Bloody Mary, was she really that bloody?
Born in 1516 to Henry VIII’s first wife Katherine of Aragon, Mary was a much loved child for the first ten years of her life however things were to go slowly downhill as Henry sought a divorce from Katherine of Aragon in order to wed Anne Boleyn this resulted in calamity for the catholic church in England.
Mary was separated from her mother and forbidden to see her at her deathbed when she died in 1536 Mary was inconsolable this was temporarily relieved by the execution of Anne Boleyn a few months later, but it was soon made clear that her father did not view Katherine of Aragon as his wife nor Mary as legitimate heir.
This had a devastating effect on Mary as she spiralled into a deep depression which she was never really able to recover from. She watched as her father married four more times and her former friends and governess were either brutally executed or sent to the tower.
She was however kind to her half-siblings who were motherless and lavished her affection on Edward and Elizabeth and got along well with Henry VIII’s last wife Katherine Parr.
Religion was sadly to drive these siblings who had once been close apart.
Having suffered persecution under her brother’s reign and once contemplated escape Mary found herself excluded from the succession to the throne in favour of her aunt’s granddaughter lady Jane Grey conveniently married to the protector’s son Guilford Dudley which could be said to preserve his own power as well as the protestant faith.
Mary raised an army and deposed them executing lady Jane Grey after the Wyatt rebellion under pressure from the Spanish, Lady Jane was 17 years old when she died. Mary helped to open trade with Russia, Morocco and Guinea reformed and rea quipped the navy however only her sister was to benefit from this as were Mary’s reforms on coinage which were to benefit Elizabeth years later.
The one thing that stands out is Mary’s religious persecution of protestant’s which effect’s her reputation to this day as a bogeyman figure but majority of protestants had fled for which they sniped at her reputation safely from the side lines in foreign countries and the protestants that were killed in England were much less than the Catholics that were tortured and killed under Elizabeth’s reign.
So was Mary really that bloody or just like any ruler of her age.
By Michelle Forbes