O Lord, our God, Arise: More Weekly Reports from England

[RGB]

Forbisher Bay sounds exactly one syllable too long.

Excellent update otherwise.

[Olaus Petrus]

Good to see that despite troubles with natives and catholic settlers your colonial enterprise is going well.

[Judas Maccabeus]

canonized: Well, there was one... didn't take very well, but there was one.

stnylan: Very much so. All the way from Newfoundland to South Carolina.

Kurt_Steiner: Nope, since she's not even born yet, no news of Pocohontas.

RGB: Well, there is a real Frobisher Bay which helped me get it off my tongue a bit better, but it's not the same as Hudson... who even gets his river taken away from him. Poor Hudson, I'm wondering if he'll have anything left by the time he comes around!

Olaus Petrus: Well indeed. England is the only real power in America at the moment.

There may be another update today to round out Henry's reign. No promises, though.

[Judas Maccabeus]

While these things were going on in America, Europe was not entirely quiet as well. Most of England proper was majority Protestant by this time, and Protestantism was even making inroads in Ireland as efforts to break the Irish hold on the Pope were making headway in the region of Dublin. The 13th century Anglicisation of the eastern half of the island did help in this regard, as the English were more likely to accept their national church than the Irish were. Toleration still officially reigned, however, and most of the island stayed Catholic without incident.

After the divorce of Jadwiga, Henry would have to find another woman to attempt another heir to the throne with. He decided to remain in England, as he found the niece of the Duke of Norfolk, Catherine Howard. Norfolk had intended this from the beginning; knowing Henry's unstoppable attraction to women, he dangled before him the by all accounts quite fair Catherine, something he easily snatched up. There was only one thing he needed to do to make his success complete, and that was to get rid of Thomas Cromwell, his main rival at court.


Catherine Howard, attributed to Hans Holbein

Despite the success of Cromwell in gaining the King's confidence around the Act of Supremacy, and proved his loyalty in helping remove Anne Boleyn, he had recently made a massive mistake in supporting the marriage to Jadwiga Przemyslowa. Howard jumped on the opportunity, and with Catherine being his new bargaining chip he managed to convince Henry that Cromwell had been malicious in his actions. None of Cromwell's protests were enough to sway Henry, and he was arrested, imprisoned, and sentenced to death.

What happened next could have been a scene directly out of The Godfather. On 28 July 1540, just as Henry and Catherine were stating their vows of marriage to each other, Cromwell was sitting under an executioner's axe in the Tower of London. The legend that the three blows needed to kill him were timed to strike at important moments in the service is almost certainly an invention, but the fact that they were on the same day shows just how much this marriage was above all else a victory for Norfolk.

Catherine knew just what a horrible fate she was being consigned to, but she was little more than a pawn and intended to make the best of the situation. Henry himself was now extremely overweight, suffering from his infamous ulcer. He was in little health to sire an heir by this point, and despite the riches Henry gave her she soon wished for something else. She found it in Thomas Culpepper, a quite handsome but otherwise unnotable courtier. This would prove to be the worst decision of her life, however, and things unravelled quickly.

The affair was discovered in January of 1541, driving Henry into a rage. So great was this that he became basically insane for several months, calling for the death of whoever happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fortunately for most of them, Henry rescinded the orders fairly quickly, and people soon learned to delay the executions until he did, limiting the damage. Catherine would have no such consolation, however. Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, immediately set to investigating charges of adultery. He soon found that before her marriage, she had engaged in affairs with two others.

The damning piece of evidence was the apparent discovery of a contract between her and Francis Dereham to marry. This held legal force, and would make Henry's marriage to her null and void. Had Henry been in a better mood, he could simply have proceeded with his usual annulment; instead, however, he was still in an uncontrollable rage. On 12 November 1541, she was arrested for adultery, and in December, Dereham and Culpepper were executed. Catherine would join their fate on 13 February 1542.

This was bad news for Norfolk. Most of his family found their way into the Tower quickly, and by 1546 he joined them. Only a last-minute decision by a calmer Henry saved him from execution, and he would remain imprisoned for the rest of Henry's reign. Another blow appeared when Prince Edward suffered a severe fever; finally, on 30 April 1542, he died. Henry was now absolutely determined to get a male heir.

Henry now needed to find another wife. The King of Baden, Ernst, provided one final chance at a wife: his daughter Salome. The poor woman could hardly have thought that she was entering into anything good, as the fear of death or some other horrible fate was always a threat with Henry. The marriage was made on 4 June 1542, sealing a new alliance between England and Baden. These were two of the most powerful Protestant countries, and they provided an alliance which ensured the political success of the Reformation. On 25 October, Parliament reinforced his title of "Defender of the Faith", and he was seen across Europe as the supreme protector of the reforms of Luther (or, alternatively, the most base promoter of his heresies).


Ernst I of Baden

Salome would calm the raging Henry considerably, and would be rewarded by outliving the aging king. It appears that the two actually loved each other, as much as the age difference allowed; she was also devoutly Protestant, possibly influencing Henry to move more towards Lutheran theology late in his life. The 11 years they were married were generally happy and stable both for them and their kingdom.

In foreign relations, not only did England create a loose confederation of Protestant countries which would evolve into the later Evangelical League, but Henry also looked to keep Catholic countries quiet. France was easily pacified with a few gifts, as the French kings had never been particularly zealous. Two potential internal problems were averted by Henry. The first was the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer in 1549. The increasing Protestant nature of the English Reformation meant that the use of the vernacular became increasingly popular; to this end, Henry subsidised an English translation of important liturgical and other religious texts.

One problem appeared: while in England and Scotland, an English text was very accepted, Wales and Cornwall were not as happy. The latter threatened to revolt, until a Welsh Book of Common Prayer was instituted. This ensured that Wales would remain free from English cultural imperialism, and the Welsh language would continue to flourish.

The other problem was a financial crisis in 1551, as English merchants in Holland made embarassing mistakes which threatened to destabilise the pound. He recognised the fact that having "bad money" (debased coinage) circulating alongisde "good money" would devalue the latter as badly as the former, and worked to ensure that all coins in England and Holland had the metal they were supposed to have. The crisis dissipated, and England escaped with an even stronger economy than before. The stability of the pound is often credited with English financial success over the next few centuries.


Thomas Gresham, by Anthonis Mor (1554)

Henry's age was beginning to catch up with him, and many historians agree that his promiscuity had exposed him to syphillis. This, combined with his obesity, made it amazing that he lived as long as he did. Finally on 7 July 1553, he succumbed to his various ailments, still without a surviving son. He was almost certainly infertile by his last marriage, and Salome could thus provide him with no children. The succession of the English crown would be a major and violent question.

[canonized]

Excellent ! Henry is finally dead and i'm sure rotting in the City of Dis .. well no .. his was more of a personal incontinence that lead to heresy instead of theological debasement . Maybe I'll consign him to spend some time in Cocytus for being such a traitor . Too many choices for such a man !

[stnylan]

Henry seems to have left his realm in relatively good shape - his dynastic foibles notwishstanding.

[RGB]

And so the titan falls and the ground surely shakes. So many wives, so little clear succession, right?

[Olaus Petrus]

Henry's reign was quite succesful, despite the lack of male heir. England has founded her place as leader of the protestant world.

[Kurt_Steiner]

Originally Posted by Judas Maccabeus

The succession of the English crown would be a major and violent question.

War, perhaps? Internal quarrels a là Godfather?

[Draco Rexus]

Well now, things seem to have been going quite well for England... right up until ol' Henry's death. The question is, with both Norfolk and Cromwell both out of the picture, what leaders are left for the factions to rally around? And will the factions actually support Henry's daughters or go for a complete change of Royals?

[Judas Maccabeus]

canonized: Choices, choices... and all of them so richly deserved.

stnylan: Yep, he didn't mess with too many things that were working. Except that whole Catholicism thing...

RGB: Ohhh, yeah... the Staffords were doing well up to that point, too.

Olaus Petrus: And that's an important place, as we shall see soon enough.

Kurt_Steiner: I've already had a Godfather reference, but with family politics the relation is very fitting...

Draco Rexus: Oh, you'll see soon enough.

The poor fools, they don't know what they're getting in to...

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Special International Talk Like a Pirate Day post coming up soon (a little early since I won't have time on the day itself). And no, it won't be in pirate speak.

[Judas Maccabeus]

The Battle of Isla de Margarita

One of the explorers who went into the Caribbean during the latter part of Henry III's reign was Henry Bedford, a merchant from his namesake town who found his way into Bristol by 1545. That year, he was instituted by Henry as one of several captains intended to explore the islands of the region. He was extremely successful at this, finding a good spot on the island of Guadeloupe to establish a colony; for this, Henry named him Admiral of the Antillas.

It was in this capacity that he was patrolling of the coast of Spanish Columbia, checking both Spanish and piratical activity in the region. Spain's failure to establish a completely firm control over the islands of the Caribbean meant that pirates - especially Portuguese from Brasil - had many bases from which to flourish. The French also encouraged these expeditions, but at the time, the English wanted nothing to do with them unless they could be used in the proper manner.

In late August of 1550, Bedford recieved news that a major pirate leader, Joao Silva, was anchored off the Isla de Margarita, preying on the Spanish. This in itself was considred a noble endeavor, but he had also been seen earlier attacking English ships bearing sugar to their home country. Bedford immediately rushed forward to do battle, and on 26 August he found them exactly where they were supposed to be.


A Portuguese carrack of the early 16th century.

Bedford, on his part, had three early galleons: the Stefania of Leinster, the Saint Elisabeth and the Cordelia. Opposing him, Silva had three carracks (similar to but slightly smaller than his galleons) and four small but swift caravels. The latter Bedford chose to let be; his focus had to be on the more dangerous carracks. As quickly as possible, he swooped in, attempting to cause as much confusion as possible amongst the Portuguese pirates.

This he succeeded at admirably. Silva's flagship, the Cidado de Faro was struck by one of his own ships (the Mãe de Deus), sinking the Faro (with its captain) and crippling the other. This made Bedford's job much easier, as he could simply send the Elisabeth to deal with the remaining carrack (the Tâmega) and chase the caravels with his other two ships. The Elisabeth easily sank the Tâmega, and captured the Mãe de Deus.


The Battle of Isla de Margarita.

The caravels proved untakeable, however. As soon as they saw what happened, the four small ships made all sail for the southeast and shallow water. The deeper-draft galleons could not follow them for fear of hitting a reef, nor could they catch them even if they dared. Bedford simply let them go, knowing if the caravels were foolish enough to try anything they would be easily destroyed.

The defeat of that captain did not end piracy, but did discourage pirates from fighting the English. The Spanish would be much easier (and potentially lucarative) targets as time went on, although English sugar ships always proved somewhat of a lure. Bedford himself was made a knight for his trouble, and given valuable land on Guadeloupe itself. By the latter part of the century, the English would begin to use piracy as a weapon themselves, beginning the Golden Age of Piracy in the 17th century.

[canonized]

Wow , a naval battle ! Now that's very cool , JM !

[RGB]

Excellent update. I love naval battles.

[stnylan]

A useful little naval battle, to demonstrate English prowess on the waves.

[Draco Rexus]

Could this be the begining of the legendary prowess of the Royal Navy?

[TeeWee]

A very valuable lesson has been taught to the pirates: Spanish targets are softer than English targets. It reminds me of the joke where two men are hunted by a lion. One of them starts running, and the other yells: "You can't outrun a lion!" And the first answers, "I don't have to outrun the lion, as long as I outrun you!"

[Olaus Petrus]

Ah, pirates of the Caribbean. One of the most annoying threats in EU2, especially to weak transport fleets. Good to see that you gave them a lesson.

[Judas Maccabeus]

canonized: Yeah, I was hoping to slip one of these in here. Once we get into the 18th century, they'll be nicely more common, but for now it's just this.

RGB: As do I.

stnylan: Don't worry, I'll be able to do that much better soon enough.

Draco Rexus: Not yet, not yet...

TeeWee: That's about right. It's the proper English way of doing things, I think.

Olaus Petrus: Just like real life, an annoying threat to defenceless shipping. There's only one way to deal with a pirate, and that's by beating him at his own game.

- - - - - - - -

Should be able to get a regular update in tomorrow. I'll be busy tonight, so we'll see.

[Judas Maccabeus]

[Okay, so I was wrong. I've had some health troubles, but now I can get back at this.]

Mary I the Bloody



Born: 18 February 1519, Reading
Married: Felipe Babenburg (on 25 July 1554)
Died: 17 November 1558, London

Titles: (claimed but unrecognised in brackets)
Queen of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland [and France]
Queen Consort of Castilla, Leon, and Trinacria
Lady of the Scottish [and Greek] Isles
Duchess of Buckingham, Holland and Friesland, Flanders, Cornwall, [Iceland and Bretagne]
Duchess Consort of Catalonia and Valencia
Countess of Stafford and Guines

"Christians above all men are forbidden to correct the stumblings of sinners by force...it is necessary to make a man better not by force but by persuasion. We neither have authority granted us by law to restrain sinners, nor, if it were, should we know how to use it, since God gives the crown to those who are kept from evil, not by force, but by choice."

--St. Ioannes Chrysostomos

Henry dreaded his death all the more knowing who would legally succeed him. His eldest daughter, Mary, was the daugter of Catherine of Aragon and thus was brought up quite Catholic. To make her position worse in Henry's eyes, she was technically illegitimate, since Cranmer had annuled the marriage which produced her; this put her out of the line of succession, and caused her to oppose the Reformation even more. Henry thought little of this, especially while his son Edward was still alive; but upon the prince's death in 1542, Henry was in trouble.

He had no more wish for the younger daughter, Elisabeth, to succeed, as she was technically illegitimate as well. Unfortunately, there was nobody left (except for other children who had never been legitimate in the first place); so Henry finally relented, and in 1543 added them into the succession (but did not legitimise them). Elisabeth, both publicly and privately, praised her sister for having the chance to come to the throne, and held no grudge against her then or later for being the elder of the two.

Upon Henry's death and her succession, Mary did exactly what Henry had feared: she had the Act of Supremacy and all the related acts removed, and restored England to Papal control. Much as Henry's reforms had changed things but not been a complete breaking point, Mary still retained much of the clergy and religious institutions that Henry had put in place. Only that which was specifically against Catholic doctrine (such as a vernacular Mass) was changed.

Unlike the traditional image of a mass inquisition to deal with heretics, Mary was far too politically astute to begin persecutions. Instead, she showed clemency to anyone who did not rebel against her rule, even if they were Protestant. That did not prevent some of the more radical groups from rebelling anyway, however, as we shall see shortly.

Mary came to the throne concerned about her succession as well. She didn't consider Elisabeth as a bad person to have succeed her - at least if she could be brought around to Catholicism - but she preferred to have an heir of her own. Her disgraced situation made it difficult to find a husband before coming to the throne; now, however, a potential match quickly showed himself.

This match was Felipe, the Prince of Asturias (heir to the Spanish throne), King of Sicily, and Mary's cousin. In early 1554, his first wife, Giulia Lucinetta, the heiress to Sicily, died, leaving a son Carlos. Felipe's father, Carlos II, was also on the lookout for a political alliance, and a newly-Catholic England was a perfect place for it. In July of that year, the two were married, and Felipe made King Philip of England.


King Philip of Spain, Sicily, England, etc., by Alonso Coello (late 16th c.)

Mary's carefully crafted political system broke to pieces with that news. The idea of coming under the influence of the rising Spanish star was not something which the English considered a good thing, and trouble began to ferment. Mary made things worse later that year with the treaty of Ypres, an agreement with France that gave the port of Calais in exchange for the remainder of the French Duchy of Flanders. It was a reasonable trade, but a practical statement that English designs on France were completely gone, something many were not willing to take.

The troubled sentiment broke in late 1555. A group of radical Protestants, led by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, put forward a petition to Mary, demanding that she take an oath stating (among other things) that the Pope was the "Antichrist" and asking for either conversion or abdication. Mary could not accept such a thing, and in December, Northumberland put forward another candidate for the throne: Jane Grey, who through a rather convoluted lineage had a claim to the various thrones connected with England. She was hastily married to Norfolk's son, Guilford Dudley, and an army of northern lords was raised.


Lady Jane Grey, by Willem and Magdalena van de Passe (1620).

The English army was organised, and was put under the command of yet another Duke of Norfolk (Thomas Howard, the fourth Howard to hold that title). In early 1556 they marched north, learning of a revolt against Mary, the Duchess of Lothian. Mary herself was both far too young and (for the time) too female to try and retake Edinburgh, so part of the army had to be dispatched there to meet up with the Earl of Arran.

Arran's army was the first to fight his opponent, facing the rebels in front of Edinburgh on 12 January 1556. It was rather quick, as the Scots who had rebelled were poorly equipped and had little popular support (most Scots at this time were still Catholic); Arran marched into Ediburgh and had several prominent Protestants executed. Among those killed was the man who would be regarded as the first of the "martyrs" of Mary's reign, the theologian John Knox, often called the "founder of the Church of Scotland". Mary expressed dismay at Arran for this rather unnecessary act, but there was little she could do about it after the fact.

Norfolk's army attacked Northumberland on 16 February, not far south of Carlisle. The rebels were vastly outnumbered, and many did not share the fanaticism of their leaders; Northumberland and Grey were captured, tried for rebellion, and executed in August. This got the point across, and there was only one more rebellion for the remainder of Mary's reign, a short rebellion by Irish nobles, who were themselves Catholic.

That last point shows us how little religion was actually a factor with Mary's various actions. While she insisted upon her own Catholicism, there simply isn't any evidence for the mass execution of Protestants which gave her her nickname of "Bloody Mary", aside from later propaganda pieces such as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. The vagueness with which he treats the vast majority of the martyrdoms makes it quite probable that those executed were killed for other reasons, and only happened to be Protestant. In fact, the only area where he goes into any detail at all is with Edinburgh, and even there has to strain in order to make Mary complicit in the act.


John Foxe, author of Foxe's Book, by George Glover (1641).

By October of 1556, Philip was forced to return to Spain to rule that country, and Mary had still not given birth to a child with him. In fact, she would never do so, and resigned to the fact that Elisabeth would inherit. Earlier, she would have agreed to this, but Elisabeth had stated herself as being more and more Protestant. In this, she had fallen under the influence of her quite Lutheran mother-in-law, Salome. Mary attempted to get her out of the way by contracting a marriage with Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin, the brother in law of Russian Tsar Ivan IV, on 11 August 1557. It is generally agreed that this marriage was never consummated, however, and Elisabeth spent a minimum of time in Russia before returning.

The cause of this return was the death of Mary. She grew increasingly worried about the lack of an heir, and suffered twice from false pregnancies. The last one proved to be something very different from a pregnancy: cancer. Her death in November of 1558 left England in turmoil once again, with Elisabeth inheriting a nation on the brink of internal conflict.