England : Wyatt's Rebellion 1554



A.) Prehistory

After the short reign of Edward VI. (1547-1553), which had seen the introduction of the protestant reformation in England and political instability, his succession had been contested. While Mary ("Bloody Mary") easily brushed aside her challenger Lady Jane Grey (who was imprisoned in the Tower) in 1553, her policy of reestablishment of Catholicism, but most of all her planned marriage to Philip II. of Spain, caused resentment.


B.) The Rebellion

Sir Thomas Wyatt (Wyat), a protestant, on January 24th 1554, raised 3,000 armed men in Kent (as part of a plotted rebellion that would include other forces from the Welsh Marches, Devon, the Southwest; the plot was uncovered; only Wyat's force actually rebelled), marched on London; he surrendered February 4th. The leaders of the rebellion were executed in April that year.


C.) The Legacy

Lady Jane Grey was executed in 1554.




EXTERNAL
FILES 		Sketches of the Life of Sir Thomas Wyat the Younger, 1521-1554, from bdespain
Catholic Dukes of Norfolk, from Catholic Encyclopedia
DOCUMENTS Sir Thomas Wyatt, c.1550, from National Portrait Gallery
Mary's Speech at Guildhall 1554, from englishhistory.net
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on February 20th 2004, last revised on November 17th 2004

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