Mary I | Brief Biography
Mary I
Mary I, also known as Mary Tudor or “Bloody Mary,” was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death in 1558. She was the only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to survive to adulthood, and her reign was marked by political and religious conflict.
Mary was born on February 18, 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, England. She was raised in a strictly Catholic household and was educated by her mother in the same faith. When her father, Henry VIII, broke with the Catholic Church and formed the Church of England, Mary refused to renounce her Catholicism and was declared illegitimate. Despite this, she remained a devoted Catholic throughout her life.
When her half-brother Edward VI became king in 1547, he introduced Protestant reforms, causing tension between him and Mary. When Edward died in 1553, Mary was proclaimed queen by a group of nobles who opposed the Protestant reforms. She was crowned on October 1, 1553 at Westminster Abbey.
One of Mary’s first actions as queen was to attempt to restore England to Catholicism. She married Philip of Spain, a Catholic, in July 1554, causing further unrest in the country. Mary also began a series of persecutions against Protestant “heretics,” leading to the execution of over 280 people, including the famous Protestant martyrs Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley.
Mary I‘s reign was also marked by political conflict and economic instability. The queen was unable to produce an heir, and her husband Philip’s presence in England caused resentment among the English people. In 1557, England was at war with France, and the country was further weakened by outbreaks of plague and a poor harvest.
Despite her efforts to restore Catholicism in England, Mary I’s reign was ultimately unsuccessful. When she died on November 17, 1558, she was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I, who reversed many of Mary’s religious policies and became a Protestant. 0 0 0.
Sources:
Loades, David. Mary I Tudor: A Life. Oxford University Press, 1989.
Travitsky, Betty S. The Writings of the Reign of Mary Tudor. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Scarisbrick, J. J. Henry VIII. Yale University Press, 1997.
Rex, Richard. The Tudors: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Haigh, Christopher. Elizabeth I. Yale University Press, 1998. ***
N.B. The article originally belongs to the book ‘Brief Biographies of Eminent Monarchs‘ by Menonim Menonimus.
Books of Biography by M. Menonimus:
- The World Writers-Brief Biographies
- Introduction to World Writers
- Introduction to World Personalities
- Love of Reputed Persons
- Brief Biographies of Ancient Thinkers and Writers..
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