Well she was queen for only about five years. Elizabeth lived to great age.
Cranmer was an able man and a great churchman, but not personally heroic. As for Phillip, remember that Spain had been allied with England since the reign of Henry VII. Part of that deal had been to marry Catherine to Henry’s brother Arthur. Catherine was a beauty when she was young, and partly for that reason Henry married her after Arthur’s premature death. And of course after Mary’s death, Phillip was one of Elizabeth’s suitors. It wasn’t until the Dutch rebellion that England began to pull away from the Spanish alliance.
You object to the term “Protestant party,” but t because Protestants were in the minority and strong mainly in London and other parts. They were also divided. Protestants like Cranmer were strong in the Church, but there was already many others and sectarians —not unlike the Pilgrims of our history— who did not think his reforms went far enough. It was the political Protestants who were the real danger to Mary. Her ministers however, went after many persons who were politically quite harmless. These are the ones who deserved to be praised by Foxe. Phillip , btw, advised against a harsh handed suppression. Nonetheless, Mary was personally quite popular, as were all the Tudors. “Bloody Mary” is a political epithet; she was demonized by Protestant propoganda.
““Bloody Mary” is a political epithet; she was demonized by Protestant propoganda.”
I think burning several hundred people at the stake might have contributed to that unfortunate moniker, don’t you?
“Cranmer was an able man and a great churchman, but not personally heroic”
Well, he did crack under the torture of Bloody Mary’s and the Catholic Church’s minions, and attempted to save his life by signing their recantations, repudiating them right before he was burned to death by Mary. Witness accounts have him burning at the stake with nary a peep. Perhaps not heroic to you, but I think it’s pretty impressive. Today’s Book of Common Prayer is his handiwork.
“As for Phillip, remember that Spain had been allied with England since the reign of Henry VII”
In Henry VIII’s day Spain was actively favored by Rome, and was being funded in part by the draining cash from England that rightfully belonged in English Dioceses until Henry put a stop to it.
Recall also that In Elizabeth’s reign, the Spanish Armada (and invasion fleet) was utterly defeated, neutering Spanish influence forever. No, Spain was not an ally, and was not seen as such by the populace during Mary’s reign - rather they were treated with much deserved suspicion by the English, even when linked by the Queens marriage.