"Bloody Mary and the "Virgin Queen"
Mary and Elizabeth Tudor were both, by all accounts, strong and intelligent women endowed with many of the qualities that mark a successful ruler. However, only Elizabeth's legacy is a positive one; her reign has been called the "Golden Age" of England, and she remains a heroine in popular history and even modern film. Mary's reign is scowled at, and seen by most as a brief unpleasant period preceding the glorious ascension of Elizabeth. To account for this, one can examine each sovereign's maternal influences, governing styles, and choices regarding marriage.
Maternal Influence Mary's mother, Katherine of Aragon, has been described as a "staunch woman of misguided principles" (Weir 3).
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She contracted a matrimonial alliance with her nephew Philip, another Catholic monarch (Erickson 331). Their marriage caused a general outcry; the British did not favor Spaniards and feared that, upon their union, Philip would rule England as king; or that, if she died childless, he would seek to seize the throne for himself and his future heirs (337). This seemed a valid fear in light of Mary's traditional feminine deference to male authority, but Mary declared that she would "wholly love and obey the man she married, following the divine commandment, and would not in any way act against his will, but if he tried to interfere with the government of the kingdom she would have to prevent it at all costs" (Erickson 333). For some, this was not enough; and the marriage contract specified that Phillip could not succeed. Thus, Mary was determined to have a say in her own government. However, faith could guide Mary even if her husband could not, and she began to be very influenced by Catholic Cardinal Pole (Erickson 390). "For all men who minimized her authority, Pole was the most blatant" (Erickson 390). Pole gave Mary misguided advice concerning the religious conversion of her realm. "He assumed that the religious situation in England was not unlike that in Italy, where the Protestant heresy had taken rather shallow root and had been decisively crushed by the Papal inquisition" (Erickson 390). He failed to recognize the importance of the fact that a whole
Mary I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. She was claimed illegitimate by her father and was forced to sign papers saying that he had never married her mother (Catherine of Aragon). Mary wasn’t allowed to see her mother and was sent away by Henry VIII. She followed the Catholic ways of her mother and became quite religious. Mary was angered that her father was turning Britain into Protestants. When her father finally died, at the age of 55, Mary tried to convince her 10-year-old brother- Edward- to
In July 1559, Mary and Francis assumed the royal titles of King and Queen of France since Henry II had died. Her happiness was short, after she learned the death of her mother in June 1560. Six months later, her husband King Francis II was also dead. Mary was devastated and extremely depressed. In spite of these personal tragedies, Mary chose to return to Scotland although it was a different country from the one she had left 13 years ago. In Mary’s absence the Protestant party had gained power in Scotland by abolishing the authority of the pope and forbidding the celebration of the Mass.
“ The belief that women were inherently inferior in intelligence, strength, and character was so persuasive that for men like Knox, a woman ruler was almost a contradiction in terms” (“Documents for Chapters 5&6”). In the 16th century, women were looked upon as a gender that should stay in the house and work, not have power and rule over a country. Discussing the govern of Queens during the 16th century, such as Mary Tudor, Lady Jane Grey, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I, allowed prejudices to be lessened but never completely be erased. No matter how these four notable ladies came into power, the accomplishments they overcame, achieved and wrote about proved to be great and substantial in making history as it is written today.
In the stories of “Mary Queen of Scots” and “Elizabeth I”, it is known that Mary and Elizabeth I are two different people, but also the similar in some ways. Both Elizabeth and Mary lived within the same time period and were even related, although their lives ended up completely different. Elizabeth was a well-respected queen with an interesting personal life. Mary on the other hand was convicted of aiding a homicide and had many problems in her personal life. Therefore, Elizabeth and Mary both had some similarities and differences between their early lives and their personal lives.
Elizabeth I is now known as one of the greatest monarchs England ever had, but she faced many disagreements and challenges against her ability to properly control England during her reign because she was a woman. Those religious oppositions against her gender influenced her rule greatly, eventually leading to her regal and authoritative responses. The regal responses reassured the people of her ability to control England, while the authoritative responses reestablished the fact that she was to be the only supreme ruler in England and no one should be allowed to cross her or doubt her power.
During the era of the 1500s, there may have been many queens that ruled many other countries, but one specific queen with stunning looks caught many people, especially men's, attention. She is sometimes called the Virgin Queen but is known as Queen Elizabeth l. She was known because of her father who is King Henry VIII and her sister Queen Mary who controlled England and Ireland, which lead the ruling of England to be passed over to Queen Elizabeth from then she was declared queen in the year 1558 at the age of 25. The only exacerbate of being Queen of England was they were at war with France. Once she became queen, the Act of Supremacy became law at the church of England and at that time the Act of Uniformity was also passed, which was the
During the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I experienced a lot of oppression during her reign in England. Many religious figures opposed the idea of a female ruling a country, saying that it is against God’s will. Other citizens of the country, specifically personal associates of Elizabeth, however, stood behind the queen and admired her bravery, confidence and love for England. Elizabeth responded to the gender ideas in an authoritative way, She had to live with female stereotypes, and used it to her advantage when possible but she asserted that the stereotypes did not completely apply to her and that she was perfectly capable of ruling England.
Throughout most of Mary’s life she had a unique relationship with Elizabeth Queen of England.
Elizabeth’s strength, independence, and her intense willpower to assure that her marriage is coordinated only by love demonstrate the feminist portrayal of Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s desire for
Elizabeth I may not have wanted to set a harsh doctrine in which people had to follow, as Mary I
When Mary was the monarch of Scotland, the Calvinist nobles deposed of her, and she fled to England for safety (Spielvogel 408). Since she was the daughter of Henry VIII’s sister, Mary held a legitimate claim to the throne after Elizabeth. In fact, many Catholics saw Henry’s second marriage to Anne Boleyn as improper, making Mary the more fitting queen for England (Sifakis 1). Seeing opportunity in this woman who “had no intention of altering her faith,” the Catholics plotted to place her on the English throne (Black 68). They took part in many failed assassination plots on Elizabeth, one of them being the Babington Plot of 1586. This nefarious plan held Mary’s controversial involvement, leading to her trial, conviction, and execution (Sifakis 2). With a resolve “to end the threats to her regime,” Elizabeth ended her cousin’s life through a beheading (Spielvogel 408). Both Elizabeth’s decision to get rid of Mary and the construction of religious compromise were Machiavellian because of her pragmatic way of thinking to ensure a successful reign.
Amid the developing Atlantic World, religious upheavals occurred, particularly with Catholic dominance. Mary Tudor's rule was an exceptionally dull time for English Protestants. She was known to be a dedicated Catholic and when she went to the position of authority in 1553 Mary wanted to reestablish Catholicism in England. Several hundred English Protestants were then burned to death, even infants naturally introduced to their religion protestants. Her insidious demonstrations earned her the well and true name, Bloody Mary. However, in modern day religious freedom is more apparent and practiced (Corbett et al.
Born to the King’s 3rd wife in later years her mother was beheaded . she had a good childhood none-the-less then many years later her half sister Mary, (Bloody Mary) (Born to the King’s 2nd wife) was crowned queen . She is called because Bloody Mary was when she was queen she was Catholic and married a Catholic King. Anyone that was not Catholic she would torture them and kill them . When Mary died due to Cancer, Elizabeth was Queen . She was a humble leader who cared about her people. She did many great things like protect her country from invaders like the Spanish Armada. she really was a great Queen to England . She cared so much about her people . This is all summary. You didn’t follow the format at
“She was a king’s daughter, she was a king’s sister, she was a king’s wife, she was a queen, and by the same title a king also” # Mary Tudor was an influential women of her time period. Many in modern society know her for her particularly bad reputation as Bloody Mary, however they do not realize the contributions she made, or her influence on history . The story behind Mary’s reputation gives insight as to her true accomplishments as England’s first queen.
Sixteenth century England experienced a phenomenon sometimes referred to as the Age of Queens. The decisive power of the country was placed in women’s hands and their reigns were watched with a reasonable doubt. There is contrast of rule in terms of reigns between Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth of England, both of whom were engaged in a protracted struggle for the English throne. Beside the legitimacy of their claims, there are more significant considerations which predestined them to either increase or lose their power. The rule and attitudes of the two monarchs bore significant influence upon the times in which they lived, including social, political and legal precedents which were being challenged and in some cases reversed. The fact that both Queens encountered situations of striking similarity, serves as a suitable example for a remarkable comparison, helping to analyze the lives of the two Queens and how their lives diverged as a result of such encounters and their actions thereafter. They were both Queens, struggling for the throne, they were women as well as rivals; they both had affairs with married men, however, one managed a narrow escape from the disgraceful situation, while the other failed to do so. Mary grew to hate Anne Boleyn, mother of Elizabeth, because he took the position of her mother Catharine as Queen of England. Before Elizabeth came to the scene, Mary was loved and was the only child of King Henry VIII of