Mary I Tudor was born on 18th February 1516. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. She was Henry's favourite child and heir to the throne as the Princess of Wales. Mary was engaged first to the dauphin of France and then the powerful Charles V, but after she was declared illegitimate, she became a servant of her stepmother hardhearted Anne Boleyn, and she was removed from the court for her commitment to her mother's faith, Catholicism.
The queen had a controversial nature, possessing sensibility and aspiration, as well as vanity and a logical mind combined. When Mary ascended the throne in 1553, she began to restore her own Catholic religion in the country, using severe measures and overdoing them. Approximately three hundred Protestants were burnt or hanged during her five-year reign. That's why the queen earned the nickname "Bloody Mary".
Mary's personal life was equally unsuccessful. For political, religious and family reasons she married King Philip of Spain, who was much younger in years than her. People in England disliked her marriage. They were afraid that the marriage would place their state under foreign control. Parliament agreed to the queen's marriage unwillingly and made a condition that Philip would be regarded as King of England only during Mary's lifetime. Sincerely loving her husband Queen Mary I longed for a child but was deprived of the joys of motherhood. But unlike his spouse, Philip regarded his marriage as a politically important step only and soon abandoned his wife, dragging England into war with France.
Queen Mary I died on 17th November in 1558.
