence was found

• Wyatt's Rebellion showed how quickly the Spanish marriage had converted popular support into suspicion

Administrative reforms

• Mary's government carried out several genuine reforms that are often overlooked in accounts focused on persecution and religious failure

Where was royal authority challenged?

• The Spanish marriage damaged Mary's standing far more than any rebellion

  • It made her look like a tool of Habsburg interests

• Parliament resisted some of her proposals

  • A 1555 bill to include Philip in proposed treason legislation was rejected

  • A bill to confiscate the property of Protestant exiles was also blocked

• The heresy burnings (from February 1555) undermined her authority in public perception over time

  • Around 300 Protestants were burned in total

  • In London, this created Protestant martyrs rather than eliminating dissent

• Philip's absences left Mary visibly weakened

  • He visited England briefly, but spent most of his time in Spain and the Netherlands

• The loss of Calais (January 1558) was a catastrophic blow to royal prestige

  • England's last territory in France was lost after war was declared to support Philip's campaign against France

• Mary died in November 1558, leaving the throne to Protestant Elizabeth

  • The opposite of everything Mary had worked for

How Effectively Did Mary I Establish Royal Authority?

• Use the evidence below to build your own argument

• The question asks specifically about royal authority, not about whether her reign was a good or a bad one overall

Evidence that Mary established royal authority

• She overcame the succession crisis through decisive personal action

  • The coup in favour of Lady Jane Grey lasted only nine days

• She defeated Wyatt's Rebellion without leaving London

  • Her personal courage held the city

• Parliament cooperated in repealing Edwardian legislation

  • The First Act of Repeal passed with little opposition

• The marriage treaty protected English sovereignty

  • Philip's powers were carefully limited by negotiation

• Administrative reforms strengthened the machinery of government:

  • Privy Council committees

  • Exchequer reform

  • The Book of Rates

• The navy was rebuilt

  • Mary gave Elizabeth the naval foundation for her foreign policy

• The Militia Act (1558) modernised England's military structure

Evidence that Mary failed to establish royal authority

• The Spanish marriage converted popular support into suspicion within months

  • It made her look dependent on Habsburg interests

• Parliament resisted key proposals

  • Including legislation on Protestant exiles

• The heresy burnings created Protestant martyrs rather than eliminating dissent

  • They raised questions about what was worth dying for

• She failed to produce an heir

  • The fundamental purpose of the marriage was not achieved

• Philip's absences left the government visibly weakened in public perception

• The loss of Calais was a humiliation that damaged royal prestige beyond repair

• Mary died leaving Protestant Elizabeth as heir

  • The religious restoration she had worked for was undone within a year of her death

Key historian