Why a Specific Year ?

We live in a specific year and any Re-Creation to pretend to any degree of authenticity must do the same. The Year chosen and the events of that year provide the necessary background for the Re-Creation.

Is this so for Weekend Tudor Re-Creations as well as the Great Annual ?

Yes. However, the Easter and May Day Weekend Tudor Re-Creations which occur prior to that year's Great Annual Re-Creation are always set in the year following the previous year's Great Annual Re-Creation year. The August & Michaelmas Weekend Tudor Re-Creations which occur after that year's Great Annual Re-Creation continue with its year.

This Year's Great Annual Re-Creation Year

The year being re-created in 2012 after May Day is 1556. That will remain the year for the rest of 2012.  For Easter and MayDay 2012 the year will therefore be 1554. 

What happened by Easter 1554 ?

Religious Change

By September 1553 Proclamations were published re-asserting the old dogma - a sign of much worse prosecution of Protestants yet to come. This was quickly followed by an Act repealing many of the reformists statutes of Edward's reign, which among things meant that clergy could not marry and some who had faced the choice of putting aside their wives or losing their place.  Why did the Commons accept these reversals ?  See below.

Exploration

In September 1553 Cabot set out for Cathay (China) and in November Willoughby set forth to find a North East Passage to India - early signs of England's growing nautical strength.  (Willoughby died in the attempt but some of his fellows reached Moscow and in late 1555 established the Muscovy Company.)

Aftermath of the Duke of Northumberland's plot

The Duke's plot, to put Lady Jane Grey who had married Northumberland's son Guildford Dudley, aided or even devised by Sir John Gates cousin of the Cloptons of Kentwell had failed Northumberland and Sir John Gates were executed in August 1553. Sir John's brother, Sir Harry Gates, also implicated was released from the Tower in November and went on to serve the Queen.

In January 1554 a rumour that the Queen was to marry Philip of Spain was confirmed by articles of marriage being published.  In response Sir Thomas Wyatt raised men in Kent to oppose the match. The Duke of Suffolk lucky to be released from the Tower in November joined him. Princess Elizabeth was thought to be involved and imprisoned in the Tower. In East Anglia the de Vere Earl of Oxford declared for the Queen probably supported by the Cloptons of Kentwell. On 12th February Lady Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley who had been languishing in the Tower were executed lest they become a focus for the rebellion. Wyatt was refused access to London Bridge (those in the Tower threatened to lay cannon fire on the Bridge and the City was not prepared for such a main thoroughfare for it to be destroyed).  Wyatt crossed the Thames at Kingston but soon lost much of his force and was defeated and taken as was Suffolk who was quickly executed as was Wyatt. 

Events Leading Up to 1556

The New Regnant Style

The Queen decreed that after the marriage it should be  "Philip & Mary by the Grace of God King & Queen of England, France, Naples, Jerusalem, Ireland etc, etc".  Many resented this as it supposed that Philip would be become King on his own should Mary predecease him. The queen was thought to be pregnant in early 1555 but by May this was revealed to be a phantom pregnancy.  In October Philip left England leaving speculation that he would never return.

The Pope

In December 1554 Cardinal Pole arrived as the Papal Legate. The Pope absolved the realm from its former excommunication and required all Statutes again Rome to be repealed.  In January 1555 the earlier statutes against heretics were revived.  Churchman such as Rowland Hill of nearby Hadleigh were condemned but Hill became a beacon for his courage. Then the burnings started under the influence of the dreaded Bonner Bishop of London. Many here in Bury St Edmunds and more in Essex.  Early martyrs were Rowland Hill and his curate Richard Yeoman who were burnt just outside Hadleigh.  Supposed heretics were also thrown out of their houses and perished in the very cold winter of 1555/1556.  In October 155, Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer (author of the Reformation) were burnt at Oxford.

The Aftermath of the Dissolution of the Monasteries

Many landowners had profited from the dissolution to increase their holdings (the Cloptons of Kentwell among them).  These families and there were many of them had a vested interest in there being no going back. Those in the Commons out of self interest supported measures turning the clock back with which they did not necessarily agree so long as they did not have to give up their recently acquired ex-monastic possessions. In late 1555 the Commons refused monies to the Queen who was threatening to require monastic lands to be surrendered.

Inflation

The last 10 years had seen the worst inflation the country had ever known caused by currency debasement, increased rents and food shortages.  Money had halved in value but wages had scarcely risen at all so many had seen their standard of living fall.  Such massive inflation might well ferment rebellion.