Week 17
Henry VIII's will had made the succession very plain. First Edward, then Mary as the elder daughter, then Elizabeth. When Edward died on July 6, 1553, his successor was his half-sister Mary. Her accession was filled with public dispute most of it centered on her publicly proclaimed adherence to Roman Catholicism. And this meant that the whole nation was going to go through a massive religious reorientation after having just labored through six years of clear Protestant leadership.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Mary Tudor, The Tragical History of the First Queen of England,
The National Archives; 1st edition (2006),
ISBN 1903365988