Bloody Mary I

[Togetherness8]

I think that Queen Mary's great cruelty in having "heretics" burned alive at the stake was because she was "brainwashed" by fear-based religious teachings that convinced her that she, and her subjects, would burn in hell forever and experience unending torment if "heresy" were not eradicated. Fear and hate based indoctrination makes cruel monsters of people who would otherwise be compassionate good souls, such as Mary. Too bad she did not understand that God is love & freedom, not fear % control

[kieran196]

Queen Mary is so sadly misunderstood. I read a book about her a couple of months ago it opend my eyes to her I liked what I read & I like her.

[Geddajunior]

The Tudors and Stuarts were all bloody .....more people were killed in their reigns through civil wars etc than prob all the other kings together.

[ligreekguy]

Poor Mary.



[UnshackledWoman]

I agree...that Mary had brutal tactics but she went through HELL to have the crown finally placed on her head. And I really can't blame her for the way she turned out...

[johnson01]

The sectarian strife in N Ireland is her lasting legacy.

[LeN0Re18]

all the kings and queens were bloody

[TheMrGobble]

What a stain on English history this Queen is.

[regszikora]

read the real history not populist History it will surprise you. Further read about the reformation in England threw out that time it will shock you. Mary does not come of sad bad in the end.

[TheMrGobble]

I read many many history books. I know about Mary Tudor. Have many biographies. She was mentally insecure.

[anaofaragon]

Can you totally BLAME the poor woman for that? She never go to see her mother ever again or see her mother as she was dying, that wicked Boleyn woman forcing her to give up her rights as a princess and daughter to the king and become a maid to her little sister, unwanted and half the time unloved for years! Can you HONESTLY say you could come out okay after all those years of sadness and neglect? She didn't do alot of nice things, yes, but I think there is more to her than what you see 1st hand.

[reinadegrillos]

Mary did no more ill than her infamous father or the Valois in France. It's unjust to keep naming her 'Bloody', for they all were pretty much the same.

[gapeachjessica]

Very well put, reinadegrillos! Those are my thoughts exactly.

[faeryquene]

Lovely and haunting tribute. It is sad Quene Mary I has such a horrible nickname. She was no more bloodier than many a ruling monarch-some were far worst like her father and her own grandparents Ferdinand and Isabella. Her brother Edward's Protectorate and her sister Elizabeth I also had their share of religious persecutions-and political. Judicial killings were the norm in those times. History is written by the victors and as Elizabeth followed Mary the Protestants did their best to vilify her.

[AnaliaHyrule]

a huge part of it has to do with the fact that she's female. It's a huge double standard. I'm no fan of Mary, but I recognise the double standard against women when I see it.

[ArtsyFartsyGal]

Well put!

[md991free]

I agree, a lot more people were executed under Henry VIII than under Mary I. If there's one monarch that deserved that title it should be him. History has treated Mary so poorly I think is because her reign was so short-5 years. Her sister had a long reign and her legacy was fully established by the time she died. Making her one of the greatest Monarch of all time.

In the end, Mary I, was cheated by death.

[AnaliaHyrule]

No, Mary is branded with a bad label because she's a woman. If she were a man no one would have made a peep about the burnings. I consider it murder, and I don't approve of it, but I still see it as what it is- a HUGE double standard!

[YeOldeTune]

The fact is that under Mary were burnt more people than under Henry's. But considering all ways of execution maybe more people died under Henry.

[gapeachjessica]

The music goes so well with the portraits of Mary- lovely, but deeply melancholy, just as she was. I hope that she is finally at peace.

[AnaliaHyrule]

me too.

[md991free]

I understand where you coming from, but her sister, Elizabeth was also a woman and her reputation has remained intact. She is regarded by many as one of the greatest Monarch of all time.

[ArtsyFartsyGal]

Many her reputation shouldn't be so stellar?

[ChargersLuver19]

Mary didn't dedicate her reign to persecuting Protestants. While the Marion Persecutions did happen, Mary also was rebuilding England's economy depleted by her Father, Mary also opened new trade routes by sea for England. Mary opened trade relations with Russia, she was the first English monarch to do so. Mary also began a new, more progressive coining system and gave grants to many colleges all over England.

Her marriage to Phillip of Spain would provide England with it's own Armada.

[Rayarena]

Exactly. What many people don't realize is that Mary set the template for Elizabeth's reign. What's more, Elizabeth learned from her older sister's mistakes. For instance, Elizabeth didn't stay unmarried because she was so caste. She didn't marry because she saw how Mary's subjects reacted to her marriage to a foreign prince. The British have always been a fiercely independent, clannish lot. They did not want their queen to marry a foreign prince. If anything, that was Mary's biggest mistake.

[YeOldeTune]

I totally agree with you in this point. And it's curious that both Queens, Mary and Elizabeth, for political reasons sent to death their cousins: Jane Grey and Mary Stuart.

[Poldark3]

@ChargersLuver19 Very well said!

[Gabbycrts]

AndromedaMariaCarmen - It really doesn't matter being that killing is killing.Neither is innocent whatsover,and neither is to blame for their actions,being that Henry was the one who scarred his daughters to death,and that was all that they knew.Especially,Mary.History needs to quit hailing Elizabeth as this saint,because she most certainly wasn't.

[Gabbycrts]

First of all,history should not call Mary,"Bloody Mary".That is unfair.Nobody calls Elizabeth,"Bloody Elizabeth".Mary had protestants killed,and Elizabeth had Catholics killed.What's the difference?

Considering all that Mary went through,she did the best she could,and the best of her abilities.Her childhood scars carried over into adulthood,and later into her 5 yr reign.She was a scarred woman!I think the word bloody is more fitting for her bastard father.

[faeryquene]

@Gabbycrts ITA.

[faeryquene]

@Gabbycrts ITA with your entire post.

[joliroi]

but why bloody ?

[ChargersLuver19]

Mary was given the name "Bloody" after her death from John Foxe, who was not in England during her reign, and from Elizabethian propagandists, so they could raise Elizabeth in the eyes of the people.

In fact, Mary(268) had less people executed than her Father(72,000) and her sister Elizabeth (Less than Henry, more than Mary)

So Mary was not Bloody at all, Henry was.

[audie83]

Just so. I could not have put it better myself.

[pinkgal888]

Poor old Mary she sure got the short end of the stick