♔ Queen Mary (1553-1558)

Mary Tudor was born February 18, 1516 at Greenwich Palace. Mary is the only child of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Contrary to later beliefs, her father, Henry VIII, was pleased with her birth and proudly displayed the infant Mary to visiting ambassadors and nobleman. Mary had a good childhood as a young princess and, it is said, Mary was the center of attention in her earliest years. But, as the years went on and not little brothers followed, Mary's father began to look into the alternatives. Eventually, Henry sought an annulment from her mother, Catherine. 

Catherine was deeply devoted to Mary. This was a reflection of Catherine's strongly domestic nature as well as the numerous miscarriages she suffered. Any mother would naturally love a child, but Catherine had lost enough children to make her especially devoted to the only who survived. When Henry proposed the idea of divorce, Catherine fought it passionately, a reason being a divorce would absolutely destroy her daughters future. 

King Henry VIII, by this time, had met Anne Boleyn, daughter of a simple Knight and sister of a former mistress. Anne Boleyn was also lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon. His passionate attraction to Anne, along with the need for a male heir, made Henry restless. At first, Henry sought a quiet amicable annulment of their long marriage. Certainly such a decision was not new; Henry could cite numerous examples in European history where Kings had annulled marriages to barren queens. Because Henry and Catherine had a mutual respect for one another, the King anticipated her cooperation. 

However, he had not anticipated his wife's immediate and intense anger. He had based his argument upon theology--in short, Henry argued that because Catherine had been briefly married to his older brother, Arthur, her marriage to Henry was incestuous. Catherine argued that the matter was already resolved. Before she married Henry, the Pope had granted a dispensation (an exemption or release from an obligation or rule, granted by an authority). Catherine swore she had never consummated their marriage. In short, she was a virgin when she married Henry, a fact Henry would be certain to know. 

In his mid-thirties, Henry had entered into the most passionate romantic attachment of his life. Indeed, after her death, he would complain that Anne had 'bewitched' him. It was true that Henry displayed intense feelings towards Anne Boleyn, feelings which shocked their contemporaries. Anne was not beautiful, but she possessed greater gifts--she was witty, graceful, and stylish. She had been educated at the French court, and sang and danced beautiful, skills which Henry admired. Anne was also very intelligent and confident. 

For Mary, the sudden ascent of Anne Boleyn signaled the end of her world. Her beloved mother, equally loved by the English people, was being forced aside by a former lady-in-waiting. Her father was also determined to declare her a bastard. In the midst of this, Mary developed an everlasting hatred of Anne Boleyn which would later extend to Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth. Mary never openly blamed her father for his actions, but she did consider them unlawful and impious. She persuaded herself that her father had been Anne Boleyn's pawn. Such a reaction was perhaps inevitable, however, it would have an unfortunate impact upon Elizabeth's life. 

The Pope refused to recognize Henry's argument for an annulment or divorce, and Henry's numerous petitions were disregarded. Eventually, he simply gave up and decided to take matters into his own hands. In 1534, Henry took the unheard-of step of breaking with Rome and establishing the Church of England with himself as Supreme Head. The annulment was granted and Catherine and Mary were officially outcasts. Mary was declared illegitimate and was no longer to be called "princess," but rather "The Lady Mary."

It should be noted than Henry VIII, though head of a new church which overthrew the Catholic supremacy, remained a devout Catholic for the rest of his life. He continued to attend Mass and heartily despised 'heretics' like Martin Luther (Martin Luther was an iconic figure for the Protestant reformation and was known for his controversial challenges of the Catholic Church). But Henry possessed the ability to separate the secular from the spiritual, a quality which Mary completely lacked. Even though his son, Edward, would become a devoted Protestant determined to stamp out Catholicism and his eldest daughter, Mary, would be a devoted Catholic determined to stamp out Protestantism, Henry was a Catholic who lapsed when it suited him. 

Now a bastard, declared such by Parliament, Mary was denied any communication with her mother. When Anne Boleyn gave birth to Elizabeth, Mary was sent to be a lady-in-waiting to the new young Princess in her household. For the seventeen-year-old Mary, the complete reversal of her fortune was devastating. She began to suffer from a variety of illnesses, undoubtedly stress-related. These illnesses followed her until her death, causing severe headaches, nausea, insomnia, and infrequent menstruation. Understandably, Mary grew to dislike her half-sister very much. 

Anne took an equal dislike of Mary. It was a simple fact that if Anne and Elizabeth's fortunes grew, Mary's would fall. After all, Elizabeth was legitimate only if Mary was not. Anne would have been foolish to encourage any reconciliation between Henry and Mary. Henry offered Mary a pardon and to restore her to favor--but only if Mary acknowledged him as head of the Church of England and admitted the marriage of Henry and Catherine had been null and void. Mary refused to do so until her cousin, Charles V, persuaded her otherwise. She gave in to Henry's demands, and action she would always regret. Meanwhile, her mother, Catherine of Aragon, had died at Kimbolton Castle, loving--and defying--Henry to the last; her final letter to him was signed 'Catherine the Queen.' Catherine and Mary had not seen each other for years, though they had written to each other in great secrecy. 

Henry, however, was soon reconciled to Mary, and welcome her home. She was given a household fitting her position as his daughter and was included in court festivities. Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife, encouraged Henry's reconciliation with both his daughters. Mary, in turn, respected and like the new queen. Mary was named godmother to Henry and Jane's son, Prince Edward, who was born in October of 1537. It wasn't unlikely that Jane and Mary would be friends, however, since they were both relatively close in age and Mary, having lost her mother and longing for her father's affection, was grateful for any kindness given to her. Furthermore, Mary had the satisfaction of knowing Elizabeth had been bastardized too; Anne Boleyn's execution due to charges of incest and treason had caused her daughter to become illegitimate. It is interesting to note that upon her ascension to the throne, Mary revoked the Act of Parliament which made her a bastard. When her half-sister, Elizabeth ascended to the throne, she didn't bother to do so. 

However, Mary and Elizabeth were not forgotten. After Jane's death in 1537, two weeks after she gave birth to Edward, King Henry VIII determined the line of succession. After the King died, the throne would go to Edward, or Edward's heirs; and if Edward died without and heirs, the throne would then pass to Mary; and after Mary then to Elizabeth. Henry recognized the fragility of his succession, resting upon just one son, but there was little he could do. His fourth marriage to Anne of Cleves had ended disastrously. She was too unattractive for the King so she was titled 'the King's sister' and given a generous pension. Anne preferred this than to returning home. Soon enough, Henry's attention was captured elsewhere. He married Katherine Howard, cousin to Anne Boleyn. It was a pathetic match, seeing as Henry was old enough to be her grandfather. Mary's opinion of the match is not known but it would be safe to assume that if she did disapprove of the marriage, she was smart enough to never say so. In any case, there was barely time to know Katherine before she, too, was executed on charges of adultery. Whether she was guilty or not is a matter of opinion; if she was, one can hardly blame her. If she wasn't guilty, however, then she was just another obstacle in Henry's way. In her defense, she refused the easy path of divorce. Henry offered to recognize a pre-contract with another nobleman. If she, too, recognized it, their marriage would be invalid. Katherine would be divorced but still alive. She refused to agree to the arrangement, however, and met her end at the Tower of London. 

Henry's last queen was the Protestant Kathryn Parr, chosen who her excellent character and nursing abilities. Like Jane Seymour, Kathryn Parr was determined to bring the royal family closer together. To that end, she provided the only true home and maternal guidance Elizabeth and Edward would ever know. She also became a friend of Mary, a difficult task considering their different religious beliefs. Mary, however, did respect Katheryn's intellectual accomplishments. 

Upon Henry VIII's death in 1547, Edward became King at just nine-years-old. He had Protestant tutors and a Protestant step-mother. Indeed, the Protestant faction was in control. For Mary, the situation was disastrous. Mary, however, continued to celebrate Mass in the old form and in Latin. During the six years of her half-brother's reign, she tread the fine line between piety and treason. Edward attempted to reason with her at court but she refused to listen to his advice. At this time, Mary was a woman in her thirties, and he was still a child. Edward was also under control of the Duke of Somerset, Jane Seymour's Protestant brother, Edward Seymour. Despite Henry VIII's determined group of councilors to guide his son during his regency, his wishes were disregarded. His fellow councilors, most of whom had profited from the Catholic expulsion, titled the Duke of Somerset as Lord Protector. The nine-year-old King had not deep affection for his uncle, as he kept Edward short of pocket money and hired harsh tutors who regularly beat the boy. Mary managed to disregard the combined pressure of Somerset and her half-brother, largely because she stayed away from court. Mary was intelligent enough not to risk open disobedience, preferring the quiet celebration of Mass in her country home. 

Meanwhile, Edward Seymour was replaced as Lord Protector by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, soon to be the Duke of Northumberland, after the disgrace and death of his brother, Thomas Seymour, who planned to kidnap the boy King and marry Elizabeth out of jealousy of his brother's power as Lord Protector. From then on, Edward was under Dudley's control. 

Edward VI ruled for just seven years. The last year of his life was one of near-constant pain and suffering. His Protestant councilors did all they could to prolong his life. For Dudley and his supporters, Edward's death was inevitable but they needed every available moment to prevent Mary from ascending to the throne. They were not fools, and knew their fate with a Catholic queen. Dudley married his son Guildford to Lady Jane Grey, Edward VI's Protestant cousin. Like Edward, Jane was a pawn in Dudley's schemes. She was the granddaughter of Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary, and thus, a remote claimant to the English throne. Working  together, Edward and Dudley, once again, disregarded Henry VIII's will and banned both Mary and Elizabeth from the succession. In turn, Edward willed the throne to Jane and her heirs. When Edward finally died, Jane was declared Queen by Dudley and the Protestant lords. 

Lady Jane Grey's ascension to the throne only lasted nine days. Though the Protestant councilors were not fond of Mary's religious views, many still regarded her as the rightful heir. She was, after all, King Henry's daughter. Like her mother, Mary had enormous sympathy from the English people, a gift she was to waste recklessly. Many viewed her as the victim of Anne Boleyn's scheming. It was seen by the English people that she was the old King's child and therefore she should follow Edward to the throne. 

When Edward died on July 6, 1553, Mary, was in East Anglia. Northumberland and three of his sons went to take her into custody. Mary was at this time moving around with a growing army of supporters. She knew that she must have conformation of her brother's death, or else her claim to the throne would be considered treason. She received news from a reliable source that Edward was indeed dead and promptly sent proclamations throughout the country announcing her accession to the throne. Mary went to Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, which was better fortified. Her number of supporters was increasing and Mary took time to inspect her troops personally. The people of Suffolk were flocking to Mary and many of the leaders who were supposed to take her into custody instead went and begged for her forgiveness. 

By this time, the Privy Council in London realized their error in going along with Northumberland's plot and declared Mary the true Queen of England. She left Framlingham for London on July, 24, 1553. Of all the conspirators who tried to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne, only a few were immediately executed, including the Duke of Northumberland, John Dudley. Jane and her husband Guildford were found guilt for treason, but Mary refused to execute them. Guildford's brothers, the other three sons of John Dudley, were kept in the Tower of London, but were not killed. 

As Mary approached the outskirts of London, she was greeted by her half-sister, Elizabeth, who offered her congratulations and rode in a place of honor with the new Queen. When Mary made her formal entry into London on September 30, Elizabeth and the surviving wife of Henry VIII, Anne of Cleves, rode in a chariot behind the new Queen in the great procession. On the morning of October, 1, Mary made the short walk from Westminster Palace to Westminster Abbey for her coronation. It was nearly 5 o'clock before the ceremony was completed and the court made its way back to Westminster Palace for a banquet in the Great Hall. 

Parliament met four days after Mary's coronation and in the session three days later, only one week after being crowned queen, Mary began to introduce the legislations that she had long hoped for. First, there was an act proclaiming that the marriage between her father, Henry VIII, and her mother, Catherine of Aragon, was valid and illegal. This act passed with little resistance. However, the other main act was to repeal all the religious laws passed in the reign of her half-brother Edward VI, and this didn't pass as easily. 

The next step for the new queen was to begin searching for a suitable husband. The Emperor Charles V, Mary's cousin who had been an important adviser to the English Queen, had suggested his son, Prince Philip of Spain as Mary's best choice of husband. The ambassador formally suggested this to the Queen a short time after her coronation. After much thought and prayer on the matter, Mary accepted the proposal. Negotiations of the contract began, though the public was not in favor of the match. 

During this time, plots were being hatched to depose Mary and place Elizabeth and Edward Courtenay, one of the last descendants of the House of York, on the throne. It turns out that there were a total four plots at hand. One involved Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Duke of Suffolk, Henry Grey (who had already been released from the Tower) who would lead rebel armies from different parts of England. Wyatt's army reached London, but the rebellion was put down at the city gates. He and his fellow conspirators were arrested. 

Mary realized the mistake she had made before in her treatment of Northumberland's rebels, and vowed not to make it again. In all, roughly 100 rebels were hung, although the Queen pardoned 400 others. Lady Jane Grey and her husband would also have to be put to death now, as they may be the possible focal point for another rebellion. Edward Courtenay was put back in the Tower where he had spent much of his life. Elizabeth had been summoned to London for questioning and was eventually imprisoned in the Tower as well, although she was later sent to Woodstock. 

In Marcy 1554, Mary acted in a proxy betrothal, with the Count of Egmont standing in for Prince Philip. Philip eventually set sail for England of July 12, and arrived at the Isle of Wight a week later. On July 23, 1554, he arrived at Winchester where he met his bride for the first time. It is not known exactly what language they used to speak, but Philip and Mary talked into the evening and appeared to get along well. 

In September, one of the Queen's physicians announced that she was pregnant. In fact, she did seem to show many of the signs including an enlarging belly. Meanwhile, the Queen began to work on restoring the Catholic faith in England. The nobles were allowed to keep the lands gained in the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, but the Queen strongly encouraged returning property that once belonged to the Church (things such as furniture) and set an example by doing so herself. The medieval heresy laws were restored by Parliament, meaning that heretics (people who supported opinions and beliefs that were contrary to what is generally accepted) could be killed and their property would be given over to the Crown. 

In January 1555, the arrests began. John Hooper (former Bishop of Gloucester), John Rogers and John Cardmaster were arrested after they refused to cease their heretical activities, and all three of them were put on trial. They were all sentenced to be burnt at the stake, with John Rogers the first to die. Instead of simply discouraging the Protestants, these burnings mainly served to increase their hatred of the Queen. In all, around 275 people were killed. It was because of these burnings that the Queen gained the epitaph "Bloody Mary."

As Mary's pregnancy progressed Philip began to make plans for the succession if Mary were to die while giving birth, which was relatively common in Tudor England. Mary would most likely want to exclude Elizabeth, who Mary feared would undo all the Catholic reformations she did, from the throne. This meant that the crown would then fall to Mary Queen of Scots who was about to marry the son of the King of France. This was unacceptable for Spanish interests. The queen's husband suggested that her half-sister marry a Catholic: Philibert, Duke of Savoy. Mary, however, refused to allow Philip and Elizabeth to meet, but in April when the Court moved to Hampton Court Palace, Elizabeth was brought as well (she had previously been at Woodstock). Elizabeth was allowed few visitors while there, and had not been granted an audience with the Queen, since she was still in disgrace. However, one evening the Queen sent over a rich dress to Elizabeth with the message that she was to wear it for that evenings. Elizabeth met the King and was later brought in to see her half-sister. At the end, Mary agreed to welcome Elizabeth at court. 

Mary had retreated into privacy, awaiting the birth of her child, as was customary. She waited for the labor pains to begin, but her due date came a went without the birth of a child. It is thought that Mary did in fact suffer what is called a 'phantom pregnancy' arising from her desire to have a child. Mary may have actually been pregnant at one point, and perhaps miscarried. Whatever the case, it was clear that the Queen was not going to have a child. 

In August, Prince Philip left England to conduct business for Spain in the Netherlands. The Queen was overcome with sadness when he left and she wrote to him almost every day. Meanwhile, the trials and burnings continued throughout the country. In March 1556, Thomas Cranmer (former Archbishop of Canterbury) was burnt at the stake, thrusting his right hand into the fire first because it had signer her earlier recantation of the Protestant faith. 

Prince Philip eventually returned to England in March of 1557. Shortly after, England on France following a raid on Scarborough, England, led by Thomas Stafford, who had  been in exile in France. The French King, Henry II, denied initiating the raid. Prince Philip lead forces into France and took the town of St. Quentin and the surrounding lands. France struck back and took the city of Calais, which was the last foothold of England on the European continent. 

With this loss came some good news, however. Mary was sure she was pregnant again. Mary was now already 42-years-old and those around her had serious doubts about her pregnancy. After the symptoms began to fade, Mary was left quite ill. From then on, she became progressively worse. The Queen drifted in and out of consciousness, but at one point was finally lucid enough to agree to pass the crown to her half-sister, Elizabeth. Mary sincerely hoped that her sister would maintain the Catholic faith in England. 

On November 16, 1558, Mary's will was read aloud, keeping with custom. She was lucid during the Mass held in her chamber the next morning. The priest performed the Last Rites, and the Queen passed. Elizabeth gave her sister a royal funeral and she was interred at Westminster Abbey in the chapel built by her grandfather, Henry VII. When Elizabeth herself died, James I (James VI of Scotland) built a magnificent tomb for both sisters (although Elizabeth's figure is the only one on it).