Mary i of england english literature essay

Mary Tudor was the Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death in November, 1558. She is better remembered as Bloody Mary due to the fact that she prosecuted Protestants, being herself a true Catholic as her mother. FamilyMary Tudor was the only surviving child born in the marriage of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was born on February 18 in 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London. Her mother, Queen Catherine had many miscarriages and did not succeed in giving the King a healthy son, which was his great wish. Through her mother’s family line, Mary was a granddaughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. She was baptized into the Catholic faith at the Church of the Observant Friars in Greenwich three days after her birth. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England) As her mother, Mary grew up into a very firm Catholic and respected her beliefs truly. The result of King Henry’s strong wishes to have a son was the annulment of his marriage with Mary’s mother Catherine. On the other hand, the result of that annulment was the separation of the English Protestantism and the Roman Catholicism because Pope Clement VII refused to fulfill the King’s request. The King stated that the reason why this marriage must be annulled was Catherine’s first marriage to his brother prince Arthur, because it is seen as incest in God’s eyes. Therefore, having the marriage annulled, in January 1553, Mary became a child from a non-existent marriage and the illegitimate daughter of His Majesty, King Henry VIII. In addition, her title of the princess was changed by a much modest one, of a Lady. ‘ For Mary, separation from her father proved hard to bear and she continually petitioned to see him.’ (http://books. google. rs/books? id= tEnzKyuTC1YC&printsec= frontcover&dq= bloody+mary+google+books&hl= en&sa= X&ei= zZlVUZLCEcvIsga3o4GwDg&ved= 0CEoQ6AEwBg#v= onepage&q&f= false, pg 46) At the time of the annulment, her father had already married Anne Boleyn. Since 1531, Mary was often sick and depressed. Besides, she was not permitted to see her mother, who had been sent to live away from court by Henry. He broke with the Roman Catholic Church and declared himself head of the Church of England, thus Mary’s place in the line of succession was transferred to King’s new daughter with Anne Boleyn, Princess Elisabeth. Apart from that, Mary’s own household was dissolved, her servants were dismissed from her service, and in December 1533 she was sent to join the household of the baby Elizabeth at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England) Mary was sent to attend the new Princess, her 20 years younger half-sister. Very soon, Elisabeth would become illegitimate, as well, since Anne Boleyn had not born a son either. Anne was beheaded because the King got tired of her just as he would of his other wives. Just like Mary, Princess Elizabeth became Lady Elizabeth and was removed from the line of the succession. Princesses, Bastards, QueensPrincess Elizabeth was born, and at the same time as the ‘ bastard Mary’. Mary lost her title of a princess and became a lady. Elizabeth was, as Carolyn Meyer says ‘ a daughter of a woman Mary hated most in the world’. (Beware, Princess Elizabeth, Carolyn Meyer, prologue) Mary’s pride was hurt when she had to come to the household of Princess Elizabeth. However, that did not last long either. When Anne Boleyn was executed, Elizabeth became illegitimate daughter as well, or, so to say, a bastard. Luckily for both of the princesses, the King married Jane Seymour who brought both king’s daughters back to court. Consequently, they did spend some time together and they started loving each other. Especially, when there came Catherine Parr who insisted on keeping the family together. Naturally, there were always those in favour of Mary, and those in favour of Elizabeth since their religious views were different. There was a conspiracy called Wyatt’s rebellion, where Thomas Wyatt the younger led the force in the favour of Elizabeth during Mary’s reign. Mary sent Elizabeth to the tower, even though she claimed innocence. After two months she was released under house arrest when she was invited to court to wait the birth of Mary’s child. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England#Spanish_marriage)Adulthood and stepmothersSoon after Anne Boleyn’s execution, Mary’s father, King Henry married Jane Seymour. This was a suitable thing for Mary because the new queen urged the king to make peace with Mary. However, the King insisted that Mary recognize him as the Head of the Church of England, refuse the authority of the Pope and admit her own illegitimacy as well as the fact that the marriage between her parents was unlawful. Even though she firstly tried to reconcile with him by submitting to his authority as far as ‘ God and her conscience permitted’, she finally had to sign the paper admitting all the things above. She was in her father’s favour again and back at court. Jane was the one who finally succeeded in giving King Henry the long waited son. Mary was made a godmother to Prince Edward, her half-brother. Unfortunately, the court was soon in mourning, as Jane Seymour died two weeks after the birth of her son. (http://tudorhistory. org/mary/)In January 1540, Mary gained another stepmother, but their relationship was rather different than the previous ones. The next queen was Anne of Cleves. She was German, the King did not love her, but married her for political reasons. Mary and Anne established a good relationship, but even this marriage was annulled soon, as well. However, they remained friends until the death of Anne of Cleves. Mary was not that lucky with her next stepmother. She was Katherine Howard, who was five-six years younger than Mary and the two were inclined to disagree. Catherine dismissed two of Mary’s ladies in waiting, because she thought Mary was not giving her the respect which she deserved as the queen of England. It was not a strange thing that they had had many quarrels during Catherine’s reign. Eventually, Catherine was executed because she was found guilty of treason. (http://www. marytudor. net/stepmothers. html )King Henry’s sixth wife, Catherine Parr, was more a friend than a stepmother to Mary since the age difference was rather small. Catherine was rich and gave Mary presents and money for gambling. Moreover, Catherine understood Mary’s depression at the unsettled state of affairs regarding any match for her. ” While my father lives,” said Mary, ” I shall be only the Lady Mary, the most unhappy lady in Christendom.”  (http://www. marytudor. net/stepmothers. html ) King Henry died in 1547 and Edward became a king. The reign of Mary’s half-brother, king Edward VIA nine years old king, Edward, ruled for a very short period. The realm was ruled by the regency council since Edward was a child; firstly by his uncle Edward Seymour, and then by John Dudley. Unfortunately for Mary, the council was full of Protestants who wanted to strengthen their faith in the country, whereas Mary remained faithful to her beliefs. As a result, she spent most of the time away from court during Edward’s reign. He wanted to make sure Mary would not succeed him, because she would restore Catholicism. However, he could not exclude Mary from the line of succession and not exclude Elizabeth. Nevertheless, that was exactly what he did, advised by Dudley, even though Elizabeth admitted the Church of England. Soon after Edward died, probably of tuberculosis, appointing as his successor, Lady Jane Grey, Dudley’s cousin. Because of the events that followed, she is also known as the Nine Days’ Queen. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England#Accession)Mary Tudor and the Nine Days’ QueenJane Grey was soon proclaimed queen. However, according to King Henry’s Act of Succession, Elizabeth and Mary were heirs to the throne if Edward had no children. Mary had to be certain that Edward was really dead, otherwise she would be accused of treason if she proclaimed herself queen. She gathered her followers and nine days later imprisoned Jane and her husband. (http://tudorhistory. org/mary/) According to the words of Anna Whitelock: ‘ In the summer of 1553, against all odds, Mary Tudor was the first woman to be crowned Queen of England.’Bloody MaryHer moment of glory finally came and she was determined to restore Catholicism and undo both Henry’s and Edward’s reforms, as well as abolish some of their religious laws. Very soon, upon her accession to the throne, she imprisoned many leading reformists. Also, among the first things he had done was to proclaim the marriage between her parents valid. The prosecution of the Protestants began. Consequently, many rich Protestants fled the country, and those who did not, were executed. She appointed Reginald Pole Archbishop of Canterbury. Pole was the son of Mary’s previous governess who was executed during Henry’s reign. Apart from that, Pole was considered a suitor at one point. It was necessary to protect the old religion by reviving some of the laws which Protector Somerset had earlier abolished. Many heretics were considered dangerous to the public peace. The prosecution continued for almost four years. It is believed that it was greater in the southern and eastern parts of the country. Among the victims were Latimer, Cranmer and Ridley, who were known as the Three Martyrs. Not until the death of the Queen Mary did the prosecution cease. (http://www. luminarium. org/encyclopedia/queenmary. htm) As there were about three hundred victims, Mary earned her soubriquet ‘ Bloody’. Despite all her efforts to leave a Catholic heir, her half-sister Elizabeth succeeded, and she was raised a Protestant. The Unpopular MarriageNow, the queen had a task of finding herself a fine husband and producing a Catholic heir. There were some possible suitors such as Edward Courtenay and Reginald Pole. However, the Queen’s choice was Prince Philip of Spain, suggested by his father, Charles V. This marriage was unpopular with the English due to the fact that whoever married the queen, gained a title of a king, became the owner of the property as well, and they acted as a couple, although the king could not act without the queen’s consent. Also, this would only be until the death of a queen. Not that Prince Philip was in any way thrilled because of this, but he was looking for a wife for political reasons. In order to make him the same rank as Mary, the Emperor conceded the crown of Naples and Jerusalem, thus making Mary the Queen of Naples and titular Queen of Jerusalem upon marriage. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England#Spanish_marriage) He had no affection towards Mary, and was younger than her. Sadly, she did love him. They communicated in Spanish, French and Latin due to the fact that Philip spoke no English. The marriage took place two days after their first meeting, on July 25, and they were proclaimed at the ceremony:‘ Philip and Mary, by the grace of God, King and Queen of England, France and Naples, Jerusalem and Ireland, defenders of the faith, Princes of Spain and Sicily, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant, Counts of Habsburg, Flanders and the Tyrol.’(http://tudorhistory. org/mary/queen. html)Phantom pregnancyIn September, the Queen was said to be pregnant. And it did appear so, since her belly was getting bigger, she suffered from nausea and her period stopped. Philip was made regent, which was custom in case of Mary’s death in childbirth. She was, in privacy, waiting for labor pains to start, and doctors predicted the childbirth in June. However, there was no child, as it was concluded when a year had passed after the Queen announced her pregnancy. It was believed that she had suffered from what was called a phantom pregnancy, which came from her strong wish to give birth to a child. Philip soon left England which caused Mary’s depression, since she was deeply in love with him. She wrote to him almost daily. At the age of 42, Mary was certain she was pregnant. Her labor was supposed to happen in March. April came and there were no signs of a baby, and symptoms were fading. The Queen was ill, and her illness advanced. (http://tudorhistory. org/mary/queen. html)Partners both in throne and graveThe Queen was terminally ill and it was believed she had died of cancer. She agreed to pass the crown to Elizabeth and hoped she would maintain the Catholic faith. She died in 1558, at the age of 42. Following her death, Mary was succeeded by Elizabeth, who she would eventually share a tomb with. Although Mary expressed a wish to be buried next to her mother, Catherine of Aragon, she was buried in Westminster Abbey. Later, when Elizabeth died, on their tomb was written:‘ Partners both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection.’