MARIA the Catholic, Queen of ENGLAND. – Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon; b. at Greenwich on 19 Feb. 1516, d. in London on 17 Nov. 1558.
From her Spanish mother she was brought up in the Catholic faith, and in this sense also received the care of the Countess of Salisbury. The latter’s son, Reginald Pole, was Mary’s childhood friend; he became her confidant and principal counsellor, especially after he ascended to the See of Canterbury. Henry VIII made use of Mary to foster good relations with other states, betrothing her first to the Dauphin of France, then to the Emperor Charles V, and later to the Duke of Orléans. After Henry VIII’s divorce, Mary never saw her mother again; she lived with her half-sister Elizabeth, in conflict with her stepmother Anne Boleyn, and harshly treated by her father, who had abandoned the Church of Rome. Mary devoted herself to the study of religious matters, more drawn to these than to the issues connected with the nascent British nationalism. The reign of Edward VI (1547–53) was no less harsh for Mary, whom she saw with sorrow as an inert tool of the Calvinist party. Attempts were made to exclude her from the succession: the will that Edward VI signed on his deathbed, at the instigation of the Duke of Northumberland, Dudley, placed the throne on the latter’s daughter-in-law, the sixteen-year-old Lady Jane Grey. Parliament did not recognise this: the Duke and Lady Jane were executed; Mary took the crown (July 1553) and reclaimed the rights of the Church of Rome: deprived bishops were reinstated, Protestant bishops expelled. The revolts of certain Calvinist centres were easily quelled; Parliament remained favourable. This kind of “Counter-Reformation” and her marriage to Philip II of Spain (25 July 1554) made Mary unpopular, and the Reformation spread more widely: it was aided by the colonial power programme, which was averse to the Queen’s regard for Spanish interests. Soon she also lacked Philip II’s support, who returned to Spain (Aug. 1555), disappointed in the hope of Mary’s maternity. She devoted herself more intensely to her religious mission and intensified the condemnations against heretics. Opposition took violent forms. John Fox was its leading spirit. Death sentences were renewed, this time against Protestants: 220 were executed, among them T. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops Ridley of London and Latimer of Worcester. Philip II returned but to seek aid (March 1557) in his final struggle against France: Mary consented and imposed a forced loan. Ill-starred aid: the naval expedition led to the loss of Calais, England’s last possession on the Continent.
Some Protestant historians gave Mary the title of “Bloody,” portraying her as cruel and vindictive. It suffices to note that the majority of those condemned were notorious rebels and common criminals, and the rest were persons who hid behind the cloak of heresy to pursue endless vendettas and rebellions. State Papers and the reports of ambassadors have vindicated the memory of the Queen, who had a upright and gentle character and who resorted to harsh measures only after exhausting all other means (cf. Pastor, VI, pp. 550–51).