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4 | <Section>
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5 | <Description>
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12 | <Metadata name="Language">en</Metadata>
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14 | <Metadata name="Page_topic">Queen Mary I of England half-sister of Elizabeth I 'Bloody Mary' : Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources 1553-1558</Metadata>
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15 | <Metadata name="Content">Queen Mary I: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources 1553-1558</Metadata>
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16 | <Metadata name="Author">Marilee Mongello</Metadata>
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17 | <Metadata name="Title">Queen Mary I: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</Metadata>
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18 | <Metadata name="FileFormat">HTML</Metadata>
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19 | <Metadata name="URL">http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/mary1.html</Metadata>
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21 | <Metadata name="dc.Subject">Tudor period|Monarchs</Metadata>
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33 | </Description>
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34 | <Content>
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35 |
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36 | <table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" height="667">
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37 | <tr>
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38 | <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
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39 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="29">
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40 | <p align="center"><font size="4"><br>'In thee, O lord, is my trust, let me never be
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41 | confounded: if God be for us, who can be against us?' <BR></font><I><FONT
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42 | size=-1>Mary Tudor's constant exclamation as queen of England</FONT></I></p>
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43 | <p>&nbsp;</td>
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44 | <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
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45 | </tr>
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46 | <tr>
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47 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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48 | <td width="50%" height="3">
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49 | <p align="center">
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50 | <img border="0" src="_httpdocimg_/mary1cardinal.gif" alt="Queen Mary I" width="455" height="109"></td>
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51 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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52 | </tr>
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53 | <tr>
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54 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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55 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="610">
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56 | <p align="center">
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57 | <img border="2" src="_httpdocimg_/elizsister.jpg" alt="portrait of Queen Mary I, by a follower of Anthonis Mor, c.1555-58" width="350" height="522"></p>
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58 | <blockquote>
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59 | <p>&nbsp;</p>
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60 | <p><A
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61 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2fmary1.html#Biography">
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62 | <font size="4">Read the biography of Queen Mary I</font></A><font size="4">.</font></p>
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63 | <p><A
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64 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2fmarygovt.html">Marian
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65 | government policies and religious legislation</A>.&nbsp; </p>
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66 | <P><B><br>Primary Sources</B> <BR>Read
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67 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fprimary1.html">the letter Mary
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68 | wrote to Henry VIII, acknowledging her illegitimacy,</a> <A
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69 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmaryspee.html">her speech at the
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70 | Guildhall</A>, and&nbsp;<A
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71 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmarydesc.html">a contemporary
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72 | description of the queen</A>. <BR>Read <A
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73 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fletters.html">a letter from
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74 | Katharine of Aragon to her daughter</A>.</P>
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75 | <p>Visit <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.marileecody.com%2fmary1images.html">Tudor
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76 | England: Images</a> to view portraits of Mary, with commentary. <BR><br>Visit
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77 | the <A
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78 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2faragon.html">Katharine of
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79 | Aragon site</A> to learn more about Mary's mother. <BR>Visit the <A
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80 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2frelative%2fjanegrey.html">Lady Jane
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81 | Grey</A> site to learn more about Mary's cousin.<br>Visit the
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82 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2feliz.html">Queen
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83 | Elizabeth I</a> site to learn more about Mary's half-sister.</p>
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84 | <p></p>
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85 | <P>Test your knowledge of Queen Mary's life at <A
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86 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2ftudor1.html">Tudor Quizzes</A>.</P>
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87 | <P><br><font size="2"><b>Links&nbsp; <br></b>
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88 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fhome.earthlink.net%2f%7eelisale%2findex.html">Mary Tudor</a>&nbsp;
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89 | A comprehensive exploration of Mary's life, featuring a lengthy
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90 | biography and numerous portraits.&nbsp; It also has ancillary studies of
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91 | music, portraiture, genealogy, etc</font></P>
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92 | <p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
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93 | </blockquote>
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94 | </td>
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95 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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96 | </tr>
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97 | </table>
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98 |
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99 | <blockquote>
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100 | <blockquote>
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101 | <blockquote>
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102 | <p><A name=Biography></A></p>
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103 | <hr>
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104 | <p><font size="4">'You have four certain and open enemies: the heretics
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105 | and schismatics, the rebels and adherents of the duke of Northumberland,
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106 | the king of France and Scotland, and the Lady Elizabeth.'&nbsp; </font><i>
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107 | <font size="2">the Imperial ambassador Renard to Queen Mary, 1553</font></i></p>
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108 | </blockquote>
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109 | </blockquote>
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110 | </blockquote>
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111 | <blockquote>
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112 | <blockquote>
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113 | <blockquote>
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114 | <hr>
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115 | <p><B>Biography</B> <BR><FONT
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116 | face="Times New Roman,Times">The sad life of England's first female
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117 | ruler is rendered even more tragic in comparison with her half-sister
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118 | and successor's reign.&nbsp; Poor Mary Tudor, destined - like her
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119 | half-brother and predecessor - to languish between those two giants of
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120 | English history, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.&nbsp; Yet there is much to
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121 | warrant even a brief examination of her life and reign.&nbsp; Though her
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122 | hated half-sister would outshine her in virtually every sphere -
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123 | physical, political, intellectual, artistic - Mary also had a formidable
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124 | impact upon English history.&nbsp; Throughout the first thirty-seven
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125 | years of her life, she was tossed about by the whims of her father and,
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126 | later and perhaps more galling, her Protestant brother and his
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127 | council.&nbsp; It was perhaps inevitable that when she first tasted real
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128 | power, the experience would be both intoxicating and unfortunate.</FONT>
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129 | </p>
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130 |
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131 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">When Mary came to the throne, she
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132 | was thirty-seven years old.&nbsp; She had never been married though, in
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133 | her youth, several matches had been suggested and abandoned.&nbsp;
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134 | Contrary to later beliefs, Henry VIII was pleased with her birth in
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135 | 1516, proudly displaying the infant Mary to visiting ambassadors and</FONT><IMG height=387 alt="Princess Mary, age 28, painted by Master John"
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136 | src="_httpdocimg_/maryage28.jpg" width=300 border=2 align="right"><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">
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137 | noblemen.&nbsp; It was only years later, with Mary as his sole
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138 | legitimate offspring, that Henry began his desperate search for a
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139 | son.&nbsp; This search would forever brand him as a misogynist and cruel
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140 | tyrant who discarded, divorced, and beheaded the women who did not bear
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141 | him sons.&nbsp; But one must be fair to Henry and judge him by the
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142 | standards of his time, which certainly his contemporaries did.&nbsp; He
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143 | was only the second Tudor monarch and, as such, he understood the
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144 | necessity of stabilizing the English throne.&nbsp; Indeed, his father
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145 | had only won the crown in 1485, barely thirty years before Mary's
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146 | birth.&nbsp; And if Henry VII, born the unprepossessing earl of
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147 | Richmond, could steal the crown then his son's actions can be
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148 | understood.&nbsp; Above all else, Henry VIII was determined the crown
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149 | would remain in Tudor hands.&nbsp; Mary, like her half-sister Elizabeth,
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150 | was always recognized as his daughter.&nbsp; But England had never had a
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151 | woman ruler, one who ruled in her own right without a male consort or as
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152 | regent for an infant son.&nbsp; The only possible precedent was Matilda,
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153 | Henry I's heir, and the precedent was not good - Matilda was expelled by
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154 | the English barons and her cousin Stephen of Blois was made king.&nbsp;
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155 | Though this had happened four centuries before, its lesson was still
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156 | valid.</FONT>
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157 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">With this in mind, Henry's
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158 | treatment of Mary's mother becomes - if not palatable - at least
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159 | understandable.&nbsp; Certainly the petty cruelties and humiliations he
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160 | forced upon her were his own doing but the overall aim was to ensure the
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161 | Tudor succession.&nbsp; But all this happened years after Mary's
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162 | birth.&nbsp; From 1516 to about 1530, Mary led a happy, sheltered
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163 | life.&nbsp; She was considered one of the most important European
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164 | princesses and Henry used her as every king used his daughter - as a
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165 | pawn in political negotiations.&nbsp; She was also well-educated with a
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166 | fine contralto singing voice and great linguistic skill.&nbsp; Her
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167 | mother, Katharine of Aragon, was deeply devoted to Mary.&nbsp; This was
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168 | a reflection of Katharine's strongly domestic nature as well as the
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169 | numerous miscarriages she suffered.&nbsp; Any mother would naturally
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170 | love a child but Katharine had lost enough children to make her
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171 | especially devoted to the one who survived.&nbsp; When Henry proposed
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172 | the idea of divorce, Katharine fought it passionately, not least because
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173 | divorce would destroy her daughter's future.&nbsp; Katharine was the
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174 | youngest daughter of those great Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand of Aragon
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175 | and Isabella of Castile, the 'Catholic Kings' who united Spain
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176 | geographically and spiritually.&nbsp; Through her mother, she could
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177 | trace her lineage to John of Gaunt, that legendary figure in English
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178 | history.&nbsp; She grew up as an Infanta of Spain; and, unlike Henry,
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179 | her claim to royalty was not a mere few decades old.&nbsp; As such, she
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180 | was naturally proud and dignified.&nbsp; Mary inherited this pride as
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181 | well as her mother's enduring affection for Spain.&nbsp; When she became
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182 | queen, this affection was to have terrible consequences.</FONT>
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183 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Educated by her mother and a ducal
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184 | governess, Mary was at last betrothed to her cousin, the Holy Roman
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185 | Emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain.)&nbsp; Charles made the
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186 | unfortunate demand that she come to Spain immediately, accompanied by a
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187 | huge cash dowry.&nbsp; Henry ignored the request and Charles jilted
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188 | Mary, concluding a match with a more accommodating princess.&nbsp;
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189 | Meanwhile, Henry invested his daughter as Princess of Wales in 1525 and
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190 | she held court at Ludlow Castle.&nbsp; With this decision, Henry meant
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191 | to soothe Katharine's fears that Mary's position as the only legitimate
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192 | Tudor heir was being undermined.&nbsp; Only a few weeks before the
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193 | investiture, Mary had attended a ceremony in which her father ennobled
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194 | his illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, as duke of Richmond (among various
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195 | other titles.)&nbsp; And though he sharply rebuked Katharine for
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196 | criticizing his open affection for Fitzroy, and the accompanying titles
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197 | and wealth he gave the boy, Henry did not neglect his daughter.&nbsp; In
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198 | fact, Mary was the first princess of Wales, and the first female royal
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199 | to hold court at Ludlow.&nbsp; But of course, sending Mary to Wales was
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200 | not the same as sending a son and heir; Henry never intended her to rule
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201 | England, at least not as its sole ruler.&nbsp; Her role in Wales would
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202 | be primarily symbolic, and she would be replaced as soon as he had a
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203 | legitimate male heir.&nbsp; This elusive son - Henry's most fervent wish
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204 | - occupied his mind even as he continued to scour Europe for a suitable
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205 | husband for Mary.</FONT>
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206 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Yet even as new betrothal plans
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207 | were being made, the king's attention was increasingly elsewhere.&nbsp;
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208 | Henry had met Anne Boleyn, daughter of a simple knight and sister of a
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209 | former mistress.&nbsp; His passionate attraction to Anne, coupled with
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210 | the increased need for a male heir, made Henry restless.&nbsp; He looked
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211 | at Katharine, nine years his senior and as domestic as Anne was exotic,
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212 | with new eyes.&nbsp; At first he sought a quiet, amicable annulment of
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213 | their long
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214 | marriage.&nbsp; Certainly such a decision was not revolutionary; Henry
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215 | could cite numerous examples in European history where kings had
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216 | annulled marriages to barren queens.&nbsp; Since he and Katharine had a
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217 | mutual respect and affection for one another, Henry anticipated her
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218 | cooperation.&nbsp; Certainly he would tread with delicacy but - in the
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219 | end - his will would be done.</FONT>
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220 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">But Henry had not anticipated his
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221 | wife's immediate and intense anger.&nbsp; For he had based his argument
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222 | upon theology - in short, Henry argued that because Katharine had been
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223 | briefly married to his brother, Arthur, her marriage to Henry was
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224 | incestuous.&nbsp; Katharine responded that this matter was already
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225 | resolved.&nbsp; Before she wed Henry, the Pope had granted a
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226 | dispensation.&nbsp; He did so under political pressure from Henry VII
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227 | and Ferdinand - but also because Katharine swore she and Arthur had
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228 | never consummated their marriage.&nbsp; In short, she was a virgin when
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229 | she wed Henry, a fact Henry would be certain to know.&nbsp; Cynics could
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230 | not help but mock the King's sudden attack of conscience, occurring some
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231 | twenty years into the marriage and in the midst of his affair with Anne
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232 | Boleyn.</FONT>
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233 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">
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234 | <img border="0" src="_httpdocimg_/aragonhorenbout1.jpg" alt="portrait of Katharine of Aragon by Lucas Horenbout" align="left" width="329" height="324">It would be impossible to argue
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235 | that Anne had no role in his decision.&nbsp; In his mid-thirties, Henry
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236 | had entered into the most passionate romantic attachment of his
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237 | life.&nbsp; Indeed, after her death, he would complain that Anne had
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238 | 'bewitched' him.&nbsp; It was true that Henry displayed an intensity of
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239 | feeling toward her which shocked their contemporaries.&nbsp; Today we
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240 | can read his love letters to her; across the span of four centuries,
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241 | they retain their power.&nbsp; Anne was not beautiful but she possessed
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242 | greater gifts - she was witty, graceful, and stylish.&nbsp; She had been
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243 | educated at the glittering French court so she sang and danced
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244 | beautifully, skills which Henry admired.&nbsp; She was also very
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245 | intelligent and confident.&nbsp; Unlike her older sister Mary, Anne
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246 | Boleyn had no desire to be the king's temporary mistress.&nbsp; In fact,
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247 | she had intended to wed Henry Percy, heir to the earl of Northumberland,
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248 | until the king - already enchanted - put a stop to the match.&nbsp; He
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249 | wrote to Percy's father, arguing against the unsuitable match.&nbsp; A
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250 | knight's daughter wed to one of the most important peers of the
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251 | realm?&nbsp; Percy's angry father immediately sent for his son, ending
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252 | the romance but not the attachment.&nbsp; Percy wrote poetry about Anne
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253 | and, at her trial, he had to be carried from the room.&nbsp; Unlike the
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254 | other peers, he could not bear to sit in judgment of her.&nbsp; For
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255 | Anne, the loss of Percy was undoubtedly galling.&nbsp; After all, had
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256 | the king ended the engagement simply to make her his mistress?&nbsp;
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257 | Henry's disregard for her personal feelings, his interference in her
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258 | personal life, was not endearing.&nbsp; But it convinced Anne of the
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259 | king's attraction and she resolved to be his wife or nothing.</FONT>
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260 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">For Mary, the sudden ascent of
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261 | Anne Boleyn signaled the end of her world.&nbsp; Her beloved mother,
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262 | equally loved by the English people, was being forced aside by a former
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263 | lady-in-waiting.&nbsp; Her father was determined to declare her a
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264 | bastard; in effect, Henry's charge of incest dissolved his marriage and
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265 | illegitimized his daughter.&nbsp; In the midst of this, Mary developed a
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266 | lasting hatred of Anne Boleyn which extended to Anne's daughter,
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267 | Elizabeth.&nbsp; She never openly blamed her father for his actions,
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268 | though she considered them unlawful and impious.&nbsp; Instead, she
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269 | persuaded herself that he had been Anne Boleyn's pawn.&nbsp; Such a
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270 | reaction was perhaps inevitable.&nbsp; However, it was to have an
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271 | unfortunate impact upon Elizabeth's life.</FONT>
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272 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">The Pope refused to recognize
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273 | Henry's argument for an annulment or divorce and thus began a power
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274 | struggle between the Vatican, Spain, and England.&nbsp; Katharine's
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275 | nephew, Charles V, naturally agreed with his aunt for personal and
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276 | political reasons. He exerted considerable military and political
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277 | pressure against the Pope.&nbsp; Henry's numerous petitions were
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278 | disregarded.&nbsp; Eventually he simply gave up and decided the matter
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279 | himself.&nbsp; In 1534 Henry took the unprecedented step of breaking
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280 | with Rome, establishing the Church of England with himself as Supreme
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281 | Head.&nbsp; The annulment was granted and Katharine and Mary were
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282 | officially outcasts.</FONT>
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283 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">In the meantime, Mary continued
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284 | her somewhat restricted life.&nbsp; Despite her declared illegitimacy,
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285 | Henry continued to propose various husbands for her.&nbsp; The searches
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286 | were not particularly thorough or serious, however, and Mary remained a
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287 | spinster.&nbsp; She was now in her late twenties, leaving behind her
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288 | youth and - most importantly for a woman - her safest reproductive
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289 | years.</FONT>
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290 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Even before the official decree,
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291 | Henry had stopped living with Katharine and recognizing her as
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292 | Queen.&nbsp; He took Anne Boleyn with him to France to meet his rival
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293 | Francis I; this was an important state visit and her appearance was
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294 | commented upon.&nbsp; Henry, however, had already ordered Katharine to
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295 | surrender her jewelry; Anne now wore it.&nbsp; He also sent Katharine to
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296 | one decaying residence after another, dismissing several of her devoted
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297 | servants.&nbsp; Though deprived of her title, home, jewels, and
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298 | companionship, Katharine never recognized the divorce.&nbsp; She refused
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299 | the title of Princess Dowager, offered by Henry as recognition of her
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300 | marriage to Arthur, Prince of Wales.&nbsp; She continued to assert that
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301 | she and Arthur had never consummated their marriage.&nbsp; And, above
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302 | all else, she professed faith in the judgment of the Pope.&nbsp; A
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303 | devout Catholic, daughter of the monarchs who introduced the Inquisition
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304 | to Spain, Katharine never acknowledged the Church of England.&nbsp;
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305 | Since she had raised her daughter to be equally devout, Mary also
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306 | refused to acknowledge both the Church and her father's position as
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307 | Supreme Head.</FONT>
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308 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">It should be noted that Henry
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309 | VIII, though ostensibly head of a new church which overthrew the
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310 | Catholic supremacy, remained a devout Catholic</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times"> throughout his
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311 | life.&nbsp; He continued to attend Mass and heartily despised 'heretics'
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312 | like Martin Luther.&nbsp; But Henry possessed the ability to separate
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313 | the secular from the spiritual, a quality which Mary completely lacked
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314 | and Elizabeth honed to fine perfection.&nbsp; Though his son would
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315 | become a bigoted Protestant determined to stamp out Catholicism and his
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316 | eldest daughter a bigoted Catholic determined to stamp out
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317 | Protestantism, Henry was a Catholic who lapsed when it suited him.&nbsp;
|
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318 | Of course, he always asserted theological justification for the lapses.&nbsp;
|
---|
319 | However, he would not allow Katharine or Mary to deny his authority.&nbsp;
|
---|
320 | Both paid a stiff penalty for their refusal to submit.&nbsp; Katharine,
|
---|
321 | as noted, was sent from court and deprived of all accustomed luxuries.&nbsp;
|
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322 | Mary was equally disgraced.&nbsp; Now a bastard, declared such by
|
---|
323 | Parliament, she was denied any communication with her mother and made
|
---|
324 | lady-in-waiting to Anne and Henry's daughter, Elizabeth.&nbsp; Unlike
|
---|
325 | Mary, Elizabeth was recognized as a Princess of the realm.&nbsp; For the
|
---|
326 | seventeen-year-old Mary, the complete reversal of her fortune was
|
---|
327 | devastating.&nbsp; She began to suffer from a variety of illnesses,
|
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328 | undoubtedly stress-related.&nbsp; These plagued her until her death,
|
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329 | causing such symptoms as severe headaches, nausea, insomnia, and
|
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330 | infrequent menstruation.</FONT>
|
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331 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Anne took an equal dislike of
|
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332 | Mary.&nbsp; It was a simple fact that if Anne and Elizabeth's fortunes
|
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333 | rose, Mary's would fall.&nbsp; After all, Elizabeth was legitimate only
|
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334 | if Mary was not, and vice versa.&nbsp; Anne would have been foolish to
|
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335 | encourage any reconciliation between Henry and Mary, quite possibly she
|
---|
336 | did the opposite.&nbsp; But after her fall from grace, Henry offered to
|
---|
337 | pardon Mary and restore her to favor - but only if Mary acknowledged him
|
---|
338 | as head of the Church of England and admitted the 'incestuous
|
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339 | illegality' of his marriage to Katharine.&nbsp; To Mary's credit, she
|
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340 | refused to do so until her cousin, Charles V, persuaded her
|
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341 | otherwise.&nbsp; <A
|
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342 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fprimary.html">She gave in to
|
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343 | Henry's demands</A>, an action she was to always regret.&nbsp;
|
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344 | Meanwhile, Katharine of Aragon had died at Kimbolton Castle, loving -
|
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345 | and defying - Henry to the last; <A
|
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346 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fletters.html">her final letter</A>
|
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347 | to him was signed 'Katharine the Queen.'&nbsp; Katharine and Mary had
|
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348 | not seen one another for years though they had written one another,
|
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349 | against Henry's orders, in great secrecy.&nbsp; Katharine's last
|
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350 | thoughts were undoubtedly of her daughter.</FONT>
|
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351 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Henry, however, was soon
|
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352 | reconciled to Mary.&nbsp; Flush with marriage to the meek Jane Seymour
|
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353 | and her quick pregnancy, he welcomed Mary home.&nbsp; She was given a
|
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354 | household befitting her position as his daughter and included in court
|
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355 | festivities; there were even rumors of a possible marriage in her
|
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356 | future.&nbsp; Jane Seymour encouraged Henry's reconciliation with both
|
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357 | of his daughters.&nbsp; Mary, in turn, respected and liked the new
|
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358 | queen.&nbsp; She was named godmother to Henry and Jane's son, Prince
|
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359 | Edward, born in October 1537; and when Jane died shortly after her son's
|
---|
360 | birth, Mary was the chief mourner.&nbsp; Their friendship was not so
|
---|
361 | unlikely.&nbsp; They were relatively close in age and Mary, having lost
|
---|
362 | her mother and longing for her father's affection, was grateful for any
|
---|
363 | kindness.&nbsp; Furthermore, she had the satisfaction of knowing
|
---|
364 | Elizabeth, too, was bastardized; Anne Boleyn's execution on charges of
|
---|
365 | incest and treason had illegitimized her daughter.&nbsp; It is revealing
|
---|
366 | to note that, upon her ascension, Mary revoked the Act of Parliament
|
---|
367 | which made her a bastard.&nbsp; Elizabeth, upon ascension, didn't bother
|
---|
368 | to do so.</FONT>
|
---|
369 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">However, Mary and Elizabeth were
|
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370 | not forgotten.&nbsp; After Jane's death, Henry determined the line of
|
---|
371 | succession as follows:&nbsp; first, Edward or Edward's heirs; if Edward
|
---|
372 | died without issue, the throne passed to Mary; after Mary, to
|
---|
373 | Elizabeth.&nbsp; Henry recognized the fragility of his succession,
|
---|
374 | resting as it did upon just one son.&nbsp; He, after all, was a second
|
---|
375 | son.&nbsp; But there was little he could do.&nbsp; His fourth marriage,
|
---|
376 | to Anne of Cleves, had ended disastrously.&nbsp; She was too
|
---|
377 | unnattractive for the king so she was titled 'the king's sister' and
|
---|
378 | given a generous pension.&nbsp; Anne preferred this solution to
|
---|
379 | returning home.</FONT><IMG height=352
|
---|
380 | alt="portrait of Queen Mary I" src="_httpdocimg_/mary1-cr.jpg" width=270
|
---|
381 | align=right border=2><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">&nbsp; Soon
|
---|
382 | enough, Henry's attentions were captured elsewhere.&nbsp; He wed
|
---|
383 | Catherine Howard, cousin to the infamous Anne Boleyn.&nbsp; It was a
|
---|
384 | pathetic match.&nbsp; Henry was old enough to be her grandfather,
|
---|
385 | plainly in lust with a young woman who exuded sex appeal.&nbsp; Mary's
|
---|
386 | opinion on the match is not known but it would be safe to assume that
|
---|
387 | even if she disapproved, she would never say so.&nbsp; Mary recognized
|
---|
388 | her father's secular authority as king even as she disapproved of his
|
---|
389 | spiritual authority as head of the English Church.&nbsp; In any case,
|
---|
390 | there was barely time to know Catherine before she, too, was executed on
|
---|
391 | charges of adultery.&nbsp; Whether she was guilty is a matter of
|
---|
392 | conjecture; if she was, one can hardly blame her and, if she wasn't, she
|
---|
393 | was yet another blot upon Henry's conscience.&nbsp; In her defense, she
|
---|
394 | refused the easy path of divorce.&nbsp; Henry offered to recognize a
|
---|
395 | pre-contract with another nobleman.&nbsp; If she, too, recognized it,
|
---|
396 | their marriage would be invalid.&nbsp; Catherine would be divorced but
|
---|
397 | still alive.&nbsp; She refused to admit such an arrangement, however,
|
---|
398 | and met her end at the Tower of London.</FONT>
|
---|
399 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Henry's last queen was the
|
---|
400 | Protestant Katharine Parr, twice-widowed and chosen for her excellent
|
---|
401 | character and nursing abilities.&nbsp; Like Jane Seymour, Katharine Parr
|
---|
402 | was determined to bring the royal family closer together.&nbsp; To that
|
---|
403 | end, she provided the only true home and maternal guidance Edward and
|
---|
404 | Elizabeth would ever know.&nbsp; She also befriended Mary, a difficult
|
---|
405 | task because of their opposing religious beliefs.&nbsp; Mary, however,
|
---|
406 | did respect Katharine's intellectual accomplishments.</FONT>
|
---|
407 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Katharine Parr was the product of
|
---|
408 | the changing climate in Tudor England.&nbsp; When he ended Catholic
|
---|
409 | supremacy in England, dissolving the monasteries and granting their
|
---|
410 | lands to various nobles and the crown, Henry had begun a process whose
|
---|
411 | end he never foresaw.&nbsp; As mentioned, Henry never became a
|
---|
412 | Protestant.&nbsp; But his decision to use Protestantism for his own ends
|
---|
413 | allowed Protestantism to flourish.&nbsp; Toward the end of his reign,
|
---|
414 | there were few councilors who could remember the Catholic
|
---|
415 | supremacy.&nbsp; They had benefited from the break with Rome, both
|
---|
416 | spiritually and materially; Henry, meanwhile, never understood the force
|
---|
417 | he had unleashed.&nbsp; When Katharine made the mistake of arguing about
|
---|
418 | theology with him, she came very close to losing her head.&nbsp; Only a
|
---|
419 | timely intervention and her own impassioned apology saved her.&nbsp; But
|
---|
420 | upon Henry's death and Edward's ascension, the Protestant faction was in
|
---|
421 | control.&nbsp; The new king, just nine years old, had Protestant tutors
|
---|
422 | and a Protestant step-mother.&nbsp; Indeed, Edward VI is revealed in his
|
---|
423 | journal as a priggish, unfeeling boy who noted the executions of his
|
---|
424 | uncles with no trace of compassion.&nbsp; His letters to Katharine Parr,
|
---|
425 | however, are the only examples of feeling and affection which he left
|
---|
426 | behind.&nbsp; To her, he confided his insecurity and
|
---|
427 | vulnerability.</FONT>
|
---|
428 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Katharine Parr's influence on
|
---|
429 | Edward VI was to simply strengthen the Protestantism which his tutors
|
---|
430 | and the English court encouraged.&nbsp; For Mary, the situation was
|
---|
431 | disastrous.&nbsp; Edward, swayed by religious fervor and his advisors,
|
---|
432 | made English compulsory for church services.&nbsp; Mary continued to
|
---|
433 | celebrate Mass in the old form and in Latin.&nbsp; During the six years
|
---|
434 | of her brother's reign, she tread the fine line between piety and
|
---|
435 | treason.&nbsp; Edward attempted to reason with her at court yet she
|
---|
436 | refused his advice.&nbsp; Indeed, she was a woman in her thirties and he
|
---|
437 | was still a child.&nbsp; Edward was also under the control of the Duke
|
---|
438 | of Somerset, Jane Seymour's staunchly Protestant brother.&nbsp; Though
|
---|
439 | Henry VIII's will had specified a specific group of councilors to guide
|
---|
440 | his son's regency, his wishes were disregarded.&nbsp; His fellow
|
---|
441 | councilors, most of whom had profited from the Catholic expulsion,
|
---|
442 | titled Somerset Lord Protector.&nbsp; The nine-year-old king had no deep
|
---|
443 | affection for his uncle; Somerset kept Edward short of pocket money and
|
---|
444 | hired harsh tutors who regularly beat the boy.&nbsp; But their religious
|
---|
445 | sympathies were similar.&nbsp; Mary managed to disregard the combined
|
---|
446 | pressure of Somerset and Edward, largely because she stayed away from
|
---|
447 | court.&nbsp; Her brother was firm with her.&nbsp; He told her she was
|
---|
448 | misguided and occasionally threatened her.&nbsp; Mary was intelligent
|
---|
449 | enough to not risk open disobedience, preferring the quiet celebration
|
---|
450 | of Mass in her country home.&nbsp; Meanwhile, in 1549, Somerset had
|
---|
451 | overstepped his authority and was executed.&nbsp; His fall was largely
|
---|
452 | engineered by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick and soon-to-be Duke of
|
---|
453 | Northumberland.&nbsp; From then on, Edward was under Dudley's
|
---|
454 | control.</FONT>
|
---|
455 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Edward VI ruled for just seven
|
---|
456 | years.&nbsp; The last year of his life was one of near-constant pain and
|
---|
457 | suffering.&nbsp; Various illnesses have been suggested, </FONT>
|
---|
458 | <FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">consumption
|
---|
459 | being the most likely.&nbsp; He had never been of robust health, unlike
|
---|
460 | his father, and the Protestant councilors did all they could to prolong
|
---|
461 | his life.&nbsp; To that end, Edward was given arsenic and various other
|
---|
462 | poisons which were believed to prolong life even as they increased
|
---|
463 | suffering.&nbsp; For Dudley and his supporters, Edward's death was
|
---|
464 | inevitable but they needed every available moment to prevent Mary from
|
---|
465 | ascending the throne.&nbsp; They were not fools and knew their fate with
|
---|
466 | a Catholic queen.&nbsp; Dudley hurriedly married his son Guildford to <A
|
---|
467 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2frelative%2fjanegrey.html">Lady Jane
|
---|
468 | Grey</A>, Edward VI's Protestant, scholarly cousin.&nbsp; Like Edward,
|
---|
469 | Jane was a pawn in Dudley's schemes.&nbsp; She was the granddaughter of
|
---|
470 | Henry VIII's younger sister Mary Tudor and, thus, a remote claimant to
|
---|
471 | the English throne.&nbsp; Working together, Edward and Dudley
|
---|
472 | disregarded Henry VIII's will yet again and barred both Mary and
|
---|
473 | Elizabeth from the succession.&nbsp; In turn, Edward willed the throne
|
---|
474 | to Jane and her heirs.&nbsp; When he finally died, Jane was declared
|
---|
475 | Queen by Dudley and the Protestant lords.</FONT>
|
---|
476 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">Jane Grey's ascension to the
|
---|
477 | throne lasted but nine days.&nbsp; Though the Protestant councilors were
|
---|
478 | not fond of Mary's religious views, many still regarded her as the
|
---|
479 | rightful heir.&nbsp; She was, after all, Bluff King Hal's daughter.&nbsp;
|
---|
480 | Like her mother, Mary had enormous sympathy from the English people, a
|
---|
481 | gift she was to squander recklessly.&nbsp; Many viewed her as the poor
|
---|
482 | victim of Anne Boleyn's scheming, a quiet, kindly, and pious woman.&nbsp;
|
---|
483 | It should be noted that </FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">the
|
---|
484 | English people cared not so much for her religious views as they did her
|
---|
485 | parentage.&nbsp; She was the old king's child and therefore, she should
|
---|
486 | follow Edward to the throne.&nbsp; This loyalty to Mary's dynastic
|
---|
487 | claims was something she never fully understood.&nbsp; As queen, Mary
|
---|
488 | was capable of both extreme affection and disdain for her English
|
---|
489 | subjects.</FONT>
|
---|
490 | <P><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times">With Jane declared queen, Mary
|
---|
491 | fled to Norfolk.&nbsp; Though her closest friends advised against it,
|
---|
492 | she soon decided to ride to London and stake her own claim to the
|
---|
493 | throne.&nbsp; The people of London welcomed her ecstatically.&nbsp; Mary
|
---|
494 | arrested Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley, though she displayed her
|
---|
495 | typical leniency by not immediately executing them.&nbsp; When Jane's
|
---|
496 | fugitive father attempted to lead an uprising for her, Mary had him
|
---|
497 | executed along with John Dudley.&nbsp; Jane and Guildford, however,
|
---|
498 | remained in the Tower of London.</FONT>
|
---|
499 | <P>&nbsp;<P>
|
---|
500 | <HR width="100%">
|
---|
501 |
|
---|
502 | <blockquote>
|
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503 |
|
---|
504 | <P align="left"><b>
|
---|
505 | <font face="Times New Roman,Times">
|
---|
506 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fprimary.html">The PRIMARY
|
---|
507 | SOURCES section contains many documents related to Queen Mary:</a></font></b> <BR>
|
---|
508 | <FONT
|
---|
509 | size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times"><B>-</B>read a letter to Mary from her mother, Katharine of
|
---|
510 | Aragon</FONT> <BR><FONT
|
---|
511 | size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times">-read the entire text of Mary's letter to her father, in which
|
---|
512 | she acknowledged Henry as head of the church of England, the dissolution
|
---|
513 | of his marriage to Katharine of Aragon &amp; her own illegitimacy (a
|
---|
514 | letter she later disavowed)</FONT> <BR>
|
---|
515 | <FONT size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times">-read a journal entry of
|
---|
516 | Edward VI, in which he recorded a religious dispute with
|
---|
517 | Mary</FONT> <BR><FONT
|
---|
518 | size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times">- read a letter from Catherine Parr to Mary</FONT>
|
---|
519 | <BR><FONT size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times">-read Mary's speech
|
---|
520 | at the Guildhall, in which she asked for loyalty in the face of Wyatt's
|
---|
521 | uprising</FONT> <BR>
|
---|
522 | <FONT
|
---|
523 | size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times">-read a letter from Lady Jane Grey to Mary, in which Jane
|
---|
524 | explains the circumstances which led to her becoming queen for nine
|
---|
525 | days</FONT> <BR><FONT
|
---|
526 | size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times">-read about the executions of Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford
|
---|
527 | Dudley</FONT> <BR><FONT
|
---|
528 | size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times">-read about the execution of Archbishop Thomas
|
---|
529 | Cranmer</FONT> <BR><FONT
|
---|
530 | size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times">-read a contemporary description of Mary I</FONT>
|
---|
531 | <BR><FONT size=-1 face="Times New Roman,Times">etc.</FONT>
|
---|
532 |
|
---|
533 | </blockquote>
|
---|
534 |
|
---|
535 | <P align="center"><font size="2">Visit <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.marileecody.com%2fmary1images.html">Tudor
|
---|
536 | England: Images</a> to view portraits of Mary, with commentary. </font>
|
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537 | <CENTER>
|
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538 | <P><FONT size=-1><A
|
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539 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs.html">to Tudor
|
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540 | Monarchs</A></FONT> <BR><FONT size=-1><A
|
---|
541 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor.html">to Tudor
|
---|
542 | England</A></FONT></CENTER>
|
---|
543 | </blockquote>
|
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544 | </blockquote>
|
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545 | </blockquote>
|
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546 |
|
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547 |
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548 |
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549 | <!-- text below generated by server. PLEASE REMOVE --><!-- Counter/Statistics data collection code --><script language="JavaScript" src="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fhostingprod.com%2fjs%5fsource%2fgeov2.js"></script><script language="javascript">geovisit();</script><noscript><img src="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;el=direct&amp;href=http://visit.webhosting.yahoo.com/visit.gif?us1108082562" alt="setstats" border="0" width="1" height="1"></noscript>
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551 | </Content>
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552 | </Section>
|
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553 | </Archive>
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