Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 36.djvu/356

Mary I 1557 Lord Robert Dudley brought her the welcome tidings that Philip was at Calais, and on the 20th he was with her at Greenwich. Next day king and queen attended in state a mass in the palace chapel, and orders were issued for the ' Te Deum ' to be sung in every church in the country. On the 23rd a royal progress through the city followed, with the customary decorations and street mobs. By way of compliment to king and queen, the Earl of Sussex, lord deputy of Ireland, induced the Irish parliament at the same date to give the names of King's County and Queen's County to the districts of Leix and Offaly in Leinster, which had been seized by the crown in the winter of 1556-7 and converted into shires ; while the chief town in each district was newly christened Philipstown and Maryborough respectively. Mary's reign left no other permanent mark on Irish history. On 20 March Mary was present at the reinterment of Edward the Confessor's body in Westminster Abbey.

It was not love for Mary that had brought Philip on his second visit to England. Since his departure his father had resigned to him his thrones in the Netherlands and in Spain, and he had renewed the old feud of his house with France. To draw England into his continental quarrel was his immediate purpose. Mary proved compliant, despite the protests of her more prudent ministers, who urged the poverty of the treasury. The outbreak in April of the rebellion of Thomas Stafford, who issued a proclamation designating himself protector of the realm, facilitated Philip's policy. The rebels, it was declared, were in the pay of France. As soon as they were captured, Mary in May issued a proclamation, complaining of ill-usage received by her at the hands of the French king. On 7 June war was declared, and ten days later the Earl of Pembroke left with eight thousand men to join Philip's army in the Low Countries. Philip was satisfied, and in July he prepared to journey to the scene of action. On 2 July he stood godfather to the son of the fourth Duke of Norfolk, afterwards Earl of Arundel [see Howard, Philtp]. On the 3rd king and queen slept at Sittingbourne, and next day Philip left Dover for the Low Countries. The queen never saw him again. Philip and his friend the Prince of Savoy won, with his Eng- lish allies, the battle of St. Quentin (10 Aug.) and Mary sent from Richmond on the 14th an affectionate letter of congratulation to Charles V. She signed herself, 'Vostre tres humble fille, seur, cousine et perpetuelle allyee' (Documentos Inéditos, iii. 537-8).

Pole, with characteristic caution, was not in favour of the war. He had in 1555 negotiated, with Mary's approval, the truce of Vaucelles between the emperor and the French king, and he had urged the pope, when a new breach between Spain and France was imminent, to offer his mediation. But his efforts were resented at Rome. The new pope, Paul IV, a Neapolitan, was no friend of Philip. Nor was he satisfied that Pole had exerted himself to the full in bringing the English people under the dominion of the papacy. Ignorant of the real situation, Paul fancied that a stronger hand than Pole's might effect more, and it might be practicable to reduce Philip's influence over Mary by appointing a new legate more entirely devoted to papal interests, and less under the queen's sway. William Peto, a Friar Observant of Salisbury, was accordingly made a cardinal, and entrusted with legatine authority in England. Pole was summoned to Rome (July 1557). The crisis was a difficult one for the queen, and with many misgivings she threw over the pope. She declared that the new legate would menace the liberties of her people, and ordered all the ports to be closed against him. Pole was directed to remain at his post. On 15 July 1557 Mary dined with him at Lambeth (Machyn, p. 143). In September the pope practically acknowledged his defeat.

Meanwhile the foreign outlook grew more threatening. The Scots had declared war in support of the French in the autumn of 1557, and in the winter the French were marching on Calais. The queen was spurred into unusual activity. Her financial position had become desperate, and she had resorted to many petty and impolitic economies. She had leased the Scilly Isles to a private person, and had sought to reduce the expenses of her foreign office by recalling her envoy, Peter des Vannes, from Venice, and by entrusting English interests there to the care of Philip's Spanish ambassador, Francisco de Vargas. Now, with equal unwisdom, she demanded forced loans under the privy seal (Acts of the Privy Council, 1556-8, pp. 277-304). On 2 Jan. she distributed an appeal to noblemen for reinforcements to be sent to the French coast (Green, iii. 318-19). Three days later Calais surrendered to the Duke of Guise. The arrival of the news plunged Mary into deep despair. Philip offered to aid in the town's recovery, and Mary begged her council to spare no effort to restore to her 'the chief jewel of our realm.' But her council pleaded the expense, and nothing was done. In March Philip sent Count de Feria to strengthen her resolution. 'The queen,' Feria wrote to his master, i does all she can, her will is good and her heart stout, but