<P> Returning England to Catholicism led to the burnings of 274 Protestants, which are recorded especially in John Foxe's Book of Martyrs . Mary then married her cousin Philip, son of Emperor Charles V, and King of Spain when Charles abdicated in 1556 . The union was a difficult one, since Mary was already in her late 30s and Philip was a Catholic and a foreigner, and so not very welcome in England . This wedding also had the effect of provoking the hostility of the French, already at war with Spain and now alarmed at the prospect of being completely encircled by the Habsburgs . Calais, the last English outpost on the Continent, was then taken by France . King Philip (1527--1598) had very little power, although he did protect Elizabeth . He was not popular in England, and spent little time there . Mary eventually became pregnant, or at least believed herself to be . In reality, she may have had uterine cancer . Her death in November 1558 was greeted with huge celebrations in the streets of London . </P> <P> The reign of Elizabeth I restored a sort of order to the realm following the turbulence of the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I when she came to the throne following the latter's death in 1558 . The religious issue which had divided the country since Henry VIII was in a way put to rest by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, which re-established the Church of England . Much of Elizabeth's success was in balancing the interests of the Puritans and Catholics . She managed to offend neither to a large extent, although she clamped down on Catholics towards the end of her reign as war with Catholic Spain loomed . </P> <P> Despite the need for an heir, Elizabeth declined to marry, despite offers from a number of suitors across Europe, including the Swedish king Erik XIV . This created endless worries over her succession, especially in the 1560s when she nearly died of smallpox . It has been often rumoured that she had a number of lovers (including Francis Drake), but there is no hard evidence . </P> <P> Elizabeth maintained relative government stability . Apart from the Revolt of the Northern Earls in 1569, she was effective in reducing the power of the old nobility and expanding the power of her government . Elizabeth's government did much to consolidate the work begun under Thomas Cromwell in the reign of Henry VIII, that is, expanding the role of the government and effecting common law and administration throughout England . During the reign of Elizabeth and shortly afterwards, the population grew significantly: from three million in 1564 to nearly five million in 1616 . </P>

Certain periods in english history are often referred to by the name of the ruling family