Friday, June 2, 2017

Sisters That Changed History: Mary & Elizabeth Tudor Part I with #Giveaway

Blogger: Amber Schamel
In our exploration of Sisters That Changed History, we return to Tudor England and yet another set of powerful sisters, Mary & Elizabeth Tudor. Since there is so much to cover, I have broken it up into two posts. Part two coming July 2nd.

Two sisters could not have been more opposite. Mary was Catholic, Elizabeth Protestant. Mary executed over 300 subjects and was nicknamed “bloody Mary”, while Elizabeth was known for her commitment to English peace and prosperity. But both would leave a lasting impact on the world.

Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon
(Public Domain)


While Mary is usually thought of in a horrible reputation, if we explore the events leading up to her reign, we can more easily understand her. Mary was the only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to live to adulthood. She was baptized into the Catholic church shortly after her birth on February 18, 1516. She was well educated and brought up mostly by her mother.

When her father lost hope of Catherine producing a male heir—at least one that would survive—he determined to divorce her. After over 20 years of marriage, he decided that marrying his brother’s widow was incest and therefore the marriage was null. He broke ties with the Catholic church over the dispute and married Anne Boleyn who then bare Elizabeth I.

One can’t imagine that a girl who watched her father break with the religious leaders she respected to marry her mother’s maid-of-honor to be very excited about the union. Needless to say, it didn’t make a very warm and fuzzy beginning to Mary and Elizabeth’s sisterly relations. If that weren’t enough, it wasn’t long before King Henry influenced Parliament to deem Mary illegitimate, which shoved her from the line of succession and into being a lady-in-waiting for her younger half-sister.

When Henry VIII died, Mary’s fortunes began to look up. Her young half-brother Edward inherited the throne, but Mary inherited estates and palaces. However, young Edward was also a Protestant and wished England to remain so. When he fell ill, he appointed an heir that would uphold their religious reforms. But Mary wouldn’t be so easily passed over.

This post doesn’t have room to go into the entire drama, so let’s just say that Mary got her way. She ascended to the throne and began drawing England back to the Catholic church. Her persecutions are well known.

Queen Mary and her husband Philip of Spain
As Mary grew older, she realized that unless she married and produced an heir, the throne would go to Elizabeth, and all the progress she'd made in reuniting England with Catholicism would be undone. That simply couldn’t happen. So, despite the public’s disapproval, she arranged a marriage to a Catholic Prince, Philip of Spain when she was 37 years old. Her marriage was unsuccessful and after several false pregnancies, she succumbed to an illness that is believed to be uterine cancer or ovarian cysts. She was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Upon her death, her husband, Prince Philip, wrote in a letter to his sister the princess of Portugal, "I felt a reasonable regret for her death.” Such was the intense romance of their marriage.

However, Mary did leave a lasting impact on the western world. She was the first queen to succeed in claiming the English throne. Her reign was a step toward the feminist movement. In fact, John Knox’s pamphlet First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (quite a mouthful of a title, hmm?) was directed mainly at her and her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots. While most of Mary’s policies failed, and she left her country in a bad situation, many of Elizabeth’s successes began with Mary. Naval expansion, fiscal reform, and exploration of colonies being the notable ones. She also further pressed the Catholic vs. Protestant conflict, which in turn propelled the Reformation and the translation of Scriptures.

Next month we will move on to Elizabeth I, the younger sister. 


I'm just returning from a trip to Kent, England where I saw the Leeds Castle (Fodder for a future post, but King Henry VIII stayed here.) and I have a Tudor souvenir necklace to give away! It is a replica of a Tudor coin. 
Leave a comment telling me about your favorite tidbit of Tudor history to get your name in the drawing!


*****
Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  Her title, Dawn of Liberty, was awarded the 2017 CSPA Book of the Year award in Historical Fiction. She lives in Colorado and spends half her time volunteering in the Ozarks. Visit her online at www.AmberSchamel.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!

23 comments:

  1. Probably my favorite bit of Tudor history is the fact that even though she never got married, Elizabeth I did have 26 different marriage proposals to consider. Must be nice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Margaret, that is interesting! I suppose if you were the Queen of England you wouldn't lack for interested suitors.

      Delete
  2. Interesting! I can't pick out one particular fact as a favorite, but I am so ignorant of history that it's all interesting when you authors highlight your discoveries! bcrug(at)myfairpoint(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting, Connie! So glad you found it interesting.

      Delete
  3. I think reading about poor Lady Jane Gray.
    whistleinthewind74(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, poor Jane. It was one of those times when being in the wrong place at the wrong time was a death sentence.

      Delete
  4. How interesting! I would love to hear more about your trip! mauback55 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Melanie! You'll be hearing all about it in my newsletter. :)
      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. I really liked the movie about Jane Gray. Would love to read about this. paulams49ATsbcglobalDOTnet

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Paula. Jane Gray was an interesting character for sure.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for stopping by, Paula. Jane Gray was an interesting character for sure.

      Delete
  6. Interesting, informative and characteristics of family members being totally opposite. I cannot name exactly a favorite tidbit about Tudor's history, but the contrast wants me to learn more about this. I'll look forward to learning more about Elizabeth I.

    Also, I want to hear about your amazing trip, Amber. So glad you and your family had this lifetime experience. I've enjoyed the few pictures and posts I've seen.
    marilynridgway78 [at]gmail [dot]com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Marilyn!
      Thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you enjoyed learning about Mary. I'm excited to share about Elizabeth as well. :)

      You'll be hearing a lot more about our trip soon! I'm going to put out a lot more pictures and tidbits in my newsletter now that I have internet.

      Delete
  7. So cool you were able to visit England, Amber. And it's great you
    were able to visit a castle. I was in Bath for a week last year and
    was able to visit an estate with lovely grounds, but time and
    circumstances didn't allow me to visit a castle. Watching Wolf Hall
    on PBS has piqued my curiosity about the Tudor family. I appreciate
    your sharing Mary's story and look forward to reading Elizabeth I's.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Kathleen!
      Visiting Leeds Castle was amazing! I'm so blessed we had the opportunity to do so. I'd love to visit Bath someday! So much Jane Austen history there. :)

      The Tudor family is fascinating and I'm excited to share more about these sisters next month.

      Delete
    2. Yes, Bath is a cool place to be. Beautiful city and I did go to the
      Jane Austen Museum--definitely a highlight! :)

      Delete
  8. Amber thank you for the fascinating post! The tidbit I find most interesting is the Catholic vs. Protestant conflict. Thank you for sharing. I'm looking forward to your July post! Have an awesome trip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Forgot my email: psalm103and138 at gmail dot com

      Delete
  9. Thank you very much for sharing interesting information about both sisters that I never read before.
    Albert
    PhD dissertation writing services

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Albert! I'm glad the post was beneficial to you. :)

      Delete
  10. I am not very knowledgeable about Tudor history so your post was very informative. I hadn't realized how tumultuous Mary's life was. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to Part II.
    Connie
    cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed the post, Connie. I hadn't realized how rough Mary had it either. Gives you another perspective.

      Delete
  11. Alright, Folks, I have drawn a winner of the Tudor replica necklace!
    The winner is...Drumroll please...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    We're talking British history here, so we need time for the British soldiers and their amazing rat-a-tat drums. ;)
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    The winner is...Melanie Backus! Congratulations, Melanie!

    ReplyDelete