Monstrous Regiment Theatre Company is a British feminist theatre company established in 1975. Monstrous Regiment went on to produce and perform 30 major shows, in which the main focus was on women's lives and experiences. Performer-led and collectively organised, its work figures prominently in studies of feminist theatre in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s. No productions have been mounted since 1993, when financial support from the Arts Council of Great Britain was discontinued.
150-629: The company's name referred ironically to the title of John Knox 's sixteenth-century pamphlet, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women . Reacting to what they saw as the marginal status and stereotypical depiction of women in both conventional and political theatre of the time, its founding members decided to create a radical alternative that would provide serious opportunities for women as actors, writers, directors, designers and technicians. Amongst
300-502: A royal charter to the Muscovy Company under governor Sebastian Cabot , and commissioned a world atlas from Diogo Homem . Adventurers such as John Lok and William Towerson sailed south in an attempt to develop links with the coast of Africa. Financially, Mary's regime tried to reconcile a modern form of government—with correspondingly higher spending—with a medieval system of collecting taxation and dues. Mary retained
450-432: A commitment to promoting new writing, and to close collaboration with the writers it commissioned, Monstrous Regiment explored a variety of theatrical forms in its work, including epic theatre , cabaret, and performance art , and its productions ranged from large-scale ensemble pieces to one-woman shows. Specially written live music was integral to many of them. Despite its feminist (and socialist) political impetus, its work
600-572: A congregation of English exiles in Frankfurt to become one of their ministers. He accepted the call with Calvin's blessing. But no sooner had he arrived than he found himself in a conflict. The first set of refugees to arrive in Frankfurt had subscribed to a reformed liturgy and used a modified version of the Book of Common Prayer . More recently arrived refugees, however, including Edmund Grindal ,
750-666: A copy of The Book of Common Order , translated into Scots Gaelic by John Carswell. It is the first book printed in any Gaelic language. On his return to Scotland, Knox led the Protestant Reformation in Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Protestant nobility . The movement may be seen as a revolution since it led to the ousting of Mary of Guise, who governed the country in the name of her young daughter Mary, Queen of Scots . Knox helped write
900-647: A force in East Anglia and deposed Jane, who was eventually beheaded. Mary was—excluding the disputed reigns of Jane and the Empress Matilda —the first queen regnant of England. In July 1554, she married Prince Philip of Spain , becoming queen consort of Habsburg Spain on his accession in 1556. After Mary's death in 1558, her re-establishment of Roman Catholicism in England was reversed by her younger half-sister and successor, Elizabeth I . Mary
1050-479: A half and two years old. John Calvin, who had lost his own wife in 1549, wrote a letter of condolence. Parliament reconvened on 15 January 1561 to consider the Book of Discipline . The Kirk was to be run on democratic lines. Each congregation was free to choose or reject its own pastor, but once he was chosen he could not be fired. Each parish was to be self-supporting, as far as possible. The bishops were replaced by ten to twelve " superintendents ". The plan included
1200-536: A household, which included the reinstatement of Mary's favourite, Susan Clarencieux . Mary's Privy Purse accounts for this period, kept by Mary Finch , show that Hatfield House , the Palace of Beaulieu (also called Newhall), Richmond and Hunsdon were among her principal places of residence, as well as Henry's palaces at Greenwich , Westminster and Hampton Court . Her expenses included fine clothes and gambling at cards, one of her favourite pastimes. Rebels in
1350-539: A mere province of the Habsburg Empire. This was of particular concern to the landed gentry and parliamentary classes, who foresaw having to pay greater taxes to cover the cost of England’s participation in foreign wars. Lord Chancellor Gardiner and the English House of Commons unsuccessfully petitioned Mary to consider marrying an Englishman, fearing that England would be relegated to a dependency of
1500-466: A military force at Framlingham Castle , Suffolk. Northumberland's support collapsed, and Jane was deposed on 19 July. She and Northumberland were imprisoned in the Tower of London . Mary rode triumphantly into London on 3 August 1553, on a wave of popular support. She was accompanied by her half-sister Elizabeth and a procession of over 800 nobles and gentlemen. One of Mary's first actions as queen
1650-462: A mixture of Spanish, French, and Latin. In September 1554, Mary stopped menstruating. She gained weight, and felt nauseated in the mornings. For these reasons, almost the entirety of her court, including her physicians, believed she was pregnant. Parliament passed the Treason Act of 1554 making Philip regent in the event of Mary's death in childbirth. In the last week of April 1555, Elizabeth
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#17327803068061800-629: A new order of service, The Forme of Prayers, which was eventually adopted by the Reformed Church in Scotland and came to be known as the Book of Common Order . He left Geneva to head the English refugee church in Frankfurt but he was forced to leave over differences concerning the liturgy , thus ending his association with the Church of England. The University of Edinburgh Heritage Collection holds
1950-539: A person whom the religious and political interests of the world recommended for Mary. The Spanish prince had been widowed a few years before by the death of his first wife, Maria Manuela of Portugal , mother of his son Carlos and was the heir apparent to vast territories in Continental Europe and the New World. Both Philip and Mary were descendants of John of Gaunt . As part of the marriage negotiations,
2100-601: A portrait of Philip by Titian was sent to Mary in the latter half of 1553. Mary was convinced that the safety of England required her to form a closer relationship with Charles's family, the Habsburgs , and she decided to marry Philip. A marriage treaty was presented to the Privy Council on 7 December 1553, and even though the terms clearly favoured England and included several safeguards, many still thought that England would be drawn into Philip's wars and become
2250-564: A reasonable regret for her death." Although Mary's will stated that she wished to be buried next to her mother, she was interred in Westminster Abbey on 14 December, in a tomb she eventually shared with Elizabeth. The inscription on their tomb, affixed there by James I when he succeeded Elizabeth, is Regno consortes et urna, hic obdormimus Elizabetha et Maria sorores, in spe resurrectionis ("Consorts in realm and tomb, we sisters Elizabeth and Mary here lie down to sleep in hope of
2400-602: A revolt". 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. The victims became lauded as martyrs . Reginald Pole, the son of Mary's executed governess, arrived as papal legate in November 1554. He was ordained a priest and appointed Archbishop of Canterbury immediately after Cranmer's execution in March 1556. As long as
2550-453: A rich source of information about these companies, including Monstrous Regiment. Together with the texts of four plays, an account of the company's development is presented in the editorial introduction to Monstrous Regiment: A Collective Celebration , to which many of its members contributed. The company's archives (including records of meetings, production photographs, posters and flyers, design sketches, and annotated scripts) are lodged with
2700-486: A royal chaplain. He exerted a reforming influence on the text of the Book of Common Prayer . In England, he met and married his first wife, Margery Bowes. When Mary I ascended the throne of England and re-established Catholicism , Knox was forced to resign his position and leave the country. Knox moved to Geneva and then to Frankfurt . In Geneva, he met John Calvin , from whom he gained experience and knowledge of Reformed theology and Presbyterian polity . He created
2850-822: A sermon denouncing certain celebrations which Knox had interpreted as rejoicing at the expense of the Reformation. She charged that Knox spoke irreverently of the Queen in order to make her appear contemptible to her subjects. After Knox gave an explanation of the sermon, Mary stated that she did not blame Knox for the differences of opinion and asked that in the future he come to her directly if he heard anything about her that he disliked. Despite her gesture, Knox replied that he would continue to voice his convictions in his sermons and would not wait upon her. During Easter in 1563, some priests in Ayrshire celebrated Mass, thus defying
3000-703: A sign of his abjuration. He then took refuge in Germany and Switzerland. While on the Continent , he translated the First Helvetic Confession into English. He returned to Scotland in 1544, but the timing of his return was unfortunate. In December 1543, James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault , the appointed regent for the infant Mary, Queen of Scots , had decided with the Queen Mother, Mary of Guise , and Cardinal David Beaton to persecute
3150-787: A small French army. She dispatched the Earl of Argyll and Lord Moray to offer terms and avert a war. She promised not to send any French troops into Perth if the Protestants evacuated the town. The Protestants agreed, but when the Queen Regent entered Perth, she garrisoned it with Scottish soldiers on the French payroll. This was seen as treacherous by Lord Argyll and Lord Moray, who both switched sides and joined Knox, who now based himself in St Andrews . Knox's return to St Andrews fulfilled
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#17327803068063300-524: A son, Edward . Mary was made godmother to her half-brother and acted as chief mourner at the Queen's funeral. Mary was courted by Philip, Duke of Bavaria , from late 1539, but he was Lutheran and his suit for her hand was unsuccessful. Over 1539, the King's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell , negotiated a potential alliance with the Duchy of Cleves . Suggestions that Mary marry William I, Duke of Cleves , who
3450-511: A system of national education based on universality as a fundamental principle. Certain areas of law were placed under ecclesiastical authority. The Parliament did not approve the plan, however, mainly for reasons of finance. The Kirk was to be financed out of the patrimony of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Much of this was now in the hands of the nobles, who were reluctant to give up their possessions. A final decision on
3600-470: A trait she inherited from her father. Despite his affection for Mary, Henry was deeply disappointed that his marriage had produced no sons. By the time Mary was nine years old, it was apparent that Henry and Catherine would have no more children, leaving Henry without a legitimate male heir. In 1525, Henry sent Mary to the border of Wales to preside, presumably in name only, over the Council of Wales and
3750-641: A week, each lasting well over two hours. The services used a liturgy that was derived by Knox and other ministers from Calvin's Formes des Prières Ecclésiastiques . The church in which he preached, the Église de Notre Dame la Neuve —now known as the Auditoire de Calvin —had been granted by the municipal authorities, at Calvin's request, for the use of the English and Italian congregations. Knox's two sons, Nathaniel and Eleazar, were born in Geneva, with Whittingham and Myles Coverdale their respective godfathers. In
3900-565: A week, however, he was giving his first sermon to a congregation that included his old teacher, John Major . He expounded on the seventh chapter of the Book of Daniel , comparing the Pope with the Antichrist . His sermon was marked by his consideration of the Bible as his sole authority and the doctrine of justification by faith alone , two elements that would remain in his thoughts throughout
4050-501: Is an accepted version of this page Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor , and as " Bloody Mary " by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She is best known for her vigorous attempt to reverse the English Reformation , which had begun during
4200-613: Is not clear whether this was caused by stress, puberty or a more deep-seated disease. She was not permitted to see her mother, whom Henry had sent to live away from court. In early 1533, Henry married Anne Boleyn , and in May Thomas Cranmer , the Archbishop of Canterbury , formally declared the marriage with Catherine void and the marriage to Anne valid. Henry repudiated the Pope's authority, declaring himself Supreme Head of
4350-635: The Act of Succession 1544 (also known as the Third Succession Act), placing them after Edward – though both remained legally illegitimate. Henry VIII died in 1547, and Edward succeeded him. Mary inherited estates in Norfolk , Suffolk and Essex , and was granted Hunsdon and Beaulieu as her own. Since Edward was still a child, rule passed to a regency council dominated by Protestants, who attempted to establish their faith throughout
4500-609: The Church of England . Catherine was demoted to Dowager Princess of Wales (a title she would have held as Arthur's widow), and Mary was deemed illegitimate. She was styled "The Lady Mary" rather than Princess, and her place in the line of succession was transferred to Henry and Anne's newborn daughter, Elizabeth . Mary's household was dissolved; her servants (including the Countess of Salisbury) were dismissed and, in December 1533, she
4650-570: The Dowager Queen of Scotland and regent on behalf of her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots . This biblical position was not unusual in Knox's day; however, even he was aware that the pamphlet was dangerously seditious. He therefore published it anonymously and did not tell Calvin, who denied knowledge of it until a year after its publication, that he had written it. In England, the pamphlet was officially condemned by royal proclamation. The impact of
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4800-505: The Scottish Church . He was caught up in the ecclesiastical and political events that involved the murder of Cardinal David Beaton in 1546 and the intervention of the regent Mary of Guise . He was taken prisoner by French forces the following year and exiled to England on his release in 1549. While in exile, Knox was licensed to work in the Church of England , where he rose in the ranks to serve King Edward VI of England as
4950-633: The Scottish Parliament met to settle religious issues. Knox and five other ministers, all called John, were called upon to draw up a new confession of faith . Within four days, the Scots Confession was presented to Parliament, voted upon, and approved. A week later, the Parliament passed three acts in one day: the first abolished the jurisdiction of the Pope in Scotland, the second condemned all doctrine and practice contrary to
5100-643: The Treaty of Berwick , support from England finally arrived and by the end of March, a significant English army joined the Scottish Protestant forces. The sudden death of Mary of Guise in Edinburgh Castle on 10 June 1560 paved the way for an end to hostilities, the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh , and the withdrawal of French and English troops from Scotland. On 19 July, Knox held a National Thanksgiving Service at St Giles'. On 1 August,
5250-531: The University of Glasgow . He studied under John Major , one of the greatest scholars of the time. Knox was ordained a Catholic priest in Edinburgh on Easter Eve of 1536 by William Chisholm , Bishop of Dunblane . Knox first appears in public records as a priest and a notary in 1540. He was still serving in these capacities as late as 1543 when he described himself as a "minister of the sacred altar in
5400-505: The home counties around London in mid-1528. Throughout Mary's childhood, Henry negotiated potential future marriages for her. When she was only two years old, Mary was promised to Francis, Dauphin of France , the infant son of King Francis I , but the contract was repudiated after three years. In 1522, at the age of six, she was instead contracted to marry her 22-year-old cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor . However, Charles broke off
5550-549: The Catholic faith, opponents of Northumberland, lived there. On 9 July, from Kenninghall , Norfolk, she wrote to the privy council with orders for her proclamation as Edward's successor. On 10 July 1553, Lady Jane was proclaimed queen by Northumberland and his supporters, and on the same day Mary's servant, Thomas Hungate , arrived in London with her letter to the council. By 12 July, Mary and her supporters had assembled
5700-433: The Church of England, repudiate papal authority, acknowledge that the marriage between her parents was unlawful, and accept her own illegitimacy. She attempted to reconcile with Henry by submitting to his authority as far as "God and my conscience" permitted, but was eventually bullied into signing a document agreeing to all of Henry's demands. Reconciled with her father, Mary resumed her place at court. Henry granted her
5850-513: The Dudley conspiracy, was betrayed, and the conspirators in England were rounded up. Dudley remained in exile in France, and Noailles prudently left Britain. Philip returned to England from March to July 1557 to persuade Mary to support Spain in a renewed war against France . Mary was in favour of declaring war, but her councillors opposed it because French trade would be jeopardised, it contravened
6000-463: The Edwardian appointee William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester , as Lord High Treasurer and assigned him to oversee the revenue collection system. A failure to apply new tariffs to new forms of imports meant that a key source of revenue was neglected. To solve this, Mary's government published a revised "Book of Rates" (1558), which listed the tariffs and duties for every import. This publication
6150-619: The Emperor abdicated. Mary and Philip were still apart; he was declared king of Spain in Brussels, but she stayed in England. Philip negotiated an unsteady truce with the French in February 1556. The next month, the French ambassador in England, Antoine de Noailles, was implicated in a plot against Mary when Henry Dudley , a second cousin of the executed Duke of Northumberland, attempted to assemble an invasion force in France. The plot, known as
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6300-629: The French ambassador, Antoine de Noailles . Mary continued to exhibit signs of pregnancy until July 1555, when her abdomen receded. Michieli dismissively ridiculed the pregnancy as more likely to "end in wind rather than anything else". It was most likely a false pregnancy , perhaps induced by Mary's overwhelming desire to have a child. In August, soon after the disgrace of the false pregnancy, which Mary considered "God's punishment" for her having "tolerated heretics" in her realm, Philip left England to command his armies against France in Flanders . Mary
6450-577: The Habsburgs. The marriage was unpopular with the English; Gardiner and his allies opposed it on the basis of patriotism, while Protestants were motivated by a fear that with the restoration of Catholicism and the arrival of the Spanish King, the Inquisition would come to judge Protestant heretics. Many English people knew the stories of the torments and cruelties suffered by the prisoners of
6600-534: The Inquisition, and there were even those “who had suffered from the rack of the inquisitors” themselves. It was not just the English who were alarmed by the pending marriage of Mary and Philip. France feared an alliance between England and Spain. Antoine de Noailles , the French ambassador to England, "threatened war and began immediate intrigues with any malcontents he could find". Before Christmas in 1553, anti-Spanish ballads and broadsheets were circulating in
6750-574: The Marches . She was given her own court based at Ludlow Castle and many of the royal prerogatives normally reserved for a Prince of Wales . Vives and others called her the Princess of Wales , although she was never technically invested with the title. She appears to have spent three years in the Welsh Marches , making regular visits to her father's court, before returning permanently to
6900-519: The North of England, including Lord Hussey, Mary's former chamberlain, campaigned against Henry's religious reforms, and one of their demands was that Mary be made legitimate. The rebellion, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace , was ruthlessly suppressed. Along with other rebels, Hussey was executed, but there is no suggestion that Mary was directly involved. In 1537, Queen Jane died after giving birth to
7050-636: The Papacy became strained, since Pope Paul IV was allied with Henry II of France . In August, English forces were victorious in the aftermath of the Battle of Saint Quentin , with one eyewitness reporting, "Both sides fought most choicely, and the English best of all." Celebrations were brief, as in January 1558 French forces took Calais , England's sole remaining possession on the European mainland. Although
7200-585: The Protestant faith, but perhaps the key formative influences on Knox were Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart . Wishart was a reformer who had fled Scotland in 1538 to escape punishment for heresy. He first moved to England, where in Bristol he preached against the veneration of the Virgin Mary . He was forced to make a public recantation and was burned in effigy at the Church of St Nicholas as
7350-596: The Protestant sect that had taken root in Scotland. Wishart travelled throughout Scotland preaching in favour of the Reformation , and when he arrived in East Lothian , Knox became one of his closest associates. Knox acted as his bodyguard, bearing a two-handed sword in order to defend him. In December 1545, Wishart was seized on Beaton's orders by the Earl of Bothwell and taken to the Castle of St Andrews . Knox
7500-487: The Protestants responded by retaking Edinburgh. This time, on 24 October 1559, the Scottish nobility formally deposed Mary of Guise from the regency. Her secretary, William Maitland of Lethington , defected to the Protestant side, bringing his administrative skills. From then on, Maitland took over the political tasks, freeing Knox for the role of religious leader. For the final stage of the revolution, Maitland appealed to Scottish patriotism to fight French domination. Following
7650-403: The Queen remained childless, her half-sister Elizabeth was her successor. Mary, concerned about her sister's religious convictions (Elizabeth only attended mass under obligation and had only superficially converted to Catholicism to save her life after being imprisoned following Wyatt's rebellion, although she remained a staunch Protestant), seriously considering the possibility of removing her from
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#17327803068067800-606: The Queen should not marry a foreigner, since that could lead to the interference of a foreign power in English affairs. On 16 November 1553, a parliamentary delegation went to her and formally requested that she choose an English husband, with its obvious although tacit candidates being her kinsmen Edward Courtenay , recently created Earl of Devon, and the Catholic Cardinal Reginald Pole . But Mary's first cousin, Charles V , also king of Spain, saw that an alliance with England would give him supremacy in Europe; he sent his minister to England to propose his only legitimate son, Philip , as
7950-413: The Robes . On 1 October 1553, Gardiner crowned Mary at Westminster Abbey . Now aged 37, Mary turned her attention to finding a husband and producing an heir, which would prevent the Protestant Elizabeth (still next in line under the terms of Henry VIII's will and the Act of Succession of 1544 ) from succeeding to the throne. While the English expected her to marry, there was a general consensus that
8100-432: The Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger in Zurich . Bullinger's responses were equally cautious, but Knox had already made up his mind. On 20 July 1554, he published a pamphlet attacking Mary Tudor and the bishops who had brought her to the throne. He also attacked the Holy Roman Emperor , Charles V , calling him "no less enemy to Christ than was Nero". In a letter dated 24 September 1554, Knox received an invitation from
8250-494: The Theatre and Performance Archives at the Victoria and Albert Museum ; a complete online catalogue is now available. They had previously been located in The Women's Library at the London School of Economics . An official Monstrous Regiment website was launched early in 2019, using this archive material to document and illustrate the history and achievements of the company. John Knox Christianity • Protestantism John Knox ( c. 1514 – 24 November 1572)
8400-451: The Tower rather than immediately executed, while Lady Jane's father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk , was released. Mary was left in a difficult position, as almost all the Privy Counsellors had been implicated in the plot to put Lady Jane on the throne. She appointed Gardiner to the council and made him both Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor , offices he held until his death in November 1555. Susan Clarencieux became Mistress of
8550-411: The age of 15, Edward VI died of a lung infection, possibly tuberculosis . He did not want the crown to go to Mary because he feared she would restore Catholicism and undo his and their father's reforms, and so he planned to exclude her from the line of succession. His advisers told him that he could not disinherit only one of his half-sisters: he would have to disinherit Elizabeth as well, even though she
8700-533: The assumed name John Sinclair with William Cecil , Elizabeth's chief adviser, for English support. Knox sailed secretly to Lindisfarne , off the northeast coast of England at the end of July, to meet James Croft and Sir Henry Percy at Berwick upon Tweed . Knox was indiscreet and news of his mission soon reached Mary of Guise. He returned to Edinburgh telling Croft he had to return to his flock, and suggested that Henry Balnaves should go to Cecil. When additional French troops arrived in Leith , Edinburgh's seaport,
8850-416: The authority of the Bishop of London , Nicholas Ridley . Knox returned to London in order to deliver a sermon before the King and the Court during Lent and he again refused to take the assigned post. Knox was then told to preach in Buckinghamshire and he remained there until Edward's death on 6 July. Edward's successor, Mary Tudor , re-established Roman Catholicism in England and restored the Mass in all
9000-409: The best place of asylum for Protestants. In one letter he wrote: I neither fear nor eschame to say, is the most perfect school of Christ that ever was in the earth since the days of the apostles. In other places I confess Christ to be truly preached; but manners and religion so sincerely reformed, I have not yet seen in any other place ... Knox led a busy life in Geneva. He preached three sermons
9150-453: The bishops decided to call the hearing off. Knox was now free to preach openly in Edinburgh. William Keith, the Earl Marischal , was impressed and urged Knox to write to the Queen Regent. Knox's unusually respectful letter urged her to support the Reformation and overthrow the church hierarchy. Queen Mary took the letter as a joke and ignored it. Shortly after Knox sent the letter to the Queen Regent, he suddenly announced that he felt his duty
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#17327803068069300-406: The break with Rome her father instituted and the establishment of Protestantism by her brother's regents. Philip persuaded Parliament to 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 confiscated monastery lands were not returned to the church but remained in
9450-482: The brief, disputed reigns of the Empress Matilda and Lady Jane Grey—England's first queen regnant . Further, under the English common law doctrine of jure uxoris , the property and titles belonging to a woman became her husband's upon marriage, and it was feared that any man she married would thereby become king of England in fact and name. While Mary's grandparents Ferdinand and Isabella had retained sovereignty of their respective realms during their marriage, there
9600-439: The castle and eventually their families and friends took refuge with them, about a hundred and fifty men in all. Among their friends was Henry Balnaves , a former secretary of state in the government, who negotiated with England for the financial support of the rebels. Douglas and Cockburn suggested to Knox to take their sons to the relative safety of the castle to continue their instruction in reformed doctrine, and Knox arrived at
9750-405: The castle on 10 April 1547. Knox's powers as a preacher came to the attention of the chaplain of the garrison, John Rough . While Rough was preaching in the parish church on the Protestant principle of the popular election of a pastor, he proposed Knox to the congregation for that office. Knox did not relish the idea. According to his own account, he burst into tears and fled to his room. Within
9900-400: The churches. With the country no longer safe for Protestant preachers, Knox left for the Continent in January 1554 on the advice of friends. On the eve of his flight, he wrote: Sometime I have thought that impossible it had been, so to have removed my affection from the realm of Scotland, that any realm or nation could have been equal dear to me. But God I take to record in my conscience, that
10050-559: The country. For example, the Act of Uniformity 1549 prescribed Protestant rites for church services, such as the use of Thomas Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer . Mary remained faithful to Roman Catholicism and defiantly celebrated traditional Mass in her own chapel. She appealed to her cousin Emperor Charles V to apply diplomatic pressure demanding that she be allowed to practise her religion. For most of Edward's reign, Mary remained on her own estates and rarely attended court. A plan between May and July 1550 to smuggle her out of England to
10200-440: The current state of religion and that her servants should not be molested or troubled. Many nobles accepted this, but not Knox. The following Sunday, he protested from the pulpit of St Giles'. As a result, just two weeks after her return, Mary summoned Knox. She accused him of inciting a rebellion against her mother and of writing a book against her own authority. Knox answered that as long as her subjects found her rule convenient, he
10350-410: The day without a change of posture while an officer watched over them with a whip in hand. They sailed to France and navigated up the Seine to Rouen . The nobles, some of whom would have a bearing on Knox's later life such as William Kirkcaldy and Henry Balnaves, were sent to various castle-prisons in France. Knox and the other galley slaves continued to Nantes and stayed on the Loire throughout
10500-402: The diocese of St Andrews, notary by apostolic authority" in a notarial deed dated 27 March. Rather than taking up parochial duties in a parish, he became tutor to two sons of Hugh Douglas of Longniddry . He also taught the son of John Cockburn of Ormiston . Both of these lairds had embraced the new religious ideas of the Reformation . Knox did not record when or how he was converted to
10650-410: The document was complicated later that year when Elizabeth Tudor , a Protestant, became Queen of England. Although Knox had not targeted Elizabeth, he had deeply offended her, and she never forgave him. With a Protestant on the throne, the English refugees in Geneva prepared to return home. Knox himself decided to return to Scotland. Before his departure, various honours were conferred on him, including
10800-464: The education of girls. By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin. She studied French, Spanish, music, dance, and perhaps Greek. Henry VIII doted on his daughter and boasted to the Venetian ambassador Sebastian Giustinian that Mary never cried. Mary had a fair complexion with pale blue eyes and red or reddish-golden hair, traits very similar to those of her parents. She was ruddy-cheeked,
10950-527: The end of September 1553, leading Protestant churchmen—including Thomas Cranmer , John Bradford , John Rogers , John Hooper , and Hugh Latimer —were imprisoned. Mary's first Parliament, which assembled in early October, declared her parents' marriage valid and abolished Edward's religious laws . Church doctrine was restored to the form it had taken in the 1539 Six Articles of Henry VIII, which (among other things) reaffirmed clerical celibacy. Married priests were deprived of their benefices . Mary rejected
11100-433: The engagement within a few years with Henry's agreement. Cardinal Wolsey , Henry's chief adviser, then resumed marriage negotiations with the French, and Henry suggested that Mary marry the French king Francis I, who was eager for an alliance with England. A marriage treaty was signed which provided that Mary marry either Francis I or his second son Henry, Duke of Orléans , but Wolsey secured an alliance with France without
11250-419: The execution of Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard , the unmarried Henry invited Mary to attend the royal Christmas festivities. At court, while her father was between marriages and thus without a consort, Mary acted as hostess. In 1543, Henry married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr , who was able to bring the family closer together. Henry returned Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession through
11400-455: The firebrand preacher, but he saw Knox as a potential asset. Knox was asked to come to London to preach before the Court. In his first sermon, he advocated a change for the 1552 Book of Common Prayer . The liturgy required worshippers to kneel during communion . Knox and the other chaplains considered this to be idolatry . It triggered a debate where Archbishop Cranmer was called upon to defend
11550-464: The foreign war provisions of the marriage treaty, and a bad economic legacy from Edward VI's reign and a series of poor harvests meant England lacked supplies and finances. War was only declared in June 1557 after Reginald Pole's nephew Thomas Stafford invaded England and seized Scarborough Castle with French help, in a failed attempt to depose Mary. As a result of the war, relations between England and
11700-451: The founding members were three who were to remain actively involved throughout its history: Chris Bowler (until her death in May 2014), Gillian Hanna , and Mary McCusker. Along with Katrina Duncan, they have constituted the directorial board of the (still extant) company since the early 1990s. Men were not excluded from the company, but women were to predominate both on-stage and off-stage. With
11850-532: The freedom of the city of Geneva. Knox left in January 1559, but he did not arrive in Scotland until 2 May 1559, owing to Elizabeth's refusal to issue him a passport through England. Two days after Knox arrived in Edinburgh, he proceeded to Dundee where a large number of Protestant sympathisers had gathered. Knox was declared an outlaw, and the Queen Regent summoned the Protestants to Stirling . Fearing
12000-414: The future Archbishop of Canterbury, favoured a stricter application of the book. When Knox and a supporting colleague, William Whittingham , wrote to Calvin for advice, they were told to avoid contention. Knox therefore agreed on a temporary order of service based on a compromise between the two sides. This delicate balance was disturbed when a new batch of refugees arrived that included Richard Cox , one of
12150-560: The hands of their influential new owners. By the end of 1554, the Pope had approved the deal, and the Heresy Acts were revived . Around 800 rich Protestants, including John Foxe , fled into exile . Those who stayed and persisted in publicly proclaiming their beliefs became targets of heresy laws. 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. Thomas Cranmer,
12300-641: The imprisoned archbishop of Canterbury, was forced to watch Bishops Ridley and Latimer being burned at the stake. He recanted, repudiated Protestant theology, and rejoined the Catholic faith. 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. In total, 283 were executed, most by burning. The burnings proved so unpopular that even Alfonso de Castro , one of Philip's own ecclesiastical staff, condemned them and another adviser, Simon Renard , warned him that such "cruel enforcement" could "cause
12450-425: The king of France, Henry II to intervene. On 29 June 1547, 21 French galleys approached St Andrews under the command of Leone Strozzi , prior of Capua . The French besieged the castle and forced the surrender of the garrison on 31 July. The Protestant nobles and others, including Knox, were taken prisoner and forced to row in the French galleys. The galley slaves were chained to benches and rowed throughout
12600-516: The landmark. He replied that he knew it well, recognising the steeple of the place where he first preached and he declared that he would not die until he had preached there again. In February 1549, after spending a total of 19 months in the galley-prison, Knox was released. It is uncertain how he obtained his liberty. Later in the year, Henry II arranged with Edward VI of England the release of all remaining Castilian prisoners. On his release, Knox took refuge in England. The Reformation in England
12750-597: The law. Some Protestants tried to enforce the law themselves by apprehending these priests. This prompted Mary to summon Knox for the third time. She asked Knox to use his influence to promote religious toleration. He defended their actions and noted she was bound to uphold the laws and if she did not, others would. Mary surprised Knox by agreeing that the priests would be brought to justice. The most dramatic interview between Mary and Knox took place on 24 June 1563. Mary summoned Knox to Holyrood after hearing that he had been preaching against her proposed marriage to Don Carlos ,
12900-677: The line of succession following the annulment of her parents' marriage in 1533, though she would later be restored via the Third Succession Act 1543 . Her younger half-brother, Edward VI , succeeded their father in 1547 at the age of nine. When Edward became terminally ill in 1553, he attempted to remove Mary from the line of succession because he supposed, correctly, that she would reverse the Protestant reforms that had taken place during his reign. Upon his death, leading politicians proclaimed Mary's and Edward's Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey , as queen instead. Mary speedily assembled
13050-646: The marriage was not to the kingdom's advantage, she would refrain from pursuing it. On reaching London, Wyatt was defeated and captured. Wyatt, the Duke of Suffolk, Lady Jane, and her husband Guildford Dudley were executed. Courtenay, who was implicated in the plot, was imprisoned and then exiled. Elizabeth, though protesting her innocence in the Wyatt affair, was imprisoned in the Tower of London for two months, then put under house arrest at Woodstock Palace . Mary was—excluding
13200-571: The marriage. Towards the end of 1550, Knox was appointed a preacher of St Nicholas' Church in Newcastle upon Tyne . The following year he was appointed one of the six royal chaplains serving the King. On 16 October 1551, John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland , overthrew the Duke of Somerset to become the new regent of the young King. Knox condemned the coup d'état in a sermon on All Saints Day . When Dudley visited Newcastle and listened to his preaching in June 1552, he had mixed feelings about
13350-609: The marriage. In 1528, Wolsey's agent Thomas Magnus discussed the idea of her marriage to her cousin James V of Scotland with the Scottish diplomat Adam Otterburn . According to the Venetian Mario Savorgnano, by this time Mary was developing into a pretty, well-proportioned young lady with a fine complexion. Although various possibilities for Mary's marriage had been considered, the marriage of Mary's parents
13500-403: The meantime, Elizabeth Bowes wrote to Knox, asking him to return to Margery in Scotland, which he did at the end of August. Despite initial doubts about the state of the Reformation in Scotland, Knox found the country significantly changed since he was carried off in the galley in 1547. When he toured various parts of Scotland preaching the reformed doctrines and liturgy, he was welcomed by many of
13650-539: The mob had already sacked the churches and the friaries. On 1 July, Knox preached from the pulpit of St Giles' , the most influential in the capital. The Lords of the Congregation negotiated their withdrawal from Edinburgh by the Articles of Leith signed 25 July 1559, and Mary of Guise promised freedom of conscience. Knox knew that the Queen Regent would ask for help from France, so he negotiated by letter under
13800-433: The murder of her husband Lord Darnley , and King James VI was enthroned in her stead, Knox openly called for her execution. He continued to preach until his final days. John Knox was born sometime between 1505 and 1515 in or near Haddington , the county town of East Lothian . His father, William Knox, was a merchant. All that is known of his mother is that her maiden name was Sinclair and that she died when John Knox
13950-487: The new confession of faith and the ecclesiastical order for the newly created Reformed Church, the Kirk . He wrote his five-volume The History of the Reformation in Scotland between 1559 and 1566. He continued to serve as the religious leader of the Protestants throughout Mary's reign. In several interviews with the Queen, Knox admonished her for supporting Catholic practices. After she was imprisoned for her alleged role in
14100-421: The new queen; however, if her sister gave birth to a healthy baby, Elizabeth's chances of becoming queen would recede sharply. Thanksgiving services in the diocese of London were held at the end of April after false rumours that Mary had given birth to a son spread across Europe. Through May and June, the apparent delay in delivery fed gossip that Mary was not pregnant. Susan Clarencieux revealed her doubts to
14250-421: The nobility including two future regents of Scotland, the Earl of Moray and the Earl of Mar . Though the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise , made no move against Knox, his activities caused concern among the church authorities. The bishops of Scotland viewed him as a threat to their authority and summoned him to appear in Edinburgh on 15 May 1556. He was accompanied to the trial by so many influential persons that
14400-415: The picture was pushed up to his face, the prisoner seized the picture and threw it into the sea, saying, "Let our Lady now save herself: she is light enough: let her learn to swim." After that, according to Knox, the Scottish prisoners were no longer forced to perform such devotions. In summer 1548, the galleys returned to Scotland to scout for English ships. Knox's health was now at its lowest point due to
14550-467: The plan was delayed because of the impending return of Mary, Queen of Scots . On 19 August 1561, cannons were fired in Leith to announce Queen Mary's arrival in Scotland. When she attended Mass being celebrated in the royal chapel at Holyrood Palace five days later, this prompted a protest in which one of her servants was jostled. The next day she issued a proclamation that there would be no alteration in
14700-561: The possibility of a summary trial and execution, the Protestants proceeded instead to Perth , a walled town that could be defended in case of a siege. At the church of St John the Baptist , Knox preached a fiery sermon and a small incident precipitated into a riot. A mob poured into the church and it was soon gutted. The mob then attacked two friaries ( Blackfriars and Greyfriars ) in the town, looting their gold and silver and smashing images. Mary of Guise gathered those nobles loyal to her and
14850-457: The practice. The result was a compromise in which the famous Black Rubric , which declared that no adoration is intended while kneeling, was included in the second edition. Soon afterwards, Dudley, who saw Knox as a useful political tool, offered him the bishopric of Rochester . Knox refused, and he returned to Newcastle. On 2 February 1553 Cranmer was ordered to appoint Knox as vicar of All Hallows, Bread Street , in London, placing him under
15000-502: The principal authors of the Book of Common Prayer . Cox brought Knox's pamphlet attacking the emperor to the attention of the Frankfurt authorities, who advised that Knox leave. His departure from Frankfurt on 26 March 1555 marked his final breach with the Church of England. After his return to Geneva, Knox was chosen to be the minister at a new place of worship petitioned from Calvin. As such, he exerted an influence on French Protestants, whether they were exiled in Geneva or in France. In
15150-483: The prophecy he made in the galleys that he would one day preach again in its church. When he did give a sermon, the effect was the same as in Perth. The people engaged in vandalism and looting. In June 1559, a Protestant mob incited by the preaching of John Knox ransacked the cathedral; the interior of the building was destroyed. The cathedral fell into decline following the attack and became a source of building material for
15300-468: The reformed faith, and the third forbade the celebration of Mass in Scotland. Before the dissolution of Parliament, Knox and the other ministers were given the task of organising the newly reformed church or the Kirk . They would work for several months on the Book of Discipline , the document describing the organisation of the new church. During this period, in December 1560, Knox's wife, Margery, died, leaving Knox to care for their two sons, aged three and
15450-485: The reign of her father, King Henry VIII . Her attempt to restore to the Church the property confiscated in the previous two reigns was largely thwarted by Parliament , but during her five-year reign, Mary had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions . Mary was the only surviving child of Henry VIII by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon . She was declared illegitimate and barred from
15600-514: The rest of his life. A few days later, a debate was staged that allowed him to lay down additional theses including the rejection of the Mass , Purgatory , and prayers for the dead . John Knox's chaplaincy of the castle garrison was not to last long. While Hamilton was willing to negotiate with England to stop their support of the rebels and bring the castle back under his control, Mary of Guise decided that it could be taken only by force and requested
15750-443: The resurrection"). John White , Bishop of Winchester, praised Mary at her funeral service: "She was a king's daughter; she was a king's sister; she was a king's wife. She was a queen, and by the same title a king also." She was the first woman to successfully claim the throne of England, despite competing claims and determined opposition, and enjoyed popular support and sympathy during the earliest parts of her reign, especially from
15900-515: The safety of the European mainland came to nothing. Religious differences between Mary and Edward continued. Mary attended a reunion with Edward and Elizabeth for Christmas 1550, where the 13-year-old Edward embarrassed Mary, then 34, and reduced both her and himself to tears in front of the court, by publicly reproving her for ignoring his laws regarding worship. Mary repeatedly refused Edward's demands that she abandon Catholicism, and Edward persistently refused to drop his demands. On 6 July 1553, at
16050-486: The scholar Michael Servetus , although Calvin himself was not capable of voting for or against a civil penalty against Servetus. Knox asked Calvin four difficult political questions: whether a minor could rule by divine right, whether a female could rule and transfer sovereignty to her husband, whether people should obey ungodly or idolatrous rulers, and what party godly persons should follow if they resisted an idolatrous ruler. Calvin gave cautious replies and referred him to
16200-431: The severity of his confinement. He was ill with a fever and others on the ship were afraid for his life. Even in this state, Knox recalled, his mind remained sharp and he comforted his fellow prisoners with hopes of release. While the ships were lying offshore between St Andrews and Dundee , the spires of the parish church where he preached appeared in view. James Balfour , a fellow prisoner, asked Knox whether he recognised
16350-502: The son of Philip II of Spain . Mary began by scolding Knox, then she burst into tears. "What have ye to do with my marriage?" she asked, and "What are ye within this commonwealth?" "A subject born within the same, Madam," Knox replied. He noted that though he was not of noble birth, he had the same duty as any subject to warn of dangers to the realm. When Mary started to cry again, he said, "Madam, in God's presence I speak: I never delighted in
16500-471: The streets of London. When Mary insisted on marrying Philip, insurrections broke out. Thomas Wyatt the Younger led a force from Kent to depose Mary in favour of Elizabeth, as part of a wider conspiracy now known as Wyatt's rebellion , which also involved the Duke of Suffolk, Lady Jane's father. Mary declared publicly that she would summon Parliament to discuss the marriage and if Parliament decided that
16650-639: The succession and naming as her successor her Scottish first cousin and devout Catholic, Margaret Douglas . Furthering the Tudor conquest of Ireland , English colonists were settled in the Irish Midlands under Mary and Philip's reign. Queen's and King's Counties (later called Counties Laois and Offaly) were founded, and their plantation began. Their principal towns were named, respectively, Maryborough (later called Portlaoise ) and Philipstown (later Daingean ). In January 1556, Mary's father-in-law
16800-523: The summer of 1558, Knox published his best-known pamphlet, The first blast of the trumpet against the monstruous regiment of women . In calling the "regimen" or rule of women "monstruous", he meant that it was "unnatural". Knox states that his purpose was to demonstrate "how abominable before God is the Empire or Rule of a wicked woman, yea, of a traiteresse and bastard". The women rulers that Knox had in mind were Queen Mary I of England and Mary of Guise ,
16950-401: The territory was financially burdensome, its loss was a mortifying blow to the Queen's prestige. According to Holinshed's Chronicles , Mary later lamented (although this may be apocryphal), "When I am dead and opened, you shall find 'Calais' lying in my heart". The weather during the years of Mary's reign was consistently wet. The persistent rain and flooding led to famine. Another problem
17100-638: The throne of England but also heir to the Spanish Empire in the event that Philip's eldest son, Don Carlos, died without issue. To elevate his son to Mary's rank, Emperor Charles V ceded to Philip the crown of Naples as well as his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Mary thus became queen of Naples and titular queen of Jerusalem upon marriage. Their wedding at Winchester Cathedral on 25 July 1554 took place just two days after their first meeting. Philip could not speak English, and so they spoke
17250-501: The town. By 1561 it had been abandoned and left to fall into ruin. With Protestant reinforcements arriving from neighbouring counties, the Queen Regent retreated to Dunbar . By now, the mob fury had spilled over central Scotland. Her own troops were on the verge of mutiny. On 30 June, the Protestant Lords of the Congregation occupied Edinburgh, though they were able to hold it for only a month. But even before their arrival,
17400-517: The troubles present (and appearing to be) in the realm of England are double more dolorous unto my heart than ever were the troubles of Scotland. Knox disembarked in Dieppe , France, and continued to Geneva , where John Calvin had established his authority. When Knox arrived Calvin was in a difficult position. He had recently overseen the Company of Pastors, which prosecuted charges of heresy against
17550-499: The unlikely charges against him was that he had plotted to marry Mary himself. Anne consented to the annulment of the marriage, which had not been consummated, and Cromwell was beheaded. In 1541, Henry had the Countess of Salisbury, Mary's old governess and godmother, executed on the pretext of a Catholic plot in which her son Reginald Pole was implicated. Her executioner was "a wretched and blundering youth" who "literally hacked her head and shoulders to pieces". In 1542, following
17700-410: The weeping of any of God's creatures; yea I can scarcely well abide the tears of my own boys whom my own hand corrects, much less can I rejoice in your Majesty's weeping." He added that he would rather endure her tears, however, than remain silent and "betray my Commonwealth". At this, Mary ordered him out of the room. Knox's final encounter with Mary was prompted by an incident at Holyrood. While Mary
17850-469: The winter. They were threatened with torture if they did not give proper signs of reverence when mass was performed on the ship. Knox recounted an incident in which one of the prisoners—possibly himself, as Knox tended to narrate personal anecdotes in the third person—was required to show devotion to a picture of the Virgin Mary. The prisoner was told to give it a kiss of veneration . He refused and when
18000-475: Was Frances Brandon, Mary's cousin and goddaughter. Just before Edward's death, Mary was summoned to London to visit her dying brother, but was warned that the summons was a pretext on which to capture her and thereby facilitate Jane's accession to the throne. Therefore, instead of heading to London from her residence at Hunsdon, Mary fled to East Anglia , where she owned extensive estates and Northumberland had ruthlessly put down Kett's Rebellion . Many adherents to
18150-418: Was a Protestant. Guided by John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland , and perhaps others, Edward excluded both from the line of succession in his will. Contradicting the Act of Succession 1544 , which restored Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession, Edward named Northumberland's daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey , the granddaughter of Henry VIII's younger sister Mary , as his successor. Lady Jane's mother
18300-538: Was a Scottish minister , Reformed theologian , and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation . He was the founder of the Church of Scotland . Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lothian , Knox is believed to have been educated at the University of St Andrews and worked as a notary-priest. Influenced by early church reformers such as George Wishart , he joined the movement to reform
18450-467: Was a child. Their eldest son, William, carried on his father's business, which helped in Knox's international communications. Knox was probably educated at the grammar school in Haddington . At this time, the priesthood was the only path for those whose inclinations were academic rather than mercantile or agricultural. He proceeded to further studies at the University of St Andrews or possibly at
18600-600: Was a descendant of an old Durham family and her mother, Elizabeth Aske , was an heiress of a Yorkshire family, the Askes of Richmondshire . Elizabeth presumably met Knox when he was employed in Berwick. Several letters reveal a close friendship between them. It is not recorded when Knox married Margery Bowes. Knox attempted to obtain the consent of the Bowes family, but her father and her brother Robert Bowes were opposed to
18750-478: Was a less radical movement than its Continental counterparts, but there was a definite breach with Rome. The Archbishop of Canterbury , Thomas Cranmer , and the regent of King Edward VI , the Duke of Somerset , were decidedly Protestant-minded. However, much work remained to bring reformed ideas to the clergy and to the people. On 7 April 1549, Knox was licensed to work in the Church of England . His first commission
18900-454: Was a precocious child. In July 1520, when scarcely four and a half years old, she entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord ). A great part of her early education came from her mother, who consulted the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives for advice and commissioned him to write De Institutione Feminae Christianae , a treatise on
19050-451: Was absent from Edinburgh on her summer progress in 1563, a crowd forced its way into her private chapel as Mass was being celebrated. During the altercation, the priest's life was threatened. As a result, two of the ringleaders, burgesses of Edinburgh, were scheduled for trial on 24 October 1563. In order to defend these men, Knox sent out letters calling the nobles to convene. Mary obtained one of these letters and asked her advisors if this
19200-569: Was betrothed to Francis, Dauphin of France . Philip persuaded his wife that Elizabeth should marry his cousin Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy , to secure the Catholic succession and preserve the Habsburg interest in England, but Elizabeth refused to agree and parliamentary consent was unlikely. 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
19350-885: Was born on 18 February 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, England . She was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon , to survive infancy. Before Mary, her mother had three miscarriages and stillbirths and one short-lived son, Henry, Duke of Cornwall . Mary was baptised into the Catholic faith at the Church of the Observant Friars in Greenwich three days after her birth. Her godparents included Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey ; her great-aunt Catherine, Countess of Devon ; and Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk . Henry VIII's first cousin once removed, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury , stood sponsor for Mary's confirmation , which
19500-453: Was born, and Mary was forced to accept that her half-sister Elizabeth would be her lawful successor. Mary was weak and ill from May 1558. In pain, possibly from ovarian cysts or uterine cancer , she died on 17 November 1558, aged 42, at St James's Palace , during an influenza epidemic that also claimed Archbishop Pole's life later that day. She was succeeded by Elizabeth. Philip, who was in Brussels, wrote to his sister Joanna : "I felt
19650-485: Was conducted immediately after the baptism. The following year, Mary became a godmother herself when she was named as one of the sponsors of her cousin Frances Brandon . In 1520, the Countess of Salisbury was appointed Mary's governess . Sir John Hussey (later Lord Hussey) was her chamberlain from 1530, and his wife Lady Anne, daughter of George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent , was one of Mary's attendants. Mary
19800-517: Was essentially theatrical, rather than issue-based or agitprop in character. Along with other feminist companies such as the Women's Theatre Group , Monstrous Regiment contributed to the broader development of alternative theatre that emerged in Britain in the post-1968 period, with a proliferation of new touring companies performing to new audiences. The ongoing Unfinished Histories project provides
19950-426: Was heartbroken and fell into a deep depression. Michieli was touched by the Queen's grief; he wrote she was "extraordinarily in love" with her husband and disconsolate at his departure. Elizabeth remained at court until October, apparently restored to favour. In the absence of any children, Philip was concerned that one of the next claimants to the English throne after his sister-in-law was Mary, Queen of Scots , who
20100-726: Was in Berwick-upon-Tweed . He was obliged to use the recently released 1549 Book of Common Prayer , which maintained the structure of the Sarum Rite while adapting the content to the doctrine of the reformed Church of England. Knox, however, modified its use to accord with the doctrinal emphases of the Continental reformers. In the pulpit, he preached Protestant doctrines with great effect as his congregation grew. In England, Knox met his wife, Margery Bowes (died c. 1560 ). Her father, Richard Bowes (died 1558),
20250-447: Was itself in jeopardy, which threatened her status. Disappointed at the lack of a male heir, and eager to remarry, Henry attempted to have his marriage to Catherine annulled , but Pope Clement VII refused his request. Henry claimed, citing biblical passages ( Leviticus 20:21), that the marriage was unclean because Catherine was the widow of his brother Arthur, Prince of Wales (Mary's uncle). Catherine claimed that her marriage to Arthur
20400-505: Was never consummated and so was not a valid marriage. Pope Julius II had issued a dispensation on that basis. Clement VII may have been reluctant to act because he was influenced by Charles V, Catherine's nephew and Mary's former betrothed, whose troops had sacked Rome in the War of the League of Cognac . From 1531, Mary was often sick with irregular menstruation and depression, although it
20550-517: Was no precedent to follow in England. Under the terms of Queen Mary's Marriage Act , Philip was to be styled "King of England", all official documents (including Acts of Parliament ) were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple, for Mary's lifetime only. England would not be obliged to provide military support to Philip's father in any war, and Philip could not act without his wife's consent or appoint foreigners to office in England. Philip
20700-527: Was not a treasonable act. Stewart and Maitland, wanting to keep good relations with both the Kirk and the Queen, asked Knox to admit he was wrong and to settle the matter quietly. Knox refused and he defended himself in front of Mary and the Privy Council . He argued that he had called a legal, not an illegal, assembly as part of his duties as a minister of the Kirk. After he left, the councillors voted not to charge him with treason. Mary I This
20850-415: Was not extensively reviewed until 1604. English coinage was debased under both Henry VIII and Edward VI . Mary drafted plans for currency reform but they were not implemented until after her death. After Philip's visit in 1557, Mary again thought she was pregnant, with a baby due in March 1558. She decreed in her will that her husband would be the regent during the minority of their child. But no child
21000-801: Was present on the night of Wishart's arrest and was prepared to follow him into captivity, but Wishart persuaded him against this course saying, "Nay, return to your bairns [children] and God bless you. One is sufficient for a sacrifice." Wishart was subsequently prosecuted by Beaton's Public Accuser of Heretics, Archdeacon John Lauder . On 1 March 1546, he was burnt at the stake in the presence of Beaton. Electors of Saxony Holy Roman Emperors Building Literature Theater Liturgies Hymnals Monuments Calendrical commemoration Knox had avoided being arrested by Lord Bothwell through Wishart's advice to return to tutoring. He took shelter with Douglas in Longniddry . Several months later he
21150-680: Was refused permission to visit Catherine. When Catherine died in 1536, Mary was "inconsolable". Catherine was interred in Peterborough Cathedral , while Mary grieved in semi-seclusion at Hunsdon in Hertfordshire. In 1536, Queen Anne fell from the King's favour and was beheaded. Elizabeth, like Mary, was declared illegitimate and stripped of her succession rights . Within two weeks of Anne's execution, Henry married Jane Seymour , who urged her husband to make peace with Mary. Henry insisted that Mary recognise him as head of
21300-516: Was released from house arrest, and called to court as a witness to the birth, which was expected imminently. According to Giovanni Michieli, the Venetian ambassador, Philip may have planned to marry Elizabeth if Mary died, but in a letter to his brother-in-law Maximilian of Austria , Philip expressed uncertainty as to whether Mary was pregnant. Mary's pregnancy had its pros and cons for Elizabeth: if Mary died during childbirth, Elizabeth would become
21450-626: Was sent to join her infant half-sister's household at Hatfield Palace , Hertfordshire. Mary determinedly refused to acknowledge that Anne was the queen or that Elizabeth was a princess, enraging King Henry. Under strain and with her movements restricted, Mary was frequently ill, which the royal physician attributed to her "ill treatment". The Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys became her close adviser, and interceded, unsuccessfully, on her behalf at court. The relationship between Mary and her father worsened; they did not speak to each other for three years. Although both she and her mother were ill, Mary
21600-409: Was still in charge of the pupils, the sons of Douglas and Cockburn, who wearied of moving from place to place while being pursued. He toyed with the idea of fleeing to Germany and taking his pupils with him. While Knox remained a fugitive, Beaton was murdered on 29 May 1546, within his residence, the Castle of St Andrews , by a gang of five persons in revenge for Wishart's execution. The assassins seized
21750-590: Was the decline of the Antwerp cloth trade. Despite Mary's marriage to Philip, England did not benefit from Spain's enormously lucrative trade with the New World . The Spanish guarded their trade routes jealously, and Mary could not condone English smuggling or piracy against her husband's subjects. In an attempt to increase trade and rescue the English economy, Mary's counsellors continued Northumberland's policy of seeking out new commercial opportunities. She granted
21900-402: Was the same age, came to nothing, but a match between Henry and the Duke's sister Anne was agreed. When the King saw Anne for the first time in late December 1539, a week before the scheduled wedding, he found her unattractive but was unable, for diplomatic reasons and without a suitable pretext, to cancel the marriage. Cromwell fell from favour and was arrested for treason in June 1540; one of
22050-660: Was to order the release of the Roman Catholic Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk , and Stephen Gardiner from imprisonment in the Tower of London, as well as her kinsman Edward Courtenay . Mary understood that the young Lady Jane was essentially a pawn in Northumberland's scheme, and Northumberland was the only conspirator of rank executed for high treason in the immediate aftermath of the attempted coup. Lady Jane and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley , though found guilty, were kept under guard in
22200-421: Was to return to Geneva. In the previous year on 1 November 1555, the congregation in Geneva had elected Knox as their minister and he decided to take up the post. He wrote a final letter of advice to his supporters and left Scotland with his wife and mother-in-law. He arrived in Geneva on 13 September 1556. For the next two years, he lived a happy life in Geneva. He recommended Geneva to his friends in England as
22350-588: Was unhappy with these conditions but ready to agree for the sake of securing the marriage. He had no amorous feelings for Mary and sought the marriage for its political and strategic gains; his aide Ruy Gómez de Silva wrote to a correspondent in Brussels , "the marriage was concluded for no fleshly consideration, but in order to remedy the disorders of this kingdom and to preserve the Low Countries ." A future child of Mary and Philip would be not only heir to
22500-564: Was willing to accept her governance, noting that Paul the Apostle had been willing to live under Nero 's rule. Mary noted, however, that he had written against the principle of female rule itself. He responded that she should not be troubled by what had never harmed her. When Mary asked him whether subjects had a right to resist their ruler, he replied that if monarchs exceeded their lawful limits, they might be resisted, even by force. On 13 December 1562, Mary sent for Knox again after he gave
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