Prayer Book of 1549, and the Act of Uniformity. And with the
sanction of the sovereign, Cranmer, in 1552, issued a revised Liturgy,
known as the Second Prayer Book of King Edward VI., and the Forty-two
Articles, which were markedly Protestant in tendency. On his health
failing, the King, acting on the advice of the Duke of Northumberland,
altered the settlement of the crown as arranged in the will of Henry
VIII., and made a will excluding Mary and Elizabeth from the
succession in favour of Lady Jane Grey, daughter-in-law of
Northumberland, which was sanctioned by Archbishop Cranmer and the
Privy Council. Although Cranmer had sanctioned this act with great
reluctance, and on the assurance of the judges, it sufficed to secure
his condemnation for high treason on Mary's accession. Edward sank
rapidly and died on July 6, 1553.

The Duke of Northumberland then

PROCLAIMED LADY JANE GREY QUEEN,

but the people refused to recognise the usurpation. After a brief
reign of eleven days,

THE CROWN WAS TRANSFERRED TO MARY,

daughter of Henry VIII. and Catherine of Arragon, and Lady Jane Grey
and her husband were sent to the Tower, and subsequently condemned to
death. They were kept in captivity for some time, and were not
executed until after Wyatt's rebellion in 1554.

[Illustration: Virgin & Child, Chirbury.]

Mary was a firm Roman Catholic, and she looked to her uncle, Charles
V. of Spain, for assistance and support. In January, 1554, much to the
disappointment of her subjects, she concluded a treaty of marriage
with Philip of Spain, son of Charles V. Afterwards her reign was
disturbed by insurrections, and also by the persecution of Protestants
by Cardinal Pole, who came over to England to push forward the Roman
Catholic reaction.

THIS TROUBLED REIGN

was not congenial to Christmas festivities, though they were still
kept up in different parts of the country. During the Christmas
festival (January 2, 1554) a splendid embassy, sent by the Emperor,
Charles the Fifth, headed by the Counts Egmont and Lalain, the Lord of
Courrieres, and the Sieur de Nigry, landed in Kent, to arrange the
marriage between Queen Mary and Philip. The unpopularity of the
proceeding was immediately manifested, for the men of Kent, taking
Egmont for Philip, rose in fury and would have killed him if they
could have got at him. Although an attempt was made to allay the fears
of the English, within a few days three insurrections broke out i