The Queens of England (1)

Mary I
Mary I, called Mary Tudor (1516-1558), Queen of England ( 1553 -1558). Mary was born in London on February 18, 1516, the daughter of Henry VIII by his first wife , Catherine of Aragón. Because Henry divorced Catherine, Mary was declared illegitimate. Nonetheless, Henry included her in his will, and on the death of her half - brother , Edward VI, on July 6, 1553, she became the legal heir to the throne. Although Lord High Chamberlain John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, favoured the succession of his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey , and proclaimed her queen on July 10, the country supported Mary.
As a Roman Catholic , Mary began her reign by sweeping away the religious innovations of her father and her brother. Henry VIII had separated England from the Church in Rome; Edward VI had replaced Roman Catholicism with a Protestant settlement. Mary restored the Mass and re- established the authority of the papacy, but, although she handed back Crown property to the Church, Parliament refused to restore Church lands seized by Henry VIII. Even with the help of Mary’s cousin, Cardinal Reginald Pole, a return to the state of affairs that existed before the Dissolution of the Monasteries was