Due to her ruthless policy of re-catholization and her marriage to England's arch-enemy Philip II, Queen Mary rapidly lost her popular support. As Mary suspected her of supporting the Protestant case, she was severely questioned and imprisoned in the Tower on 18 March 1554. As the Queen could have no children, Elizabeth became the secure heir to the throne and returned to Hatfield House in 1555. She succeeded Mary on 17 November 1558, being crowned on 15 January 1559 in Westminster Abbey by the catholic bishop of Carlisle. Elizabeth reign was characterized with her involvement -mostly against her wishes- in the religious upheavals in Europe. This brought her into armed conflict with catholic Europe. Firstly this involved her presumed heir, Mary Queen of Scots, who through her own crimes and follies, was dethroned by her subjects, and, as she became the nucleus of French, Spanish and papal efforts to dethrone Elizabeth, left the Queen no choice than to encarcerate her in Lochleven Castle in 1568. After many plots to free her failed, Mary's position became acute, when Philip II wanted to marry her and put her on the English throne. It ended in Mary's beheading on 8 February 1587 at Fotheringhay. Elizabeth involvement in the Dutch revolt was also inevitable. The greatest test in this was her resisting and defeating the Spanish Armada on 12 July 1588, greatly helped in this by her fleet build up by (Sir) Francis Drake and severe storms in the English Channel. In her help to the French protestants (the king of Navarre, the future Henry IV) she was less lucky and she had to retract her active support after militairy defeat. During her reign, Ireland was subdued by ruthless militairy force. To pacify the country, she devided Irish lands among her nobles. Still the Irish and Spanish trouble lingered on for the rest of her reign. In her later years the queen's personal authority was lessening. When the economy declined she became to rely greatly on monopolies to get money outside Parliament. This led to price-fixing, the enrichment of courtiers at the public's expense, and widespread resentment. Culturally the flourishing of English literature is one of the great achievements of her era. Her old ages was darkened by loss of her contemporaries through death and execution. In the end she gave in to severe depression. Sitting on a cushion on the floor for days on end without hardly ever speaking a word, she eventually died on 24 March 1603 at Richmond Palace. Her succession by James VI of Scotland as James I of England, was arranged beforehand in secret by Robert Cecil, as Elizabeth alsways had refused to name her successor.