Mary Tudor: King Henry VIII

Mary Tudor was born on February 18, 1516, to King Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. She was the only surviving child of Henry and Katherine, as well as the eldest child of Henry VIII. After her parents divorced, there were a lot of legal issues concerning the legitimacy of Mary’s claim to the throne, and she did not become Queen for quite some time. At first, Mary was a good, kind queen, and the people were glad to be under her rule. Mary Tudor was a ruthless queen that lived in fear and let it control her as well as drive her motives and actions. While Mary was not the only child of Henry and Katherine, whe was the only surviving child. Since England was under the control of the Catholic Church at the time her parents were wed, and at

Since divorce was not a thing accepted by the church, Henry had the rules “altered” to fit his needs. It was decided that since Katherine had first been married to Henry’s brother, her marriage to Henry was null and void. But this left the question of Mary. Since she was indeed Henry’s child, and his only surviving one at the time, it was questioned if she still had a claim to the throne, seeing as she was also Katherine 's child. None of this mattered, however, seeing as though, in the end, she still became queen anyway. After her younger half-brother, Edward (Henry’s son from a different marriage) died, Mary was proclaimed Queen on July 19, 1553, upon which she promptly ordered a crucifix to be set up in the Parish Church. She was 37 at the time. Her official coronation was on October 1, 1553. Her first official act was to repeal the divorce of King Henry VIII and Katherine of

She began secret negotiations with the Pope soon after becoming queen. At first, Mary was a good, kind queen, and the people were glad to be under her rule. That is, right up until the Wyatt rebellion, after which, the fear that overcame Mary led to the burning of the Protestants. Mary decided to marry her cousin, Philip of Spain. However, rumors were started that there were uprisings against the Spanish match. Sir Thomas Wyatt demonstrated that these rumors were true by leading a rebellion. He was supported by the people of London, and with said support, he decided to march on London. When he realized that the bridges were heavily guarded, he was asked to surrender, and so he did. Her attitude changed completely when she sensed that she could not feel completely safe until all heretics were shown the outcome of disobedience. By Christmas of 1554, Parliament had passed ‘An Act for the Renewing of The Three Statuses made for the Punishment of Heresies’. Which translates to say, the Act for the Burning of Heretics of 1401 was reinstated. The Burnings began in February of 1555. The enforcement of this heresy law resulted in the burning of over 300 protestants as heretics. The majority of people had changed religion assuming it was their duty to do as their sovereign told them. However, they had great respect for those willing to be martyrs. They lined the roads as the