Bloody Mary

The sole surviving child of Henry the VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry claimed that Mary the 1st was not of his issue after his marriage to Anne Boleyn, and while Mary was removed from succession to the throne, she was eventually reinstated in 1543 by both Henry’s will and a parliamentary law called Third Act of Succession.

When Mary’s half-brother Edward assumed the throne at the tender age of nine, Edward, like his now dead father, wrote Mary from succession to the throne, naming his Protestant cousin Lady Jane Grey as next in line to be queen.

Mary Ascends the Throne

In what many historians believe to be a brilliant coup d’état of political wrangling, after Edward’s untimely death, Mary ascended to the throne as the first non-consort Queen of England.

A devout Catholic despite her father’s Protestant reforms, Mary reverted the nation back to Catholicism, restoring papal supremacy while reinstating Roman Catholic bishops. She also revived old heresy laws to solidify her religious reconversion of England, earning her nickname Bloody Mary when she ordered nearly 300 alleged heretics burned at the stake.

Bloody Mary Weds Philip of Spain

The fourth royal in the line of Tudor succession, at age 37, Mary wed Philip of Spain in 1554, primarily to produce an heir that would prevent her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth from succeeding her to the throne.

That same year, Mary faced a Protestant rebellion led by landowner Thomas Wyatt, who was later executed at Tower Hill, while Mary’s half-sister Elizabeth was imprisoned at the Tower of London for her alleged involvement in Wyatt’s plot.

An Heirless Monarchy

On April 30th, 1555, celebrations broke out throughout London on reports that Mary had given birth to a healthy son. The rapidly-spreading rumor proved false, while Mary’s apparent infertile condition later inspired Phillip to live a carefree life in various European destinations.

During Mary’s five-year reign, she successfully restructured the British economy, revitalized the navy, reorganized the militia and adroitly managed parliament. At the same time, Mary ensured that the crown would continue along the legal line of Tudor succession.

She passed away on November 17th, 1558, most likely from cancer, which made her half-sister Elizabeth the new queen of England, making the short life of Bloody Mary, a reign of terror for British Protestants everywhere.