HONOUR & HERESY Both Catholics and Protestants su ered at the hands of their Tudor monarchs
ILLUSTRATION: JEAN-MICHEL GIRARD/WWW.THE-ART-AGENCY.CO.UK, GETTY X1
Mary I is not the best known of the Tudors. Her brief reign, and that of her brother Edward, tend to be overshadowed by the looming presence of her father, Henry VIII, and his more famous daughter, Elizabeth I. If Mary is referred to at all, then it is as ‘Bloody’. It is certainly true that her obsession with returning England to the Roman Catholic faith led her to send hundreds of Protestants to the flames. But was she really as bloody as her nickname suggests, especially when compared to the other Tudors? Was there more to her than the serious and intensely pious woman who has attracted little attention or sympathy? Scratching beneath the surface of this stereotypical version reveals a very different queen - and woman - to the traditional pantomime villain of history.
At 4am on 18 February 1516, Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, was delivered of a daughter, Mary. The child might not have been the son that the King so craved, but she was at least healthy - and given Catherine’s experience of childbirth, that was something to be thankful for.