Princess Mary Tudor

Mary Tudor, known as Queen Mary I or Bloody Mary, ruled from 1553 until her death in 1558. She was the first female monarch of England. As the only surviving child of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, Mary was quickly entangled in European politics, being betrothed to the Dauphin of France at the age of two. However, the engagement never led to marriage, and she remained unmarried for much of her life.

 

Mary was a well-educated Catholic (thanks to her mother), fluent in Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian, and was skilled at playing the lute and clavichord. Despite her accomplishments, her life was fraught with difficulties.

 

By 1531, Mary was prevented from seeing her mother, to whom she remained steadfastly loyal. At the age of 17, in 1533, she was declared illegitimate following the annulment of her father’s marriage to Katherine. Henry's new wife, Anne Boleyn, gave birth to Elizabeth, and Mary was subsequently forced to serve as a lady-in-waiting to her infant half-sister. Further indignity followed in 1536 when, due to her desperate circumstances, she had to write a letter to her father, acknowledging her illegitimacy, recognizing the divorce from her mother, and accepting Henry’s authority as head of the Church.

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When in 1537 Henry eventually produced a son, Edward, who superseded Mary’s right to inherit the throne, she was re-established in the line of succession. After her half brother Edward VI's death in 1553, Lady Jane Grey was briefly seated on the throat, mostly at the behest of the powerful Duke of Northumberland who was interested in promoting his own dynastic line. Mary quickly marched on London, dethroning Lady Jane Grey after just nine days. 

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Queen Mary I's rule was a bloody one. In her attempt to restore Catholicism in England, Mary burned nearly 300 protestants at the stake. Her crusade was cut short when she died of stomach cancer which she sadly mistook as a pregnancy in 1558.