On this day in Tudor history, 12 November 1555, Queen Mary I turned back the religious clock.



Parliament passed the Second Statute of Repeal, restoring papal authority and reuniting England with the Catholic Church after more than twenty years of upheaval.



I explore how Mary achieved what had once seemed impossible:

• Undoing her father Henry VIII’s break with Rome and her brother Edward VI’s Protestant reforms


• Bringing England spiritually home to the Pope


• Balancing faith and politics by protecting nobles’ monastic lands


• And why, intriguingly, she kept the title “Supreme Head of the Church” even as she restored papal power

For three short years, England was once again Catholic, until Mary’s death in 1558 and Elizabeth I’s sweeping reversal.



Was Mary’s vision of unity ever possible in a country so divided by faith?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.



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