Queen Mary I
The Road to England’s First Crowned Queen Regnant
England’s first crowned
Queen Regnant was proclaimed on 19 July 1553. But who was she and how did she
do it? Today, we will explore the tumultuous road Queen Mary I travelled to
obtain her rightful place as Queen of England. Not for the faint of heart, this
story witnesses the perseverance of a woman constantly pushed aside, denied her
rights and views, and continually undermined for her sex. Undermine her no
more, for on this date, Mary Tudor claimed her father’s throne.
Princess Mary Tudor was
the only surviving daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Queen
Catherine of Aragon. In 1553, Mary was declared illegitimate after Henry VIII’s
marriage to his second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth, the daughter of
Henry VIII and Queen Anne Boleyn, was now the heir of Henry VIII, rather than
Mary. Henry VIII did not have a legitimate male heir, at this point. After being declared illegitimate, Princess
Mary was styled as “The Lady Mary”.
Mary staunchly refused to
acknowledge Anne Boleyn as Queen and Elizabeth as the rightful heir. She
severely frustrated Henry VIII by only recognizing her mother as Queen and
herself in the line of succession. Henry VIII and Mary did not speak for nearly
three years. As a punishment to both Catherine of Aragon and Mary, Henry VIII
refused to let mother and daughter be together, rather, he sent Mary to be a
part of Elizabeth’s household. They were not allowed to correspond either,
however, I believe they managed to get messages to each other. At least, I hope
they did.
In 1536, after the dramatic downfall of Queen Anne Boleyn, Mary reconciled with Henry VIII. But it was at a price. Mary, who was Catholic, had to recognize her father as the Supreme Head of the Church of England, reject papal authority, acknowledge the invalidity of her parents’ marriage, and accept her own illegitimacy. With no other choice, Mary begrudgingly agreed. 1537 saw Henry VIII receive that which he longed for, for over twenty years- a legitimate son. Edward, born by Henry VIII’s third wife, Queen Jane Seymour, was now first in line of the succession. But what to do about Mary and Elizabeth?
King Edward VI, William Scrots, c. 1550
In 1543, Henry VIII married his sixth and final wife, Queen Katherine Parr. Queen Katherine was an advocate for all of Henry VIII’s children, helping to bring them all together as a family, as best she could. It may have helped, for in 1544, Mary and Elizabeth were returned to the succession through the Third Succession Act, placing Mary as heir after Edward, and Elizabeth after Mary. However, there was still a caveat - Henry VIII never reversed Mary and Elizabeth’s illegitimacy.
King Henry VIII died in 1547. His son, King Edward VI, succeeded him. Mary generally stayed at her estates during his reign, rarely attending court. Edward VI was a staunch Protestant, and he and Mary constantly butted heads in matters of religion. It would create a divide between brother and sister that would become insurmountable.
The religious strife would continue until King Edward VI’s death on 6 July 1553. Before he died, Edward VI wrote out his Device of Succession. In it, both Mary and Elizabeth were excluded from the succession. Mary’s bar from the throne was based on her illegitimacy and Catholic faith. Initially named as his successor, were the heirs male of his cousin, Lady Jane Grey. Perhaps realizing he was running out of time, Edward VI hastily scratched out heirs male and named Lady Jane Grey as his successor. Edward VI and Lady Jane were young, neither had yet had children.
But was this Edward VI’s doing, or the Lord Protector’s doing? The
Lord Protector was John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. Dudley also happened to
be Lady Jane Grey’s father-in-law, through her marriage to Guildford Dudley. Historians
still debate to this day if Edward himself made the change or if he was
influenced by Dudley to make the change.
However, it wouldn’t
really matter as Edward VI died before the Device of Succession could be passed
through Parliament. The Device wasn’t a legal document, it was more of Edward
VI’s will. Just before Edward VI’s death, Mary was summoned to court on the
pretext of a visit to her dying brother. But Mary had friends with an ear to
the ground. She was informed that the summons was a trap to capture her,
thereby making Lady Jane’s accession to the throne seamless. Instead of
visiting her brother, Mary had her wits about her and fled to East Anglia. From
the safety of Kenninghall in Norfolk, Mary wrote to the Privy Council on 9 July
1553, demanding they name her as Edward VI’s successor.
The demand either fell on
deaf ears or did not arrive in time. The next day, Lady Jane Grey was
proclaimed Queen Jane. Mary was not going to let go of her inheritance without
a fight. She began to recruit soldiers and by 12 July 1553, Mary had assembled
a substantial military force at Framlingham Castle in Suffolk. Unnerved by the reports from Suffolk, John
Dudley, Duke of Northumberland and Queen Jane’s father-in-law, knew that
something had to be done with Mary’s military force. He was one of the most experienced
military leaders in the country which made him ideal to deal with Mary’s army,
but he couldn’t leave the vulnerable Queen Jane with men he distrusted.
Queen Jane begged her
father-in-law to stay with her. But Northumberland couldn’t be in two places at
once and he made the grave mistake of deciding to deal with Mary’s army. In
Northumberland’s absence, loyalty to Queen Jane began to crumble. Little by
little, the Council began to turn against Queen Jane, until eventually, there
were no more supporters. On 19 July 1553, the Council declared for Mary. Northumberland
surrendered. He was arrested on 21 July 1553. The deposed Queen Jane was also arrested,
and she and her father-in-law were imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Queen Mary I rode
triumphantly into London, accompanied by her sister, Elizabeth, on 3 August
1553. How different would history look if Henry VIII had realized that his first-born
daughter could rule on her own? Queen Elizabeth I, Mary I’s successor, took it
one step further and became one of the most well-known monarchs in history and
brought England into it’s Golden Age.
John Dudley, Duke of
Northumberland, was found guilty of treason and executed on 22 August 1553. Queen
Jane’s trial took place on 13 November 1553 at Guildhall in London. Queen Jane
was found guilty of high treason. But Mary was merciful, she did not want to
execute Queen Jane. Mary insightfully knew Queen Jane was merely a pawn in a
game of chess and the men who partook in the chess game made the wrong gambit. Queen
Jane was held in the Tower but was free to walk around, talk with her brothers-in-law
and probably even see her husband, Guildford Dudley, all of whom were also
imprisoned.
Alas, Wyatt’s Rebellion
in January 1554 changed everything. If Queen Jane was alive, she would remain a
figure head for anyone wanting to depose Mary I. In this instance, the
rebellion began during negotiations with Spain of the marriage between Mary I
and Prince Philip of Spain. The rebels were against a marriage with Spain, fearing an
outsider would control England as King. England had not yet seen a Queen
Regnant. Would Mary bow down to Philip and submit to his will? The rebels did
not want to take that chance. Mary I quashed the rebellion and Queen Jane was
executed on 12 January 1554.
Mary’s marriage negotiations
went ahead. On 25 July 1554, Queen Mary I married Prince Philip of Spain. Thus, by the
end of her reign, Mary was England’s first crowned Queen Regnant, as well as Queen
of Ireland, Queen of France, Queen of Spain, Queen of Naples and titular Queen
of Jerusalem, Queen of Sicily, Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Milan,
Burgundy and Brabant, and Countess of Hapsburg, Flanders and Tyrol. As a girl
who grew up without the love of her father, shunned and shaken into submission,
Mary proved Henry VIII wrong in the end. She could be Queen of England,
Ireland and France, and she would be so much more.
No comments:
Post a Comment