Edward reigned in 1547. He was very smart and could read and speak Latin and Greek at the age of 7. When Edward was Henry VIII’s son, he was educated by Protestants. He was not brought up in the Catholic religion. But when it was Edward’s reign, he was too young to rule himself because he was 9 years old so his advisors would help him. But his advisors were Protestant so they made the churches Protestant. The advisors were set on making England a Protestant country. Edward’s uncle was the Duke of Somerset. The Council appointed the Duke as Lord Protector. The Duke was gaining control over the Government and was becoming the real ruler of England but soon he became extremely unpopular, even among his own Council. Earl of Warwick was now getting popular and was even encouraging Edward VI into declaring his majority as soon as he was sixteen. But as always he wanted power so he wanted Lady Jane Grey to be Edward’s successor. He planned to rule through the Duchess of Suffolk's daughter, Lady Jane Grey. Edward was poorly ill sand sick and died young at the age of fifteen in 1553.He is Protestant because he was brought up in the Protestant religion.
Then Mary took over in 1553. Mary’s first act was to validate Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon so she was legitimate. She is well remembered for returning England from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. She was popular in her earlier parts of reign but when after she married Philip her popularity went downfall. Mary was 39 years old when she took the throne and she married the Prince of Spain called Philip II so that her half-sister, the Princess Elizabeth, from succeeding to the throne. This was unpopular because Spain might rule England. She was a strict Catholic and killed anyone who wasn’t Catholic. The changes Edward did were immediately changed back. Edward’s religious rules were got rid of and many Protestant leaders were executed. Mary was so strict that anyone who wasn’t Catholic was burned for heresy. Mary said that burning them would cleanse their bodies. Lots of people got burned. The persecution of Protestants earned Mary the appellation "Bloody Mary". During her reign, Mary's weak health led her to suffer two false pregnancies.Mary died after only 4 years in 1558 and then Elizabeth took over. So she is Catholic because of changing the Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.
Elizabeth took over in 1558. She is one of the greatest known monarchs. She never married and was the last of the Tudor Dynasty. When Mary died people rejoiced in the streets. Lots of commoners welcomed her, there were dancing and singing. Elizabeth took over and she had to be careful. From the Catholics point of view Elizabeth was illegitimate. From the Protestants point of view Elizabeth was legitimate. Elizabeth was Protestant and the Protestants were supporting her because they didn’t want another Catholic monarch who was like Mary. The Pope and the other Catholic countries wouldn’t want Elizabeth and the Pope said who ever killed her would be forgiven by God. But Elizabeth managed to stay alive by her network of spies. Elizabeth didn’t be want to be like Mary so she would retain as much as possible from the Catholic church while putting into place most of the foundational ideas of Protestantism. Catholicism had been restored under Mary I, but Elizabeth herself was a Protestant, and was keen to create a Protestant Church and consider the Reformation Bill. It allowed ministers to marry, banned images from churches, and confirmed Elizabeth as Supreme Head of the Church of England. Elizabeth reigned for a long time and died in 1603 of frailty and insomnia. She is Protestant because she supports Protestants and wants Protestantism to be the main religion.
So England was neither a Protestant or Catholic country.
So you can see it is equal monarchs of the same religion. When each time there is a different religion in big towns there is a big change but in small villages there is a small difference in their life. So every time a Catholic was on the throne there would be statues and alters in the church and when a Protestant was on the throne there would be ordinary things. Inside the Catholic Church there was a rood-screen, statues, alters, stained glass windows, chalice and a surplice. Inside the Protestant Church there was wine, bread, common book of prayers, surplice, plain glass, pupit and a table. As you see this would be very confusing every time there was a Protestant or Catholic monarch. So did England become Protestant in the sixteenth century? No, it was neither Protestant nor Catholic because there is an equal amount of monarchs in the same religion.