A Study Of Queen Mary

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Jeffrey Tesar

Mrs. Kathleen Wimmer

English 12

Bloody Mary

The tale of Mary is a long one and had seen much agony and bloodshed during her duration of life. Mary was the second daughter and fifth child born to Henry VIII by Catherine of Aragon. Though her hated half-sister would outshine her in virtually every way - physical, political, intellectual, artistic - Mary also had a formidable impact upon English history. Throughout the majority of her life, Mary was tossed about by the whims of her father and brothers followers. Sadly her first taste of ultimate power would be both intoxicating and unfortunate.

Queen Mary I was the eldest daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Although Henry and Catherine had many children, Mary was the only child to survive infancy. Desperate to have a son to succeed him, Henry divorced Catherine, changing the religion of the land in the process, and married Anne Boleyn in 1532/3. As neither Catherine nor Mary would accept the divorce or the religious changes in the land, they were both made to suffer. Mary was kept away from her mother, even when Catherine fell seriously ill, and was made to wait on her infant half-sister, Elizabeth, the King's new daughter by Anne. These years were very difficult for Mary. Not only did she miss her mother profoundly, but she was ill-treated by Anne and bullied by her father. Even though Anne was executed for supposed adultery in 1536, Mary never forgot the way Anne had treated her, and consequently always bore some degree of resentment towards her younger, gifted, Protestant half-sister, Elizabeth.

Shortly after the death of Anne Boleyn, Henry married Jane Seymour, who tried to reconnect the King with his two daughters. Henry and Jane visited here and now. In October 1537, Queen Jane gave birth to Edward, Henry's longed for son and Mary stood as the young Prince's godmother at the "christening". The court was soon plunged into mourning as Jane died two weeks after Edward's birth. Following her father's divorce from her mother, Mary was stripped of her title of Princess of Wales, and deprived of her place in the line of succession. However, as Henry's wish for a brood of healthy children by a single wife never came true, and his only legitimate heir was a sickly son, he made a will before he died that placed Mary and Elizabeth in line to the throne after Edward. When Henry VIII died and Edward succeeded to the throne, Mary was thus again the direct heir.

This being a major concern for the Noblemen of the land, Mary was a devoted Roman Catholic, and they were not only concerned about the restitution of the Roman Catholic Church in the country, but they were concerned about their land and wealth. Most of nobles had an uprising by the reformation of the lands that once belonged to the monasteries. After all of this emotional activity through Henry’s wives between Mary and the constant battling for supremacy between the noblemen and her siblings, she fell seriously ill. Her father even though they had their differences was so overwhelmed by this that he sent his own doctors to look after her for the time being until she was able to return.

Henry's last Queen was Katherine Parr, who was about four years older than Mary. They were married in 1543, and she survived Henry at his death in 1547. All three of Henry's children attended the wedding at Hampton Court. Mary was friends with her last stepmother, although they too had religious differences, as Katherine was a strong supporter of the Reformed Church. When Henry VIII began to fall ill, he drafted his will declaring that Edward would be his heir and Mary was to follow him if the young Prince were to die childless. Elizabeth was also included, and she would take the throne if Mary were to die without an heir. As we know in hindsight, this is exactly what was to happen.

Henry VIII died January 28, 1547, leaving his 9 year-old son as King. The young Edward was a supporter of the Protestant faith, although Mary seems to have hoped at one point he would see the error of his ways and return England to the Church of Rome. Young Edwards advisor persuaded him to make a will eliminating both Mary and Elizabeth from the succession of the throne. But ultimately Edward died on July of 1553.

"Some time in 1552, Edward began to show signs of the illness that would eventually claim his life. He was reported to have a hacking cough that eventually resulted in him spitting up blood and tissue. Medical historians generally agree that he had tuberculosis." (Tudorhistory.Org)

Afterwards, Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen in London. Skipping the line of succession. Mary, who had been staying at Framlingham Castle, knew that this was rightfully hers and set out to get it. Lady Jane, who had caught word of this feared Mary would return and renew the country to Catholic faith. Few could stop this so Jane along with powerful men in the realm, such as John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland and Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk began to make their plans. In the beginning the made moves that seemed almost in a way to help Mary’s favor in hand. But In secret, they had their own ideas. Northumberland married his son Guildford to Suffolk's daughter Jane Grey. Who would be in line for the throne after Mary and Elizabeth? This was to be the idea but as the power went to Jane’s head this backfired the Duke’s.

Mary who was still at the time unaware of the plan ahead made her way to be crowned at Westminster Abbey as the rightful Queen. At the time nearing her arrival she had figured out the plan to put Jane on throne and this was ill tolerated by Mary. Most of her companions told her that fleeing was the most likely option but if Mary was to flee, all options of becoming queen and restoring England to Catholicism would have been lost.

"She had immense support in the country, and with her supporters, Mary made a valiant and successful bid for the throne, defeating the Duke's forces in days." (TudorandStuart. Org)

Nothrumberland and three of his sons went to go confront Mary and take her into custody, although this was not to be. Upon arriving in Mary’s presence, she basked herself in an army of supporters. They begged for her pardon and declared it was a mistake. 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. Upon her arrival, her half-sister Elizabeth accompanied her travel into London along with a procession of over 800 nobles and gentlemen. Dudley’s support for Lady Jane collapsed. As soon as Mary’s letter to council arrived it was the overturn of Lady Jane’s reign. Mary easily over took Framlingham Castle and rule over the throne.

Mary’s action as queen started off immediately. Ordering the release of the Roman Catholic Duke of Norfolk and Stephen Gardiner from imprisonment in the Tower of London, as well as her kinsman Edward Courtenay.

"Mary understood that the young Lady Jane was essentially a pawn in Dudley's scheme, and Dudley was the only conspirator of rank executed for high treason in the immediate aftermath of the coup. Lady Jane and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, though found guilty, were kept under guard in the Tower rather than immediately executed, while Lady Jane's father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, was released. Mary was left in a difficult position, as almost all the Privy Counselors had been implicated in the plot to put Lady Jane on the throne. She appointed Gardiner to the council and made him both Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor, offices he held until his death in November 1555. Susan Clarencieux became Mistress of the Robes. On 1 October 1553, Gardiner crowned Mary at Westminster Abbey." (Whitelock and Porter)

At the the age of 37, Mary knew that finding a husband to produce an heir to the throne was extremely important. Having a child would prevent Elizabeth from claiming the throne after Mary’s passing as mentioned in Henry VIII’s will and act of succession of 1544.

"Her cousin Charles V suggested she marry his only son, Prince Philip of Spain. Philip had a son from a previous marriage, and was heir apparent to vast territories in Continental Europe and the New World. As part of the marriage negotiations, a portrait of Philip by Titian was sent to her in September 1553" (Whitelock)

"There were four plots in hand. These plots were created to dispose of Mary and place Elizabeth and Edward Courtenay on the throne. One involved Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger (son of the poet Thomas Wyatt, a courtly suitor of Anne Boleyn) and the Duke of Suffolk, Henry Grey (already released from the Tower after his involvement with the Northumberland plot) who would lead rebel armies from various 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." (Tudor.com)

Realizing that this is happening again, Mary was furious. The term Bloody Mary was derived from the 100 Rebels that were to be hanged and the other hundreds of men burnt at the stack.

"When I am dead and opened, you shall find `Calais' lying in my heart."(Mary I)

Seeing Lady Jane (who was still in the Tower) as a threat and her husband; declared them both to be executed in fear of another rebellion army arising upon her front door. Edward Courtenay was put back into the tower along with Mary’s half-sister Jane, who was later sent to Woodstock. As Mary continued her life as queen, her private life with Philip increased. For some time the queens’ physicians announced that she was pregnant. In fact, she did seem to show many of the signs including nausea and an enlarging belly.

"Philip began to make plans for the succession if the Queen were to die in childbirth, a relatively common occurrence in Tudor England. Mary would most likely want to exclude Elizabeth from the throne, which meant that the crown would then fall to Mary Queen of Scots, who was about to marry the son of the King of France and was unacceptable for Spanish interests. Philip suggested marrying Elizabeth to a Catholic (and ally of the Holy Roman Emperor): Philibert, Duke of Savoy." (Tudor)

This was not to happen; Mary later brought her to court and welcomes her back at the end of their engagement. As time passed the child to be was what doctors concluded as a "Phantom Pregnancy." This was to not be brought up in her presence. From much grief and despair her husband Philip was required to leave to take care of things in Spain for the Netherlands.

Mary died at the age of 42 from uterine or ovarian cancer. It was said that with the disappointment of a second Phantom pregnancy was too much of a hit for Mary. Unable to cope with this and her husband’s absence her rule was short lived.

"She was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I, who quickly undid many of Mary's changes, and returned England to its former Protestant-friendly environment. This enabled the English refugees who had fled England to ever-neutral Geneva, Switzerland to print the "Geneva Bible", to eventually come home and begin printing the Protestant Geneva Bible in England." (Dr. Craig H. Lampe)

With the conclusion of Mary’s rule from 1553-1558, Elizabeth overturned much of what had been put in place from Mary. The people of England were in most ways enthusiastic about her death while still some followers still belonged in heart to the Roman Catholic Religion. All in all, her named deserved a better overlook then what she was branded with. Her kindness to the people in need was something she had always been known for. As for the end, and Elizabeth, Mary threatened and put pressure on her sister to convert to Roman Catholicism, she successfully resisted, survived, and became Queen Elizabeth I.