Editing House of Tudor (section)

== Mary I ==
[[File:Anthonis Mor 001.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mary I of England]], who tried to return England to the Roman Catholic Church]]

Mary soon announced her intention to marry the Spanish prince, [[Philip II of Spain|Philip]], son of her cousin [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]]. The prospect of a marriage alliance with Spain proved extremely unpopular with the English people, who were worried that Spain would use England as a satellite, involving England in wars without the popular support of the people. Popular discontent grew; a Protestant courtier, [[Thomas Wyatt the younger]], led a [[Wyatt's rebellion|rebellion]] against Mary aiming to depose and replace her with her half-sister [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]]. The plot was discovered, and Wyatt's supporters were hunted down and killed. Wyatt himself was tortured, in the hope that he would give evidence that Elizabeth was involved so that Mary could have her executed for treason. Wyatt refused to implicate Elizabeth, and he was [[beheaded]] in April 1554. Elizabeth spent two months imprisoned at the [[Tower of London]], and then was placed under house arrest at [[Woodstock Palace]] for a year.

[[File:Latimer Ridley Foxe burning.jpg|thumb|left|Protestants [[Hugh Latimer]] and [[Nicholas Ridley (martyr)|Nicholas Ridley]] being burned at the stake during Mary's reign]]
Mary married Philip at [[Winchester Cathedral]], on 25 July 1554, and he thereby became king ''[[jure uxoris]]'' until her death. Philip found her unattractive, and only spent a minimal amount of time with her. Despite Mary believing she was pregnant numerous times during her five-year reign, she never bore children. Devastated that she rarely saw her husband, and anxious that she was not bearing an heir to Catholic England, Mary became bitter and resentful. In her determination to restore England to the Catholic faith and to secure her throne from Protestant threats, she had over 280 Protestants burnt at the stake in the [[Marian persecutions]], between 1554 and 1558. Protestants came to hate her as "Bloody Mary." [[Charles Dickens]] stated that "as bloody Queen Mary this woman has become famous, and as Bloody Queen Mary she will ever be remembered with horror and detestation".{{Sfn|Garvin|1974|p=185}}

Mary's dream of a new, Catholic [[Habsburg]] line was finished, and her popularity further declined when she [[Siege of Calais (1558)|lost Calais]] — the last English territory on French soil — to [[Francis, Duke of Guise]], in January 1558. Mary's reign, however, introduced a new coining system that would be used until the 18th century, and her marriage to Philip II created new trade routes for England. Mary's government took a number of steps towards reversing the inflation, budgetary deficits, poverty, and trade crisis of her kingdom. She explored the commercial potential of Russian, African, and Baltic markets, revised the customs system, worked to counter the currency debasements of her predecessors, amalgamated several revenue courts, and strengthened the governing authority of the middling and larger towns.{{Sfn|Kinney|Swain|2001|p= 471}} Mary also welcomed the first [[Russian ambassador to England]], creating relations between England and Russia for the first time. Had she lived a little longer, Catholicism, which she worked so hard to restore into the realm, might have taken deeper roots than it did. However, her actions in pursuit of this goal arguably spurred on the Protestant cause, through the many people she killed. Mary died on 17 November 1558 at the age of 42.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Castor |first=Helen |author-link=Helen Castor |date=2010 |title=Exception to the Rule |journal=History Today |volume=60 |issue=10 |pages=37–43}}</ref>