Essay examples on this period
These are example essays on this period from previous students to showcase how you can answer questions well.
‘TO WHAT EXTENT DID ROYAL AUTHORITY DECLINE IN THE YEARS 1547-1558’
Though Henry VIII had left a flawed legacy there was no doubt that royal authority had remained strong. When Edward inherited the throne it would have been a challenge for an adult let alone a minor. There was also a religious upheaval as when he died in 155, catholic sister Mary succeeded the throne and began to convert England back to Catholicism. There are many different opinions on whether the crown managed to uphold royal authority throughout this turmoil.
One of the arguments that royal authority was in decline is the frequency of rebellion, especially the two in 1549 which John Guy said was ‘the closest Tudor England had come to class war’. Somerset’s failure to deal with the rebellions showed weakness, as his troops were stretched thin between tackling the rebellions and upholding the garrisons in Scotland. It was the Kett’s rebellion that emphasised his weakness as in order to deal with the rebellion he had to put a sizable force in the hands of the Earl of Warwick this was a risky move as he was his potential opponent for the control of the young king Edward IV. Then the implications of the Wyatt’s rebellion for Mary were, though the Protestants were a minority they weren’t one that could be ignored and it also showed the extent to which the country opposed the Spanish marriage to Phillip. Wyatt had also come very close to success as to he had managed to raise a large army, however Mary had behaved resolutely in a time of crisis her councillors kept their heads and there were no defectors. This is a sign that Mary had managed to keep hold of authority; unlike Somerset whose failure to consult had left him painfully reminded that he wasn’t the King.
Another reason Royal authority seemed to be undermined was the extent to which the religious reforms had such opposition, this was shown clearly by the rebellions because two out of three were religiously motivated. The more radical side to Edwards’s reforms was shown in February 1547 by the denunciation of images in London. Duffy describes the reforms as a charter for revolutions ‘the most sweeping change in religion that England had ever seen’ there were fears from the council that the reforms were proving to destructive and it would cause a rebellion, which it did. Then when Northumberland took over he removed all of the conservative bishops and replaced them with active Protestants. However opposition to these reforms was clear as Susan Brigden says only 20% were protestant which meant that 80 % weren’t, and catholic survivalist remained heavy in the North. Even Hooper in 1550 admitted that the slow pace of reform was due to the public uncooperativeness this is a clear sign that royal authority was in decline. However even when Mary succeeded the throne and was on a mission to restore Catholicism, she came across difficulties as the Church was now so entrenched in Statue Law. She faced problems mainly with the land that had been claimed during the dissolution of the monasteries; many of the nobles had gained from this land and therefore were reluctant to give it up, this lead to a parliamentary blocking of Catholicism. This shows parliament undermining her authority.
But despite all of the opposition to the reform, Edward still pushed them through ruthlessly. Though Somerset’s reign was described as cautious, this is shown through the common book of prayer that was written in 1549 to reduce religious tension. However on another level the reforms were radical despite the public’s disapproval, the denunciation of images in London in 1547 reflected the radical attitudes of people like Nicholas Ridely. These changes were unpopular in many parts of the country because they shopped many of the religious ceremonies were no longer allowed to be held. But despite this they still pushed on with the changed introducing the injunctions in 1547, this showed the radical attitudes of the crown and were therefore more likely to be enforced. Northumberland however proved to be even more radical then Somerset with David Loads and Dairmaid MacCulloch both agree that Cranmer was right to be suspicious about his radicalism in 1552. This was clear by 1550 when he outmanoeuvred the conservatives on the Privy Council showing the power of royal authority, he wanted to continue the strategies placed by Somerset and gain more wealth from the church. Though he seems more cautious his religious reforms were more radical, MacCulloch said this ‘reflected the increasing influence that Edward IV had on policy making’.
However the fact that after Edwards’s death the legitimate succession of Mary I was held up despite Edward IV and Northumberland trying to stop it shows that religious authority was still strong. Henry VIII stated that if Edward should die then Mary would take over the throne, but Edward knew that Mary was a strong catholic and to see her take the throne would mean the restoration of Catholicism, something which he didn’t want to see happen. Dale Hoak said that ‘the devise could be blamed on Edward as he was anxious to see Protestantism stay on after his death’. So he named his successor named Lady Jane Grey his successor, in 1553 she married Northumberland’s son Guildford Dudley and the two sisters were once again illegitimate this time due to letters of patent. All they needed was to call Parliament so that it was water tight, but Edward died before this was possible and that meant that it was illegal. Mary saw what was happening so started to gather support for her and the Catholic faith, the council were uneasy about Northumberland’s actions as they were illegal so also sided with Mary and they proclaimed her Queen on the 19th of July. The fact that the succession still took place even though it meant an upheaval of religion proves that royal authority still remained strong.
When marry came to the throne in 1553 she was anxious to get married as she was already 37 with no heir. However this proved difficult the English candidate was Edward Courtney Earl of Devon, but he was politically inexperienced and marrying him would cause fractional rivalries as it meant that his family would come into power, this meant that she never saw him as a serious candidate. She preferred Prince Phillip II of Spain; he was a devout catholic and was far more politically experienced. His father Charles V had always been of great help to Mary as he had offered her support and guidance. But the public feared a foreign marriage as they were scared of being overtaken by the Spanish monarchy; this meant that a treaty had to be drawn up saying that if she died before he did then he would have no right to the English throne. But this didn’t stop rebellion the Wyatt’s rebellion showed how much political opposition that there was towards the marriage, showing that royal authority may have been in decline.
However in many respects Mary was considered a successful ruler during the Wyatt’s rebellion there had been no defectors, she had managed to keep her head as well as he councillors. This shows that she had a great deal of authority amongst her councillors and was able to rule, it also didn’t put her off marrying Phillip. Her religious policy also wasn’t purely repressive, she helped to restored the resources of the church after they had been eroded for 20 years, she made sure that the bishops appointed had to take the pastoral role seriously in conjunction with the catholic church. Her reforms given more time could have potentially worked. Financially there was progress made in the revenue of administration. Long term security was gained from the plan for coinage that was drawn up in 1556-1558, it was the thoroughness of Mary that enabled efficient implementation under Elizabeth.
In conclusion, I believe that royal authority was faced with issues during the two reigns. This was due to the amount of rebellions that took place over the course of the two reigns and how these were handled. Somerset ended up putting power in the hands of his rivals which lead to his downfall, and although Mary had kept her head the fact the rebellion was caused due to her marriage shows a decline in religious authority. However both of them managed to introduce their religious reforms and although both of them experienced problems, these problems could have overcome had they been given more time. It was the length of both reigns that meant that they religious policy was doomed to fail.