... against him. But MacMurrough did not accept his defeat and so he travelled to Acquitaine in order to swear fealty to the English king Henry II. Up to this point, although Henry had been granted the Lordship of Ireland through the disputed Papal Bull "Laudabiliter" by Pope Adrian IV ( ... England needed to feel secure and the best way of ensuring this was by encouraging colonization in Ireland by Protestants. Mary first encouraged this and Elizabeth continued it with zeal, in order to ensure that Ireland remained firmly under English control. So for this reason Mary appointed Protestant E...

• Word Count: 10019
• Approx Pages: 40
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... rebellions by the Irish. As the English gradually expanded their reach over the island by the 16th century, religious persecution of the Catholic Irish grew- particularly after the accession of Elizabeth I, a Protestant, to the throne in 1558. Oliver Cromwell's subsequent siege of Ireland in 1649 ended with the massacres of Catholics at Drogheda and Wexford and forced the resettlement of thousands ... that had lost their homes during the struggle. By 1691, with victory of Protestant English King William III over the Catholic forces of James II, Protestant control in Ireland was complete...

• Word Count: 2432
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate