Tudor exiles opposed to the Marian regime.- Mary I (Queen of England) Letter signed Marye the …

Tudor exiles opposed to the Marian regime.- Mary I (Queen of England and Ireland, 1516-58) Letter signed "Marye the Quene" to Lord Paget, signed at head, titled at head "By the King and Quene", 1 page, 194 x 345mm., on vellum, St James's Palace, 7th June 1556, instructing him as Keeper of the Privy Seal to send messages to Sir Thomas Wroth, [name rubbed out], Sir William Stafford, Sir Henry Neville, William Fiennes "Fyenenes", Roger Whetnall, John Hales, Anthony Meres, Jane Wilkinson, and Edward Isaac, commanding them to return "wth all celeritie to repaire into this our Realme of England; But also to make yor p[er]sonall apparance the laste of October next coming before us and our privie counsaill attendant on our p[er]sone... And then to answer to all such matters as shall at yor coming... nat failing hereof uppon the faith and allegiance ye owe and beare unto us", blind-stamped paper seal, address panel on verso "To our right trustie wellbeloved Counsillor Lord Paget de Beaudesert...", docketed on verso: "for thabsentes... Quene marie to my Lorde for process xvi", folds. ⁂ "Bloody" Mary's summons exiles opposed to her religious policy to return to their deaths. An outstanding document going to the heart of the Marian doctrine of chasing down and eliminating those opposed to Mary's religious policy. By 1556 Mary I had executed, usually by burning at the stake, 123 people who had refused to recant their protestant opinions and therefore not surprisingly none of the people listed were prepared to return. The list includes: (1). Sir William Wroth (courtier and landowner, one of the four principal gentleman of the chamber, two of whom were to be at all times in personal attendance of Edward VI and were present when he died; proclaimed Lady Jane Grey as queen; joined in proclaiming Princess Mary as queen once her accession became inevitable; sent to the Tower late in July 1553; included in the general pardon; charged with complicity in the rising of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, fled overseas; in 1556 he succeeded in evading a messenger sent from England to recall him, 1518?-73) (2). Sir William Stafford (courtier, second husband of Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn and mistress of Henry VIII, c. 1500-56) (3). Sir Henry Neville (Groom of the bedchamber under Henry VIII, c. 1520-93) (4). John Hales (administrator, clerk of the Hanaper, 1516?-1572) (5). Jane Wilkinson (friend of Thomas Cranmer, d. July 1557). These orders were delivered personally by messengers on behalf of the queen, and would have posed a threat to the recipients as kidnap was a very real prospect.