The facts are indisputable. In 1554, Queen Mary I of England demanded that Parliament pass a law making it legal to burn at the stake anyone who tried to promote the Protestant religion. Between February, 1555, and November, 1558, when Mary I died, 300 Protestants met this horrible fate.
Some were powerful members of the clergy whose attacks against Mary bordered on treason, but many others were common citizens trying to live their every day lives. At least one victim was pregnant; another was a woman with a young child.
From the 18th century on, the English started referring to Mary Tudor as Bloody Mary. But was Mary really so despised during her lifetime? What possessed a woman capable of sentimentality and tenderness to lash out as she did? The answers to these questions reveal a complex woman capable of far better than the one-note evil that has been her unfortunate legacy.
Mary as a Victim of Religious Persecution
Both Mary's father, Henry VIII, and her younger brother, Edward VI, persecuted Mary for her Catholicism. At several times in her life, Mary's steadfast refusal to give up the religion of her childhood brought her perilously close to being executed for treason.
Her Catholic faith, and her belief that it was her destiny to lead England back to the Catholic church, became cornerstones in her life. Modern psychology also tells us Mary acted like many abuse victims by identifying with her perpetrators and taking out her rage and pain on other innocents.
Mary and the Spanish Inquisition
Mary was the daughter of Katherine of Aragon and the grandchild of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Ferdinand and Isabella had established the Spanish Inquisition, which was ultimately responsible for the tortures and deaths of hundreds of non-Catholics. Mary would have been raised hearing the stories of her grandparents' accomplishments told with pride.
Mary's cousin was Charles V of Spain. When Mary was mistreated by her father or brother, she often turned to Charles for advice and support. When she became queen, she even married Charles' son, Philip.
Thus, Mary came from a cultural background where the burning of heretics was more than just acceptable--it was every good Catholic monarch's duty.
Mary I - A Touch of Madness?
After marrying Prince Philip, Mary twice became convinced that she was pregnant. She was wrong both times. When she didn't give birth as she expected, Mary became melancholy and then irrationally angry. She said God would not allow her to have a healthy baby until all the Protestant heretics were dead.
At another time in her reign, Mary faced a famine in the land. Again, she thought God was trying to tell her she hadn't burned enough heretics to please Him.
Anyone having these thoughts today would be described as paranoid, perhaps even psychotic. Could Mary's difficult life followed by the disappointment of not being able to have a child have led to some sort of mental breakdown?
Mary Tender and Mary Cruel
Mary could be exceedingly tender-hearted. When her subjects complained to her that their farm implements, stock, and produce were being seized "for the queen's use" yet they were receiving no compensation, Mary publicly took her controller to task and demanded that he make good on every last penny owed the peasants.
Mary also showed a sentimental regard for her sister Elizabeth, whose mother Anne Boleyn had been responsible for the downfall of Mary and of Katherine of Aragon. Mary had plenty of reason to hate Elizabeth, and to want her dead.
Although Elizabeth was discreet about it, she was known to be a Protestant. What's more, rebellions had been formed in her name, though Elizabeth denied having anything to do with them. Mary had Elizabeth imprisoned on more than one occasion, but she did not have her executed, an almost unprecedented example of mercy.
But Mary was no saint. She also had a side that was cruel and callous. When John Hooper, the Bishop of Worcester, was put to death, the executioner was inexperienced and used green wood. Hooper suffered in the flames for nearly an hour before death claimed him. Mary didn't see the execution, but when told of it, she said the extreme torture endured by Hooper must have been God's will.
On another occasion, Mary took an executioner to task for releasing a prisoner who had recanted. She told the executioner he should have burned the man anyway.
The Death of Mary I
Mary passed away peacefully on November 17, 1558. Although it has been noted that feasting for the new queen, Elizabeth, started almost immediately, this was not out of keeping with English tradition. Mary lay in state for nearly a month, and was buried at Westminster Abbey with a large procession of mourners and full Catholic ceremonies. One Bishop even preached a sermon calling Mary a "noble lion" and Elizabeth a "dog."
It is fair to say that at the time of her death, Mary was not universally hated.
Elizabeth Takes a Hand
Elizabeth was a wise and canny ruler. She did not want any of her subjects pining for the "good old days" or attempting to overthrow her and bring Catholicism back to England.
To that end, she made sure Protestant John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, which detailed the deaths of every soul burned as a result of Mary's laws, was placed in every church in England. It was a grim reminder of Mary's religious fanaticism.
Mary Tudor has been vilified ever since. To a certain degree, she deserves it. In another way, it seems unfair that the complex and often noble woman that was Mary I has been so completely forgotten by history. Somehow it seems she deserves better.
Sources
Buchanan, Jane (2008). Mary Tudor: Courageous Queen or Bloody Mary? Franklin Watts: Danbury, CT.
Erickson, Carolly (1978). Bloody Mary: The Remarkable Life of Mary Tudor. Doubleday and Company, Inc.: Garden City, NY.
Porter, Linda (2008). The First Queen of England: The Myth of "Bloody Mary." St. Martin's Press: New York.
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