Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary

Jessica Bowe
History project
October 27, 2011

“Bloody Mary” Mary Tutor

In the novel, “Fires of Faith Catholic England under Mary Tutor” by Eamon Duffy, the author centers on the both positive and negative highlights during Marian England. As the book reveals, Mary, the only offspring of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, had an extremely rough life. After trying for a boy for years, Mary remained the only living child from Henry VIII. After he realized he could not conceive a baby boy with his current wife, he moved on and divorced Catherine of Aragon. Their child, Mary was considered a bastard, which made her an illegitimate heir to the throne. Having her title of Princess Mary taken from her as she was perceived as an illegitimate throne, her life unravels with a series of unfortunate events as her siblings, Elizabeth and Edward fought to rule England.
Basically Mary was the child that never got the credit. She was seen as illegitimate throne because her father Henry VIII divorced his wife, and her mother Catherine of Aragon. As her father separated from the church, and created the Church of England, the King Henry VIII changed England to be protestant, as Mary remained a devout catholic. After a series of marriages and divorces to various women, King Henry VIII managed to have 2 other children, Elizabeth (with Anne Boleyn) and Edward (with Jane Seymour). When King Henry VIII fell ill, he left his only male heir, Edward to rule. As her family treated her rather cruelly, forcing her to not speak or see her mother, and banishing her to live in her own house far away, she remained distant from the rest of the Tutors. After Edward, her much younger brother (and godson) Mary was next in line, if Edward was to die young. Ironically, he entered the throne at age 9, and ruled for a short time before becoming sick as well. After his death, Lady Jane Grey took over for a short amount of time. However, she was overthrown by Mary, who took the throne finally at...