How much support did Mary have for her policies?

Mary lost most of her support as a result of radical change - she should have gone about things slowly and cautiously. she interpretted the positive reaction to her arrival as a desire for Catholicism as opposed to a negative reaction to Northumberland (there was widespread releif that he was gone).

Her sharp reversal of religious policy and her equally dramatic decision to marry her Nephew Philip (heir to the Spanish throne) - turned early popularity into dislike in the minds of many Englishmen.

Religious Reform:

• Major aim was to reinstate Catholicism
• brought up by mother Katherine of Aragon, who was a strict Catholic
• she was horrified by the break with Rome and determined to correct it
• Parliament first met in October 1553 - the House of Commons passed the First Act of Repeal, which swept away all religious legislation passed during the reign of Edward VI. the Church of England was back to the way it was when Henry VIII died. She was convinced to do no more at that point
• The Second Act of Repeal in 1555 abolished all doctrinal legislation passed after 1539. this included the 1534 Act of Supremacy so the Pope was back as the head of the church
• this didn`t mean the retoration of church land and property, but it did mean that MPs had a more decisive role over religion
• there was opposition but Mary wouldn`t yield as she beleived that Protestantism wouldn`t survive
• government policy was divided into two strands - Education and Persecution
• To ensure Catholicism took root once more, emphasis was placed on the training and supervision of Parish priests
• National decrees laid down the standards expected from priests and new editions of the Bible and Prayer Book were issued for guidance
• most famous policy was persecution
• leading protestant churchmen (i.e. Archbishop Cranmer) were arrested and others replaced by committed Catholics
• within 1 year senior clergy were purged of Protestantism and married parish priests were told to either give up their posts or leave their families
• parilament revived heresy laws and unrenounced protestants were burnt at the stake in their local community as a warning to others
• executions began in February 1555
• claimed both high ranking officials and commoners couldn`t escape abroad - over 300 were killed
• government was asserting royal authority - however, this was no more than had been seen in the 1530/40s.
• Cranmer was killed in 1556 - this was significant. he had been Archbishop of Canterbury 1533-1553 and was a devout Protestant. He recanted under Mary, but withdrew his recantation and Mary (who hated him and all he stood for) felt she had no choice but to execute him, despite reservations
• she deemed the executions necessary to cleanse the country of Protestantism but her advisors were less convinced
• there were signs of opposition to policy, which began to appear as the death toll mounted - Mary had inadvertantly turned many into martyrs
• protestants abroad produced propaganda to make Protestants martyrs and associated Catholicism with intolerance and…