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Mary I was born the 18th of February in 1516. She was the Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. Mary had a hard life, she was seen as the only legitimate daughter of King Henry VIII. When he sought a divorce from Katherine of Aragon, he made her step down as queen saying the marriage was never legitimize making Mary the illegitimate daughter. She lost her title as princess and was sent away from the castle to be a lady in waiting for her step sister, Elizabeth I. When Henry VIII died he left his only son Edward VI to reign and if he was to die without an heir then Mary was to be the next in line.
During the reign of Edward VI, the Church of England was still broken away from Roman and he favored Protestantism while Mary was still a very proud Catholic. Edwards reign didn’t last because he became ill and passed away at a young age. He had made a last attempt to keep England protestant and keep Mary off the throne. They put Lady Jane Grey on the throne but her reign only last nine days before Mary was crowned and she was beheaded for treason. Mary was claimed queen in 1533. She immediately sought to pass legislation to reconnect England with the Roman Church and to abolish Edward VI laws. Restoring Catholic religion was not an easy task, the returning to the Catholic Church reinstated Parliament Heresy Law which subjected anyone against the religion could be put to death and their land seized and given to the Crown. Mary soon got her name from the prosecution of so many heretics being burned and beheaded as “Bloody Mary”. Mary was also constantly ill, she would have all symptoms of being pregnant but would never actually have a child, her stomach would swell but it would stay that way for more than a year with no child. She became “pregnant” again around the age of forty and after the symptoms of it went away she remained ill until her death in 1554. Before her death she had in her will to pass her reign to her half-sister, Elizabeth.  | |