Editing Mary I of England (section)

===Religious policy===
[[File:1555 gold medal Queen Mary I of England.jpg|thumb|right|Gold medal by [[Jacopo da Trezzo]] of "Mary I, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith", 1555]]
[[File:Mary1 by Eworth 2.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Mary in an ornate dress|Mary by [[Hans Eworth]], 1554. She wears a jewelled pendant bearing the [[Mary Tudor pearl|Tudor pearl]] set beneath two diamonds.]]
In the month following her accession, Mary issued a proclamation that she would not compel any of her subjects to follow her religion, but by the end of September 1553, leading Protestant churchmen—including Thomas Cranmer, [[John Bradford]], [[John Rogers (Bible editor and martyr)|John Rogers]], [[John Hooper (bishop)|John Hooper]], and [[Hugh Latimer]]—were imprisoned.<ref>Tittler, pp. 23–24; Whitelock, p. 187.</ref> Mary's first Parliament, which assembled in early October, declared her parents' marriage valid and [[First Statute of Repeal|abolished Edward's religious laws]].<ref>Loades, pp. 207–208; Waller, p. 65; Whitelock, p. 198.</ref> Church doctrine was restored to the form it had taken in the 1539 [[Six Articles (1539)|Six Articles]] of Henry VIII, which (among other things) reaffirmed clerical celibacy. Married priests were deprived of their [[benefice]]s.<ref>Porter, p. 241; Whitelock, pp. 200–201.</ref>

Mary rejected the break with Rome instituted by her father and the establishment of Protestantism by her brother's regents. Philip persuaded Parliament to [[Second Statute of Repeal|repeal Henry's religious laws]], returning the English church to Roman jurisdiction. Reaching an agreement took many months and Mary and [[Pope Julius III]] had to make a major concession: the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|confiscated]] monastery lands were not returned to the church but remained in the hands of their influential new owners.<ref>Porter, p. 331.</ref> By the end of 1554, the Pope had approved the deal, and the [[Revival of the Heresy Acts|Heresy Acts were revived]].<ref>Loades, pp. 235–242.</ref>

Around 800 rich Protestants, including [[John Foxe]], fled into [[Marian exiles|exile]].<ref>Waller, p. 113.</ref> Those who stayed and persisted in publicly proclaiming their beliefs became targets of heresy laws.<ref name="Solly">Solly, Meilan. "[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/myth-bloody-mary-180974221/ The Myth of 'Bloody Mary']". ''Smithsonian Magazine''. 12 March 2020.</ref> The first executions occurred over five days in February 1555: John Rogers on 4 February, [[Laurence Saunders]] on 8 February, and [[Rowland Taylor]] and John Hooper on 9 February.<ref>Whitelock, p. 262.</ref> Thomas Cranmer, the imprisoned archbishop of Canterbury, was forced to watch Bishops [[Nicholas Ridley (martyr)|Ridley]] and Latimer being burned at the stake. He recanted, repudiated Protestant theology, and rejoined the Catholic faith.<ref>Loades, p. 325; Porter, pp. 355–356; Waller, pp. 104–105.</ref> Under the normal process of the law, he should have been absolved as a repentant, but Mary refused to reprieve him. On the day of his burning, he dramatically withdrew his recantation.<ref>Loades, p. 326; Waller, pp. 104–105; Whitelock, p. 274.</ref> In total, 283<!--Ridley and Waller say 283: 227 men and 56 women--> were executed, most by burning.<ref>Duffy, p. 79; Waller, p. 104.</ref> The burnings proved so unpopular that even [[Alfonso de Castro]], one of Philip's own ecclesiastical staff, condemned them<ref>Porter, pp. 358–359; Waller, p. 103; Whitelock, p. 266.</ref> and another adviser, [[Simon Renard]], warned him that such "cruel enforcement" could "cause a revolt".<ref>Waller, p. 102.</ref> Mary persevered with the policy, which continued for the rest of her reign and exacerbated anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish feeling among the English people.<ref>Waller, pp. 101, 103, 105; Whitelock, p. 266.</ref> The victims became lauded as [[List of Protestant martyrs of the English Reformation|martyrs]].<ref>See for example, the [[Oxford Martyrs]].</ref>

Reginald Pole, the son of Mary's executed governess, arrived as papal legate in November 1554.<ref>Loades, p. 238; Waller, p. 94.</ref> He was ordained a priest and appointed Archbishop of Canterbury immediately after Cranmer's execution in March 1556.<ref>Porter, p. 357.</ref>{{Efn|Although he was in deacon's orders and prominent in the church, Pole was not ordained until the day before his consecration as archbishop.<ref>Loades, p. 319.</ref>}}

As long as the Queen remained childless, her half-sister Elizabeth was her successor. Mary, concerned about her sister's Protestant convictions (Elizabeth attended mass only under obligation and had superficially converted to Catholicism only to save her life after being imprisoned following Wyatt's rebellion), seriously considered removing her from the succession and naming as her successor her Scottish first cousin and devout Catholic, [[Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox|Margaret Douglas]].<ref>Morgan Ring, ''So High A Blood: The Life of Margaret Countess of Lennox'' (Bloomsbury, 2017), p. 110.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Porter|2007|pp=251-252}}</ref>