English protestant bishops in exile during the Counter-Reformation of Mary I Tudor, 1553–1558: activities and status dynamics

This article examines the dynamics of status and activity among five English Protestant bishops—John Bale, William Barlow, Miles Coverdale, John Ponet, and John Scory—during their exile under Mary I Tudor (1553–1558). Although the broader chronological framework extends from the 1530s to the 1560s, the principal focus is on the 1550s. The study offers a diachronic analysis of the bishops’ positions and occupations, comparing their circumstances before and during emigration. Particular attention is given to their geographical mobility and, above all, to the social ties—including kinship, patronage, and other forms of connection—that shaped their status and activities in exile. Alongside traditional historical methods, the article employs a biographical approach combined with elements of network analysis. This methodological framework enables both a detailed examination of each bishop’s individual trajectory and their placement within the broader historical context and the web of social relations that influenced their conduct in exile. An analysis of the bishops’ status prior to emigration reveals that their highest positions within the English church hierarchy were attained during the reign of Edward VI, specifically between 1550 and 1553. With the accession of Mary I, they lost their formal ecclesiastical standing; nonetheless, they continued to claim leadership roles within the expatriate communities in Emden, Wesel, and Strasbourg. However, they did not emerge as the principal organisers of religious life in the communities of Frankfurt (and subsequently Geneva and Aarau), ceding leadership to figures such as John Knox, Richard Cox, and Thomas Lever. As the cases of Coverdale in Bergzabern and Barlow under the patronage of Catherine Willoughby demonstrate, connections within the wider evangelical network played a decisive role in shaping the nature of their emigration. Finally, the article argues that the period of exile proved to be exceptionally productive for the emigrant bishops as scholars, publicists, and polemicists.