This month truly assembled Mary Tudor’s finest hours. Let’s set the stage for a bit of context.
Mary’s younger brother, Edward VI, had been King for a little more than six years – but was still only fifteen years old. He was as staunchly Protestant as she was unshakably Catholic, and so when he fell ill in February he began to consider how to change the succession so that the throne could not pass to her. Helping him out on this – or perhaps driving the whole bus – was John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, an ambitious man who had already snatched power away from Edward’s uncle. As Edward’s health declined, Edward and Northumberland came up with a plan to bypass Mary and Elizabeth and name Lady Jane Grey as the next heir.
The plan should have worked. After all, Northumberland controlled every measure of formal power in England: the Council, the judges, the treasury, the Tower, the ports and ships, and the artillery. He also had tacit French support (they hated the idea of the Emperor’s cousin on the English throne), and even Spanish acceptance (he knew they would not intervene militarily on Mary’s behalf). But he missed one small trick: it was only on July 7, the day after Edward died, that he sent his son Robert with 300 troops to secure Mary. By then, she knew about her half-brother’s condition and had already moved to East Anglia to raise armed support.
When news of Edward’s death arrived, Mary declared herself Queen from Kenninghall (hence this post!) and the people began flocking to her banner. Northumberland need to send real forces against her – but he had to make an impossible choice as military success required him to lead the troops (he was the most experienced general in the kingdom) but political success required him to stay behind to continue reassuring his increasingly nervous Council. He tried to send Jane’s father with the army, but one of that poor queen’s few royal decisions was that Henry Grey could not be spared. Quite soon after Northumberland departed with a woefully inadequate complement of soldiers, the Council lost its nerve and declared for Mary.
Today was the day that all started, the day Mary rose to the occasion and experienced what might have been the one true vindication of her position and destiny. Things certainly went downhill from here…
***
If you like my posts, you’ll love my books! Nothing Proved is my newest, the story of Elizabeth Tudor’s journey from bastard to queen. Get it now through your favorite platform – Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, or your own independent bookstore
(PS Already read it? Did you love it? Then please review it – even just a stars rating! It makes a huge difference in helping new readers find them and would mean the world to me!)
Be First to Comment