50 Fun Facts About Mary I of England

Which lost French port did Mary I of England reportedly say would be found lying in her heart?

Calais had been English since 1347 and was England's last foothold on the European mainland. French forces took it in January 1558, months before the queen died.

After Mary I of England died, her widower Philip sought to marry which new queen, who refused him?

Elizabeth I, Mary's half-sister and successor, turned him down. Three decades later Philip sent the Spanish Armada against her.

Mary I of England won the throne by deposing which teenage cousin, nicknamed the Nine Days Queen?

Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553 and deposed on 19 July as support swung to Mary. She was executed the following February.

Mary I of England was nicknamed Bloody Mary after some 280 Protestants were executed in which way?

Burning at the stake proved so unpopular that even one of her husband's own churchmen condemned it. The victims were soon lauded as martyrs.

Mary I of England seemed to be expecting a child in 1554–55; what is it now thought to have been?

A false pregnancy, perhaps brought on by her overwhelming desire for an heir, is the likeliest answer. Her abdomen receded in July 1555 and no baby came.

Under the Marriage Act of Mary I, which title could her husband Philip use during her lifetime only?

King of England was his style, and official documents carried both their names. He could not act without her consent or appoint foreigners to office.

Which minister of Henry VIII was dubiously accused of plotting to wed the future Mary I of England?

Thomas Cromwell was arrested for treason in June 1540 and beheaded. The charges included a claim that he meant to wed the king's daughter himself.

Mary I of England was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and which of his six wives?

Catherine of Aragon lost a short-lived son and several other babies before her daughter was born in 1516. Henry later had the marriage annulled.

Setting aside the disputed Empress Matilda, Mary I of England counts as the country's first what?

Queen regnant means a queen who rules in her own right. England had no precedent for a married one, so Parliament passed an act to define her husband's powers.

Mary I of England shares a tomb with her half-sister and successor in which English church?

Westminster Abbey holds both queens in one tomb, although Mary's will had asked for burial beside her mother. Its Latin inscription calls them consorts in realm and tomb.

After 1533, the future Mary I of England refused to accept which of Henry VIII's wives as queen?

Anne Boleyn's rise cost Mary her title and her household, and her refusal to yield enraged the king. Father and daughter did not speak for three years.

Where did Mary I of England marry Philip of Spain in 1554, two days after they first met?

Winchester Cathedral hosted the wedding on 25 July 1554. Philip spoke no English, so the couple talked in a mixture of Spanish, French and Latin.

Which Kent rebel led a 1554 uprising against the plan of Mary I of England to marry Philip of Spain?

Thomas Wyatt rallied about 2,500 men and marched on London, but Ludgate was barred against him and his army surrendered.

Where did Mary I of England imprison her half-sister for two months after the Kent rising of 1554?

The Tower of London held her for two months while she protested her innocence. She was then moved to house arrest at Woodstock Palace.

Mary I of England was a granddaughter of which Spanish queen, the sponsor of Columbus?

Isabella of Castile and her husband Ferdinand each kept sovereignty over their own realm while married, a model England lacked when Mary wed.

Which Archbishop of Canterbury did Mary I of England refuse to reprieve even after he recanted?

Thomas Cranmer had declared the marriage of Mary's parents void in 1533. On the day of his execution in 1556 he dramatically withdrew his recantation.

Once Henry VIII's first marriage was annulled, the future Mary I of England was declared what?

Illegitimate in law, she lost the rank of princess and was styled simply "The Lady Mary". Her household was dissolved and her servants dismissed.

The mother of Mary I of England had first been married to which elder brother of Henry VIII?

Prince Arthur died in 1502, months after the wedding. Henry later argued that marrying his brother's widow had made his own marriage unclean.

Which French writer's 1833 play Marie Tudor portrays Mary I of England and a fictional favourite?

Victor Hugo built the drama around the rise and fall of Fabiano Fabiani, a favourite he invented for the queen. It was later adapted into operas and films.

Mary I of England was born at the Palace of Placentia, which stood in which Thames-side town?

Greenwich was also where she was baptised three days later, in the church of the Observant Friars, with Cardinal Wolsey among her godparents.

At six, the future Mary I of England was betrothed to which emperor, her 22-year-old cousin?

Charles V broke off the engagement within a few years, with her father's agreement. Three decades later she married his son instead.

Aged four, the future Mary I of England entertained a French delegation by playing which instrument?

The virginals, a type of harpsichord, were her party piece in July 1520. By the age of nine she could also read and write Latin.

From 1525, the young Mary I of England kept her own court at the castle of which Welsh border town?

Ludlow was her base while she presided, in name at least, over the Council of Wales and the Marches, with powers usually kept for a Prince of Wales.

Which biblical book did Henry VIII cite to call his marriage to the mother of Mary I unclean?

Leviticus was his proof text because the queen was his late brother's widow. She insisted that her earlier marriage had never been consummated.

Which pope refused Henry VIII's request to annul his marriage to the mother of Mary I of England?

Clement VII may have been reluctant because the queen's nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor, commanded troops that had sacked Rome.

Which 1536 rising against Henry VIII led to the execution of Lord Hussey, once chamberlain to the future Mary I?

Pilgrimage of Grace rebels demanded, among other things, that Mary's status be restored. Hussey was executed, though nothing suggests she was involved.

The Privy Purse accounts of the future Mary I of England reveal spending on which favourite pastime?

Gambling at cards sits in the accounts beside bills for fine clothes, from the years after she was reconciled with her father.

Whose Actes and Monuments, known as the Book of Martyrs, painted Mary I of England as a tyrant?

John Foxe fled into exile during her reign and published the book in 1563. It stayed popular for centuries and shaped her bloodthirsty image.

Maryborough and Philipstown were founded under Mary I of England and her husband in which country?

Ireland's midlands were settled with English colonists during the reign, in the new Queen's County and King's County, today's Laois and Offaly.

In July 1553, Mary I of England gathered her supporters at the castle of which Suffolk town?

Framlingham was where her force had assembled by 12 July, and within a week her rival's support collapsed. She rode into London in triumph on 3 August.

Which Duke of Northumberland was executed after failing to keep Mary I of England off the throne?

John Dudley was the only conspirator of rank executed in the immediate aftermath of the coup. The rival queen he had backed was his own daughter-in-law.

Which bishop, freed from prison by Mary I of England, crowned her in 1553 as Lord Chancellor?

Stephen Gardiner was released at the start of the reign and stayed chancellor until his death in November 1555. He had urged her to marry an Englishman.

Which painter's portrait of Philip was sent to Mary I of England during their marriage talks?

Titian's picture reached her in the second half of 1553. It was all she saw of her bridegroom until days before the wedding.

Which cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury under Mary I of England, died on the same day she did?

Reginald Pole, the son of her executed governess, died about twelve hours after the queen, in the same influenza epidemic.

In which English city were the bishops Latimer and Ridley put to death under Mary I in 1555?

Oxford hosted their trial in the university church on the High Street, and the victims are remembered as the Oxford Martyrs.

Once Mary I of England restored her father's Six Articles, priests lost their posts for doing what?

Taking a wife broke the rule of clerical celibacy, which her first Parliament reaffirmed while abolishing her half-brother's religious laws.

Which laws, revived in January 1555, cleared the way for executions under Mary I of England?

The Heresy Acts returned within weeks of the pope approving England's reunion with Rome, and the first executions followed in February 1555.

Which Scottish reformer attacked Mary I of England in his 1558 tract The First Blast of the Trumpet?

John Knox wrote the tract anonymously in exile, arguing against rule by women. It was published in the year she died.

Which group of merchants under Sebastian Cabot received its royal charter from Mary I of England?

Muscovy Company merchants were chartered in 1555 to trade with Russia, part of a hunt for new markets as the Antwerp cloth trade declined.

Mary I of England adopted a personal motto that describes truth as the daughter of what?

Time completes the motto, Veritas Temporis Filia in Latin. Her first Parliament declared her parents' marriage valid twenty years after it was annulled.

Which part of her father's royal style did Mary I of England drop after Christmas 1553?

Supreme Head of the Church clashed with her loyalty to Rome, so she omitted it within months of taking the throne and kept the rest of the style.

Mary I of England and her husband Philip were both descended from which son of Edward III?

John of Gaunt was the shared ancestor, and the link was played up to make the foreign bridegroom look like one of England's own.

On her wedding day, Mary I of England became queen of which kingdom, ceded to Philip by his father?

Naples was handed over to raise the bridegroom to her rank, along with a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem that made her its titular queen.

Mary I of England died during an influenza epidemic in 1558 at which royal palace?

St James's was where she died on 17 November 1558, aged 42, after months of illness that may have been ovarian cysts or uterine cancer.

Which king added the Latin inscription to the tomb Mary I of England shares with her half-sister?

James I had it fixed there after he came to the throne. It speaks of two sisters, consorts in realm and tomb, sleeping in hope of the resurrection.

Which composer wrote the mass Puer natus est nobis, probably for the joint chapel choirs of Mary I and Philip?

Thomas Tallis is thought to have written it for December 1554, when the English Chapel Royal and Philip's Flemish chapel choir sang together.

Which Spanish humanist wrote a treatise on the education of girls for the young Mary I of England?

Juan Luis Vives was commissioned by her mother to write De Institutione Feminae Christianae, and he was among those who called the girl Princess of Wales.

Which Imperial ambassador became the close adviser of the future Mary I of England in the 1530s?

Eustace Chapuys interceded for her at court, without success, during the years when she and her father did not speak to each other.

Which Victorian poet published the 1875 drama Queen Mary, about Mary I of England?

Alfred Tennyson had been Poet Laureate since 1850 when he turned to historical drama. The actress Kate Bateman took the title part on stage.

Which actress played the young Mary Tudor, later Mary I of England, in the TV drama The Tudors?

Sarah Bolger played the princess from 2008 to 2010 in her breakout role, and won an IFTA award for the part.