Wyatt's rebellion

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''Wyatt's Rebellion is named for the son of Sir Thomas Wyatt, Thomas Wyatt the younger. After Mary I, "Bloody Mary" ascended the English Throne, she intended to bring the Kingdom of England back into the Roman Catholic Church and restrict the rights of Protestants in the kingdom. Wyatt, among others greatly opposed re-entry into the Catholic fold and rose up against the Queen.

Wyatt expected that others would join him in revolt- plans were made for a country wide rebellion. However his co-conspirators were unable to rebel and unable to tell Wyatt so his forces rose anyway. The rebellion seized much of Kent and Wyatt led his forces in a march on London. Significantly Mary was able to rally London to her cause by appearing at the City gates and announcing herself as the legitimate queen. Wyatt's rebellion was defeated a matter of weeks later. What it demonstrated though was that legitimacy in England during the 16th Century trumped religious afiliation: many Protestants had supported Mary during Wyatt's rebellion and the earlier period of uncertainty surrounding her accession, plenty of Catholics ended up supporting her sister and had supported her father and brother. The failure of Wyatt and earlier and later confessional rebellions has often been seen by historians as one of the reasons why Tudor monarchs were able to seesaw so effectively between the religious faiths during the 16th Century. Personally the rebellion was a disaster for Wyatt, he was executed and Queen Mary took away Wyatt's title and lands including the family home, Allington Castle.

When Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant and distant relative of the Wyatt family, ascended the throne, she restored the family titles and lands.

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