Bloody Mary Queen of England. Was Bloody Mary as bloody as people think she is? Candidates for husbands

Mary 1 Tudor the Bloody is the Queen of England, the eldest daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. The name of this person is associated with cruel massacres with religious overtones. There is not a single monument in her honor in the queen's homeland. And the day of her death has long been considered a national holiday. Today we will get acquainted with the biography of this interesting person, her family life and methods of government.

historical portrait

When Mary the Bloody came to the throne, the restoration of Catholicism was gaining momentum in England, an integral part of which were repressions against adherents of the Reformation. That is why the queen is often referred to as Mary the Catholic. In 1554, when she married Philip of Habsburg, heir to the Spanish throne, England drew closer to the papacy and Catholic Spain. During the war with France, which the queen waged together with Spain, England lost Calais - the last royal possession in France. Queen Mary the Bloody led her policy contrary to national interests, so she often faced discontent from the nobility and the emerging bourgeoisie in those days.

short biography

The life of the queen was very sad. As a child, she stood out among her peers due to her discipline, desire for knowledge and excellent playing the harpsichord. Henry the Eighth loved the girl very much and admired how talented she was. But when the king married his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Mary's happy childhood came to an end. The girl was removed from the palace, forbidden to communicate with her mother and even forced to renounce Catholicism.

Even then, Maria showed her fighting character. She flatly refused to go on about her stepmother, for which she was severely humiliated. The princess's retinue was dismissed, and she herself was banished to the Hatfield estate. There, the princess became a simple servant under Elizabeth Boleyn, the daughter of Anne Boleyn. The stepmother often allowed insults against Mary, and even assault. Sometimes she was so cruel that she even threatened the life of a young princess. Mary's condition gradually worsened. She was forbidden to see her mother.

Mary Tudor, portrait by Antonis More.

Mary I Tudor (February 18, 1516, Greenwich - November 17, 1558, London), Queen of England from 1553, daughter of Henry VIII Tudor and Catherine of Aragon. The accession of Mary Tudor to the throne was accompanied by the restoration of Catholicism (1554) and cruel repressions against the supporters of the Reformation (hence her nicknames - Mary the Catholic, Mary the Bloody). In 1554, she married the heir to the Spanish throne, Philip of Habsburg (from 1556 King Philip II), which led to a rapprochement between England and Catholic Spain and the papacy. During the war against France (1557-1559), which the queen started in alliance with Spain, England lost Calais in early 1558 - the last possession of the English kings in France. The policy of Mary Tudor, which ran counter to the national interests of England, caused discontent among the new nobility and the emerging bourgeoisie.

Mary Tudor, Mary I (Mary Tudor), Bloody Mary (18.II.1516 - 17.XI.1558), - Queen of England 1553-1558. Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. Mary Tudor, a fanatical Catholic, succeeded to the throne after the death of her brother King Edward VI, crushing a plot by a Protestant faction (in favor of Jeanne Grey, Henry VIII's great-niece). Mary Tudor was supported by a grouping of the old feudal Catholic nobility, who pinned restoration hopes on her and managed to take advantage of the dissatisfaction of the peasant masses with the reformation. The accession of Mary Tudor to the throne was marked by the restoration of Catholicism (1554) and the beginning of a Catholic reaction, accompanied by severe persecution of reformers, many of whom (including T. Cranmer and H. Latimer) were burned at the stake. In 1554, Mary Tudor married Philip, heir to the Spanish throne (since 1556 - King Philip II). The whole policy of Mary Tudor - the restoration of Catholicism, rapprochement with Spain - ran counter to the national interests of England, caused protests and even uprisings (T. Wyeth, 1554). The unsuccessful war (in alliance with Spain) against France (1557-1559) ended with the loss of the port of Calais by England. The death of Mary Tudor prevented an uprising that was being prepared by English Protestants who nominated another daughter of Henry VIII, Elizabeth, as a candidate for the English throne.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 9. MALTA - NAKHIMOV. 1966.

Maria I
Mary Tudor
Mary Tudor
Years of life: February 18, 1516 - November 17, 1558
Reigned: July 6 (de jure) or July 19 (de facto) 1553 - November 17, 1558
Father: Henry VIII
Mother: Catherine of Aragon
Husband: Philip II of Spain

Mary had a difficult childhood. Like all children Henry , she was not distinguished by good health (perhaps this was the result of congenital syphilis received from her father). After the divorce of her parents, she was deprived of her rights to the throne, removed from her mother and sent to the Hatfield estate, where she served Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. In addition, Mary remained a zealous Catholic. Only after the death of the stepmother and the consent to recognize the father as the "Supreme Head of Anglican Church"She got the opportunity to return to the court.

When Mary learned that her brother Edward VI, before his death, bequeathed the crown to Jane Grey, she immediately moved to London. The army and navy went over to her side. A secret council was convened and proclaimed her queen. On July 19, 1553, Jane was deposed and subsequently executed.

Mary was crowned on October 1, 1553 by the priest Stephen Gardiner, who later became Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor. The higher ranking bishops were Protestant and supportive of Lady Jane, and Mary did not trust them.

Mary ruled on her own, but her reign was unhappy for England. With her first decree, she restored the legality of the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. She tried to re-establish Catholicism as the dominant religion in the country. The decrees of her predecessors directed against heretics were extracted from the archives. Many hierarchs of the Anglican Church, including Archbishop Cranmer, were sent to the stake. In total, about 300 people were burned during the reign of Mary, for which she received the nickname "Bloody Mary".

To secure the throne behind her line, Mary had to get married. Philip, the heir to the Spanish crown, was chosen as the suitor, who was 12 years younger than Mary and extremely unpopular in England. He himself admitted that this marriage was political, he spent most of his time in Spain and practically did not live with his wife.

Mary and Philip had no children. One day, Mary announced her pregnancy to the courtiers, but what was taken for a fetus turned out to be a tumor. Soon the queen developed dropsy. Weakened by illnesses, she died of the flu as a not old woman at all. She was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth.

Used material from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/

Mary I - Queen of England from the Tudor family, who ruled from 1553-1558. Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

Married since 1554 to King Philip II of Spain (born 1527 + 1598).

Mary's life was sad from birth to death, although at first nothing foreshadowed such a fate. For children of her age, she was serious, self-possessed, rarely cried, played the harpsichord beautifully. When she was nine years old, businessmen from Flanders who spoke to her in Latin were surprised by her answers in their own language. At first, the father was very fond of his eldest daughter and was delighted with many traits of her character. But everything changed after Henry entered into a second marriage with Anne Boleyn. Mary was removed from the palace, torn away from her mother, and finally demanded that she renounce the Catholic faith. However, despite her young age, Maria flatly refused. Then she was subjected to many humiliations: the princess' retinue was dismissed, she herself, banished to the Hatfield estate, became a servant with Anne Boleyn's daughter, little Elizabeth. The stepmother tore at her ears. I had to fear for her very life. Maria's condition worsened, but her mother was forbidden to see her. Only the execution of Anne Boleyn brought Mary some relief, especially after she, having made an effort on herself, recognized her father as the "Supreme Head of the Anglican Church." Her retinue was returned to her, and she again received access to the royal court.

The persecution resumed when Mary's younger brother, Edward VI, who fanatically adhered to the Protestant faith, ascended the throne. At one time she seriously considered fleeing England, especially when she began to be obstructed and not allowed to say mass. Edward eventually dethroned his sister and bequeathed the English crown to Henry VII's great-granddaughter Jane Grey. Mary did not recognize this will. Upon learning of the death of her brother, she immediately moved to London. The army and navy went over to her side. The Privy Council declared Mary queen. Nine days after her accession to the throne, Lady Gray was deposed and died on the scaffold. But in order to secure the throne for her offspring and prevent the Protestant Elizabeth from taking it, Mary had to marry. In July 1554, she married the heir to the Spanish throne, Philip, although she knew that the British did not like him very much. She married him at the age of 38, no longer young and ugly. The groom was twelve years younger than her and agreed to marry only for political reasons. After the wedding night, Philip remarked: “You have to be God to drink this cup!” He did not, however, live long in England, visiting his wife only occasionally. Meanwhile, Maria loved her husband very much, missed him and wrote long letters to him, staying up late at night.

She ruled herself, and her reign was in many respects the highest degree unfortunate for England. The queen, with feminine stubbornness, wanted to return the country under the shadow of the Roman church. She herself did not find pleasure in torturing and tormenting people who disagreed with her in faith; but she unleashed on them lawyers and theologians who had suffered in the past reign. The terrible statutes issued against heretics by Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V were directed against the Protestants. Since February 1555, bonfires were blazing all over England, on which "heretics" died. In total, about three hundred people were burned, among them the hierarchs of the church - Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and others. It was ordered not to spare even those who, facing the fire, agreed to accept Catholicism. All these cruelties earned the queen the nickname "Bloody".

Who knows - if Mary had a child, she might not have been so cruel. She passionately desired to give birth to an heir. But this happiness was denied to her. A few months after the wedding, the queen thought that she had signs of pregnancy, about which she did not fail to notify her subjects. But what was at first taken for a fetus turned out to be a tumor. Soon the queen developed dropsy. Weakened by illnesses, she died of a cold when she was not at all an old woman.

All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999.

Read further:

England in the 16th century(chronological table).

Historical faces of England(biographical index).

Literature:

Stone J. M., History of Mary I, L.-N. Y., 1901;

Rollard A. F., History of England.... 1547-1603, L., 1910;

White B., Mary Tudor, L., 1935;

Prescott H. F. M., Mary Tudor, L., 1953.

August 22, 2011, 21:57

They say the famous drink is named after her. There is no evidence for this, but let's welcome: Mary I Tudor, she is Mary the Catholic, she is Mary the Bloody - the eldest daughter of Henry VIII from her marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England. Not a single monument was erected to this queen in her homeland (there is a monument in her husband's homeland - in Spain). In her will, she asked for a memorial to be erected, joint for her and her mother, so that, as she wrote, “the glorious memory of both of us would be preserved,” according to the will of the deceased, it remained unfulfilled. November 17, the day of her death and at the same time the day of Elizabeth's accession to the throne, was considered a national holiday in the country for two hundred years, and, before the generation that remembered Queen Mary disappeared from the face of the earth, it was firmly rooted in the minds of the people that the reign of Mary was " short, despicable, and engendered poverty", while her sister's reign "was long, glorious and prosperous". All subsequent years, her name was none other than Mary the Bloody and imagined the life of that time according to the illustrations in Fox's Book of Martyrs, where Catholic executioners torture Protestant prisoners shackled in shackles. Those awaiting execution pray, and their faces are illuminated by ecstatic visions of paradise. However, no one ever called Mary "bloody" during her lifetime. The name of Queen Mary as "Bloody Mary" appears in English written sources only at the beginning of the 17th century, that is, about 50 years after her death! Maria was a very ambiguous person - many tend to justify and consider her unhappy, one thing is certain - she was a woman of difficult fate. Before the birth of Mary Tudor, all the children of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon died during or immediately after childbirth, and the birth of a healthy girl caused great joy in the royal family. The girl was christened in the monastery church near Greenwich Palace three days later, named after Henry's beloved sister, Queen Mary Tudor of France. The first two years of her life, Mary moved from one palace to another. This was due to the epidemic of English sweat, which the king was afraid of, moving farther and farther from the capital. The retinue of the princess during these years consisted of a lady tutor, four nannies, a laundress, a chaplain, a bed keeper and a staff of courtiers. They all dressed in Mary's colors - blue and green. By the autumn of 1518, the epidemic receded, and the court returned to the capital and to its usual life. At this time, Francis I came to the throne in France. He was eager to prove his strength and power, for which he sought to conclude a friendly alliance with Henry through the marriage of Mary and the French Dauphin. Among the conditions regarding the dowry of the princess, one very significant clause was recorded: if Henry did not have a son, then Mary would inherit the crown. This is the very first establishment of her rights to the throne. During the then negotiations, this condition was purely formal and insignificant. Henry still had high hopes for the appearance of a son - Catherine was again pregnant and almost on demolition - and in any case, in those days it seemed unthinkable that a woman by right of succession should become Queen of England. But, as we know, it was this very improbable possibility that turned out to be realized. The queen gave birth to a stillborn child, and Mary continued to be the main contender for the English throne. Mary's childhood was spent surrounded by a large retinue, corresponding to her position. However, she rarely saw her parents. Her high position was slightly shaken when the king's mistress Elizabeth Blount gave birth to a boy (1519). He was named Henry, the child was revered as having a royal lineage. He was assigned a retinue and bestowed titles corresponding to the heir to the throne. The plan for the upbringing of the princess was drawn up by the Spanish humanist Vives. The princess had to learn to speak correctly, learn grammar and read Greek and Latin. Great importance was given to the study of the work of Christian poets, and for the sake of entertainment, she was recommended to read stories about women who sacrificed themselves - Christian saints and ancient warrior maidens. V free time she was engaged in horse riding and falconry. However, there was one omission in her education - Mary was not at all prepared to govern the state. After all, no one imagined ... In his work “Instruction to a Christian Woman,” Vives wrote that every girl must constantly remember that by nature she is “not an instrument of Christ, but of the devil.” The education of a woman, according to Vives (and most of the humanists of that time agreed with him), should be built primarily taking into account her natural sinfulness. This postulate was the basis of Mary's upbringing. The main thing she was taught was how to minimize, soften or hide the fatal depravity of her nature. Inviting Vives to draw up a plan for Mary's education, Catherine first of all had in mind that this education would have to protect the girl, protect her "more reliably than any spearman and archer." First of all, protection was required for Mary's virginity. Erasmus of Rotterdam, who at first considered it unnecessary to give women in England any kind of education, later nevertheless came to the conclusion that education would help the girl “better maintain modesty”, because without it “many, through inexperience, confused, lose their chastity earlier, than realize that their priceless treasure is in danger.” He wrote that where the education of girls is not thought of (of course, girls from aristocratic families were meant), they spend the morning combing their hair and anointing their faces and bodies with ointments, skipping masses and gossiping. By day, in fine weather, they sit on the grass, giggling and flirting "with the men who lie beside them on their knees." They spend their days among "satiated and lazy servants, with very poor and impure morals." In such an atmosphere modesty cannot flourish, and virtue means very little. Vives hoped to keep Mary from these influences and therefore was very great importance gave it to the environment. He insisted that she stay away from male society from early childhood, "so as not to get used to the male sex." And since “a woman who meditates alone meditates at the behest of the devil,” she must be surrounded day and night by “sad, pale and modest” servants, and after classes learn to knit and spin. Knitting was recommended by Vives as a "certainly" tried and tested method of dampening the sensual reflections common to all female beings. The girl should not know anything about the "disgusting obscenities" of popular songs and books, and beware of all kinds of love there, like "boas and poisonous snakes." He advised to instill in the princess the fear of being alone (in order to discourage the habit of relying on oneself); Mary should have been taught to need the company of others all the time and to rely on others for everything. In other words, Vives recommended instilling in the princess an inferiority complex and helplessness. The constant companion of this was to be constant melancholy. In June 1522, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, arrived at the court of Henry. Rich festivities were held in his honor, several months were being prepared for this meeting. It was signed an agreement on the conclusion of the engagement between Mary and Charles (the engagement with the French dauphin was terminated). The groom was sixteen years older than the bride (Mary was only six at that time). However, if Charles perceived this union as a diplomatic step, then Mary experienced some romantic feelings for her fiancé and even sent him small gifts. In 1525, when it became clear that Catherine would not be able to give birth to an heir, Henry seriously thought about who would become the next king or queen. If his illegitimate son had been granted titles earlier, then Mary received the title of Princess of Wales. This title has always been held by the heir to the English throne. Now she needed to manage her new possessions on the spot. Wales was not yet part of England, but only a dependent territory. It was not an easy task to manage it, since the Welsh considered the English conquerors and hated them. The princess left for her new possessions at the end of the summer of 1525 with a huge retinue. Her residence at Ludlow represented the royal court in miniature. Mary was given the responsibility of administering justice and performing ceremonial functions. In 1527, Henry cooled off in his love for Charles. The engagement between him and Mary broke off shortly before Mary's departure for Wales. Now he was interested in an alliance with France. Mary could be offered as a wife to Francis I himself or to one of his sons. Mary returned to London. In the summer of 1527 Henry decided to annul his marriage to Catherine. Mary thus became the illegitimate daughter of the king and lost her rights to the crown. For the next few years, Mary was for Henry a means of putting pressure on the queen. Catherine did not recognize the invalidity of the marriage, and Henry, threatening her, did not allow her to see her daughter. After Henry's unauthorized divorce, Mary's life did not improve at all. He remarried, Anna Boleyn became his new wife, and Mary was sent to serve her stepmother, with whom relations did not work out. But Anna Bollein was executed for adultery and Henry VIII married the quiet and calm Jane Seymour. She gave birth to the king's son Edward, but soon died. After Jane, as I have already said, there was Anna of Klevskaya, then Catherine Howard, and the last - Catherine Parr. Mary's life all this time, by and large, depended on what kind of relationship she had with her new stepmothers. After the death of Henry, Mary was still unmarried, although she was 31 years old. She was the second pretender to the throne after Edward, the son of Henry and Jane Seymour. During the short reign of her younger brother, Mary greatly expanded her circle of courtiers. “The princess’s house is the only refuge of noble young ladies who are not alien to piety and integrity,” says Jane Dormer, one of Mary’s maids, “and the noblest lords of the kingdom seek a place for their daughters from the princess.” Jane slept in Mary's bedchamber, wore her jewels, and cut meat for her mistress. They were very attached to each other, and Mary was disgusted by the very idea that Jane could marry and leave her. Often she said that Jane Dormer deserved a good husband, but that she did not know a man who would be worthy of her. Having ascended the throne, Mary prevented Jane's marriage to the most enviable bachelor of the kingdom, Henry Courtney. Only towards the end of her reign did the queen allow her beloved lady-in-waiting to marry the Spanish envoy, the Duke of Feria. Henry Courtney himself seemed such a tidbit that many considered him a suitable match for Maria herself. But, having come to power at thirty-seven, she turned away from the handsome Courtney, considering him just a spoiled youth. Edward was nine when he ascended the throne. He was a weak and sickly boy. The Duke of Somerset and William Paget became regents under him. They feared that if Mary got married, she would try to seize the throne with the help of her husband. They tried to keep her away from the court and in every possible way set up the young king against her older sister. The main clue for friction was the reluctance of Mary - a devoted Catholic - to convert to the Protestant faith, which was professed by King Edward. In early 1553, Edward showed symptoms of an advanced stage of tuberculosis. The weakened teenager was forced to sign a law on heritage. According to him, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk became queen. Mary and her half-sister Elizabeth - the daughter of Anne Boleyn - were excluded from the contenders for the throne. I have already told the story of the collision between Jane and Maria recently, so I will not dwell on it. Mary ascended the throne when she was 37 - a huge age by that standards - at a time when England, in the opinion of most European monarchs, lost its ability to influence international politics, sliding into the days of the end of the War of the Scarlet and White Roses. The fact is that Henry VIII was able to create the illusion of power and majesty so convincingly that this extended to his state. Under Edward, this illusion dissipated, and when Dudley became the de facto ruler of the country in 1549, the importance of England as a powerful power was completely lost. The strengthening of English territories on the continent required money. At the end of July, Reyar wrote that Maria "cannot find funds for current expenses" and does not know how to pay the disgruntled English soldiers who serve in the garrisons of Hyena and Calais. The government had been on the verge of bankruptcy for many years, and along with the huge balance of payments deficit that Dud-lee had left behind, there were hundreds of debt obligations that had been gathering dust for decades in the office of the royal treasury. Maria found that the government owed "many old servants, workers, officials, merchants, bankers, military leaders, pensioners and warriors." She was looking for ways to pay off old debts, and in September she announced that she would pay the obligations left by the two previous rulers, regardless of the statute of limitations. In addition, Maria took an important step in resolving a multi-year currency crisis. New coins were issued, with a higher content of gold and silver, in accordance with the established standard. The Queen has announced that there are no plans to lower the standard in the future. Of course, these measures made her government even more deeply indebted, and it still remained insolvent, but inflation in the country was brought under control. The exchange rate of the English currency in the financial markets of Antwerp and Brussels began to rise, and in 1553 the prices of food and other goods in England fell by a third. Despite talk of incapacity and inexperience, Maria began to lead and, it seems, not bad. The people were more or less calmed down, religious and economic problems began to be solved. During the first six months on the throne, Mary executed 16-year-old Jane Grey, her husband Gilford Dudley and father-in-law John Dudley. Being by nature not prone to cruelty, Maria for a long time could not decide to send her relative to the chopping block. Maria understood that Jane was just a pawn in the wrong hands and did not at all strive to become a queen. At first, the trial of Jane Gray and her husband was planned as an empty formality - Mary expected to immediately pardon the young couple. But the rebellion of Thomas Wyatt, which followed the trial, sealed the fate of the nine-day queen. Maria could not help but understand that her relative would be a beacon for the Protestant rebels all her life, and reluctantly signed the death warrant for Jane, her husband and father (the latter was one of the participants in the Wyatt rebellion). From February 1555 bonfires blazed. There are many testimonies of the torment of people dying for their faith. In total, about three hundred people were burned, among them the hierarchs of the church - Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and others. It was ordered not to spare even those who, facing the fire, agreed to accept Catholicism. All these cruelties earned the queen the nickname "Bloody". On July 18, 1554, Philip of Spain arrived in England. He met without any enthusiasm his bride, who was ten years older than him, and wished to see the rest of Mary's courtiers. After examining the color of the English sorority, he kissed all the ladies. “Those whom I saw in the palace do not shine with beauty,” said a nobleman from Philip's retinue, repeating the opinion of his master. “The truth is, they are just ugly.” “The Spaniards love to please women and spend money on them - but these are completely different women,” wrote another close associate of the Spanish prince. However, Philip's servants were more struck by the short skirts of the English women - "they look rather obscene when they sit." Spaniards were equally astonished that English women were not shy about opening their ankles, kissing strangers on their first meeting, and, just think, they could dine alone with their husband's friend!. Philip himself was known as a man who knew how to deal tactfully with unattractive women, but his attempts to flirt with Magdalena Dacre, one of Mary's maids of honor, received a sharp rebuff. In the summer of 1554, Mary still got married. The husband was twelve years younger than his wife. Under the marriage contract, Philip had no right to interfere in the administration of the state; children born from this marriage became heirs to the English throne. In the event of the queen's premature death, Philip had to return to Spain. For several months after the wedding ceremony, the queen's close associates were waiting for the news to be announced that Her Majesty was preparing to give the country an heir. Finally, in September 1554, it was announced that the queen was pregnant. But on Easter 1555, several Spanish ladies gathered in the royal palace to be present at the birth of a child, as required by the etiquette of the Spanish royal court. However, at the end of May, there was a rumor that Mary was not expecting offspring at all. According to the official version, there was an error in determining the date of conception. In August, the queen had to admit that she was deceived and the pregnancy turned out to be false. Upon hearing this news, Philip sailed to Spain. Maria accompanied him to Greenwich. In public, she tried to hold on, but, returning to her chambers, burst into tears. She wrote to her husband, urging him to return. In March 1557, Philip returned to England, but more as an ally than as a loving husband. He needed Mary's support in the war with France. England sided with Spain and lost Calais as a result. In January 1558, Philip left for good. Already in May 1558, it becomes obvious that a false pregnancy was a symptom of the disease - Queen Mary suffered from headaches, fever, insomnia, gradually losing her eyesight. During the summer, she contracted the flu, and on November 6, 1558, she formally appointed Elizabeth as her successor. On November 17, 1558, Mary I died. A disease that caused many pains, historians consider uterine cancer or ovarian cyst. The Queen's body was put on display at St. James's. more than three weeks. She was buried in Westminster Abbey. She was succeeded by Elizabeth I. And now some facts for comparison: So, during the years of the reign of Mary's father, King Henry VIII (1509-1547), 72,000 (seventy-two thousand) people were executed in England. During the reign of Mary's younger half-sister and successor, Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), 89,000 (eighty-nine thousand) people were executed in England. Let's compare the numbers again: under Henry VIII - 72,000 executed, under Elizabeth I - 89,000 executed, and under Mary - only 287. That is, "Bloody Mary" executed 250 times fewer people than her father, and 310 times less than her little sister! (True, we cannot say how many executions there would have been if Mary had been in power longer). Under Mary I, allegedly "Bloody", mainly representatives of the elite, such as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and his entourage, were executed (hence the low number of executed, since ordinary people were executed in isolated cases), and under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, repressions went through across the broad masses. Under Henry VIII, the bulk of those executed were peasants driven from their lands and left homeless. The king and lords took away the land plots from the peasants, and turned them into fenced pastures for sheep, since it was more profitable to sell wool to the Netherlands than to sell grain. In history, this process is known as "enclosure". Fewer workers are needed to tend sheep than to grow crops. "Superfluous" peasants, along with land and work, lost their homes, as their houses were destroyed to make room for the same pastures, and were forced to wander and beg in order not to die of hunger. And for vagrancy and begging was established the death penalty. That is, Henry VIII deliberately got rid of the "extra" population, which did not bring him economic benefits. During the reign of Elizabeth I, the mass executions of the homeless and the poor, which resumed after a short break during the reigns of Edward VI (1547-1553) and Mary "Bloody" (1553-1558), were also supplemented by mass executions of participants in popular uprisings that took place almost annually, and also the execution of women suspected of witchcraft. In 1563, Elizabeth I issues the "Act Against Spells, Sorcery and Witchcraft", and a "witch hunt" begins in England. Elizabeth I herself was a very intelligent and educated queen, and she could hardly believe that a woman could cause a storm by removing her stockings (this is not a metaphor, the “Stocking Case” heard in Huntingdon - real case from judicial practice - a woman and her nine-year-old daughter were hanged because, according to the court, they sold their souls to the devil and caused a storm by taking off their stockings). There is a fairly common belief that Mary was denounced as Bloody due to the fact that she was a Catholic. After all, this is not the first time in the history of England that the king is accused of all sins. Richard III is a good example of this. For me personally, Maria will forever remain a woman of unfortunate fate, who was simply prevented from living like a human being. Sources.

Mary Tudor, portrait by Antonis More.

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Maria I
Mary Tudor
Mary Tudor
Years of life: February 18, 1516 - November 17, 1558
Reigned: July 6 (de jure) or July 19 (de facto) 1553 - November 17, 1558
Father: Henry VIII
Mother: Catherine of Aragon
Husband: Philip II of Spain

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Mary had a difficult childhood. Like all children of Heinrich, she did not differ in good health (perhaps this was the result of congenital syphilis received from her father). After the divorce of her parents, she was deprived of her rights to the throne, removed from her mother and sent to the Hatfield estate, where she served Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. In addition, Mary remained a zealous Catholic. Only after the death of her stepmother and the consent to recognize her father as the "Supreme Head of the Anglican Church" did she get the opportunity to return to court.

Used material from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/

Mary I - Queen of England from the Tudor family, who ruled from 1553-1558. Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

Married since 1554 to King Philip II of Spain (born 1527 + 1598).

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She ruled herself, and her reign was in many respects most unfortunate for England. The queen, with feminine stubbornness, wanted to return the country under the shadow of the Roman church. She herself did not find pleasure in torturing and tormenting people who disagreed with her in faith; but she unleashed on them lawyers and theologians who had suffered in the past reign. The terrible statutes issued against heretics by Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V were directed against the Protestants. Since February 1555, bonfires were blazing all over England, on which "heretics" died. In total, about three hundred people were burned, among them the hierarchs of the church - Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and others. It was ordered not to spare even those who, facing the fire, agreed to accept Catholicism. All these cruelties earned the queen the nickname "Bloody".

Who knows - if Mary had a child, she might not have been so cruel. She passionately desired to give birth to an heir. But this happiness was denied to her. A few months after the wedding, it seemed to the queen that she had signs of pregnancy, about which she did not fail to notify her subjects. But what was at first taken for a fetus turned out to be a tumor. Soon the queen developed dropsy. Weakened by illnesses, she died of a cold when she was not at all an old woman.

All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999

(1491-1547). This significant event for the country happened on April 22, and on June 11 the newly-made king tied the knot with Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536). This woman was the daughter of such prominent personalities as Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. It was this couple who founded the united Kingdom of Spain, which became a mighty maritime power.

Catherine of Aragon - Mother of the Bloody Mary

Before her marriage to Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon was married to Prince Arthur, Henry's older brother. But the marriage lasted only 4.5 months. Arthur died on April 2, 1502. After that, the woman was a widow for almost 7.5 years, until there was a need to strengthen the alliance between England and Spain. The second marriage of Catherine with the new English king just became the guarantor of this union.

The crowned couple lived together until January 1533. The main task of Catherine of Aragon was the birth of a son, so that England would receive an heir. But the woman's birth was extremely unsuccessful. She became pregnant for the first time in 1509, and on January 31, 1510, she prematurely gave birth to a dead girl. On the first day of 1511 she gave birth to a boy. But the child lived less than 2 months and died at the end of February.

Henry VIII with his son Edward

After that, for several years the queen could not get pregnant. And only on February 18, 1516 she gave birth to a girl. They named her Mary in honor of Mary Tudor, Queen of France, who was Henry VIII's sister. This is how the future Queen of England, Mary I, was born, nicknamed Mary the Bloody (1516-1558).

The birth of a girl did not bring joy to the English king, as he wanted a boy worthy of an heir. Catherine became pregnant again and in November 1518 gave birth to a girl. But the baby lived only a few hours and died. After that, the queen was no longer able to become pregnant, and the question of the heir to the throne hung in the air.

In 1525, the decision of Henry VIII to divorce Catherine of Aragon began to mature. In 1527, the king finally decided to break off all relations with his wife and recognize the marriage as invalid. The basis for this was dead children, which indicated God's curse on crowned marriage. Yes, it could not be otherwise, because the king married the wife of his late brother. And in the Third Book of Moses “Leviticus” (ch. 20 par. 21) it is said: “If anyone takes his brother's wife: it is vile; he revealed the nakedness of his brother. They will bear their sin, they will die childless.

The king needed to formally divorce his wife, so he brought in the church for this purpose. But the Pope categorically opposed the divorce. Then Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church and declared himself the supreme head of the English Church. In January 1533, the king secretly married Anne Boleyn, who became his second wife. Henry VIII officially broke up with his first wife on May 23 of the same year. Thus, Catherine of Aragon ceased to be Queen of England. This most deplorably affected her daughter Mary, as she lost her right to the crown.

Her father separated her from her mother and settled her in Hatfield, one of the old royal castles. Most of the servants were fluffed up, and the girl turned out to be a poor relative. She did not recognize the king's divorce decision and did not recognize the new queen. In 1536, Catherine of Aragon died, and Mary took a more loyal position towards her father.

In the same year, the second wife of the king, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded. Her daughter Elizabeth also fell out of favor, and Mary managed to restore her position at court. She was given funds for expenses, and the girl was able to dress well and have servants. Her further life began to flow against the backdrop of a change of royal wives.

Henry VIII was extremely greedy for women and changed wives and favorites very often.

In 1547, Henry VIII left the mortal world. At the time of the death of the king, the future Queen of England Mary I was 31 years old. By the standards of that time, she was considered a mature woman, but did not have a husband. The deceased king had a son, Edward (1537-1553), from his 3rd wife, Jane Seymour. It was he who came to the English throne at the age of 9, becoming Edward VI.

The child's health was poor, and his regents did everything possible to remove Mary from the throne. They feared that if a woman marries, she will try to seize the throne. Edward VI was reinstated against the second legitimate heir, and the main motive for hostility was that Mary remained a devoted Catholic and disliked the Protestant faith. And the latter began to dominate in England after the break with the Pope.

Edward was a Protestant, and therefore he began to treat his sister coldly, which completely suited his regents. But in 1553, the young king fell ill with tuberculosis, and it became clear to everyone that he would not last long. They began to look for a replacement for the dying king. They opted for Jane Gray (1537-1554), who was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII and, by succession, stood after Mary and Elizabeth (daughter of Anne Boleyn). But the royal entourage ignored this fact and persuaded Edward VI to exclude both Mary and Elizabeth from the contenders for the throne.

The young king died on July 6, 1553 at the age of 15. The future Queen of England Mary I at that time lived in the royal residence in Hunsdon. She was invited to the funeral of the deceased king, but someone warned the woman that she could be arrested to facilitate Jane Gray's rise to power. As a result of this, Mary hastily left for East Anglia, where she had several estates.

Many adherents of the Catholic faith lived in these places. All these people expressed their readiness to support Mary and proclaim her successor to Edward VI. Meanwhile, on July 10, 1553, Jane Gray was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland. But Mary's supporters took this with indignation and gathered at Fremlingham Castle on 12 July. There is a serious military force, and most of the English nobility went over to her side.

As a result, Jane Gray only lasted 9 days in power. She went down in history as the "queen of 9 days". Mary's supporters overthrew her on 19 July and imprisoned her in the Tower of London. The very same legitimate heir to the royal throne triumphantly entered London on August 3, 1553. She was followed by a huge retinue of 800 representatives of the most distinguished English families. Sister Elizabeth was among them. She kept herself modest and quiet, and no one paid attention to the inconspicuous young girl. Thus began the reign of Mary the Bloody.

Queen of England Mary I (Bloody Mary)

Ruled by Mary I for just over 5 years. She officially came to the throne on July 19, 1553, and died on November 17, 1558. What is remarkable about the years of her reign, and why was this woman dubbed the terrible nickname Bloody Mary? As a child, she received an excellent education. She knew Latin perfectly, could read and write fluently in this language. ancient language. She spoke French, Spanish and Greek. Well versed in music, danced beautifully. Outwardly, she was pretty and had red hair.

Henry VIII, in his own way, was attached to his daughter and more than once told others that she was very attractive. At the age of 6, the girl was engaged to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He was 16 years older than Mary, and few believed in the prospect of such a marriage. Indeed, in 1527 the engagement was broken off. But this did not upset the girl at all. She was more concerned about the relationship between her father and mother, which ended in divorce.

Queen Mary I of England, nicknamed Mary the Bloody

By her nature, Maria was not at all a bloodthirsty and tough woman. When she became queen, the question immediately arose of what to do with Jane Gray and her husband, Gilford Dudley. Initially, Her Majesty decided to arrange a formal trial and pardon young people who were not yet 20 years old. These young creatures turned out to be mere puppets in the experienced hands of the nobles. But in January 1554, the rebellion of Thomas Wyatt began. His goal was to overthrow Mary from the throne.

The uprising was crushed, and Jane Gray and her wife were executed, thereby eliminating dangerous contenders for the English throne. They also cut off the heads of several more conspirators, but Queen Mary I of England forgave most of the rebels. She even brought some former enemies closer to her to help her in governing the country. But as for sister Elizabeth, she was sent to Woodstock Palace, where the girl was actually under house arrest.

As a Catholic, Mary I freed the Catholics languishing in the Tower of London and began rebuilding those destroyed under Henry VIII. Catholic churches. But the queen needed to strengthen her position and win over as many Catholics as possible to her side. The best option was to find a husband in a Catholic country. At the age of 37, the ruler of England married the son of Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain) Philip.

Philip II - husband of Mary the Bloody

The husband was 12 years younger than his wife. In addition, he was distinguished by extreme arrogance and arrogance. To match Philip was his retinue. The English disliked these people, and the English parliament did not recognize the queen's husband as the English king. The wedding of the crowned persons took place on July 25, 1554 at Winchester Cathedral. It is noteworthy that Philip did not know a word of English. Therefore, the spouses communicated in a mixture of 3 languages - Spanish, French and Latin.

When the queen first came to the throne, she declared that she would not force anyone to follow Catholicism. But a couple of months passed, and the main Protestant churchmen ended up in prison. In October 1553, the church doctrine that existed in the country before the break of Henry VIII with the Pope was restored. Accordingly, all of Henry's religious laws were repealed and the English church came under Roman jurisdiction.

But most importantly, the Acts of Heresy were revived. Accordingly, mass executions of Protestants began. The first of them took place in February 1555. Heretics who did not want to accept Catholicism began to be burned at the stake. In total, with the blessing of Mary I, 283 Protestants were destroyed, according to other sources, a little more. For this, the English queen received her nickname Bloody Mary.

Such a policy did not bring the queen popularity among the people. The situation was aggravated by rains and floods, which led to famine. At the same time, tax collection remained at the medieval level, and commercial ties were limited to the coast of Africa. The British did not dare to meddle in other lands, since the Spaniards ruled there, and their king was the husband of Mary. Philip became King Philip II of Spain in January 1556 and, naturally, defended the interests of his kingdom in all foreign policy issues.

In a word, after 5 years of her reign, Queen Mary I of England began to rapidly lose popularity with her subjects. It is not known how it would all end, but circumstances intervened. The queen felt weak and ill in May 1558. There is a version that she had uterine cancer, from which she died on November 17, 1558.

According to another version, the viral fever that swept Europe in 1557 was to blame. This disease had a sluggish form, and the outcome was both negative and positive. In the summer of 1558, the queen's maid fell ill, and when she recovered, Mary I herself fell ill. Unlike the maid, she was not lucky.

The Queen sensed the end was approaching and wrote her will at the end of October. In it she conveyed royalty to his sister Elizabeth. She ascended the throne after the death of Mary I. This woman went down in history as Queen of England Elizabeth I. Under her rule, the country flourished, became powerful and became a great maritime power.

Queen Mary I of England, also known as Mary the Bloody, wanted to be buried next to her mother. But the body was buried only on December 14, 1558 in the chapel of Westminster Abbey. In 1603, Elizabeth I died. In 1606, her coffin was buried next to the coffin of Mary, and the two sisters were next to one tombstone.

A sculpture of Elizabeth was installed on it, and an epitaph was written under it on Latin: "Companions in the kingdom and in the grave, we sisters Elizabeth and Mary lie here in the hope of resurrection." In this way, descendants paid tribute to two prominent women who played an important political role in the 16th century..