Nicknames are generally defined as subterfuge given to a person to better understand their personalities. In order to understand whether Queen Mary deserves her nickname we must first look at her history. Mary I of England was born on February 18th 1516. She was the only surviving child of Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Due to her gender and her mother’s incapability to produce a male heir, they were both cast away. It was after the death of Edward VI in which Mary made a bid for her birthright as heir to the throne. Edward VI and his council intended for his cousin Lady Jane Grey to succeed him because of her protestant faith. However, after only nine days Jane Grey was dethroned by Mary by popular support. During her reign of 5 years, Queen Mary I went to drastic measures to return England to the Roman Catholic faith. Her attempts however were short-lived as they were quickly reversed by her successor and half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I. It was also during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I that Queen Mary I was unfairly given the nickname, Bloody Queen Mary. Therefore Queen Mary did not deserve this nickname because it was a bias depiction of her through the eyes of Queen Elizabeth the protestant who later succeeded her, the 16th century (during her reign) was essentially a brutal time and thus actions should not be highlighted as brutal because of her violent surroundings and due to her gender, Mary had to be brutal in order to maintain respect.
The essential part of this nickname is that it was given by the Protestants who later succeeded her. Alex Haley once wrote “History is written by the winners”. Sadly the legacy of this queen is an unfortunate example of this. It is due to John Foxe’s famous book, Book of Mar...
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...ed in order to prevent any further power struggles. As for the rebels that marched against the city of London, only 100 were executed while 400 were graciously pardoned by Mary. This iron persona that Mary built for herself served her well as there were few cases of rebellion thus forth during her reign.
Nicknames can be given to any person and they can have great effect but are usually underestimated. The reason nicknames are so powerful is because they can sum up a person’s entire character in a few words. When we look back through the pages of history we must be careful and not trust every word of the people who recorded historic events. We must be cautious to weed out the bias and therefore rid famous people such as Queen Mary I of England, first official female head of monarch from false representations that would otherwise stain their good name.
Punk, brat, jerk, dunce and many other words are used seemingly everyday as insults, as well as many words considered racist now. It has also always been disrespectful to call a grown up by their first name. In Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, she says “Every person I knew had a hellish horror of being called out of his name” (109), meaning it can hurt emotionally and/or mentally to be called something that isn't your real name. An example is when Marguerite works for Mrs. Cullinan, she begins to call Marguerite Mary because Margaret was too long of a name (A name that also wasn’t Marguerite’s
Buckingham's rebellion in October 1483 highlighted just how deep his country's mistrust went. Instead of the rebellion been engineered by a high ranking noble (Buckingham only joined the rebellion towards its conclusion) it was now initiated by the common people. Alarming to Richard was the large amount of gentry that joined the rising. The rebellion was quickly crushed however as it was poorly organised and morale broke down within the rebels. Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham was caught and executed by Richard.
Although the opposition was potentially serious it mounted to very little. Henry and Cromwell ensured that these small isolated pockets of discontent both inside and outside of court were eliminated and that persistent defiant individuals were executed. In addition the Pilgrimage of Grace amounted to nothing as the rebels did not wish to battle, in addition the King’s promise to offer pardons and restore some monasteries appealed to the rebels. It can therefore be concluded that although the opposition to the Henrican reformation was rife it posed little threat to Henry thanks to the quick response and actions of Cromwell who pinned down opposition in its early stages.
Castor, Helen. She-Wolves: The Women who Ruled England before Elizabeth. N.p.: Harper Collins Publishers, 2011.
At the start of Elizabeth’s reign she began by making selections for her council. In her predecessor’s, Queen Mary’s, council was all staunch Catholics because Mary wanted all o...
Isaacs, Lynn. “ Queen Isabella I of Spain.” Prof. Pavlac’s Women’s History Site. King’s College, 31 May 2008. Web. 1 May 2014.
Most people argue that she was “bloody” for killing protestants for her own religious reasons but that is all that people argue. Many believe killing for religious reasons makes it that much worse than just killing enemies, rebels, those who threaten the throne, or wives who can not bear a son.(Loach) But isn't all killing bad? Mary infact only killed approximately 57 protestants a year for a 5 year time period.
Elizabeth’s relationship with her elder male cousin, the Duke of Norfolk, was not good at all. The Duke of Norfolk wanted to kill Elizabeth because he wanted to become the king of England. Becoming the king of England was impossible while Elizabeth was still the queen. When Mary was on her deathbed with cancer the Duke of Norfolk tried to get Mary to sign a paper that would allow him to kill Elizabeth and become King of England. The Duke of Norfolk would speak against Queen Elizabeth and try to turn England against her. At one meeting she had to lock him and his men up so he wouldn’t cause a disturbance. They both had their differences.
Described by Briscoe (2000), Elizabeth I is considered to be one of the country’s most successful and popular monarchs. Unlike the reign of her sister Mary, which was by and large disastrous, Elizabeth made herself a powerful image of female authority ‘through the embellishment and through concrete policies that she urged her nation to follow’ (Jagger (1995)). Her policies could be attributed to the rigorous education she received as a child, which included history, languages, moral philosophy, theology and rhetoric. Her tutor Roger Ascham believed her mind to have no ‘womanly weaknesses, and her perseverance and memory to be equal to that of a man’ (Jagger (1995)). As an adult however, although very intelligent, ruthless and calculating at times, she was also renowned for her indecisive nature. This was due to the fact that ‘she sought peace above all other objects’ (Johnson (1974) p2): a trait, which many historians believe to have come from her father.
Elizabeth didn’t believe in the accusation and she refused to execute Mary. Secretly, Mary was found guilty and she was sentenced to be beheaded (Plaidy, Haws English Capti. par 1 Return to Scots par 1). Before Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587, she wrote a four page letter to her brother-in-law Henry III King of France. Overall, Mary had a very complicated and hard life (Briley par
In 1553, Elizabeth’s half brother, Edward, died at the age of nine. Shortly after, Elizabeth’s half sister took the throne. Her name was Mary. Mary caused many problems for England. Mary believed that England should follow one religion and anyone who did not follow this religion would be executed. Mary was Catholic. She later got the nickname “bloody Mary” because she killed so many Protestants. This caused a problem for Elizabeth because she was Protestant. Many people who did not believe the Catholic faith thought that Elizabeth was the rightful ruler and plotted against Mary. The leader of this plot was named Thomas Wyatt. He was organizing a rebellion and soon Mary found out of this plan. She then had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London. Elizabeth told her sister she had no idea of the plot but her sister would not believe her. When soldiers came to get Elizabeth and take her to the Tower, she was so scared Elizabeth literally would not move.
After reading the novel “Tudors Versus Stewarts: The Fatal Inheritance of Mary, Queen of Scots by Linda Porter I have decided that although there are many positive and negative characteristics that may be chosen to represent Queen Mary in my opinion these are the four characteristics that will best describe the powerful and unforgettable Queen Mary of Scotland.
for the rights of women, and she even brought her own family into the rebellion to assist her in
Queen Elizabeth I was an extremely intelligent, strategic leader and a woman who proved to England numerous times that she possessed the power of a great ruler. Elizabeth’s reign is looked back on as a Golden age, in which the power of the sea was harnessed and appreciated, and the Elizabethan Renaissance emerged bringing with it an extensive education system and laws supporting the poor. Queen Elizabeth reigned as a successful ruler in England for forty five years, strengthening protestantism and challenging gender, power and politics.
Queen Elizabeth I never had the conventional childhood that most do since it was filled with death, abandonment, and harassment. Elizabeth’s life was a struggle since she was born because her dad, Henry the 7th,