Queen Mary I of England was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon; she succeeded her half-brother, Edward VI, to the throne. She restored the establishment of Roman Catholicism and was known as “Bloody Mary†for her cruel prosecution of Protestant dissenters, including the burning at the stake of hundreds. The divorce of Mary’s parents essentially deemed her illegitimate at the age of 17, and she was stripped of her title and goods and right to the throne. Upon Edward VI’s early death, their cousin, Lady Jane Grey, was briefly installed as queen, however, popular sentiment for Mary assured her own ascension to the throne (as well as the execution of poor Lady Jane). Then the rampage began and the forcible restoration of Catholicism as the religion of the land was begun. In 1554, Mary married Philip II of Spain, a union which failed to produce a child. She seemed to be in love with him, but such was not the case with him. Upon her death at age 42, he wrote, damningly: “I felt a reasonable regret for her death.†Others did not. Elizabeth I became queen and Protestantism was swiftly reintroduced to the land.
