Bloody Queen Mary
Does Mary deserve the title Bloody Mary?
In many ways Mary deserves the title “Bloody” for her torture and execution of Protestants. However, compared to other Tudor Kings and Queens, Mary killed far fewer of her rebellions than Elizabeth. So was she actually less “Bloody” than other Tudor leaders and therefore not deserving to be remembered by this title. Mary had had a hard life before even taking the throne and as a child had seen her parent’s marriage fall apart and also named a bastard. She had been separated from her mother, Catherine of Aragon, and kept away from the Royal Court by the jealous actions of the Queen Anne Boleyn.
Mary had also seen her mother’s religion and the religion of the whole country changed by her father, Henry the 8th and his advisers. All these situations shaped Mary’s character into one that was disbelieving, cautious and revengeful. Mary certainly grew colder and stricter as she grew older and she clearly dealt harshly with rebellions that questioned her rule and her desire to change England to once again being aligned with the Roman Catholic Church. This was evidenced in the way that many of the rebels who took part in the Wyatt rebellion were executed cruelly.
Mary’s marriage to Philip of Spain, a man whom she clearly loved but who did not love her in return also shaped Mary’s rule. Philip’s many affairs drove Mary, in her loneliness, to become even more extreme in her religious feeling. Philip’s decision to marry Mary was clearly led by his own desire to control England and his own determination to see England entirely Catholic. Her inability to have a child also made Mary more desperate, because without a child she could not ensure the future of England as a Catholic country, and if she died without a heir o the throne it would be given to her sister Elizabeth who supported the opposite religion, Protestant, and all Mary’s hard work and decisions would go to waste. All these issues ensured that
In many ways Mary deserves the title “Bloody” for her torture and execution of Protestants. However, compared to other Tudor Kings and Queens, Mary killed far fewer of her rebellions than Elizabeth. So was she actually less “Bloody” than other Tudor leaders and therefore not deserving to be remembered by this title. Mary had had a hard life before even taking the throne and as a child had seen her parent’s marriage fall apart and also named a bastard. She had been separated from her mother, Catherine of Aragon, and kept away from the Royal Court by the jealous actions of the Queen Anne Boleyn.
Mary had also seen her mother’s religion and the religion of the whole country changed by her father, Henry the 8th and his advisers. All these situations shaped Mary’s character into one that was disbelieving, cautious and revengeful. Mary certainly grew colder and stricter as she grew older and she clearly dealt harshly with rebellions that questioned her rule and her desire to change England to once again being aligned with the Roman Catholic Church. This was evidenced in the way that many of the rebels who took part in the Wyatt rebellion were executed cruelly.
Mary’s marriage to Philip of Spain, a man whom she clearly loved but who did not love her in return also shaped Mary’s rule. Philip’s many affairs drove Mary, in her loneliness, to become even more extreme in her religious feeling. Philip’s decision to marry Mary was clearly led by his own desire to control England and his own determination to see England entirely Catholic. Her inability to have a child also made Mary more desperate, because without a child she could not ensure the future of England as a Catholic country, and if she died without a heir o the throne it would be given to her sister Elizabeth who supported the opposite religion, Protestant, and all Mary’s hard work and decisions would go to waste. All these issues ensured that