Mary I of England

:For other people with this name, see Mary Tudor

Early life

Mary was the second daughter and fifth child of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. A stillborn sister, two short-lived brothers, and a stillborn brother had preceded her. She was born at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London on Monday February 18, 1516. She was baptised on the following Wednesday with Thomas Cardinal Wolsey standing as her godfather. The Princess Mary was a precocious but sickly child who had poor eyesight, sinus conditions and bad headaches. Her poor health has been theorised by some authors to be from congenital syphilis transferred to her from her mother, who presumably would have contracted the disease from Mary's father. Whether or not he had the disease is debated, however, as the story emerged long after his death. Henry gave the Princess Mary her own court at Ludlow Castle and many of the prerogatives normally only given to a Prince of Wales, sometimes leading to false assertions that she was created Princess of Wales, even though he was deeply disappointed that he (or, as he believed, his wife) had again failed to produce a healthy son; Catherine's sixth and last child was a stillborn daughter.

Related Topics:
Henry VIII - Catherine of Aragon - Stillborn - Palace of Placentia - Greenwich, London - February 18 - 1516 - Baptised - Thomas Cardinal Wolsey - Headache - Syphilis - Ludlow Castle - Prince of Wales

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The Princess Mary became an extremely well-educated child under the direction of her governess, the Countess of Salisbury (later to be known as the Blessed Margaret Pole for her martyrdom at the hands of King Henry VIII). Mary learned to speak Latin, Spanish, French and Italian, as well as her native English. Other studies included Greek, science, and music. In July 1520, when scarcely four and a half years old, she entertained some visitors with a performance on the virginals. A great part of the credit of her early education was undoubtedly due to her mother, who not only consulted the Spanish scholar Juan Luís Vives upon the subject, but was herself the Princess Mary's first teacher in Latin.

Related Topics:
Countess of Salisbury - King Henry VIII - Latin - Spanish - French - Italian - English - Greek - Science - Music - 1520 - Virginals - Juan Luís Vives

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Even when she was a young child, the Princess Mary's marital future was being negotiated by her father. When she was but two years old, she was promised to the Dauphin Francis, son of Francis I, King of France. After three years, the contract was repudiated; in 1522, the Princess Mary was instead contracted to her first cousin, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V by the Treaty of Windsor 1522. Within a few years, however, the engagement was broken off. In 1526, the Princess Mary was sent to Wales to preside over the Council of Wales and the Marches. It was then suggested that the Princess Mary wed, not the Dauphin, but his father Francis I, who was eager for an alliance with England. A marriage treaty was signed; it provided that the Princess Mary should marry either Francis or his second son, Henry, Duke of Orléans. Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII's chief advisor, managed to secure an alliance without a marriage.

Related Topics:
Dauphin - Francis I, King of France - 1522 - Holy Roman Emperor - Charles V - Treaty of Windsor 1522 - 1526 - Wales - Council of Wales and the Marches - Henry, Duke of Orléans

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Meanwhile, the marriage of the Princess Mary's parents was in jeopardy. Queen Catherine had failed to provide Henry the male heir he desired; consequently, the King attempted to have his marriage to her annulled. In 1533, Henry secretly married another woman, Anne Boleyn. Shortly thereafter, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, formally declared the marriage with Catherine void and the marriage with Anne valid. Since the Pope Clement VII had previously denied him the annullment, Henry broke with the Roman Catholic Church. All appeals from the decisions of English ecclesiastical courts to the Pope were abolished, and the King was acknowledged as "Supreme Head" of the Church of England.

Related Topics:
1533 - Anne Boleyn - Thomas Cranmer - Archbishop of Canterbury - Pope Clement VII - Roman Catholic Church - Church of England

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Mary, meanwhile, was deemed illegitimate, as Henry's marriage to Catherine was officially null and void from the beginning. She lost the dignity of a Princess, becoming a mere "Lady". Her place in the line of succession was transferred to the Princess Elizabeth (daughter of Queen Anne). The Lady Mary was expelled from the Royal Court; her servants were dismissed from her service, and she was forced to serve as a lady-in-waiting under the Queen Anne's aunt, the Lady Shelton, to her own infant half-sister Elizabeth, then living in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. She was not permitted to see her mother Catherine, or attend her funeral in 1536. Her treatment and the hatred Queen Anne had for her was perceived as unjust; all Europe, furthermore, regarded her as the only true heir and daughter of Henry VIII, although she was illegitimate under English law.

Related Topics:
Lady Shelton - Hatfield, Hertfordshire - 1536 - Europe

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Mary confidently expected her troubles to end when Queen Anne lost royal favour and was beheaded in 1536. The Princess Elizabeth was also degraded to a Lady and removed from the line of succession. Henry married Jane Seymour, who died shortly after giving birth to a son, King Edward VI of England. The Lady Mary's privy purse expenses for nearly the whole of this period have been published, and show that Hatfield, Beaulieu or Newhall in Essex, Richmond and Hunsdon were among her principal places of residence.

Related Topics:
1536 - Jane Seymour - Edward VI of England

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However, it quickly transpired that it had been Mary's father Henry, not Anne alone, who had been persecuting Mary. The only way he would grant her his favor was if she accepted humiliating attacks on her religion and royal position. The Lady Mary attempted to reconcile with her father by submitting to him as head of the Church of England under Jesus, thus repudiating Papal authority, and acknowledging that the marriage between her mother and father was unlawful, thus making her illegitimate. She also became godmother to her half-brother Edward and was chief mourner at Queen Jane's funeral. In turn, Henry agreed to grant her a household, and the Lady Mary was permitted to reside in royal palaces. Henry's sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, was able to bring the family closer together, again improving the Lady Mary's position.

Related Topics:
Jesus - Catherine Parr

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There were several attempts to marry her off to European princes, but none of them succeeded. In 1544, an Act of Parliament returned the Lady Mary and the Lady Elizabeth to the line of succession (after their half-brother, the Prince Edward, Duke of Cornwall). Both women, however, remained legally illegitimate.

Related Topics:
1544 - Act of Parliament

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In 1547, Henry died, to be succeeded by Edward VI. Edward was England's first Protestant monarch; his Parliament's Act of Uniformity prescribed Protestant rites for church services, such as the use of Thomas Cranmer's new Book of Common Prayer. The Lady Mary, desirous of maintaining the old Roman Catholic form, asked to be allowed to worship in private in her own chapel. After she was ordered to stop her practices, she appealed to her cousin and former matrimonial prospect, the Emperor Charles V. Charles threatened war with England if the Lady Mary's religious liberty were infringed; consequently, the Protestants at court ceased to interfere with her private rituals.

Related Topics:
1547 - Act of Uniformity - Book of Common Prayer - Chapel

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