Queen Mary I Of England

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A few centuries ago, rulers were very important and recognized by society such as King Arthur, Henry VIII and today, Queen Elizabeth the II. Queen Mary I of England was one of those figures of authority back in the 1550’s and is still remembered to this day as “Bloody Mary”. Mary’s wasn’t always easy, and her job as Queen wasn’t simple either. She had to face many obstacles in her personal life and had to take many important decisions during her time as Queen. Despite Mary being royalty, her life was definitely not a fairy-tale. Mary was born on February 18th 1516, at Greenwich Palace, in England. Henry VIII, who was King of England, was Mary’s Father and her mom was Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was Henry’s first wife out of six other …show more content…

Before Mary was even crowned Queen, people such as John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland and Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk had already made plans in case that Mary would try to return the catholic faith to England. Both men had advised Edward to appoint Jane, who was also Edward’s cousin, as his next successor, and he did. (http://www.biography.com/) Both Dukes thought that by putting Jane in control that they could use her as a puppet and orchestrate what they wanted, when they wanted. Mary’s friends feared for her life but, Mary knew that if she fled she would lose her chance of being crowned Queen and all her chances of returning England Catholicism. As a result, Mary decided to stay and make a stand for her crown. Right before Jane Grey was going to be crowned Queen of England, the Privy Council in London had realized that they were playing part in Northumberland’s and Suffolk's plan. As a result, the council declared Mary as true Queen of England. Mary was crowned on October 1st 1553. Mary was ready to stop at nothing to return England to Roman Catholicism. (http://tudorhistory.org/mary/) Mary put in place a strict heresey law; which forced all citizens of England to no longer practice Protestantism. As a result, 300 Protestants were executed or burnt because they failed to comply with Mary’s expectation. This is why she is best known today as “Bloody Mary”. (http://www.biography.com/) During her time as Queen, Mary lost Calais to the French. Calais was the last remaining English possession in France. This city served as an important port for English goods like wool, entering the Continent. Calais was formally lost in the reign of Elizabeth I under the Treaty of Troyes. (http://tudorhistory.org/) Mary died November 17, 1558, at St-James Palace in London. Mary’s half sister, Elizabeth, took over as Queen of England in 1558. All this to say that Mary doesn't seem to have made a positive impact on her

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