Mary became Queen of England in 1553, after she executed Lady Jane Grey. Source A, in the textbook, says that “There were bonfires and tables in every street and wine and beer and ale”, this is an account from the diary of a Londoner at the time Mary became Queen, and so it is quite reliable.
Mary mistook this celebration to mean that the people of England were glad they had a Catholic Queen on the throne. So she set about trying to turn the country into a Catholic country. This did not settle well with the public and caused many Protestants to take an immediate disliking towards her. As Mary realised this she took to giving the death penalty to as many heretics as she could. Source A, on the sheet, say that “Women at their marketing, men at their daily trade... all learned to know the sweet smell of burning flesh.” This was written by a historian in 1940 so it is not very reliable, however it does show that a lot of burnings took place. Source D, on the sheet, is written by D. Loades, a historian, in 1991 said that “Mary personally bears the responsibility for the death of nearly 300 heretics, but she also executed traitors more ruthlessly than either her father or her sister”
A famous writer at the time, John Foxe, wrote about Mary I. He said that neither man, woman or child was spared from the cruel burnings at Mary’s hand. A section of his writing, including this information, is quoted in Source B; it was written in 1559, a year after Mary’s death, so it is more reliable than other sources. However even though it was written around Mary’s time, John Foxe was a Protestant so the information could be bias.
Source E, on the sheet, written by a historian in 1990, says “The Bishop of Winchester had urged Mary to burn the heretics, but it was Mary who insisted on continuing even when it was obvious the cruel punishments were leading people to support the Protestants rather than turn to the Catholic religion.” If people