Reign of Queen Mary I of England

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Domains

Changes of government, elections and reigns

Dates

Date of occurrence 1553-07-19-1558

Places

England (Location)

Resources

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Born on February 18th 1516 , daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon, Mary had been declared an illegitimate heir by the 1534 Act of Succession. When Henry died, the throne fell to Mary's half brother, Edward VI, who in turn bequeathed his throne to Lady Jane Grey. After Jane had reigned for only nine days (July 10th-19th 1553), Mary seized the crown, proclaiming herself Queen with the support of the public and making it one of her first political acts to renounce the Act that had branded her mother's marriage illegitimate and jeopardised her succession.

A devout Catholic, Mary aimed to rebuild links to Rome which had been severed by Henry VIII, who had appointed himself head of the Church of England after his divorce from Mary's mother. Mary restored the bishops

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287 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Reign of Queen Mary I of England". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 June 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=922, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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