ABSTRACT
Thus the reign started with every promise of trouble. A new set of councillors replaced those of Northumberland; the Henricians, led by Gardiner and Paget, were back in power. The queen's determination to spare bloodshed meant that only three men died on the scaffold for Northumberland's conspiracy, the duke himself vainly endeavouring to save his life by embracing the catholic religion. His recantation was the first move in a distressing game of chess. In its determination to reverse the Reformation and restore the papal power, the government sought to produce as many apostates from protestantism as it could because by lowering the reputation of that faith one could most quickly reduce the numbers of its followers; meanwhile the other side triumphantly chalked up each death of a steadfast believer on the principleborne out by results-that the Church is fructified by the blood of its martyrs. Northumberland's death opened the score for the catholics and lost many recent converts to protestantism.
