MARY I (1516–1558) queen of England Mary
Tudor was born in 1516 to King HENRY VIII and his
fi rst wife, Catherine of Aragon, whom Henry divorced
after breaking from the Roman Catholic Church.
Thereafter, Mary was declared illegitimate by Parlia-
ment. Despite this turn of events, however, Mary even-
tually assumed the throne in 1553, after the death of
her young half brother, King Edward VI, and after
defeating, with strong support, the claim made by the
Protestant Lady Jane Grey (“the nine day queen”). In
doing so, she became, in the summer of 1553, the fi rst
undisputed queen to rule England. As queen, Mary’s
overriding concern was to reconcile her country with
Rome and bring back the Catholic faith.
In 1554, the 37-year-old queen married her
younger cousin, Philip of Spain, son of Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V (King Charles I of Spain). Mary
was besotted with Philip; unfortunately, her affection
was not returned to the same degree. Even more
unfortunately, Mary’s subjects resented Philip, seeing
in him a symbol of their great rival, Spain. Two false
pregnancies, likely caused by the disease that would
eventually kill her (ovarian cancer), did nothing to
secure her position. As her health deteriorated, Mary
was forced to consider the question of succession,
and eventually agreed to pass the crown to her half
sister, who became Queen ELIZABETH I. On November
16, 1558, Mary died.
Despite their personal diffi culties, both Mary and
Philip enjoyed poetry, music, and the arts, so witty
and intelligent individuals populated their court.
Though the great writing of Mary’s reign tended to be
ecclesiastical and political rather than poetic, a num-
ber of poets, mostly those who were Catholic or had
Catholic sympathies, rose to prominence or began
their careers under Mary, including JOHN HEYWOOD,
Nicholas Grimauld (1519–62), Thomas Tusser (1524–
80), George Cavendish (1494–ca.1562), and Thomas
Sackville, earl of Dorset (1536–1608). The most
important poetic developments of Mary’s reign, how-
ever, were not compositions, but rather the assembly
of two key anthologies: A MIRROR FOR MAGISTRATES,
under the auspices of the Roman Catholic John Way-
land, and TOTTEL’S MISCELLANY.
FURTHER READING
Loach, Jennifer. Parliament and the Crown in the Reign of
Mary Tudor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986.
Loades, D. M. Mary Tudor: A Life. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990.
———. The Reign of Mary Tudor: Politics, Government, and
Religion in England, 1553–1558. New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1979.
Melissa A. Harris and Michelle M. SauerMARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS (MARY STU-
ART) (1542–1587) Mary Stuart was born to James
V of Scotland and Marie de Guise at Linlithgow Palace;
she was crowned Queen of Scots six days later, follow-
ing her father’s death. In 1548, she married the French
dauphin, and she remained in France for the next 12
years. Her husband ascended the French throne as
King Francis II in 1559 but died the following year.
Power passed to his mother, Catherine de’Medici, who
sent Mary home to Scotland.
The Catholic Mary returned to Scotland in 1561
only to fi nd that John Knox, the Presbyterian preacher,
had created religious instability there. Mary’s troubles
only increased when she married Henry, Lord Darnley,
in 1564. Darnley was pompous, politically unskilled,
and fond of taverns. Furthermore, he arranged for the
murder of her secretary, David Rizzio. The relationship
became irreparable.
Mary gave birth to a son, James Stuart, later James
VI of Scotland (1566) and James I of England (1603),
in 1566. In 1567, Lord Darnley was killed in an explo-
sion south of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile (Kirk of Field).
Many thought that James Hepburn, earl of Bothwell,
Mary’s new paramour, was responsible, and soon her
enemies accused Mary as well. Nevertheless, Mary and
Bothwell married, which outraged Scotland. The new-
lyweds attempted an armed confl ict, but the queen was
defeated and forced to renounce her title. One year
later, Mary escaped prison and attempted to retake her
throne. She was defeated again by Protestant forces,
and in 1568 fl ed to England, seeking the protection of
her cousin Queen ELIZABETH I.
In 1587, Mary’s Catholic supporters attempted to
murder Elizabeth and place her on the throne. Eliza-
beth reluctantly decided to execute her cousin, a deed
that was accomplished at Fotheringay Castle on the
morning of February 8, 1587.266 MARY I