Guest post written by Johanna Strong Mary I, England’s first crowned queen regnant (1553-1558), is often popularly remembered as either a tragic figure or as a tyrannical one. While traditional histories such as G.R. Elton’s focus on the religious persecution undertaken throughout Mary’s reign, others attempt to soften her character by narrating her phantom pregnancies…
Mary Tudor had many women and girls who served her over her four decades of life. There were the ladies who served in her household when she was a princess and then those who served her as queen of England. All of them played very important roles to ensure everything ran smoothly within her household…
Read more The Ladies Who Served: Mary Tudor, Queen of England (Part 2)
Mary Tudor, first queen regnant of England was not known (in her later years) to be a beautiful women, and from what I’ve read, neither were the ladies she surrounded herself with. It was common practice during the reign of Henry VIII to ensure that his queen consorts had only the most beautiful women around…
Read more The Ladies Who Served: Mary Tudor, Queen of England (Part 1)
Princess Mary Tudor was the apple of her father’s eye for many years prior Anne Boleyn returning to England. Freshly back from her duties in France, Anne was unlike most women and Henry VIII noticed. We don’t know the exact date that Henry noticed Anne but once he did it changed the course of English…
I came across this letter that a thirteen year old Queen of Scots wrote to her Catholic cousin, Mary I of England when she was just a young girl living in France. She writes Mary to let her know that a Lieutenant of King Henri II of France would be passing through England and would…
On the 19th of July 1553, Mary Tudor was declared Queen of England. From that moment (and obviously prior to it) she understood the importance of having an heir. For if she did not produce an heir her sister Elizabeth would keep England Protestant. It was very important for Mary to return England to Rome…
