The Tudor-era of history is certainly one of the most fascinating and well-studied periods throughout the world. There was everything to make for great stories; family feuds, wars, affairs, religious struggle, great heroes, great villains and plenty of intrigue. Who could not be enthralled by the stories of King Henry VIII and his six wives, or of the sordid tale of how Protestantism came to England by way of an effort to legitimize an adultress, the reign of England's first Queen Regnant Mary I and of course the conspiracies and victories of Elizabeth I.
However, almost all of the histories written about the Tudor era have been written using information from Protestant sources. It was, of course, the Protestants who prevailed in the religious struggle in England and Scotland so of course the winners wrote the history books. Some of these were somewhat balanced, but many more were the most blatant propaganda. An excellent example is John Knox's book ridiculing the ability of women to rule countries simply because Scotland, England and France were at that time ruled by Catholic Queens, something for which there was hardly any historical precedent.
Because of all of this, many people seem to take for granted that Britain was to become Protestant, however, England was one of *the* most Catholic countries in Europe at the time, known as the "Dowry of Mary", famous for their intense loyalty to the Pope in Rome and for crusading Catholic kings like Richard the Lionheart or King Henry V who was just as successful at stamping out heresy as he was fighting French knights. Furthermore, Britain, and England in particular proved to be pivotal in the success or failure of Protestantism in Europe and it all goes back to the Tudor period. Without English support the Dutch revolt would have been crushed and the central front of the Protestant war against the Church shut down.
Scotland is also a crucial country due to the close relationship between the Stuarts and the Tudors. For a short time Scotland was an unusal example of Catholic and Protestant cooperation, and had the Scots not become embroiled in a civil war it is entirely possible that Scotland, with the backing of France, could have invaded England and claimed the country after the death of Queen Mary I for Mary Queen of Scots. It would be unfair to view this as neccessarily a disaster since it came about eventually anyway, by peaceful means, when Elizabeth I died and King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. Queen Mary of Scotland, had the Catholics been victorious, might have made Scotland the dominant power in Britain rather than ending her life as a prisoner of Protestant England, a victim of the plots around her. The Stuarts would have come to the throne of the two kingdoms sooner and with the strength of religious unity rather than the disunity which eventually led to civil war.
A Catholic England opens the door to all sorts of possible scenarios for the history of the world, and in numerous instances it could have happened. What if Henry VIII had not divorced Queen Catherine? What if Cardinal Pole had tempered the zeal of Queen Mary in suppressing the Protestants? What if Mary Queen of Scots had been able to take the English throne? The story of the Tudors touches greatly on continental Europe, and the story of the Tudors cannot be told without mentioning Emperor Charles V who was so dominant in Europe at the time, especially in trying to stem the Protestant tide, King Philip II of Spain to whom Elizabeth I owed her throne or Pope Clement VII who after a great deal of anxiety refused to annul Henry's marriage to Queen Catherine or Pope St Pius V who excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I.
The story of Catholics in the Tudor period has been largely overlooked, but it is essential to understand such things as relations between Henry and the Pope, Robert Aske and the Pilgrimage of Grace, how Queen Mary I has been misunderstood by generations of historians and the true nature of the reign of Elizabeth I. Hopefully, these pages will bring a tiny bit of awareness about these things.
Joseph II |
