Mary I, who was the Queen of England from 1553 to 1558, is also referred to as Mary Tudor or Bloody Mary. Mary’s father was King Henry VIII and her mother was Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s first wife. She was born a Catholic on February 15th, 1516 and was the only child of Henry and Catherine to survive to be an adult. The struggle between the protestant Church of England and the Catholic Church played a major role in her life, marriage and her reign over England. Mary led the life of a typical princess as a child. She was known to have many talents, such as music and dancing, and was well educated. She was also raised a devout Catholic. Like many princesses, Mary’s hand in marriage was offered in several treaties as she grew up. None …show more content…
Orders were also issued to have Mary arrested, forcing her to flee for her life. However, Mary was very popular and it is this popularity that helped her quickly overturn the attempt to put Lady Jane on the throne. Mary was England’s first queen regent, meaning that she became a queen without inheriting her power from a husband. However, her popularity faded quickly because of her persecution of Protestants and her marriage to King Phillip II of Spain. Queen Mary married King Phillip one year after becoming Queen. Charles V, Mary’s cousin and Phillips father, arranged the marriage hoping that they would produce an male heir to the throne that would keep the Catholic Church’s power over England intact. This marriage also formed an alliance between Spain and England. However her subjects, at this time, feared the power of Spain. Mary’s advisors and friends warned her not to marry Phillip but she ignored their advice and the two wed in 1554. This resulted in a short lived rebellion that ended with 100 people, including Lady Jane Gray, being