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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Queen Mary Biography MARY I (1516–58). Queen of England from 1553 to 1558. Mary was born at Greenwich, Feb. 18, 1516, and ultimately was the only surviving child of Henry VIII by Catharine of Aragon. Her education was carefully and severely planned, and she learned to converse readily in Latin, French, and Spanish, and knew Italian. When two years of age she was betrothed to the Dauphin of France, afterward to her cousin, Charles V, and finally a treaty was signed providing for her marriage to either Francis I or his second son, Henry. Numerous other proposals were made, but they were rendered futile by the rapid changes in England's foreign relations or by Mary's refusal of a Protestant, until in the end her accession as Queen left her at liberty to choose her own consort. She was twice in danger, owing to her religious convictions—during the period of the divorce of her mother and during the reign of her brother, Edward VI (q.v.). She was a loving child and refused to abandon her mother's cause when Henry VIII divorced Catharine. In the end she was persuaded by her friends with the greatest difficulty to submit to Henry's demands and sign a renunciation of the Pope's authority and her own legitimacy. As a result of her compliance she was received into half favor and given a place in the succession to the crown. During Edward's reign she held uncompromisingly to the old faith, at the cost of much annoyance and the danger of actual persecution. In 1553 she succeeded to the crown, her popularity greatly increased by the attempt of Northumberland to displace her with Lady Jane Grey (q.v.). Mary began her reign firmly resolved to sweep away the religious innovations of her father and half brother. She proceeded throughout in a legal manner and never failed to secure the consent of Parliament to her acts, though during the Tudor period Parliament very imperfectly represented the sentiments of the English people. The mass was restored without opposition in 1553, and the authority of the Pope reëstablished somewhat tardily and reluctantly in 1554. Mary could not persuade the Parliament to restore the Church lands, but she gave back such property as was still in the possession of the crown. This was a greater proof of her sincerity than of her statesmanship, for it impoverished her resources and led to subsequent disasters which touched English pride. Even more disastrous was her marriage in 1554 with Philip, son of Charles V, which was so unpopular that on its proposal a formidable rebellion broke out under the leadership of Wyatt to depose Mary and put Elizabeth on the throne. Philip, who was 11 years younger than Mary, was an uncompromising Catholic. He was extremely unpopular, and repaid Mary's boundless devotion with coldness and neglect. To please him the Queen joined in a war against France, with the result that Calais, the last remnant of the English conquests during the Hundred Years' War, was lost in 1558. It was no disaster of any consequence to England, but to Mary and her subjects it seemed irreparable. In addition to her husband's neglect, the loss of Calais, and her own ill health, Mary's last days were darkened by the religious persecutions which filled the latter part of her reign, in which nearly 300 persons were burnt for their faith and for which she received the name of Bloody Mary. It should not be forgotten that she adopted these measures with reluctance, as a last resort, and that her predecessors and successors were guilty of like practices. She died without issue, Nov. 17, 1558. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XV (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 166. |