Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary

Sometimes things get worse before they get better.

BORN IN 1516, Mary Tudor was the only surviving child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Since Mary’s mother was Spanish, the daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, and since her father, even after breaking with the Church of Rome, still maintained basically Roman Catholic beliefs, Mary was raised a Roman Catholic. When she was fifteen, her parents divorced, and she and her mother went into separate exiles, never to see each other again. At seventeen, after the birth of her half sister, Elizabeth, and the declaration that her parents’ marriage was void, Mary was declared a bastard, losing her title of princess and her right of succession to the throne. Since she believed her problems were primarily due to the Reformation in England, she clung tenaciously to Roman Catholicism, finding solace in her faith. After Parliament revoked her parents’ annulment and restored her legitimacy, Mary returned to prominence and became vocal about her Catholicism.

In 1544 Henry VIII wrote his will, designating the order of succession to the throne after his death. It would be his only son, Edward, Mary, and then Elizabeth if either of the first two died without having produced an heir.

At the death of Henry VIII, his nine-year-old son, Edward, succeeded him, becoming King Edward VI. A godly boy, Edward moved England decisively toward Protestantism. Mary liked him but not his evangelical faith. Suffering from congenital syphilis, he died from tuberculosis at fifteen. A few weeks before his death, without authorization from Parliament, he amended his father’s will by naming his cousin Lady Jane Grey, also an evangelical, as his successor instead of his sister Mary.

Jane Grey’s reign lasted just nine days before she was replaced by Mary, who became Queen Mary I in 1553.

Upon becoming queen, Mary set about returning England to its Roman Catholic roots. At first Mary dealt tolerantly with the Protestants, hoping to convert them to Catholicism. She declared that she would not “compel or constrain consciences” in the matter of religious beliefs. This was one of the first statements of religious tolerance by a modern government.

But within weeks her early popularity was gone as England came to view her as a Spaniard first and only second as an English Tudor. She was not overly attractive and, like Edward VI, had inherited congenital syphilis. This gave her severe headaches, poor eyesight, and chronic rhinitis that caused her perpetual foul breath. She endeared herself to no one.

Mary quickly realized that her lenient approach with the Protestants was not working. Although they were in the minority, they were financially powerful. Mary feared a Protestant revolt would place her Protestant half sister, Elizabeth, on the throne. Therefore, on March 4, 1554, Mary issued an edict that reinstated Catholic worship and outlawed Protestantism and other “heresies.”

She earned the title “Bloody Mary” in enforcing the edict, following the advice of her advisers to kill anyone who threatened her. Lady Jane Grey, her husband, and her father were executed, as well as a hundred other rebels who were part of a Protestant plot to take back the throne. Mary also held her half sister, Elizabeth, in the Tower of London for months while investigating her role in the plot. Elizabeth survived, eventually succeeding Mary as queen.

In 1555 the reign of terror began with the execution of Protestant clergymen who refused to accept the reestablished Catholic creed. “Heretics” were given a chance to recant. If they did not, they were burned at the stake. Most prominent were Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, and deposed bishops Latimer and Ridley. Many Protestant ministers and leaders were executed, but most martyrs were laypeople who had been converted to Christ as the Reformation spread through England.

In all, Bloody Mary’s reign of terror claimed the lives of more than three hundred Protestants. It ended with her death in 1558.

Reflection

Bloody Mary ruled like a terrorist—she killed her opposition. What a contrast to Jesus Christ! He gave his life for those who were his enemies.

You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death.

Colossians 1:21-22