Discussion

MARY IN HENRY VIII'S REIGN

Mary Tudor was the only child born to Henry VIII and

Catherine of Aragon to survive childhood. Had she been

born a boy, it is likely that the whole of English history would

have been different (but probably less interesting!).

Mary had a good childhood as a young princess, and was

the center of court attention in her earliest years. But, as

the years progressed and no little brothers followed, Mary's

father began to look into the alternatives. Eventually, Henry

sought an annulment from Catherine, and married his

second Queen: Anne Boleyn. Mary was declared illegitimate

and was to no longer be called "princess", but rather "The

Lady Mary".

When Anne Boleyn gave birth to Elizabeth, Mary was sent to

attend the new young Princess in her household. Soon

Elizabeth would be declared a bastard as well, since her

mother also failed to produce a male heir for Henry.

Shortly after the death of Anne Boleyn, Henry wed Jane

Seymour, who sought to reconcile the King with his two

daughters. Henry and Jane visited Mary and after, she wrote

letters to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (her cousin)

and the Pope stating that her parent's marriage had not

been valid. [Mary was able to get an additional message to

them, in secret, saying that she wrote the letters under

duress.] After that, she returned to court, although her title

of Princess still had not been restored.

In October 1537, Queen Jane gave birth to Edward, Henry's

longed for son and Mary stood as the young Prince's

godmother at the christening. The court was soon plunged

into mourning as Jane died two weeks after Edward's birth.

In January 1540, Mary gained yet another stepmother: Anne

of Cleves. Although they shared different religions (Mary

was Catholic, Anne a Lutheran), the two women became

fast friends and would remain so until Anne's death in 1557.

Unfortunately Anne's marriage to Henry wasn't so long-lived

and she was divorced in July of the same year.

Shortly after the annulment of his marriage to Anne of

Cleves,Henry took another wife [now his 5th], Kathryn

Howard. Kathryn was probably 18 years old, making Mary

six years older than her new stepmother. Mary was

apparently appalled at her father's action and there were

come quarrels between Mary and Kathryn during the young

Queen's reign. That reign turned out to be all too short, as

she was arrested, tried and executed for adultery in 1542.

At this time of emotional upheaval, Mary fell seriously ill and

may have been in danger of losing her life. Her father was

concerned enough to send his own doctors to look after her.

Henry's last Queen was Katherine Parr, who was about four

years older than Mary. They were married in 1543, and she

survived Henry at his death in 1547. All three of Henry's

children attended the wedding at Hampton Court. Mary was

friends with her last stepmother, although they too had

religious differences, as Katherine was a strong supporter of

the Reformed Church.

When Henry VIII began to fall ill, he drafted his will declaring

that Edward would be his heir and Mary was to follow him if

the young Prince were to die childless. Elizabeth was also

included, and she would take the throne if Mary were to die

without an heir. As we know in hindsight, this is exactly what

was to happen.

 

MARY IN EDWARD VI'S REIGN

Henry VIII died January 28, 1547, leaving his 9 year-old son

as King. The young Edward was a supporter of the

Protestant faith, although Mary seems to have hoped at one

point he would see the error of his ways and return England

to the Church of Rome.

Alas, this was not to be. She defied Edward's Act of

Uniformity and openly celebrated Mass, which had been

abolished. Edward and Mary struggled with this issue

through the rest of the King's short reign.

Some time in 1552, Edward began to show signs of the

illness that would eventually claim his life. He was reported

to have a hacking cough that eventually resulted in him

spitting up blood and tissue. Medical historians generally

agree that he had tuberculosis.

Fearing Mary would return the country to the Catholic faith,

powerful men in the realm, such as John Dudley, Duke of

Northumberland and Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk began to

make their plans. Although they made moves to court

Mary's favor, they worked secretly with their own agenda.

Northumberland married his son Guildford to Suffolk's

daughter Jane Grey, who would be in line for the throne

after Mary and Elizabeth. By placing Jane on the throne in

Edward's wake, they thought they would have a puppet they

could control [although Jane seems to have had other ideas

about that!].

Northumberland put his plans into action and convinced

Edward to leave his crown to his cousin Jane.

 

MARY AND 'THE NINE DAYS QUEEN'

Mary realized that a plot was being hatched to place Jane on

the throne. She had been urged by some friends to flee the

country since they feared her life would be in danger. Mary

knew that if she fled, she would forfeit all chances of

becoming Queen and returning England to Catholicism, so

she chose to remain and make a stand for her crown.

Edward died on July 6, 1553. Shortly afterwards,

Northumberland informed Jane at Syon house that Edward

had left the crown to her and that she was now Queen of

England. Mary, meanwhile, was in East Anglia.

Northumberland and three of his sons went to take Mary

into custody. Mary was at this time moving around with a

growing army of supporters. She knew that he must have

confirmation of her brother's death, because it would be

treason to declare herself Queen otherwise. She received

news from a reliable source that Edward was indeed dead,

and promptly sent proclamations throughout the country

announcing her accession to the throne.

Mary went to Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, which was

better fortified. Her number of supporters was increasing

and Mary took time to inspect her troops personally. The

people of Suffolk were flocking to Mary and many of the

leaders who were supposed to take her into custody instead

went and begged for her pardon.

By this time, the Privy Council in London realized their error

in going along with Northumberland's plot and declared

Mary the true Queen of England. She left Framlingham for

London on July 24.