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The co-monarchy of Mary I and Philip II put England at the heart of early modern Europe. This positive reassessment of their joint reign counters a series of parochial, misogynist and anti-Catholic assumptions, correcting the many myths that have grown up around the marriage and explaining the reasons for its persistent marginalisation in the historiography of sixteenth-century England. Using new archival discoveries and original sources, the book argues for Mary as a great Catholic queen, while fleshing out Philip’s important contributions as king of England. It demonstrates the many positive achievements of this dynastic union in everything from culture, music and art to cartography, commerce and exploration. An important corrective for anyone interested in the history of Tudor England and Habsburg Spain.

The book has argued for greater recognition of the joint reign’s importance from a constitutional, cultural, political and historical perspective, building on recent revisionist history and examining some of the reasons why it still comes as a surprise that England had a Spanish king in the mid-Tudor period. The fluidity and complexity of religious faith in the period has been flattened out by sectarian readings of the reign while its political arrangements have been simplified through the lens of nationalist history. The Anglo-Spanish court, far from lacking purpose, produced a ferment of creativity and innovation from cartography to theology, exploration and enterprise, music and art, literature and political thought.