Does Queen Mary deserve her nickname of Bloody Mary?
In 1533 Henry VIII made the break with the Roman Church and established the Church of England. After his death in 1540, his son Edward ascended to the throne. For the few short years that he ruled England the country remained Protestant. After the death of Edward however, Mary I came to the throne and reigned as a Catholic.In 1554 she married Philip II of Spain, a devout Catholic. Her religion was inherited from her mother, Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, herself a devout Catholic. After Mary’s death Elizabeth I inherited the throne and ruled as a Protestant. This made for great confusion for the citizens of England under the rule of the Tudors. It was during Elizabeth’s reign that Mary I became known as Bloody Mary.
During her reign, Mary burned 284 people at the stake. Her sole reason for this was that they refused to renounce their protestant beliefs and return to the Catholic Church. At least 284 people were burned on Mary’s orders in five years. They were classed as heretics although their crime was to disagree with Mary and to hold on to their own beliefs. There are a number of eyewitness accounts still in existence which describe graphically the terrible way in which some of these martyrs died. John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs describes the death of Dr. Ridley and Mr. Latimer. He describes how Mr. Latimer greeted Dr. Ridley by saying, “Be of good heart, brother, for God will either ease the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to endure it.” They went to the stake, fell to their knees and prayed. Dr. Ridley’s brother then tied a bag of gunpowder around his brother’s neck and then did the same to Mr. Latimer. This was to ensure that they would die more quickly rather than suffer the terrible agonies of a death by burning alive. Mr. Latimer, when the lighted faggot was placed at his feet said, “Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out.” Mr. Latimer died with seemingly little pain but Dr.Ridley, due to the bad arrangement of the fire, laboured in much pain. When he saw the flames begin to rise he leaned himself to that side, the gunpowder was ignited and he was seen to stir no more. This dreadful sight filled almost every eye with tears. As a Catholic, the evidence of Simon Renard is slightly less graphic. He stated that after the death of a man called Roger, bystanders gathered up the ashes and bones and wrapped them in paper to preserve them.
