The Tragedy Of Queen Mary

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.

On Friday, May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn, former Queen of England, was executed for high treason and adultery, her head severed from her body by an expert swordsman, the only concession given her by her ex-husband King Henry VIII. How, in so short a time, had the woman that Henry had defied the religious tradition of England for, divorcing his wife and changing the history of religion in his country, whom he pursued relentlessly for years, fallen so far, so quickly? To understand one must examine Henry’s desperate need for a male heir, understand the politics of the time, and the personality of Anne Boleyn herself. Anne’s involvement with religion, politics, foreign affairs and fashion are still being seen centuries after her death. Filled

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.

Introduction: Provides background on Mary Queen of Scots and explains why her execution was controversial

The New Reformation was an era with new ideas and feud between religions. In the 1500s, England believed in brand new things. Autocrats enforced the eulogized religion. Academies taught religions authorized by autocrats. Failing to comply with the eulogized religions is punishable by confinement, laceration, and death penalty. Complying with the wrong religion has its own risks for privy treasure, laxity, and vitality. Queen Mary accepted the Catholic religion and charred the Protestants alive and victimized them. Queen Elizabeth accepted and allowed Protestantism to be a religion. Queen Elizabeth allowed people to accept the Catholic religion without being persecuted. The Catholics desired to substitute Mary and replace Queen Elizabeth. (Linda Alchins, Religion in Elizabethan England, paragraph # 3). Catholics thinks that

Queen Elizabeth had to be harsh and strict with Catholics, more than she would have preferred in order to maintain peace in England (Elizabeth R). Although Queen Elizabeth was nice, she could also be very strict. When Catholics rebelled she reacted quickly, she had them killed, took away their properties, or imprisoned them. After years of rebellion and fighting, England became a Protestant Country in the early 1600’s (Pitchard 103). “The significance of the Elizabethan religious settlement is that it was able to hold the vast majority of the people together, despite being a compromise few would have chosen” (Elizabeth I).

In comparison to Queen Mary’s ruthless policy over Protestant subjects, Elizabeth adopted a cautious if not liberal policy towards Catholicism. The general consensus of many historians is that Elizabeth did not really care about what her subjects believed as long as they kept their religious views to themselves. Doran (1994 et al) bring to light instances when Protestants, exiled under the previous reign, were invited to preach on public occasions, while Catholic preachers were simply harassed or arrested. Nevertheless Catholics received far lighter punishments for their beliefs.

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.

The history of Maryland is closely related to religious freedom and toleration. Many of the first Europeans to arrive in Maryland did so in order to escape religious persecution in England. Maryland thus came to be considered the birthplace of religious freedom in America. However, residents of Maryland, along with many people throughout the world, continue to face challenges to religious freedom. Since the early settlers of this area were motivated by religious freedom and toleration, Maryland has grown into a center of religious activity in which issues and challenges regarding religion remain important to the people of Maryland today.

After Edwards’s death in 1553 his half-sister Mary I (1516-58) became Queen. Mary who was a devout Catholic began to undo the changes that Edward and Henry had started and set the nation back to the Catholic faith. During her reign (1553-1558) hundreds of Protestants, who refused to turn Catholic, were burned at the stake, this led to Mary acquiring the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’ (Steele & MacDonald, 2007).

After her father’s death, Mary’s Edward, her half-brother took power. She was able to be queen because her half-brother Edward restored her claim, despite Protestants trying to choose someone else. Queen Mary the first did many things in the short time she was in power. Queen Mary only ruled for five years, which was a short empowerment for someone. According to Ryan Lindbuchler, (departments.kings.edu/womens_history/marytudor.html), Mary was the first reigning queen since the disputed Mathilda in the 12th Century. Mary got the nickname Bloody Mary because during her reign, she had more than three hundred people burned at the stake for heresy because they refused to covert to being Catholic (departments.kings.edu/womens_history/marytudor.html). Most historians consider her reign to be very unfruitful in that she never was able to fulfill her dream of returning England to the Roman Catholic Church since her attempt to convert back to Catholicism was stopped after her death(departments.kings.edu/womens_history/marytudor.html).When she was about 37 years old, she was to be married King Philip II of Spain. Two times, Mary was believed to be pregnant, but she never had really children despite desperate attempts to

As the first queen regnant of England, Mary was in uncharted waters. While searching for direction, Mary decided that she needed to bring England back to the church of Rome. Her first step was to marry Philip of Spain, but her advisors preferred Courtenay, her cousin. Parliament was also against a Spanish marriage, but Mary was adamant and said “My marriage is my own affair (Simons).” Even though Mary insisted that her marriage was for her to decide, there was still conflict. Thomas Wyatt led a Protestant rebellion intent on preventing her marriage. Her advisors recommended she leave London for her safety, but Mary stayed firm and gave a speech at Guildhall that persuaded the people of London that Wyatt was a traitor, and they should support her. The people barred Ludgate and Wyatt and his rebels were forced to surrender (Whitelock). Mary used the support of her people to marry Philip and restore Catholicism, but their support was temporary (“Historic Figures: Mary I (1516-1558)”). Overall, the public was unsupportive of Mary’s marriage, and her popularity declined severely when she repealed several of Henry’s religious laws and implemented a heresy law. While enforcing the law, Mary ordered over 300 Protestants to be burned at the stake, which earned her the famous nickname, “Bloody Mary” and lost her the last of her support (“Mary

Elizabeth I was illegitimate daughter of King Henry VIII and her lover Ann Bolen. Elizabeth had as her predecessors to her sister Mary I and then her brother-in-law Philip II who was king of Spain. Mary I was closely related to the Catholic Church and she strongly defended her catholic principles. She carried out a massacre against Protestants and for that reason she is known as “Bloody Mary”.

“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