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many sources of grievance at this time. Unwontedly rapid population growth, price inflation, poor harvests, rent increases, food shortages, currency debasements, plague and the weak regimes of Protector Somerset and the Duke of Northumberland, led to considerable social and political instability. The religious factor, too, was never far away, especially under Edward’s successor, Mary. Both reigns were highly turbulent with rebellions in the provinces, unpopular wars abroad and unsuccessful fiscal policies.
    In 1553, at the age of thirty-seven, Mary became Queen. She attempted to reverse the reforms of her father and return England to the Catholic faith. Although a full restoration of Catholicism was intended, it never became possible. Her marriage to Philip of Spain and the threat to Protestantism sparked off rebellion in Kent led by supporters of the former Protectors Somerset and Northumberland. In 1554, 3,000 Kentish rebels led by Sir Thomas Wyatt were prevented from entering the City at Ludgate and the rising collapsed, Wyatt himself being executed at Tower Hill. Many other rebels were also executed: gallows were set up specially in Fleet Street, Cheapside, Holborn, Leadenhall, London Bridge, Bermondsey, Charing Cross and at Hay Hill near Hyde Park where three people were hanged in chains. In this case Tyburn saw little use, its one victim being William Thomas, Clerk to the Council. He had tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide but was drawn from the Tower to Tyburn in May 1554 where he was hanged, beheaded and quartered. His head was set upon London Bridge and his quarters were placed over Cripplegate.
    The Catholic Church was formally restored under Mary in January 1555 and the execution of Protestants followed quickly – starting at Smithfield in February. The unhappy but fortunately short reign of Mary ended in 1558 and saw the death of many other martyrs at the same location. However, Tyburn came into its own as the place of execution for Catholics during Elizabeth’s reign. Religion continued to be a potent factor in political affairs after Elizabeth’s accession in 1558 and fuelled many of the plots and conspiracies that were a feature of her rule. The very existence of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–87), as a pretender to the English throne created a focus for Catholic dissension as well as being a source of considerable anti-Catholic hostility. Her presence in Scotland and later imprisonment in various locations in England was a destabilising factor, given her avowed religion and close relationships with threatening Catholic countries such as France and Spain. For many Catholics, Mary was the rightful claimant to the English throne. She therefore, sometimes unwittingly, became the focus for a number of plots which were intended to remove Elizabeth. The threat presented by Mary, Queen of Scots, was finally expunged when she was executed at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire on 8 February 1587.
    In 1569 a rebel army was raised by the Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland in the northern counties in defence of the Catholic faith. The rebels who supported Mary, Queen of Scots, were suppressed by Lord Sussex. Two adherents of the rebellion, Thomas Norton and his nephew Christopher, were condemned for high treason and sentenced to be ‘hanged, headed and quartered’ at Tyburn. Christopher was forced to watch, aghast, as his uncle was hanged, cut down while still alive and then disembowelled. His misery did not last long because he was soon despatched in a similar fashion. The heads of the two men were taken away to be displayed on London Bridge.
    In Elizabeth’s reign, the need to stabilise the Protestant Church was important not only for religious but also for political reasons. Several factors were significant. Elizabeth was excommunicated by the Pope in 1570. Long-standing traditional beliefs meant that this was still widely seen as an appalling fate for the Queen and her subjects and evidence of the