Katharina Buczek
Following this scandal, Mary was left regarded as an illegitimate woman. She was declared a “lady” instead of a “princess” and was even torn away from her mother.
Nonetheless, Mary refused to acknowledge the scandal’s truth. And for years, she watched as her father continued to remarry.
After Anne Boleyn was eventually executed came Jane Seymour. But Jane died in childbirth, so he moved on to Anne of Cleves. However, this marriage ended in divorce before Henry remarried a fifth time to Catherine Howard. Still, that was not the end for Henry. His sixth and final wife was Catherine Parr.
And throughout this entire love debacle, Henry did finally get his one true wish– a son, who he named Edward VI.
But, once Edward VI died only six years into his rule, the crown was supposed to pass on to Lady Jane Gray, his Protestant cousin. Mary did not allow that to happen, though.
Instead, she took the opportunity to rise to power and actually guided an army into London and stole the throne.
Queen Mary I Becomes Known As “Bloody Mary”
Once Queen, Mary’s top priority was getting England back into the Catholic Church. She first married Philip II of Spain before halting Protestant rebellion and undoing much of her father’s policies that were anti-Catholic.
Then, in 1555, Mary did something that she believed would ensure her goal was achieved– she revived a law known as “heretico comburendo.” Under that law, all dissidents would be burned at the stake.
For Mary, these executions were supposed to be a short-lived shock that would scare Protestants and prompt them to come back to the Catholic Church.
However, the Protestants had different plans in mind. In fact, the executions did not even seem to phase them– which led Mary to continue her killing spree.
