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'Bloody' Mary III

© Wendy J. Dunn

Parr, Mary I, Elizabeth I, Edward VI, Bluff King Hal, Henry V111 Transition from childhood to adulthood- no matter what century you are born in- is frequently difficult. Mary Tudor's transition to womanhood was more than difficult- it emotionally damaged her, leaving the wings to her spirit broken- broken perhaps beyond repair.

The daughters of Henry VIII had many, many uneasy periods with their father. But I believe Mary Tudor probably suffered more than her much younger sister Elizabeth. Yes- Henry VIII did set in motion the judicial murder of Elizabeth's mother, when Elizabeth was only two years and nine months, but it is also very likely that Mary- at close to twenty- placed her own mother's lonely death at her father's door too.

Mary had a very loving relationship with her mother, Catherine of Aragon. For the first eleven years of Mary's life, she was often by her mother's side, learning the same lessons from Catherine that Catherine had learned from her own mother Isabella, the great Queen of Castille. The history books I have read all paint the picture of a mother and daughter who truly loved each other. Indeed, with Catherine of Aragon's memories of dead baby followed by dead baby, Mary- her one living child- would have been very precious to her. And very central to this picture of a caring mother and a bright-eyed, fair-haired, zestful and dainty girl- whose feet so itched to dance- is a father in his prime, handsome, tall, athletic, musical gifted, full of life and bigger than life. An already powerful king who would become more powerful still- a king who called his young daughter, 'the pearl of my kingdom. ' No wonder Mary idolised him.

But by Mary's twelfth year the winds of change were already blowing hard, making a lot of people close to the English crown very uncomfortable. The king had convinced himself that his marriage to Mary's mother was unclean, incestuous. Catherine had been married his brother and so Henry's own subsequent relationship with her was accursed. Bible scholar that Henry VIII was, he could easily cite the relevant Bible passage, but that didn't make it less tragic for both mother and daughter.

Catherine- a wife and mother worth her salt and not inclined to disappear quietly from a marriage that had lasted twenty-two years - was determined to fight tooth and nail for her daughter's rights and for her beloved husband's imperilled soul. So Henry separated Mary from her mother. He probably believed this separation would cause Catherine to stop and think about her actions and whether doing what 'the king' expected might be a good idea if it gave her daughter back.