The Mid-Tudor Crisis denotes the period of English history between 1547 (the death of Henry VIII) and 1558 (the death of Mary Tudor), when, it has been argued by Whitney Jones and others, English government and society were in imminent danger of collapse in the face of a combination of weak rulers, economic pressures, a series of rebellions, and religious upheaval in the wake of the English Reformation, among other factors. Recently, historians such as David Loades have disputed the underlying assumptions of the thesis and have argued that this period was actually one of success and even outright achievements.

'Mid-Tudor Crisis' thesis

Whilst it had always been implicit in the works of historians such as Albert Pollard and Stanley Bindoff that England faced a crisis between 1539 and 1563, Whitney Jones was the first historian to present a systematic analysis of the state of the country's government and society in these years. In The Mid-Tudor Crisis 1539-1563 (1973), he argues that eight factors combined to create a crisis in mid-Tudor England:

Revisionist counter-interpretation

In recent decades revisionist historians, most notably David Loades, have proposed a new interpretation which almost completely reverses the traditional mid-Tudor crisis thesis:

Post-revisionist perspective

In an article written for History Review, John Matusiak, specialist in the mid-Tudor period, opened a new chapter in the debate by arguing that both traditionalist and revisionist historians have been prone to oversimplifying their arguments, and that neither side paints an accurate picture of the mid-Tudor years, which he terms "Years of Trauma and Survival". The four main aspects of his argument are: Matusiak concludes by stating that "while there was no apocalypse in mid-Tudor England, there were many who sensed keenly enough the passing of the four horsemen". He argues that this period was no crisis because the essential state machinery was not under threat, but that it was a time of trauma during which the state's efforts were focused on survival rather than achievement. Robert Bucholz and Newton Key point out that Henry VIII had not left the kingdom in very good financial shape for his children, and this contributed to their ability to effectively rule during this “Mid-Tudor Crisis”. They also state that England’s population dramatically increased from 2.4 million people in 1525, to about 4.5 million people in 1600, with an English economy that was not flexible enough to adjust to this population increase. The lack of flexibility in the English economy is not an issue where they cite blame to the monarchy for better addressing. Furthermore, they state that if Mary had had a longer reign, she may have contributed to having England turn back towards Catholicism. They also give her credit for being the first English queen regnant, proving that a woman could rule.

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