Mary daughter of Henry 8. Bloody Mary: marriage, power and death of the Queen of England

Mary I Tudor (her years of life - 1516-1558) - also known as Bloody Mary. Not a single monument was erected to her in her homeland (there is one only in Spain, where her husband was born). Today the name of this queen is associated primarily with reprisals. Indeed, there were many of them during the years when Bloody Mary was on the throne. Many books have been written on the history of her reign, and interest in her personality continues to this day. Despite the fact that in England the day of her death (at the same time she ascended the throne) was celebrated as a national holiday, this woman was not as cruel as many imagined her to be. After reading the article, you will be convinced of this.

Maria's parents, her childhood

Mary's parents are the English king Henry VIII Tudor of Aragon, the youngest Spanish princess. The Tudor dynasty was still very young at that time, and Henry was only the second ruler of England to belong to it.

In 1516, Queen Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Mary, her only viable child (she had previously had several unsuccessful births). The girl's father was disappointed, but hoped for heirs in the future. He loved Mary and called her the pearl in his crown. He admired his daughter's strong and serious character. The girl cried very rarely. She studied diligently. Teachers taught her Latin, English, music, Greek, harpsichord playing and dancing. The future Queen Mary the First Bloody was interested in Christian literature. She was very attracted to stories about ancient warrior maidens and female martyrs.

Candidates for husbands

The princess was surrounded by a large retinue corresponding to her position: court staff, a chaplain, maids and nannies, and a lady mentor. As she grew up, Bloody Mary began to practice falconry and horse riding. Worries about her marriage, as is usual with kings, began from infancy. The girl was 2 years old when her father entered into an agreement on his daughter's engagement to the son of Francis I, the French Dauphin. The contract, however, was terminated. Another candidate for the husband of 6-year-old Mary was Charles V of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor, who was 16 years older than his bride. However, the princess did not have time to mature for marriage.

Catherine was disliked by Henry

In the 16th year of their marriage, Henry VIII, who still had no male heirs, decided that his marriage to Catherine was displeasing to God. The birth of an illegitimate son indicated that it was not Henry’s fault. It turns out that it was his wife. The king named his bastard Henry FitzRoy. He gave his son estates, castles and a ducal title. However, he could not make Henry heir, given that the legitimacy of the creation of the Tudor dynasty was questionable.

Catherine's first husband was Prince Arthur of Wales. He was the eldest son of the founder of the dynasty. 5 months after the wedding ceremony, he died of tuberculosis. Then, at the suggestion of the Spanish matchmakers, he agreed on the engagement of Henry, his second son (he was 11 years old at the time), to Catherine. The marriage had to be registered when they reached adulthood. Fulfilling his father's last wishes, at the age of 18 Henry VIII married his brother's widow. Usually the church prohibited such marriages as closely related ones. However, as an exception, powerful individuals were granted permission to do this by the Pope.

Divorce, Henry's new wife

And now, in 1525, the king asked the pope for permission to divorce. Clement VII did not refuse, however, he did not give his consent. He ordered the “king’s case” to be delayed as long as possible. Henry expressed his opinion to his wife about the futility and sinfulness of their marriage. He asked her to agree to a divorce and go to a monastery, but the woman responded with a decisive refusal. By this, she doomed herself to a very unenviable fate - vegetating in provincial castles under surveillance and separation from her daughter. The “king’s case” dragged on for several years. The Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as Henry's appointed Primate of the Church, finally declared the marriage null and void. The king was married to Anne Boleyn, his favorite.

Declaration of Mary as illegitimate

Then Clement VII decided to excommunicate Henry. He declared his daughter from the new Queen Elizabeth illegitimate. T. Cranber, in response to this, declared Mary, Catherine’s daughter, illegitimate by order of the king. She was deprived of all the privileges due to an heiress.

Henry becomes head of the Church of England

Parliament in 1534 signed the “Act of Supremation”, according to which the king headed the Anglican Church. Some tenets of religion were revised and abolished. This is how the Anglican Church arose, which was sort of in the middle between Protestantism and Catholicism. Those who refused to accept it were declared traitors and subjected to severe punishments. From now on, property belonging to the Catholic Church was confiscated, and church taxes began to flow into the royal treasury.

Mary's plight

Bloody Mary became orphaned with the death of her mother. She became completely dependent on her father's wives. Anne Boleyn hated her, mocked her in every possible way and even assaulted her. The very fact that this woman, who wore Catherine’s jewels and crown, now lived in the apartments that had once belonged to her mother caused great suffering to Mary. The Spanish grandparents would have stood up for her, but by this time they had already died, and their heir had enough problems in his own country.

Anne Boleyn's happiness was short-lived - before a daughter was born instead of the son expected by the king and promised by her. She served as queen for only 3 years and outlived Catherine by only 5 months. Anna was accused of state and adultery. The woman ascended the scaffold in May 1536, and Elizabeth, her daughter, was declared illegitimate, like the future Mary Bloody Tudor.

Mary's other stepmothers

And only when, reluctantly, our heroine agreed to recognize Henry VIII as the head of the Anglican Church, remaining a Catholic in her soul, she was finally given back her retinue and access to the king’s palace. Bloody Mary Tudor, however, did not marry.

A few days after Boleyn's death, Henry married his lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour. She took pity on Mary and persuaded her husband to return her to the palace. Seymour gave birth to Henry VIII, who by that time was already 46 years old, the long-awaited son of Edward VI, and she herself died. It is known that the king valued and loved his third wife more than others and bequeathed to bury himself near her grave.

The fourth marriage for the king was unsuccessful. Seeing Anna of Cleves, his wife, in person, he became furious. Henry VIII, after divorcing her, executed Cromwell, his first minister, who was the organizer of the matchmaking. He divorced Anna six months later, in accordance with the marriage contract, without entering into carnal relations with her. After the divorce, he gave her the title of adopted sister, as well as a small property. The relationship between them was practically family, as was the relationship between Cleves and the king’s children.

Catherine Gotward, Mary's next stepmother, was beheaded in the Tower, after 1.5 years of marriage, for adultery. 2 years before the death of the king, the sixth marriage was concluded. Catherine Parr took care of the children, looked after her sick husband, and was the mistress of the courtyard. This woman convinced the king to be more kind to his daughters Elizabeth and Mary. Catherine Parr survived the king and escaped execution only because of her own resourcefulness and a stroke of luck.

Death of Henry VIII, recognition of Mary as legitimate

Henry VIII died in January 1547, bequeathing the crown to Edward, his young son. If his descendant died, it was supposed to go to his daughters - Elizabeth and Mary. These princesses were finally recognized as legitimate. This gave them the opportunity to count on a crown and a worthy marriage.

Edward's reign and death

Mary suffered persecution because of her adherence to Catholicism. She even wanted to leave England. For King Edward, the thought of her taking the throne after him was intolerable. On the advice of the Lord Protector, he decided to rewrite his father's will. 16-year-old Jane Gray, Edward's second cousin and granddaughter of Henry VII, was declared the heir. She was a Protestant and also a daughter-in-law of Northumberland.

Suddenly he fell ill 3 days after the will he had drawn up was approved. This happened in the summer of 1553. He died soon after. According to one version, death was due to tuberculosis, since he had been in poor health since childhood. However, there is another version. The Duke of Northumberland, under suspicious circumstances, removed the king's attending physicians. A healer appeared at his bedside. She allegedly gave Edward a dose of arsenic. After this, the king felt worse and breathed his last at the age of 15.

Mary becomes queen

After his death, Jane Gray, who was 16 years old at the time, became queen. However, the people rebelled, not recognizing her. A month later, Mary ascended the throne. She was already 37 years old by this time. After the reign of Henry VIII, who proclaimed himself the head of the Church and was excommunicated from it by the Pope, about half of all monasteries and churches in the state were destroyed. Bloody Mary had to solve a difficult problem after the death of Edward. England, which she inherited, was ruined. It urgently needed to be revived. In the first six months, she executed Jane Gray, her husband Guilford Dudley, and her father-in-law John Dudley.

Execution of Jane and her husband

Bloody Mary, whose biography is often presented in gloomy tones, was not by nature prone to cruelty. For a long time she could not send her relative to the chopping block. Why did Bloody Mary decide to do this? She understood that Jane was just a pawn in the wrong hands who did not want to become queen. The trial of her and her husband was at first intended simply as a formality. Queen Mary Bloody wanted to pardon this couple. However, Jane's fate was decided by T. Wyatt's rebellion, which began in January 1554. On February 12 of the same year, Jane and Guilford were beheaded.

Reign of Bloody Mary

Maria again brought closer to herself those who had recently been among her opponents. She understood that they could help her govern the state. The restoration of the country began with the revival of the Catholic faith, which was undertaken by Bloody Mary. An attempt at counter-reformation - that’s what it’s called in scientific language. Many monasteries were reconstructed. However, during the reign of Mary there were many executions of Protestants. The fires started burning in February 1555. Many evidences have been preserved about how people suffered while dying for their faith. About 300 people were burned. Among them were Latimer, Ridley, Cramner and other church hierarchs. The Queen ordered that those who agreed to become Catholics should not be spared when faced with the fire. For all these cruelties, Mary received her nickname Bloody.

Mary's marriage

The queen married her son Philip (summer 1554). The husband was 12 years younger than Maria. According to the marriage contract, he could not interfere in the government of the country, and the children born from the marriage were to become heirs to the English throne. In the event of Mary's premature death, Philip was to return to Spain. The British did not like the queen's husband. Although Mary made attempts through parliament to approve the decision that Philip should be considered king of England, she was denied this. The son of Charles V was arrogant and pompous. The retinue who arrived with him behaved defiantly.

Bloody skirmishes between the Spaniards and the English began to occur in the streets after Philip's arrival.

Illness and death

Maria showed signs of pregnancy in September. They drew up a will, according to which Philip was to become regent of the child until he came of age. However, the child was not born. Mary appointed Elizabeth, her sister, as her successor.

In May 1558 it became clear that the apparent pregnancy was in fact a symptom of illness. Maria suffered from fever, headache, and insomnia. She began to lose her vision. In the summer, the Queen contracted influenza. Elizabeth was officially appointed successor on November 6, 1558. Mary died on November 17 of the same year. Historians believe that the disease from which the queen died was an ovarian cyst or uterine cancer. Mary's remains rest in Westminster Abbey. The throne was inherited by Elizabeth I after her death.

And she signed her death warrant. This was the first victim of the queen, who was later nicknamed Bloody Mary or Maria Catholic. Let me remind you that according to the will of Henry VIII, in order of succession he was succeeded first by his son, then by his daughters - first Mary, then Elizabeth. Edward reigned for 6 years and died childless. Before his death, he made an attempt to remove his sister Mary from the line of succession, bequeathing the throne to his cousin Jane Grey. She ruled for only 9 days until Mary came to power under the name Mary I - the first crowned queen in English history. Mary was also the first - and currently the only - woman of royal blood to receive the title "Princess of Wales", i.e. heir to the throne. All other women who ever bore this title were the wives of the heirs to the throne - Mary Tudor bore it independently by birthright.

By the time Mary was born, her parents Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon had been married for 7 years, but nothing worked out with the heirs. Here is a list of their children:

1. Stillborn girl in January 1510
2. “New Year’s” boy Henry, born in January and died at the end of February 1511.
3. Miscarriage in 1513
4. Dead boy in November 1514
5. Bloody Mary - the only surviving child, born on February 18, 1516.
6. Daughter born in November 1518 and died a few hours later.

As you can see, all of Catherine of Aragon's pregnancies ended in either miscarriages or stillborn children. So when Maria was born, her parents were incredibly happy, believing that the series of failures was over and sons would follow their healthy daughter. At first, Mary's father loved her very much, and she had a very happy childhood. About 6 years old. When Henry realized that there would be no sons, his love for his daughter greatly diminished. Around the same time, he met Anne Boleyn, for whose sake he divorced his mother Mary.

The princess's relationship with her stepmother did not work out. According to one version, Anna humiliated the princess, forcing her to serve her daughter Princess Elizabeth, and even allowed herself to pull her ears. According to another version, Anna seemed to be trying to improve the relationship, but Maria did not respond to these attempts.
Catherine of Aragon did not recognize the divorce and continued to consider herself a queen. In retaliation, Henry forbade her to see her daughter.
Anne Boleyn also failed to give birth to an heir, and 3 years later her head was cut off.

Mary began a series of stepmothers, her relationship with whom depended on her position at court.
Henry's third wife was Jane Seymour. She died in childbirth a year and a half later, but gave birth to the long-awaited prince. During her short marriage, Jane tried to improve the king's relationship with his daughter. And partially managed to do it.
Maria's next stepmother was Anna of Cleves. She was German and Protestant, although she was quite friendly towards Maria. Henry divorced Anne six months later and Anne Boleyn's cousin Catherine Howard became Mary's new stepmother. She was 4 years younger than Maria herself. Two years later, Catherine, like Anne Boleyn, had her head cut off.
Henry's sixth marriage was longer. He married the no longer young Catherine Parr, twice a widow. Catherine was a Protestant, but Mary loved her, like the other children of the king - Edward and Elizabeth. Catherine was 4 years older than Maria. She was a woman of a broad soul who cared for Henry’s children as if they were her own.

After the death of her father and during the reign of her half-brother Edward, Mary holed up in her domains, gathering Catholic supporters there. After Edward's death, regent John Dudley placed his daughter-in-law Jane Gray on the throne.

Although Jane was executed by order Bloody Mary, the problem of succession to the throne was in no way resolved. Mary had no children, and her half-sister Elizabeth, her cousins ​​Catherine and Maria Gray and another cousin Margaret Clifford were considered to be her heirs in order.
There were still no Tudor men near the throne. From the old dynasty of York, which Henry VII and Henry VIII did not have time to destroy, Edward Courtney and Henry Hastings remained. Courtney was in the Tower. And Hastings, apparently, was too smart and preferred not to interfere in the struggle for the throne, thanks to which he saved not only his life, but also his well-being.

I’ll try to structure a little the rights to the throne of various contenders.
There were 3 kings from the York dynasty, which was overthrown by the Tudors. Officially 2:

Edward IV and his brother Richard III. Edward is the eldest, Richard is the youngest. There was also a middle one - George, Duke of Clarence (he did not have time to sit on the throne and was killed, according to the official version, due to the intrigues of his younger brother), as well as a bunch of sisters.
Here are their descendants-applicants:
1. From Edward IV:

a) his son Edward V, killed in the Tower by either Richard III or Henry VII.
b) his eldest daughter Elizabeth is the grandmother of Mary I and Elizabeth I and the great-grandmother of Jane, Catherine and Mary Gray and Margaret Clifford.
c) his youngest daughter Catherine is Edward Courtney's great-grandmother.

Who is the greater contender - Edward or Mary and Elizabeth, considering that he is a man, but the son of an earl, and they are women, but the daughters and granddaughters of kings????

2) Predendants - descendants of Edward IV’s middle brother George Clarence:

a) his daughter Margaret Salisbury. Executed during the reign of Henry VIII under a ridiculous pretext. An inept executioner chased a 70-year-old old woman around the scaffold for half an hour until he hacked her to death.

b) his grandson - Margaret's son Reginald, who was hiding outside England.

c) his great-grandson Henry Hastings Earl of Huntingdon.

3. Children of Edward IV's sister Elizabeth of York: she had four sons - John, Edmund, Richard and William. All were destroyed by the Tudors. Two were killed on the battlefield, the third was executed, the fourth died in the Tower.

4. Edward IV's younger brother Richard III: his only son Edward died at age 10. After which Richard adopted the eldest son of his sister Elizabeth and appointed him as his heir.

As a result, the childless (despite her marriage) Mary was on the throne. Her sister Elizabeth was unmarried. The Gray sisters were also unmarried. Therefore, the marriage of any of them was a matter of national importance. Mostly because the one who had a son would instantly strengthen her position compared to the others.

For Mary I Katherine Gray was the preferred heir rather than her half-sister Elizabeth, even though Katherine's sister Jane Gray had usurped the throne, bypassing Mary. First, Catherine's parents always supported Mary's mother Catherine of Aragon when Henry VIII divorced her to marry Elizabeth's mother Anne Boleyn. Secondly, Catherine, unlike sister Jane, was not a convinced Protestant and easily converted to Catholicism, which played an important role for the fanatical Mary.

Governing body Bloody Mary lasted 5 years and is considered one of the darkest periods in the history of England.

When Mary's father Henry VIII wanted to divorce her mother in order to marry Anne Boleyn, the Pope, under the influence of the Emperor, did not consent to the divorce. Negotiations dragged on for 7 long years. Henry's patience ran out and he broke with the Catholic Church and the Bishop of Rome (as he began to call the pope), adopted a new religion in England, called “Anglican”, and proclaimed himself the head of this church. England ceased to obey Rome. Supporters of the new faith destroyed churches and monasteries and confiscated church property for the benefit of the treasury. These supporters of Protestantism became more and more numerous. Princess Elizabeth and the Gray family were staunch Protestants. But Mary - the daughter of a Spanish princess and granddaughter of the Catholic Kings Ferdinand and Isabella - was by definition a fanatical Catholic. That's why people in England were so afraid of her coming to power, and Jane Gray was so popular at first.

After Jane's overthrow, Mary became queen. She was 37 years old and urgently needed to acquire an heir. In 1554 she married Infante Philip, the son of her cousin. He was 11 years younger than her and was the heir to the King of Spain. According to the marriage contract, he had no right to interfere in the affairs of England, his children were to become heirs to the English throne and remain in England, and Philip was to return to Spain in the event of Mary's death.

The project of the marriage between Mary and Philip belonged entirely to Emperor Charles V - Philip's father and Mary's cousin. Initially, it was Karl who was considered Mary’s fiancé, but due to health problems and other reasons he passed the baton to his son. The emperor had 3 headaches: the spread of Protestantism in Germany, the Turks and France. He tried to figure out the first two on his own. The latter was to be decided by this marriage.

Philip was a widower. His first wife, Maria of Portugal, died giving birth to their son, the famous Don Carlos. At the time of the Anglo-Spanish marriage project, Philip was wooing another Portuguese princess, which made the Emperor very nervous, fearing that Philip would choose to marry her rather than Mary, whom he always called “his dear aunt.” But greed won - Philip chose Mary.

The news of their queen's marriage plans caused panic and bad mood throughout England (with the exception of Mary's supporters). The Queen was half Spanish by blood and completely in spirit, Philip was Spanish to the tips of his nails. The British were afraid that the iron heel of Spain would crush England.

Let's return to Mary and Philip. At this point, Wyatt's rebellion broke out, the purpose of which was to prevent the planned marriage.

However, when Philip entered London he received a warm and luxurious welcome from those who were not his opponents. It should be noted here that since Mary was the first woman on the English throne, the psychology of people had not yet had time to restructure as it had happened during the reign of Elizabeth, and the English perceived Philip not only as the husband of the queen, but also as their real king. Maria perceived him the same way - as a husband and a man who came to solve problems with parliament in her place, to rein in the lords, etc.

However, on the day of the wedding in the abbey, Philip stood to Mary's left. Reigning monarchs always stood to the right of their wives. Thus, Mary also stood to the right of Philip, so her title was higher.

Maria fell passionately in love with Philip as soon as she saw his portrait. I think that all the worst aspects of Mary's personality and her reign were the fault of Philip. Initially, Mary showed herself to be a rather merciful ruler. She forgave the participants in the conspiracy with Jane Gray, including Jane herself and her husband. But such mercy was unacceptable for the Spaniards who sent their prince to England. And Jane Gray became the first victim of the marriage of Mary and Philip. The Inquisition was raging in Spain. Fanatical Catholics, the Spaniards could not come to terms with the presence of Protestants in England. Their persecution during Mary's reign became widespread, which is why they later began to call her Bloody Mary.
Mary tried to make Philip king, but Parliament refused her this. The people, who already did not love Maria very much, disliked her husband even more. The queen's husband's retinue behaved provocatively. There were constant clashes between the British and the Spaniards.
There is a persistent version of Philip's bad behavior in England and his disdainful attitude towards Mary. Allegedly after the wedding night he said, “You have to be God to drink this cup.” However, this expression belongs to Philip’s secretary, who expressed this in a letter to the emperor. Also, the statement that Mary is ugly, dresses poorly and smells bad does not belong to Philip, but to the hidalgo from his retinue. And most likely the statement about the manner of dressing belongs to a woman - the wife of one of the courtiers in Philip’s retinue, because. Maria always loved to dress up and did it well.

When it became clear that there would be no child in the marriage, Philip returned to Spain.

Maria wrote letters to her husband full of love and affection, but could not get him to return for a long time.
At the same time, the queen wanted to give birth to a child so much that she experienced all the symptoms of a pregnant woman. Her belly even started to grow. Later it turned out that it was dropsy.

A failed pregnancy, discord in the kingdom, and separation from Philip greatly undermined Mary’s health. In 1558 she died from the so-called. English fever or English prickly heat. The day of her death became a national holiday.
Shortly before his death Mary I Another tragic event occurred - the loss of the port of Calais. When the French king Louis XI began gathering scattered and independent French lands under royal authority, he did not have time to annex only the port of Calais (which remained with the British since the Hundred Years War) and the Duchy of Brittany. Brittany later became part of the French lands through marriage between the French kings and duchesses of Brittany, and Calais remained the last part of France under English rule. In 1558 the French recaptured Calais. This was a terrible blow for Maria. Before she died, she said: “If I die and they cut me open, they will see the word KALE written on my heart.”
Contrary to popular belief about Philip's cool attitude towards Mary, he was saddened by her death. That same year, he lost his father and aunt and wrote bitterly in a letter to his sister: “It was as if all the misfortunes had befallen me at once.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Queen of England since 1553, daughter of Henry VIII Tudor and Catherine of Aragon. Mary Tudor's accession to the throne was accompanied by the restoration of Catholicism (1554) and brutal repressions against supporters of the Reformation (hence her nicknames - Mary the Catholic, Mary the Bloody). In 1554, she married the heir to the Spanish throne, Philip of Habsburg (from 1556 King Philip II), which led to a rapprochement between England and Catholic Spain and the papacy. During the war against France (1557-1559), which the queen began in alliance with Spain, England at the beginning of 1558 lost Calais, the last possession of the English kings in France. Mary Tudor's policies, which ran counter to the national interests of England, aroused discontent among the new nobility and the emerging bourgeoisie.

Mary's life was sad from birth to death, although nothing at first foreshadowed such a fate. For children her age, she was serious, self-possessed, rarely cried, and played the harpsichord beautifully. When she was nine years old, merchants from Flanders who spoke to her in Latin were surprised by her answers in their native language. At first, the father loved his eldest daughter very much and was delighted with many of her character traits. But everything changed after Henry entered into a second marriage with Anne Boleyn. Mary was removed from the palace, torn away from her mother, and finally demanded that she renounce the Catholic faith. However, despite her young age, Maria flatly refused. Then she was subjected to many humiliations: the retinue assigned to the princess was disbanded, she herself, banished to the Hatfield estate, became a servant to Anne Boleyn’s daughter, little Elizabeth. Her stepmother pulled her ears. I had to fear for her very life. Maria's condition worsened, but her mother was forbidden to see her. Only the execution of Anne Boleyn brought Mary some relief, especially after she, having made an effort, recognized her father as the “Supreme Head of the Church of England.” Her retinue was returned to her, and she again gained access to the royal court.

The persecution resumed when Mary's younger brother, Edward VI, who fanatically adhered to the Protestant faith, ascended the throne. At one time she seriously thought about fleeing England, especially when they began to put obstacles in her way and were not allowed to celebrate mass. Edward eventually dethroned his sister and bequeathed the English crown to Henry VII's great-granddaughter Jane Gray. Maria did not recognize this will. Upon learning of her brother's death, she immediately moved to London. The army and navy went over to her side. The Privy Council declared Mary queen. Nine days after her accession to the throne, Lady Gray was deposed and ended her life on the scaffold. But in order to secure the throne for her offspring and not allow the Protestant Elizabeth to take it, Mary had to marry. In July 1554, she married the heir to the Spanish throne, Philip, although she knew that the British did not like him very much. She married him at the age of 38, already middle-aged and ugly. The groom was twelve years younger than her and agreed to the marriage only for political reasons. After the wedding night, Philip remarked: “You have to be God to drink this cup!” He, however, did not live long in England, visiting his wife only occasionally. Meanwhile, Maria loved her husband very much, missed him and wrote him long letters, staying up late at night.

She ruled herself, and her reign in many respects turned out to be extremely unhappy for England. The queen, with feminine stubbornness, wanted to return the country to the shadow of the Roman Church. She herself did not find pleasure in tormenting and tormenting people who disagreed with her in the faith; but she unleashed upon them the lawyers and theologians who had suffered during the previous reign. The terrible statutes issued against heretics by Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V were directed against Protestants. From February 1555, bonfires burned throughout England, where “heretics” perished. In total, about three hundred people were burned, among them church hierarchs - Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and others. It was ordered not to spare even those who, finding themselves in front of the fire, agreed to convert to Catholicism. All these cruelties earned the queen the nickname “Bloody.”

Who knows - if Mary had a child, she might not have been so cruel. She passionately wanted to give birth to an heir. But this happiness was denied to her. A few months after the wedding, it seemed to the queen that she was showing signs of pregnancy, which she did not fail to notify her subjects about. But what was initially mistaken for a fetus turned out to be a tumor. Soon the queen developed dropsy. Weakened by illness, she died of a cold while still not an old woman.

They say the famous drink is named after her. There is no evidence of this, but let’s welcome: Mary I Tudor, aka Mary the Catholic, aka Bloody Mary - the eldest daughter of Henry VIII from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England. Not a single monument was erected to this queen in her homeland (there is a monument in her husband’s homeland - in Spain). In her will, she asked that a memorial be erected jointly for her and her mother, so that, as she wrote, “the glorious memory of both of us would be preserved,” but the will of the deceased remained unfulfilled. November 17, the day of her death and at the same time the day of Elizabeth's accession to the throne, was considered a national holiday in the country for two hundred years, and before the generation that remembered Queen Mary disappeared from the face of the earth, it was firmly ingrained in the minds of people that Mary's reign was " brief, despicable, and engendered misery,” while her sister’s reign “lasted long, was glorious, and prosperous.” In all subsequent years, they called her nothing more than Bloody Mary and imagined life at that time from illustrations in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, where Catholic executioners tortured Protestant prisoners shackled. Those awaiting execution pray, and their faces are illuminated by ecstatic visions of paradise. However, during her lifetime, no one ever called Mary “bloody.” The designation of Queen Mary as "Bloody Mary" does not appear in English written sources until the early 17th century, that is, approximately 50 years after her death! Maria was a very ambiguous person - many are inclined to justify her and consider her unfortunate, but one thing is certain - she was a woman of difficult fate. Before the birth of Mary Tudor, all the children of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon died during or immediately after childbirth, and the birth of a healthy girl caused great joy in the royal family. The girl was baptized in the monastery church near Greenwich Palace three days later; she was named in honor of Henry’s beloved sister, Queen Mary Tudor of France. For the first two years of her life, Maria moved from one palace to another. This was due to the epidemic of the English sweat, which the king feared as he moved further and further from the capital. The princess's retinue during these years consisted of a lady tutor, four nannies, a laundress, a chaplain, a bedmaster and a staff of courtiers. They all dressed in Mary's colors - blue and green. By the autumn of 1518, the epidemic had subsided, and the court returned to the capital and to its normal life. At this time, Francis I ascended the throne in France. He was eager to prove his strength and power, for which he sought to conclude a friendly alliance with Henry through the marriage of Mary and the French Dauphin. Among the conditions regarding the princess's dowry, one very significant clause was written down: if Henry never had a son, then Mary would inherit the crown. This is the very first establishment of her rights to the throne. During the negotiations at that time, this condition was purely formal and insignificant. Henry still had high hopes for the appearance of his son - Catherine was pregnant again and almost pregnant - and in any case, in those days it seemed unthinkable for a woman to become Queen of England by right of inheritance. But, as we know, it was precisely this, then very unlikely, possibility that turned out to be realized. The Queen gave birth to a stillborn child, and Mary continued to be the main contender for the English throne. Maria's childhood was spent surrounded by a large retinue appropriate to her position. However, she saw her parents very rarely. Her high position was slightly shaken when the king's mistress Elizabeth Blount gave birth to a boy (1519). He was named Henry, the child was revered as having royal origin. He was assigned a retinue and given titles corresponding to the heir to the throne. The princess's upbringing plan was drawn up by the Spanish humanist Vives. The princess had to learn to speak correctly, master grammar and read Greek and Latin. Great importance was given to the study of the works of Christian poets, and for the sake of entertainment she was recommended to read stories about women who sacrificed themselves - Christian saints and ancient warrior maidens. In her spare time, she enjoyed horse riding and falconry. However, there was one omission in her education - Maria was not at all prepared to govern the state. After all, no one imagined... In his work “Admonition to a Christian Woman,” Vives wrote that every girl should constantly remember that by nature she is “an instrument not of Christ, but of the devil.” The education of a woman, according to Vives (and most humanists of that time agreed with him), should be built primarily taking into account her natural sinfulness. This postulate underlay the upbringing of Mary. The main thing she was taught was how to minimize, soften or hide the fatal depravity of her nature. By inviting Vives to draw up a plan for Mary’s education, Catherine primarily meant that this education would have to protect the girl, protect her “more reliably than any spearman or archer.” First of all, Mary's virginity needed protection. Erasmus of Rotterdam, who at first generally considered it unnecessary to give women in England any kind of education, later nevertheless came to the conclusion that education would help a girl “better preserve modesty,” because without it, “many, confused due to inexperience, lose their chastity earlier, than they realize that their priceless treasure is in danger.” He wrote that where they do not think about the education of girls (of course, this meant girls from aristocratic families), they spend the morning combing their hair and anointing their face and body with ointments, skipping mass and gossiping. During the day, in good weather, they sit on the grass, giggling and flirting “with the men who lie nearby, bending on their knees.” They spend their days among “fed-up and lazy servants, with very wretched and unclean morals.” In such an atmosphere, modesty cannot flourish, and virtue means very little. Vives hoped to keep Maria from these influences and therefore attached great importance to her environment. He insisted that she stay away from male society from early childhood, “so as not to get used to the male sex.” And since “a woman who thinks alone thinks at the behest of the devil,” she must be surrounded day and night by “sad, pale and modest” servants, and after classes learn to knit and spin. Knitting was recommended by Vives as an “unconditionally” proven method of calming the sensual thoughts inherent in all female creatures. A girl should not know anything about the “disgusting obscenities” of popular songs and books, and should beware of any kind of love there, like “boa constrictors and poisonous snakes.” He advised instilling in the princess the fear of being alone (to discourage the habit of relying on herself); Mary had to be taught to always need the company of others and to rely on others for everything. In other words, Vives recommended instilling in the princess an inferiority complex and helplessness. The constant companion of this was to be constant melancholy. In June 1522, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V arrived at Henry's court. Rich festivities were organized in his honor; preparations for this meeting took several months. On it, an engagement agreement was signed between Maria and Charles (the engagement to the French Dauphin was terminated). The groom was sixteen years older than the bride (Maria was only six at that time). However, if Karl perceived this union as a diplomatic step, then Maria had some romantic feelings for her fiancé and even sent him small gifts. In 1525, when it became clear that Catherine would not be able to give birth to an heir, Henry seriously thought about who would become the next king or queen. While his illegitimate son was given titles earlier, Mary received the title of Princess of Wales. This title has always been borne by the heir to the English throne. Now she needed to manage her new possessions on the spot. Wales was not yet part of England, but only a dependent territory. Managing it was not an easy task, since the Welsh considered the English conquerors and hated them. The princess left for her new possessions at the end of the summer of 1525 with a huge retinue. Her residence at Ludlow represented the royal court in miniature. Mary was entrusted with the duties of administering justice and performing ceremonial functions. In 1527, Henry cooled down in his love for Charles. The engagement between him and Mary was broken off shortly before Mary left for Wales. Now he was interested in an alliance with France. Mary could have been offered as a wife to Francis I himself or one of his sons. Maria returned to London. In the summer of 1527, Henry decided to annul his marriage to Catherine. Maria at the same time became the illegitimate daughter of the king and lost her rights to the crown. For the next few years, Mary was Henry's means of putting pressure on the queen. Catherine did not recognize the invalidity of the marriage, and Henry, threatening her, did not allow her to see her daughter. After Henry's unauthorized divorce, Mary's life did not improve at all. He married again, Anne Boleyn became his new wife, and Maria was sent to serve her stepmother, with whom her relationship did not work out. But Anne Bolleyn was executed for adultery and Henry VIII took the quiet and calm Jane Seymour as his wife. She gave birth to the king's son Edward, but soon died. After Jane, as I already told, there was Anne of Cleves, then Catherine Howard, and the last was Catherine Parr. Maria's life all this time largely depended on the kind of relationship she had with her new stepmothers. After Henry's death, Mary was still unmarried, although she was 31 years old. She was the second contender to the throne after Edward, the son of Henry and Jane Seymour. During the short reign of her younger brother, Mary significantly expanded her circle of courtiers. “The princess’s house is the only refuge of noble young ladies who are not devoid of piety and integrity,” testifies Jane Dormer, one of Mary’s chambermaids, “and the noblest lords of the kingdom seek a place for their daughters from the princess.” Jane slept in Mary's bedchamber, wore her jewelry and cut meat for her mistress. They were very attached to each other, and Mary was disgusted by the very thought that Jane could marry and leave her. She often said that Jane Dormer deserved a good husband, but that she did not know a man who would be worthy of her. Having ascended the throne, Mary prevented Jane from marrying the most eligible bachelor in the kingdom, Henry Courtney. Only towards the end of her reign did the queen allow her beloved maid of honor to marry the Spanish envoy, Duke of Feria. Henry Courtney himself seemed such a tasty morsel that many considered him a suitable match for Mary herself. But, having come to power at the age of thirty-seven, she turned away from the handsome Courtney, considering him simply a spoiled youth. Edward was nine when he ascended the throne. He was a weak and sickly boy. The Duke of Somerset and William Paget became regents under him. They feared that if Mary got married, she would try to seize the throne with the help of her husband. They tried to keep her away from the court and in every possible way incited the young king against his older sister. The main point of friction was the reluctance of Mary - a devoted Catholic - to convert to the Protestant faith, which was professed by King Edward. At the beginning of 1553, Edward showed symptoms of an advanced stage of tuberculosis. The weakened teenager was forced to sign a heritage law. According to him, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk became queen. Mary and her half-sister Elizabeth - Anne Boleyn's daughter - were excluded from contenders for the throne. I already told the story of the clash between Jane and Mary recently, so I won’t dwell on it. Mary ascended the throne when she was 37 - a huge age by those standards - at a time when England, in the opinion of most European monarchs, had lost the opportunity to influence international politics, having slipped into the days of the end of the Wars of the Roses. The fact is that Henry VIII was able to so convincingly create the illusion of power and majesty that this extended to his state. Under Edward, this illusion dissipated, and when Dudley became the de facto ruler of the country in 1549, the importance of England as a powerful power was completely lost. Strengthening English territories on the continent required money. At the end of July, Reirard wrote that Maria “could not find funds for current expenses” and did not know how to pay the disgruntled English soldiers who served in the garrisons of Guienne and Calais. The government had been on the verge of bankruptcy for many years, and along with the huge balance of payments deficit that Dud-li left behind, there were also hundreds of debt obligations that had been gathering dust for decades in the office of the royal exchequer. Maria discovered that the government owed "many old servants, workers, officials, merchants, bankers, military leaders, pensioners and soldiers." She sought ways to pay off old debts and in September announced that she would pay the obligations left by the two previous rulers, regardless of the statute of limitations. In addition, Maria took an important step in resolving the multi-year currency crisis. New coins were issued, with higher gold and silver content, in accordance with the established standard. The Queen announced that there would be no reduction in the standard in the future. Of course, these measures forced her government further into debt and it remained insolvent, but the country's inflation was brought under control. The exchange rate of the English currency in the financial markets of Antwerp and Brussels began to rise, and in 1553 the prices of food and other goods in England fell by a third. Despite talk of inability and inexperience, Maria began to lead and, it seems, quite well. The people were more or less calmed down, religious and economic problems began to be resolved. During her first six months on the throne, Mary executed 16-year-old Jane Gray, her husband Guilford Dudley and father-in-law John Dudley. Being by nature not inclined to cruelty, Maria for a long time could not decide to send her relative to the chopping block. Maria understood that Jane was only a pawn in the hands of others and did not at all aspire to become queen. At first, the trial of Jane Gray and her husband was planned as an empty formality - Maria expected to immediately pardon the young couple. But the rebellion of Thomas Wyatt that followed the trial decided the fate of the nine-day queen. Maria could not help but understand that her relative would be a beacon for Protestant rebels all her life, and reluctantly signed the death warrant for Jane, her husband and father (the latter was one of the participants in Wyatt’s rebellion). From February 1555, fires began to burn. There are many testimonies of the torment of people dying for their faith. In total, about three hundred people were burned, among them church hierarchs - Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and others. It was ordered not to spare even those who, finding themselves in front of the fire, agreed to convert to Catholicism. All these cruelties earned the queen the nickname “Bloody.” On July 18, 1554, Philip of Spain arrived in England. Without any enthusiasm, he met his bride, who was ten years older than him, and wished to see the rest of Mary's courtiers. Having examined the flower of English sorority, he kissed all the ladies. “Those I saw in the palace do not shine with beauty,” said a nobleman from Philip’s retinue, repeating the opinion of his master. “The truth is, they're just ugly.” “The Spaniards love to please women and spend money on them - but these are completely different women,” wrote another close associate of the Spanish prince. However, Philip’s servants were more impressed by the short skirts of English women - “they look rather obscene when they sit.” The Spaniards were equally amazed that English women did not hesitate to show their ankles, kiss strangers at the first meeting and, just think, they could dine alone with their husband's friend!.. The most shameless thing in the eyes of the visitors was how well English women held in the saddle. Philip himself was known as a man who knew how to tactfully deal with unattractive women, but his attempts to start a flirtation with Magdalena Dacre, one of Mary’s ladies-in-waiting, were sharply rebuffed. In the summer of 1554, Maria finally got married. The husband was twelve years younger than his wife. According to the marriage contract, Philip had no right to interfere in the government of the state; children born from this marriage became heirs to the English throne. In the event of the queen's premature death, Philip was to return back to Spain. For several months after the wedding ceremony, the Queen's associates awaited the announcement of the news that Her Majesty was preparing to give the country an heir. Finally, in September 1554, it was announced that the queen was pregnant. But on Easter 1555, several Spanish ladies gathered in the royal palace to attend the birth of a child, as required by the etiquette of the Spanish royal court. However, at the end of May there was a rumor that Maria was not expecting offspring at all. According to the official version, there was an error in determining the date of conception. In August, the queen had to admit that she had been deceived and the pregnancy turned out to be false. Hearing this news, Philip sailed to Spain. Maria saw him off in Greenwich. She tried to hold on in public, but when she returned to her chambers, she burst into tears. She wrote to her husband, urging him to return. In March 1557, Philip arrived again in England, but more as an ally than as a loving husband. He needed Mary's support in the war with France. England sided with Spain and lost Calais as a result. In January 1558, Philip left for good. Already in May 1558, it became obvious that the false pregnancy was a symptom of illness - Queen Mary suffered from headaches, fever, insomnia, gradually losing her sight. During the summer, she contracted influenza and on November 6, 1558, officially named Elizabeth as her successor. On November 17, 1558, Mary I died. The disease that caused many pains is considered by historians to be uterine cancer or ovarian cyst. The queen's body was laid out for burial at St. James's for more than three weeks. She was buried in Westminster Abbey. She was succeeded by Elizabeth I. And now some facts for comparison: So, during the reign of Mary’s father, King Henry VIII (1509-1547), 72,000 (seventy-two thousand) people were executed in England. During the reign of Mary's younger half-sister and successor, Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), 89,000 (eighty-nine thousand) people were executed in England. Let’s compare the numbers once again: under Henry VIII - 72,000 executed, under Elizabeth I - 89,000 executed, and under Mary - only 287. That is, “Bloody Mary” executed 250 times fewer people than her father, and 310 times fewer than her little sister! (We, however, cannot say how many executions there would have been if Mary had been in power longer). Under Mary I, the supposedly “Bloody One,” executions were carried out mainly by representatives of the elite, such as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and his entourage (hence the low number of executions, since ordinary people were executed in isolated cases), and under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, repressions took place by the general public. Under Henry VIII, the bulk of those executed were peasants driven from their lands and left homeless. The king and lords took plots of land from the peasants and turned them into fenced pastures for sheep, since selling wool to the Netherlands was more profitable than selling grain. In history this process is known as "enclosure". Herding sheep requires fewer hands than growing grain. The “superfluous” peasants, along with their land and work, were deprived of their housing, since their houses were destroyed to make room for the same pastures, and were forced to engage in vagrancy and beg in order not to die of hunger. And the death penalty was established for vagrancy and begging. That is, Henry VIII purposefully got rid of the “excess” population, which did not bring him economic benefit. During the reign of Elizabeth I, in addition to the mass executions of homeless people and beggars, which resumed after a short break during the reign of Edward VI (1547-1553) and Mary "Bloody" (1553-1558), mass executions of participants in popular uprisings, which occurred almost annually, were also added. also the execution of women suspected of witchcraft. In 1563, Elizabeth I issues the “Act against Spells, Witchcraft and Witchcraft”, and a “witch hunt” begins in England. Elizabeth I herself was a very smart and educated queen, and she could hardly believe that a woman could cause a storm by taking off her stockings (this is not a metaphor, the “Stocking Case” heard in Huntingdon is a real case from judicial practice - a woman and her nine-year-old daughter was hanged because, according to the court, they sold their soul to the devil and caused a storm by taking off their stockings). There is a fairly common belief that Mary was glorified as the Bloody One due to the fact that she was a Catholic. After all, this is not the first time in English history that a king has been accused of all sins. Richard III is a clear example of this. For me personally, Maria will forever remain a woman of an unfortunate fate, who was simply prevented from living like a human being. Sources.

Mary I Tudor 1516-1558

Mary's father, Henry VIII, called her the pearl of the world; contemporaries and descendants more readily spoke of her as “Bloody.” How did it happen that a happy girl, at whose feet lay the world, grew up to be a harsh, cruel woman, staining her tender hands with the blood of hundreds of people?

Mary was born on February 18, 1516 in Greenwich. The daughter of the king and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, was baptized according to the Catholic rite and received fabulous gifts that promised a good and long life to the “truly noble, truly unrivaled Princess Mary,” as the herald declared her. The sex of the child became the cause of grief for the father, who dreamed of an heir. Despite this, he took care of his daughter, giving the most detailed orders. From the very first days of her life, she was looked after by a staff of servants - for example, four people were responsible for rocking the cradle. Henry VIII provided his daughter with a proper upbringing and prepared her to participate in palace celebrations.

Maria received a comprehensive education, she was taught languages, music and dance, and most importantly, religion. This subject was subsequently developed by the scientist Juan Luis Vives, who presented his educational program in the work “On the Education of a Christian Woman.” He gave a list of suitable and unsuitable literature for reading, forbade indulging in inappropriate entertainment, such as playing dice and cards, recommended modesty and restraint, even criticizing dancing and playing music, which little Maria loved so much. Despite such strictness, the young princess was distinguished by her lively mind and easily mastered science.

Queen of England Mary I Tudor. Antonio Moreau, 16th century, Museum of Versailles, France

The act of assuming the royal power of Lady Jane Gray in 1553. National Archives, England

Henry VIII constantly thought about a male heir to the throne, but the fact that he had his daughter's hand at his disposal opened up wide prospects for him in the diplomatic game. In 1518, at the age of two and a half, Mary was betrothed to Francis I, the son of the King of France, Francis I of Valois, who had not yet reached the age of one year. The contract was terminated a few years later, and Mary was betrothed to Emperor Charles V of Habsburg. This time the engagement was broken off by the emperor in 1525 to marry Isabella of Portugal, and the disappointed Henry VIII sent his daughter to Wales as vice-queen. During this period, clouds gathered over young Maria due to her father's ambitions. Henry began making attempts to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. To break the will of his first wife, he separated her from her daughter. The king believed that Catherine was so courageous that, having her daughter next to her, she would be able to gather an army and oppose him. The last time Maria saw her mother was in 1531, although Catherine died only 5 years later.

When the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer annulled the marriage of Mary's parents, she technically became illegitimate and lost her right to the crown. Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn was a period of severe humiliation for the princess. According to some sources, even before her wedding to Henry, Anna threatened to make her a servant, poison her, or marry her to a servant. After the birth of Elizabeth, she included Mary among her own daughter's courtiers. Living in harsh conditions and suffering mistreatment, Mary stubbornly refused to recognize the titles of Anne and Elizabeth and contemplated plans to escape from England.

The fall of Anne Boleyn changed the situation for Mary, who eventually succumbed to her father's pressure and recognized his marriage to Catherine as invalid, and himself as the head of the Anglican Church. Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, took care of good relationships in the Tudor family. When she died shortly after the birth of her son, Mary was the one who lamented the most at her funeral. Later, the daughter continued to obey her father. It seems that the king was grateful to her for this, giving her jewelry and lands. He again considered candidates for her hand, among whom were the French and Spanish princes. Philip of Bavaria came to England in person to ask for her hand, but never received Henry's approval. Mary was even recognized as a potential heir to the throne in the event of Edward's death if he did not leave offspring.

During her brother's reign, Mary tried to avoid the royal court, which became the center of reform initiatives. She remained faithful to Catholicism and did not hide it. Catholic masses, prohibited in the country, were celebrated in her house. She allowed herself a lot, confident in the protection of her relative, Emperor Charles V, who threatened to start a war if Mary’s religious freedom was limited. At the end of Edward's reign, her candidacy to inherit the throne was in doubt. John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who played one of the main roles at court, foresaw the imminent death of the sick king and sought to maintain his influence. He could not allow Mary to become queen, so he convinced the king to change the law of succession. Then Lady Jane Gray, the great-granddaughter of Henry VII, who married John Dudley's son, Guildford, was declared heir. Four days after the king's death, on July 10, 1553, Jane was proclaimed queen. Her supporters intended to arrest Mary and Elizabeth, but Mary, notified of her brother’s death, managed to leave her home and on July 9 was proclaimed queen in Norfolk. Soon, having received serious support, she triumphantly entered London. Dudley's coup d'etat failed. The young usurper was sentenced to death.

One of the main goals set by Mary Tudor upon accession to the throne was the return of the country to the fold of the Catholic Church. She wanted to arrange a funeral for her brother according to the Catholic rite, although she was dissuaded by Charles V himself, with whom she discussed many plans. A few days after the coronation, parliament recognized her parents' marriage as valid. The code of religious laws of the time of Edward VI was abolished, the Six Articles of 1539 were restored, relations with Rome were established, and several Catholic prisoners were released. This did not cause strong protests, since Maria left the church wealth confiscated by her father in private ownership.

The problem was the queen's marriage and succession to the throne. True, she herself said that if she were a private person, she would prefer to spend the rest of her days as a girl, but never before had an unmarried woman occupied the English throne. Mary decided to marry Philip, the son of Emperor Charles V and the future king of Spain. Her choice caused protests from her subjects. Even some Catholics feared that the country would become dependent on the Habsburgs. To avoid this, the marriage contract limited Philip's participation in government. Nevertheless, a rebellion broke out under the leadership of Thomas Wyatt. Maria showed courage, found support among the Londoners, and the rebellion was suppressed, and its leader was captured and executed. The riot had tragic consequences for Jane Gray and her family, although Maria until the last counted on the fact that the condemned woman, for whom she had warm feelings, would change her beliefs.

WHEN MARY TUDOR ARRIVED AT THE COURT OF HER YOUNGER BROTHER EDWARD, WHO AT THAT TIME ALREADY occupied the ROYAL THRONE, IN 1551, SHE APPEARED THERE WITH A LARGE RETAIN, DEMONSTRATIVELY HOLDING A rosary.

MARIA, LIKE NO ONE, KNEW TO RESIST HER BROTHER IN QUESTIONS OF RELIGION.

Reliquary of Mary I depicting the four evangelists. Hans Eworth, 1554, London Antiquarian Society

Philip arrived in England for the wedding in July 1554. Previously, Charles V renounced the title of King of Naples in favor of his son, and Maria married the monarch. The couple treated marriage as a duty, so it is difficult to talk about a happy marriage. Philip tried to be kind to his wife, perhaps even showing tenderness towards her. Maria was older than him and, according to Spanish sources, was not distinguished by beauty: short, thin, sickly. She was already 38 years old, and she had lost her freshness, her skin had faded, and almost all of her teeth had turned black or fallen out - however, at that time this was natural. Worse, she lacked charm and was not ready to rule the country. Maria loved music and gardening, rode well, but was not used to doing business. She was usually guided by moral principles, which sometimes ran counter to political requirements. In September 1554 it was announced that Mary was pregnant. When the due date passed and the birth did not occur, anxiety began to grow at court and rumors began to spread. In the end it turned out that the pregnancy was false. Both spouses suffered enormous public humiliation, and Philip soon left England.

Mary began to realize herself differently - she dealt with the supporters of the Reformation. During the years of her reign, about 300 people were sent to the stake. Among the victims of religious persecution were Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and Bishop Hugh Latimer. This policy did not turn out to be successful. King Philip II spoke out against her; the Spanish ambassador recommended that public executions should not be carried out. The victims of the persecution were immortalized by John Foxe in his Book of Martyrs, published in 1563. The popularity of this work in Protestant England ensured that Bloody Mary became notorious, and the period of her reign began to be called the “era of martyrs.” It is worth noting, however, that today the reliability of the “Book...” is spoken of with great caution. Nevertheless, Mary's religious policy was a fiasco.

The queen also did not achieve success in foreign policy. She played a negative role even in the history of Catholic Ireland. It was during her reign that the eviction of entire clans and the colonization of their lands by the English population began in the counties named after Mary and her husband Queens and Kings. In addition, having gotten involved in a war with France, she lost Calais - the last English support on the continent after centuries of struggle. Even the queen herself once admitted that Kale and her love for her husband would forever remain in her heart.

In the autumn of 1558, Mary I's health was undermined by influenza, but the cause of her death in Westminster on November 17 was most likely a tumor. She died at the climax of the mass celebrated in her chambers - during the Transubstantiation.

Philip II and Mary I in 1558 Hans Eworth, 16th century, Bedford Foundation, England

CHAPTER FOUR England and the Reformation. Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth. Scotland and Mary Stuart. Age of Elizabeth. The Death of the Armada We are now forced to turn to those events that fill the history of England during that important period of time, which begins with