Reformation and Counter-Reformation Europe provided the backdrop against which the Civil Wars of the 1640s were played out. Before 1517, Europe was religiously united, with all states and virtually all subjects acknowledging the Pope as their spiritual leader. However, following Luther's revolt of 1517, Europe inexorably divided into two hostile camps-the mainly southern Catholic states, and the generally smaller states of the north which embraced Protestantism. In time, moderate and radical Protestants would also came into conflict with each other, and this conflict spread to the British Isles. Reformation and Counter-Reformation England reflected European events in microcosm. Henry VIII set England on a path towards Protestantism after 1534 but, desperate for a male heir, he was partly motivated by dynastic considerations. Henry dissolved the monasteries, broke with Rome and created a national English church but he shied away from the theological implications of Protestantism. Indeed, many of his reforms from the 1530s were repudiated during the last years of his reign. Henry's only surviving son, Edward VI, extended his father's tentative reformism. Images and altars were discouraged, Protestant bishops replaced Catholic ones and 'justification by faith alone'- a key tenet of Protestantism- was endorsed. However, Edward died in 1553 and was succeeded by his Catholic half-sister, Mary Tudor. Mary reversed many of her father's and brother's innovations: transubstantiation was defended, images and altars returned, Protestant bishops were ousted and some Catholic religious orders returned. Mary also persecuted religious opponents- almost 300 Protestant martyrs were burned at the stake-but this only formed an indelible link in the popular mind between Catholicism and repression. Having witnessed the way in which religious instability undermined national unity, Elizabeth I, the 'virgin queen' pursued a religious 'middle way' during her 45-year reign. Although she retained her father's role as Supreme Head of a national church, she tended to favour theological compromise and expected only outwards religious obedience from her subjects. Elizabeth kept royal expenditure to a minimum and this fostered good relations with Parliament, but the next monarch proved to be very different. James VI of Scotland was the first king of Scotland to also rule England. After 1560, both nations were Protestant, but Scotland favoured a more rigorous anti-episcopal Calvinism in comparison with the more moderate Anglicanism. This would ultimately create bitter tensions between the two countries. Where Elizabeth was frugal, James was lavish and soon ran up large debts. He never mastered the art of 'managing' the English Parliament and so Crown- Parliament relations became increasingly tense during his reign. James consolidated and extended the Irish 'plantation' policy whereby the native Irish were driven from their lands by Scottish and English Protestants, and the resentment this policy provoked would later explode in violence.