Born 1516 – Died 1558 • Queen of England and Ireland 1553 - 1558

"...there was no existing statute, including Magna Carta, to limit the authority of a Queen."

Dr Anna Whitelock

gHH

Mary Tudor was the first woman to be crowned Queen of England,

against all odds. She faced opposition in marrying Philip II of

Spain, fought passionately to restore England to the Catholic faith, burning nearly 300 Protestant dissenters at the stake, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, earning her the nickname 'Bloody Mary'.  But beneath her hard exterior was

a woman whose traumas of phantom pregnancies, debilitating illnesses and unrequited love...

HH

Unfortunately, Mary was love struck.  All she could see in Philip II was a husband who would love her and give her a child to rear as a truly Catholic heir to the Tudor throne.  Her life ended in disappointment and despair, with no heir to the throne, deserted by her husband and her court. A Tudor trailblazer, whose 5 year reign redefined the English monarchy.

HH

"When I am dead and opened, you shall find

Calais lying in my heart."

Mary Tudor, during her final illness