182 Ch. 5 • Rise of the Atlantic Economy: Spain and Englandpaying more taxes to finance new
wars. Allied with fearful Catholic
nobles, the earl of Warwick over
threw Somerset in 1549. Warwick
assumed the role of Lord Protector
and took the title of duke of
Northumberland.
Northumberland quickly betrayed
the Catholic lords who had sup
ported him. He tightened the
crowns control over the Church
of England and undertook a repres
sive campaign against Catholicism.
Northumberland’s influence over
the sickly young king whetted his
desire for power. He plotted for Lady
Jane Grey (1537-1554; Henry VIIl’s
niece and third in line to the monar
chy) to ascend the throne after she
Mary Tudor, later queen of England. married his son. After Edward’s
death, Northumberland proclaimed
his daughter-in-law queen of England. But most nobles rallied to the cause
of Mary Tudor (ruled 1553-1558), the daughter of Henry VIII and Cather
ine of Aragon. She seemed to them the rightful heir to the throne, despite
the fact that she was Catholic.
Mary Tudor succeeded her half brother and attempted to return England
to Catholicism. She restored all rituals and doctrines of the Catholic
Church and she acknowledged the primacy of the pope over the Church of
England. The queen abrogated Henry VIII’s reforms and began to persecute
Protestants, some of whom fled to France. “Bloody Mary” embellished the
macabre heritage of the Tower of London with the heads of Northumber
land, his son, and Lady Jane Grey, who had ruled for only nine days. Mary
married Philip II, who ascended the Spanish throne in 1556. England joined
Spain in its war against France, which had long rivaled the Habsburgs in
Italy. Calais, the last English outpost in France, was soon lost. Sparked by
widespread opposition to her Catholicism, which was popularly identified
with France and Spain, a rebellion broke out against the queen. When Mary
died in 1558, few in England grieved.
Elizabeth I (ruled 1558-1603), Anne Boleyn’s daughter, restored Protes
tant rule to England when she became queen at age twenty-five, succeeding
Mary, her half sister. Elizabeth’s throne was threatened by religious division,
which was compounded by the antagonism of Catholic France and Spain.
Not many people could have expected the young queen to succeed.
Elizabeth was a woman of intelligence, vanity, sporadic fickleness, and an
occasional flash of temper. She enjoyed music, dancing, hunting, and the