England's Relationship with Spain during Queen Mary's Reign
To what extent was England dominated by Spain and the serving of Spanish interests during the reign of Mary
When Mary decided upon making Spain a close ally in 1554 through the marriage of herself and Philip II of Spain, she took special precaution to not give the superpower too much authority over England. Despite that Lord Chancellor Gardiner and the House of Commons petitioned Mary to consider marrying an Englishman, after they feared that England would be relegated to a dependency of Spain, this fear in many cases came true. Philip viewed the marriage as entirely political and his second visit to England was clearly only due to wanting involvement in England, Spanish interests in England were helpfully reinforced through the marriage and Mary’s foreign policy, subsequently making England a Spanish pawn. However arguments to indicate that England was not dominated by Spain are also clearly noticeable, as Mary received her own advantages out of the marriage with Philip and assured Spain of the little authority Philip would receive through the terms of agreement.
The marriage between Mary and Philip which he viewed to be entirely political and leaving Mary to defer heavily on Philip allowed him to also enjoy titles and honours for as long as their marriage should last. All official documents, including acts of parliament were to be dated with both their names, parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple and coins were to show the heads of both Mary and Philip. As well as Philip as a figure receiving authority in England, other advantages also lead to Spain being able to use England for Spanish interests. Involving England in the Hapsburg-Valois conflict, they made England into a ‘submissive satellite around the Hapsburg power’; this finally led to the loss of precious Calais for England after there was limited assistance in defence of Calais. Philips coincidental investment in the English navy led to huge advantages as he could
When Mary decided upon making Spain a close ally in 1554 through the marriage of herself and Philip II of Spain, she took special precaution to not give the superpower too much authority over England. Despite that Lord Chancellor Gardiner and the House of Commons petitioned Mary to consider marrying an Englishman, after they feared that England would be relegated to a dependency of Spain, this fear in many cases came true. Philip viewed the marriage as entirely political and his second visit to England was clearly only due to wanting involvement in England, Spanish interests in England were helpfully reinforced through the marriage and Mary’s foreign policy, subsequently making England a Spanish pawn. However arguments to indicate that England was not dominated by Spain are also clearly noticeable, as Mary received her own advantages out of the marriage with Philip and assured Spain of the little authority Philip would receive through the terms of agreement.
The marriage between Mary and Philip which he viewed to be entirely political and leaving Mary to defer heavily on Philip allowed him to also enjoy titles and honours for as long as their marriage should last. All official documents, including acts of parliament were to be dated with both their names, parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple and coins were to show the heads of both Mary and Philip. As well as Philip as a figure receiving authority in England, other advantages also lead to Spain being able to use England for Spanish interests. Involving England in the Hapsburg-Valois conflict, they made England into a ‘submissive satellite around the Hapsburg power’; this finally led to the loss of precious Calais for England after there was limited assistance in defence of Calais. Philips coincidental investment in the English navy led to huge advantages as he could