As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate disclosure.

Home / Periods / Tudor Period / Mary I and the Counter-Reformation

Phase

Mary I and the Counter-Reformation

1553–1558 CE

Mary I ruled from 1553 to 1558 after defeating the attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Her government restored papal authority, revived Catholic worship and married Mary to Philip of Spain. The reign was marked by religious persecution, political anxiety and concern over succession.

It mattered because it showed how quickly Tudor religion could reverse direction. Protestant burnings left a powerful memory, while Mary’s failure to produce an heir meant that Elizabeth inherited another unsettled religious problem. The reign also tied England more closely to Habsburg politics.

Alison Weir’s Tudor novels, Philippa Gregory’s queen-centred fiction and Jean Plaidy’s Tudor books all draw on Mary’s reign and its emotional tensions.

Related people for Mary I and the Counter-Reformation

Anne Boleyn1501–1536 Anne of Cleves1515–1557 Catherine Carey1523–1569 Catherine de’ Medici1519–1589 Catherine Howard1523–1542 Catherine of Aragon1485–1536 Catherine Parr1512–1548 Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolkc. 1484–1545 Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devonc. 1527–1556 Edward VI1537–1553 Elizabeth I1533–1603 Elizabeth of York1466–1503 Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk1517–1559 Francis, Duke of Guise1519–1563 Francis II of France1544–1560 Francis Knollys1514–1596 Francis Walsingham1532–1590 Hans Holbein the Younger1497–1543 Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk1517–1554 Henry II of France1519–1559 Henry VII1457–1509 Henry VIII1491–1547 Isabella I of Castile1451–1504 Ivan the Terrible1530–1584 James V1512–1542 Jane Seymour1508–1537 Jeanne d’Albret1528–1572 John Dee1527–1609 John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland1504–1553 Kat Ashley1502–1565 Katherine Grey1540–1568 Katherine Willoughby1519–1580 Lady Jane Grey1537–1554 Lord Guildford Dudley1535–1554 Louise of Savoy1476–1531 Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox1515–1578 Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy1480–1530 Margaret Tudor1489–1541 Marguerite de Navarre1492–1549 Mary, Queen of Scots1542–1587 Mary Boleyn1499–1543 Mary Grey1545–1578 Mary I1516–1558 Philip II of Spain1527–1598 Reginald Pole1500–1558 Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester1532–1588 Thomas Cranmer1489–1556 Thomas Cromwell1485–1540 Thomas More1478–1535 Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley1508–1549 Thomas Wyatt the Younger1521–1554 William Careyc. 1490s–1528 William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley1520–1598 William Stafford1508–1556

Series

Series about Mary I and the Counter-Reformation (1 series)

Bloody Mary Tudor Mysteries in Order

by Michael Jecks 9 books 4.0(1,219)

The Bloody Mary Tudor Mysteries follow Jack Blackjack, a London cutpurse who is drawn into paid intelligence work and assassination during the reign of Mary I. Beginning with Wyatt’s Rebellion in 1554 and continuing to the final months of Mary’s rule in 1558, the novels move between London,…

Books

26 Best Novels About Mary I and the Counter-Reformation

Non-Fiction

12 Best Non-Fiction Books About Mary I and the Counter-Reformation

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.