1558 was a fateful year for England which would have a fundamental impact on its future. Find out why.   Transcript Last time we heard about how a fortuitous doomedRead More

The return of the King meant demands for the English to enter a war they did not want, and in which none of their interests were really at stake. Transcript The DukeRead More

  The story of the Marian persecution. And of a Queen’s need to have her Prince at her side to help with the alarms and excursions of protestant rebels. TranscriptRead More

The plan was that 1555 saw the transformation of England – the birth of an heir for Mary and Philip, the launch of a new Reformation Anglicae to re-invigorate Roman CatholicismRead More

Once Pole had returned and parliament had re-enacted the heresy legislation after the brief Edwardian holiday, the Marian church could at last exercise the full force of the law against protestants. JohnRead More

Catherine Willoughby leaves England to become one of the Marian Exiles. When Pole told parliament that he came to build he meant what he said, and would deliver, in part.Read More

In 1554, 300 schoolboys of London played out the divisions of their parents on the fields of Finsbury. It was an instructive backdrop to the return of Papal authority inRead More

In July 1554 Philip finally landed in England, and all went very well; Mary and Philip were married, and were kind to each other, there was a great pageant ofRead More

Once Wyatt had been dealt with, Gardiner, Renard,Mary – all could see a greater target in their sights. The surely the Lady Elizabeth had been involved, and here was the chanceRead More

Mary faced the biggest challenge to her reign in 1554 as the London Trained Bands, the White Coats, joined Wyatt’s army of Kent. She responded like a Tudor appealing toRead More

In 1553, Mary’s real religious policy become clear. More worrying for many was the announcement of her choice of husband Philip of Spain. Some blokes met in a pub to figureRead More

After Mary rode into London in August 1553, Thomas Cranmer must have known he would be in the firing line – and yet at first nothing happened. And it wasRead More

  Mary was well aware that it was critical for her to establish her right and authority as equal to that of any king; and she consciously pursued that aim. WhichRead More