Home » History » Tudor England » 'Bloody' Mary I

'Bloody' Mary I

© Wendy J. Dunn

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle-shells, And pretty maids all in a row. February 18, 1516

The wetnurse put the sleeping child into her mother's eager, waiting arms. The blanket, embroidered with a border of Tudor Roses, wrapped the baby so securely that only the top of the baby's head could be seen, where a sheen of silver-blonde pointed to the child's future hair colouring. Gazing at his newborn, healthy daughter, King Hal consoled himself by saying, 'We are young enough, there will be sons to follow.' He failed to notice how his wife's eyes brimmed with joy.

We are young enough, there will be sons to follow, so said the confident 25 year old King. But not with Catherine of Aragon. Six-years older than the King, her body tired out from its frequent bouts with pregnancy, Catherine's childbearing years were fast drawing to a close. One more pregnancy- resulting in another stillbirth in 1518- followed the birth of her daughter Mary in 1516, then no more. Finis. In a sense this can only be regarded as a blessing. There is only so much heartbreak a woman can hope to bear. And six dead babies were more than enough heartbreak for any woman. Mary would be the only child of Catherine of Aragon to survive infancy and grow into adulthood.

Documented history suggests Catherine and Henry possessed completely different viewpoints about the future of their newborn daughter. By the future actions of Henry, we can only infer that Henry perceived that Catherine had failed in her duty as his Queen and consort to provide him with a son and heir. The 'War of Roses' was a memory from only 31 years ago, still very much in living history. The birth of a daughter was just not good enough. Indeed, let us here do Henry justice; he was only the second King of a dynasty that came to rule England upon very shaky and bloody ground. Henry VIII's father had spent his reign stabilising his position as king, passing on to his son a safe, secure and financially sound Kingdom. Henry VIII desperately wanted a son to pass his Kingdom onto, and not to a daughter with all the inherent problems that entailed.

But Catherine - the fifth and last child of Isabella of Castile, a renowned Queen Regnant who could and did rule in her own right - would have viewed the birth of a daughter in an entirely different light. Catherine would have been aware of the esteem Popes and Kings held for her mother, knowing too that her mother, the Queen, was a crusader. Indeed, not only a crusader but a woman who commanded armies - Catherine herself was born during one of Isabella's campaigns- as she achieved her goal of driving the might of the Moors from her dominions. Yes. Catherine entertained no doubts on a woman's ability to be a strong and able monarch.

The copyright of the article 'Bloody' Mary I in Tudor England is owned by . Permission to republish 'Bloody' Mary I in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.