Mary Tudor Biography

Mary Tudor, also known as Mary I and Bloody Mary by her protestant rival, was the first female monarch of England. She was born on 18th February 1516. She was famous for reversing the English Reformation, which got started during the reign of her father, Henry VIII. The old Hersey law also got revived by Mary to secure the religious conversion of the country. She had over 300 religious protestors who got burned at stake during her five years of monarchy. We can learn a lot of facts about her childhood and reign from Mary Tudor's biography. In 1547, Mary’s younger half-brother Edward VI took their father’s place when he was nine years old. In 1553 Edward got sick and tried to remove Mary from the line of succession as he knew that she would reverse the protestant reforms.

After his death, many politicians proclaimed Lady Jane Grey as queen, but Mary deposed her. In the year 1554, Mary was wedded to Philip of Spain.

After she died in 1558, her younger half-sister and successor Elizabeth I reversed Roman Catholicism.

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Mary Tudor Early Life

According to Mary Tudor's biography, she was born on 18 February 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, England. She was the single child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to survive to adulthood.

She got tutored by her mother and scholars. Her mother consulted the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives for guidance and commissioned him to write De Institutione Feminae Christianae, a disquisition on girls’ education.

At the age of nine, Mary learned how to read and write Latin. She had also studied French, Spanish, music, dance, and perhaps greek. Mary was fairly-toned with ruddy cheeks, pale blue eyes, and reddish-golden hair.

Her father was saddened at the fact that his marriage did not produce any son. When Mary was nine years of age, it was evident that her parents would have no more children. In 1525, Mary was sent to the Welsh border by her father, and he named her Princess of Wales.

Youth And Adult Years Of Mary

For the entirety of Mary's childhood, possible marital decisions were always taken by Henry.

At the age of two, she got promised to Francis, the infant son of King Francis I of France. But after three years, the agreement got rejected. Again at the age of six, she was promised to marry her cousin, Charles V, whose age was 22. But the engagement was broken by Charles within a few years.

From 1531, Mary got ill with depression and irregular menstruation. Henry sent his wife Catherine to live away from court and did not allow Mary to meet her mother.

Henry married Anne Boleyn in early 1533. Anne was pregnant with their child, and the senior bishop of the church of England, Thomas Cranmer, declared the marriage with Catherine invalid and the marriage with Anne valid. After this, Mary was considered illegitimate, and her mother was downgraded to Dowager Princess of Wales.

Mary's place in the line of succession got transferred to her half-sister and Anne's daughter Elizabeth. She got sent to join Elizabeth's house after her household got dissolved. Mary refused to admit Anne as the queen or Elizabeth as the princess.

Mary and her father had a worse relationship, and they did not talk with each other for three years. Catherine was ill and died in 1536. She was buried in Peterborough Cathedral.

Mary As A Ruler

Lady Jane Grey, the granddaughter of Henry’s younger sister, was placed on the throne by a secret agreement made by Edward and his advisors. After Edward died, Mary challenged the new queen and was successful in removing her.

Now Mary was 37, and as a ruler, the first step that she took was to release the Roman Catholic Duke of Norfolk and Stephen Gardiner from confinement in the Tower of London. She also released her kinsman Edward Courtenay. She became brave, sincere, energetic, and hearty like her father, but she hated cruel punishments and the signing of death warrants.

As a newly crowned queen, she was unable to change herself according to the novel circumstances and was lacking self-interest. So, to overcome this, she wanted to bring her people back to the church of Rome.

Spanish Marriage And False Pregnancy

At the time of accession, when Mary was 37, she knew that she had to grow up or else the throne would pass to her protestant half-sister, Elizabeth. She needed a Catholic heir to prevent the reversal of her reforms. So, she arranged to marry Philip II of Spain.

Her marriage got an unpopular response from the public, but she revoked and replaced many of Henry's religious orders with her own, which included the strict heresy law. Around 300 protestants ended up getting buried as a result of enforcement of this law.

Their marriage did not produce any son, and Philip started spending little time in England as he got bored with his wife. He refused to provide any part of his New World Trade Network to his wife.

In September 1554, Mary's stopped menstruating and experienced several false pregnancies. She was also suffering from uterine or ovarian cancer.

Mary considered her false pregnancy as "god's punishment." After this, her husband Philip left England to command his armies against France in Flanders. Mary was left heavy-hearted, and she fell into depression. 

Death

From May 1558, Mary became weak and ill as she had uterine cancer. On 17 November 1558, Mary died at St. James's Palace during an influenza epidemic.

Although Mary wished to be buried next to her mother, she was entombed in Westminster Abbey on 14 December, in a tomb that she shared with her half-sister Elizabeth. 

Did You Know? 

• In September 1533, Mary was declared illegitimate by an act of Parliament and was removed from the succession to the throne after the birth of her half-sister Elizabeth. 

• Mary remained a devout Catholic. She and her brother had different opinions regarding religious views. After Edward confronted her Catholicism, she said that she would rather lay her head on a block than leave her faith. 

• In recent years Mary was largely reappraised and was called a highly impressive queen. 

• Mary was to get engaged at the age of two to the son of king France. However, the arrangement ended after several years. 

• As Mary's mother did not produce a son, her father ended the marriage and married Anne Boleyn. Henry had four more marriages. As a result, Mary had lots of stepmothers. 

• In 1558 the French captured Calais, a port town referred to as "the brightest jewel in the English crown." Therefore, Mary lost the last territory of England in France. 

Conclusion

Apart from her birth and family, you can also learn how she reversed the religious changes of Edward and restored Catholicism, and banned holy communion. She was brought up as a strict Catholic and got terrified by the differences that her half-brother incurred.