Queen Mary I of England was born in 1516 to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon and was the first British monarch to rule in her own right. Mary was pronounced queen in 1553 and ruled for five years after the death of Edward VI. Mary was well educated and learned to speak Latin, Spanish, French and Italian. She was also taught Greek, science and music.
1547 saw the death of her father and her half brother Edward VI crowned king. Edward was England's first Protestant monarch; his Parliament's Act of Uniformity prescribed Protestant rites for church services. Mary, wanting to keep her Roman Catholic faith, asked to be allowed to worship in private in her own chapel. Upon being ordered to discontinue this practice, Mary appealed to her cousin, the Emperor Charles V. Charles subsequently threatened to declare war against England if Mary's religious rights were infringed. Mary was never bothered again and was left to worship in private.
Edward died in 1553 whilst Mary was staying at Framlingham Castle in Suffolk. He had no wish for the Crown to go to either Mary or her half sister Elizabeth, so had them both excluded from the line of succession in his will.
One of Mary's first acts after came to power, was to bring the Catholic faith back to England by initially scrapping the religious proclamations of her half brother, Edward VI. Mary replaced the proclamations with the old English laws. Heresy against the church was now punishable by death. The reintroduction of this act earned Mary the nickname, "Bloody Mary". During her short, five-year reign, Queen Mary I had more than 300 subjects burnt at the stake for the act of heresy. The most notable of these was the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer.
In 1555, in an effort to produce a male heir, Mary married prince Philip II of Spain. This did not go down well with the people, as many viewed Spain as an enemy of England. Twice during her rule, Mary thought she was pregnant with child, displaying all the symptoms. Alas, this was not so as her symptoms were a sign of a false pregnancy. Mary had convinced herself that she was pregnant and the body reacted accordingly.
Following the advice of her husband, Mary allied herself with Spain during the war against France. The subsequent consequences of her actions were that England lost her only and last remaining foothold in the country ? Calais. Sadly, in 1558, Philip II left her and went back to Spain to claim the Spanish throne.
Queen Mary I, childless and without a husband was forced to recognize her sister, Elizabeth, an Anglican Protestant, as the next ruler of England. Although Mary tried to persuade her sister to convert and accept the Roman Catholic faith, Elizabeth refused and went on to become Queen Elizabeth I.
England suffered under the leadership of Mary: the economy was in ruin, religious dissent reached its pinnacle and England lost her last foothold in Europe. Jane Austen wrote about Mary: "This woman had the good luck of being advanced to the throne of England, in spite of the superior pretensions, Merit and Beauty of her Cousins Mary Queen of Scotland and Jane Grey. Nor can I pity the Kingdom for the misfortunes they experienced during her reign, since they fully deserved them..."
Mary died at the age of forty-two of influenza, uterine cancer or ovarian cancer at St. James's Palace on 17 November 1558 and is buried in Westminster Abbey beside Elizabeth. The Latin inscription on their tomb translates to "Partners both in Throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection".
I hope you have enjoyed reading about Queen Mary I.
In my next article will learn about the life of Charles II of England.
Until then,
Best wishes and have a great day
Stuart Bazga
www.guide-to-castles-of-europe.com p>
A Guide to Castles of Europe was born from childhood dreams and aspirations. It is my hope to educate and stimulate you into exploring these castles for yourselves.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria, named after his grandfather, was... Read More
THE BICYCLE OF LEONARDO DA VINCI: - "? a man... Read More
Hello!If you haven't been transported by the mesmerizing sounds of... Read More
The Art of War is an ancient Chinese text on... Read More
Ephesus had a shrine to the Anatolian mother-goddess and the... Read More
When building catapults, armies had to include in their ranks... Read More
Silver is the most common of the Precious Metals. It's... Read More
The history of Thailand currency traces the evolution of the... Read More
Queen Mary I of England was born in 1516 to... Read More
I have a small website where I try to sell... Read More
Drawing a face isn't as hard as it looks. To... Read More
Around my twentieth birthday life became a series of incredible... Read More
The Rooster is traditionally considered to be a favourable sign.... Read More
Like many other aboriginal cultures around the world, the Inuit... Read More
CHRETIEN DE TROYES:Academics will freely admit that this man was... Read More
"Game" TheoryThis article was inspired by Mick Napier's book ?Improvise:... Read More
The red Dragon was introduced to Britain during Roman times.... Read More
Today there is a growing need to examine all our... Read More
Feng shui involves more than just colors and where you... Read More
The history of earrings is a varied history indeed. And... Read More
My first kid's father named my son Marcus after legendary... Read More
They inhabit self-imposed ghettoes, subject to derision and worse, the... Read More
Environmental Pollution1. Damage to The Ozone Layer Causes Radiation PollutionThe... Read More
A great tool to help you find out more about... Read More
Of course, science has explained this to us, and we... Read More
There is bias in the elite media! How often do... Read More
ARTHUR KOESTLER:Humanitarian, historian and scientist are just a few of... Read More
My artistic endeavor have led me towards a personal sense... Read More
For the first time in history, there are four generations... Read More
Between 603 and 702 AD. a truly marvelous temple was... Read More
The true meaning of Saturn is that he is the... Read More
ZORRO:Timon of Athens. But most often they wrote in code... Read More
Passion was the main stuff of journalism long before the... Read More
The export of certain Inuit sculpture from Canada to other... Read More
If we think about it at this juncture, clearly there... Read More
Today there is a growing need to examine all our... Read More
Art is sometimes overwhelming. Life as a whole can become... Read More
Ephesus had a shrine to the Anatolian mother-goddess and the... Read More
Ever walked into a house that felt like home? Ever... Read More
They were fierce hill tribes in what is now Scotland,... Read More
The creative mind is a gift to humanity; but unfortunately... Read More
It is not my purpose to claim to know all... Read More
One of the northern derivatives of Hopewell of interest to... Read More
The red Dragon was introduced to Britain during Roman times.... Read More
Somewhere in the world, every eight seconds, a mother is... Read More
The history of Thailand currency traces the evolution of the... Read More
"Game" TheoryThis article was inspired by Mick Napier's book ?Improvise:... Read More
So, you want to make your own Civil War shirt.... Read More
Body piercing has grown so much in popularity in recent... Read More
INSPIRATIONAL COMMENTS:"Let me issue and control a nation's money and... Read More
Just as our arrival at destination is tied to the... Read More
Doesn't it seem that today there is nothing but bleak... Read More
Ooh the depth of literary riches, how terrific they are!... Read More
Over thiry-five years ago, I picked up a book on... Read More
LifeI paint with an emphasis on expressing LIFE (the spirit... Read More
* Make sure you set your browser encoding correctly to... Read More
A woman creates life from her womb, and man tries... Read More
Born in 1630, Charles II was the second eldest son... Read More
Egypt has long been the source of countless conspiracies, ranging... Read More
In the State of Texas the Western Cowboy can be... Read More
"Authentic," "authentic," "authentic" is all you hear if you are... Read More
Around my twentieth birthday life became a series of incredible... Read More
On December 26, 2004 a massive tsunami swept through Thailand... Read More
How necessary is cleaning your Civil War Uniform?The every day... Read More
Both Inuit Eskimo art and Native American art have gained... Read More
Psychic readings can be an invaluable tool for obtaining answers... Read More
Humanities |