Queen Mary I: The Role Of Female Monarchs In England

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In England during the 1500s, there had been only male monarchs and the females were only given the title of being Queen through marriage. However, in 1135 when Henry I had died, a female had the first chance to become Queen. Matilda, the daughter of King Henry I was going to be Queen of England, “not in the conventional sense of a king’s wife, but in the unprecedented form of a female king” (Castor, 2010). However, Matilda lost the crown of England to King Henry I’s nephew Stephen because he was crowned King (Castor, 2010). During this time, it was not considered the norm for females to be able to lead an army into conflict, and thus the society did not know how females would be able to rule a nation (Castor, 2010). Once again, this was just …show more content…
She showed the nation that the crown should not be restricted by gender (Whitelock, 2014). During April of 1554, Parliament approved the Act for Regal Power, which stated that queens could hold power to the same extent as their male predecessors. Hence, gender was no longer a part of the decision as to whom would get the crown (Whitelock, 2014). As the first queen, she was also able to change practice and law by establishing that, “a female ruler, married or unmarried, would enjoy identical power and authority to male monarchs” (Whitelock, 2014). This was a major impact of Queen Mary’s rule, and influenced future monarchs. This legislation also allowed females to have better rights in society, and gave them the ability to obtain the …show more content…
This nickname started when people in England were getting executed for being protestant per the Queen’s orders. This started when the old heresy laws were restored, which is when individuals refused to adhere to Catholic form of worship, which resulted in them being burnt to death (Sharnette, n.d.). Under Queen Mary I’s declaration, practicing Protestantism was an act of heresy. However, previous to this law, Protestantism was actually widely accepted, and was even accepted by many as a legal form of Christian worship (Sharnette, n.d.). This action of reinstating Protestantism’s as an act heresy resulted in many being found guilty, and even executed for not following the Catholic faith (Trueman, 2015). One of the individuals that was tried and found guilty was John Hooper, the former Bishop of Gloucester. Hooper was burned to death in Gloucester in February of 1555 (Trueman, 2015). Instead of this action discouraging the Protestants, which was Queen Mary I’s initial goal, the burnings only actually amplified the people of England’s hatred towards the Queen (Tudorhistory.org, 2012). Around 300 Protestants were executed during the reign of Queen Mary and as a result she was given the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’ because of the blood on her hands with the heresy (Trueman, 2015). However, during the reign of Henry VIII approximately 57,000 to 72,000 people were executed (History Extra,

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