Political intrigue and espionage are nothing new, and the Tudor age was brimming with them. In this roundup of 10 intriguing spies, we’ll wander through candle‑lit chambers, secret letters, and daring escapades that defined an era before gadgets and satellites. Grab a quill and settle in—these covert characters prove that the game of shadows has always been a human pastime.

10 Intriguing Spies: Tudor Shadows and Secrets

10 William Parry

During Elizabeth I’s reign, openly practicing Catholicism was a perilous gamble. William Parry was dispatched to monitor expatriate Catholics, sending frequent reports back to London that identified who posed no threat and who might be scheming against the queen from the relative safety of Paris.

His fortunes soured in 1580 when he faced a trial for allegedly assaulting a moneylender. Although the queen granted him a pardon, he could not sustain the lavish lifestyle he had grown accustomed to. By 1583, Parry began playing a dangerous double‑game, penning a letter to a Roman cardinal expressing his desire to serve the Catholic Church.

The gamble proved fatal. In 1585, Parry was hanged, drawn, and quartered for his involvement in a plot to assassinate the queen.

9 Isabella Hoppringle

Isabella Hoppringle served as the 16th‑century prioress of the Coldstream convent, perched on the volatile England‑Scotland border. While she relied on the Scots to safeguard her convent, she simultaneously penned letters to Henry VIII’s agents, relaying intelligence on the Scottish army.

Her close relationship with Scotland’s queen, Margaret, meant Isabella frequently visited Glasgow and Stirling, where she observed troops being mustered and equipped. In 1523, the Lords of Council decreed death for anyone who communicated with the English, and word of her correspondence spread. Margaret’s intercession averted an attack on the priory, but the warning was clear: Isabella’s safety hinged on her continued loyalty.

Isabella—and later her successor, Janet Hoppringle—persisted in their covert service to England, weaving religious duty with espionage.

8 George Eliot

When Jesuit priest Edmund Campion published his incendiary pamphlet Ten Reasons in 1581, it lit a fire under the Tudor authorities. The Earl of Leicester recruited George Eliot—a known con artist—to trail the priest, hoping to gather incriminating evidence and secure an arrest.

Eliot, desperate to dodge a murder charge, embedded himself in an Oxfordshire parish, monitoring Campion’s movements. He eventually summoned the local magistrate, who oversaw the priest’s capture. Campion tried to hide, but a midnight sermon he delivered for his host’s guests inadvertently drew attention, leading to his discovery.

The priest’s fate was grim: he was hanged, drawn, and quartered, underscoring the brutal consequences of religious dissent in Tudor England.

7 Bertrandon de la Broquiere

In 1432, French adventurer Bertrandon de la Broquiere embarked on a year‑long espionage trek to Palestine on behalf of the Duke of Burgundy. His mandate: gather any military intelligence that could aid a planned Crusade against the Ottoman Turks.

Bertrandon reported that the Turks were disciplined yet under‑armed, offering an optimistic view of their vulnerabilities. He also praised the kindness of those who nursed him back to health, painting the diverse peoples he met as altruistic, despite religious differences.

His journey was a tapestry of close calls, disguises, and even a stint with a Muslim caravan to Bursa. Though he returned hopeful, urging a victorious Crusade, no such campaign materialized from his intel.

6 Petrus Alamire

Petrus Alamire is a clever alias—derived from the musical sol‑fa syllables A‑la‑mi‑re—assigned to a spy who served Henry VIII while also flourishing as a musician and scribe.

Born in Bavaria, Alamire’s workshop produced some of the early 16th‑century’s most exquisite illuminated manuscripts. These lavish books were gifted to European royal courts, prompting the recipients to summon the mastermind behind them. This privileged access allowed Alamire to siphon intelligence, which he funneled to various monarchs to keep them indebted.

Alamire supplied Henry VIII with extensive information on Richard de la Pole, the last Yorkist claimant to the throne. Yet he also fed intelligence to Pole himself, and after his betrayal was exposed, he never returned to the English court.

5 Francis Walsingham

Francis Walsingham, a seasoned traveler fluent in Italian and French, acted as Elizabeth I’s spymaster for 22 years. He commanded more than fifty agents scattered across Turkey and the broader European landscape, yet the queen’s greatest peril lingered close to home.

Walsingham’s network relentlessly collected proof of conspiracies aimed at dethroning Elizabeth in favor of Mary, Queen of Scots. Even after the Babington Plot’s conspirators were hanged, drawn, and quartered, Elizabeth hesitated to sign Mary’s death warrant.

She finally authorized the execution on 1 February 1587. Walsingham supervised the grisly affair—burning Mary’s garments, encasing her corpse in lead to prevent relics, and even establishing a spy academy where agents learned to read and write encoded messages.

4 Antony Standen

Antony Standen—aka “Pompeo Pellegrini”—served among Francis Walsingham’s cadre of operatives. Stationed in Italy, he relayed intelligence on the Spanish Armada despite living in exile due to his Catholic faith.

His peripatetic life took him from England to Scotland, then France, and finally Tuscany, where he befriended the Tuscan ambassador to Spain. In 1587, officially on Walsingham’s payroll, Standen fed regular reports that enabled Sir Francis Drake to strike the Spanish fleet at Cadiz.

Standen’s insights crippled Spain’s naval power, yet by the time he returned to England in 1593, Walsingham had died and Standen’s contributions faded into obscurity. Later attempts to aid the Catholic Church in England landed him in the Tower of London.

3 William Herle

In 1571, a coalition of Philip II of Spain and Pope Pius V allied with Florentine financier Roberto Ridolfi to overthrow Elizabeth in favor of Mary. Ridolfi’s messenger, Charles Bailly, was captured and sent to Marshalsea Prison, where he encountered William Herle, a spy who had served Elizabeth I since roughly 1559.

Herle, previously arrested for piracy in 1570 (and 1567), was deliberately placed in Marshalsea to extract information from Bailly. Once Bailly was isolated, Herle stepped in as a dubious, shadowy figure capable of facilitating covert tasks.

Bailly began transmitting letters to his external contacts via Herle, who dutifully copied them for his own masters before forwarding. The unraveling of this plot reshaped the political landscape both in England and abroad.

2 William Stafford

To persuade Elizabeth I to endorse Mary’s execution, Francis Walsingham employed every conceivable tactic, including concocting plots against the queen herself.

William Stafford, younger brother of England’s French ambassador, became a devoted servant of Walsingham. In 1587, he presented a bizarre assassination scheme he claimed to have uncovered: France’s ambassador, Chateauneuf, and his secretary allegedly recruited Stafford to plant gunpowder beneath the queen’s bed.

Eventually, the French envoy and his secretary were exonerated, and Walsingham concluded Stafford was exploiting his position for extortion. Nonetheless, Stafford remained within Walsingham’s network, leaving it ambiguous whether the spymaster orchestrated the setup or if Stafford merely supplied Elizabeth with another reason to fear assassination attempts.

1 Madame de Sauve And The Flying Squadron

According to Pierre de Bourdeille’s memoirs, Catherine de’ Medici maintained a cadre of 86 (or perhaps 300) ladies‑in‑waiting whose mission was to seduce court men, extract top‑secret intelligence, and funnel it back to her. This group, dubbed the “Flying Squadron,” bolstered Catherine’s personal power and that of her family.

The most infamous among them was Charlotte de Beaune, known as Madame de Sauve. Catherine’s daughter, Marguerite, chronicled Charlotte’s flirtations with both Marguerite’s husband and her brother. Marguerite alleged that her mother engineered a rivalry between the two men, using the temptress as a pawn in a larger game of courtly manipulation.

It may have been over 400 years since she reigned over England, but Queen Elizabeth I is known as one of the most notorious female figures in history. During the first Elizabethan era, England was established as a major power in politics, commerce, and the arts.

Born as the second daughter of Henry VIII and with an early life of uncertainties, Elizabeth eventually reigned as queen for over 40 years. It’s fair to say that Elizabeth had quite an interesting life.

Related: 10 Intriguing Spies From The Tudor Era

10 She Was Born at Greenwich Palace

Royal births in hospitals have become far more common over the past 40 years, but previously, home births were the norm. Even Queen Elizabeth II gave birth to her four children at home at Buckingham Palace. So back in the 16th century, a home birth was really the only option.

Elizabeth’s grandfather, Henry VII, purchased Greenwich Palace when he ascended to the throne in 1485. The palace was located on the bank of the River Thames near London. His son (and Elizabeth’s father) Henry VIII was born at the palace in 1491.

On September 7, 1533, a baby Elizabeth was also born at Greenwich Palace to the reigning King Henry and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.

Greenwich Palace, also known as the Palace of Placentia, was eventually demolished in the late 1600s. The site was later used as a hospital and is now known as the Old Royal Naval College. Modern-day visitors to Greenwich Park can still visit the tree where Elizabeth occasionally enjoyed a snack as a child.^[1]

9 Elizabeth Was Never Meant to Become Queen

Until recently, male members of the British royal family have benefited from a system of male primogeniture. This meant that if the first child of the monarch was female, any younger brothers would automatically overtake their sister in line to the throne.

Elizabeth was heir presumptive (never the heir apparent) to the throne when she was born, but her father was still desperate for a son. When Elizabeth’s brother, Edward, was born three years later, it seemed unlikely that she would ever become queen.

But the system of male primogeniture wasn’t the only reason. After Henry VIII had her mother, Anne Boleyn, executed when Elizabeth was only two years old, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate.

Tragically Henry’s only legitimate male child, Edward VI, died at the age of 15 after reigning for only six years. This led to the reign of the last two of Henry VIII’s children, his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.

However, it wasn’t until her half sister, Queen Mary I, declared Elizabeth as her successor that she became the direct heir to the throne. Just eleven days after the declaration, Mary died, making Elizabeth queen of England! However, throughout her reign, issues surrounding her legitimacy resulted in many threats to her throne and sovereignty.^[2]

8 Her Sister Almost Had Her Executed

Mary I was not only the first Tudor queen but also the older half sister of Elizabeth I. Mary was already 17 years old and had been declared illegitimate by the time Elizabeth was born. Historians believe that after Elizabeth’s mother was executed, Mary actually took pity on a young Elizabeth.

When Mary and Elizabeth’s younger brother King Edward VI died in 1553, it was incredibly uncertain who would succeed him. Eventually, Mary acceded to the throne leading to Protestant rebellions and many deaths ordered by the staunchly Catholic queen. In 1554, Mary even had Elizabeth imprisoned for two months after a rebellion attempted to overthrow her. As Elizabeth was Protestant, it didn’t take much for Mary to be suspicious of her much younger sibling. It looked likely that this could lead to Elizabeth’s execution. However, Elizabeth denied all knowledge of the rebellion. Yet, she remained under house arrest for a year before eventually being allowed free.^[3]

7 She Was Multilingual

As well as being talented at music and calligraphy, Elizabeth had a strong grasp of linguistics. By the age of eleven, Elizabeth could speak five languages. As she grew older, she learned more and eventually, in addition to English, could read or speak German, Flemish, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, and Italian.

This is quite impressive, especially considering it was during a time when it was probably more common to be illiterate than literate for the majority of people. However, as a Tudor, there was no doubt that Elizabeth had access to the very best tutors.

Elizabeth’s grasp of a multitude of languages likely helped her in her ability to maintain relations with other European powers and assisted her in gaining respect as one of the few reigning female monarchs at the time.^[4]

6 Elizabeth Had Mary Queen of Scots Executed

One of the most famous rivalries of the era, Elizabeth and Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, were two queens often pitted against each other due to their claims to the English throne. Mary was the granddaughter of Margaret, Henry VIII’s older sister. She became Queen of Scots when she was only six days old. Once betrothed to Edward VI, that match was eventually opposed by some Scottish Catholics, who then sought to use the young Mary to form an alliance with France.

Despite the fact that they were cousins, Elizabeth and Mary never actually met. Mary was a figurehead for those who desired a Catholic ruler, whereas Elizabeth remained the Protestant alternative.

After Mary was forced to abdicate the Scottish throne and imprisoned, she was held captive for 19 years until Elizabeth warranted her execution on February 7, 1587. The cousins were two of the most powerful women in European history, but ultimately, the 16th-century world was not one in which they could co-exist.^[5]

5 She Never Married

Known as the virgin queen, it has long been debated whether Elizabeth was actually a virgin. However, the name seems appropriate as she is the only female English monarch to date to never marry. Some historians believe it was an active choice to protect England’s security from foreign influence. However, it led to ongoing uncertainty over who would inherit the throne when she died.

Mary had a long list of potential suitors, from foreign princes to English noblemen, all keen to gain the power of the English throne. MPs and the Privy Council all expected Elizabeth to marry in order to secure the succession of the throne with royal children and preferably a future King.

Robert Dudley was an ambitious courtier who spent a lot of time with Elizabeth, which resulted in a lot of rumors about their relationship and led many to doubt Elizabeth’s supposed virginity. However, this relationship could never become a marriage, as Dudley was already married.^[6]

4 She Was Suspected of Killing Robert Dudley’s Wife

Dudley had known Elizabeth since they were children and became one of her most trusted confidants. Rumored to be Robert Dudley’s lover, Elizabeth was one of the suspects when Dudley’s wife of ten years, Amy Robsart, suddenly died.

Many at the time believed that Queen Elizabeth desired to marry Robert Dudley but could not do so as he was married. This linked both Mary and Robert as suspects in Amy’s murder. Ultimately Amy’s death was ruled accidental, but Dudley and Elizabeth’s story did not have a happy ending. He went on to marry another, and she remained the so-called virgin queen until her death.^[7]

3 Elizabeth Had a Sweet Tooth

Common foods during the Elizabethan era consisted of a variety of meat, fish, bread, fruits, and vegetables, with the wealthiest members of society having their choice of all the best foods.

As queen, Elizabeth had access to some of the world’s most luxurious foods. At the time, food was a huge status symbol and reflected the wealth and power of England. One of her favorite ingredients was, of course, sugar, which was used in some extremely elaborate dishes. Gingerbread and marzipan were thought to be some of her favorite treats.

At the time, many believed sugar also had medicinal purposes, and it is rumored that Elizabeth used sugar and honey to brush her teeth. It’s fair to say that this took its toll, and she had to have some teeth removed, with many ambassadors to England commenting on Elizabeth’s yellow and rotting teeth. It even became a symbol of wealth, so much so that aristocratic women would stain their teeth black to show their status and emulate their queen.^[8]

2 Her Death Remains a Mystery

The cause of Elizabeth’s death has never been confirmed, and in fact, it is a hotly contested subject, with theories ranging from pneumonia and cancer to blood poisoning. Some historians even believe it to be possible that Elizabeth’s own coronation ring killed her, as she had never removed it during her 44-year reign.

Historians also claim that during Elizabeth’s final years, she suffered from depression after many of her close friends and relatives died. Despite appearing very ill during her final months, Elizabeth remained stubborn and refused rest by insisting on standing at events for hours on end. Blood poisoning was also a commonly rumored cause of death as a result of the lead-based make-up that Elizabeth liked to wear.

As Elizabeth refused to allow any doctors to examine her or to consent to a post-mortem after her death, it was impossible for doctors at the time to conclude an accurate cause of death. This leaves historians curious about what particular illness Elizabeth succumbed to. It is likely that, regardless of Elizabeth’s illness and physical health, her mental health contributed greatly to her death.^[9]

1 She Was the Last Tudor Monarch

Elizabeth was the fifth and final Tudor monarch. Succession problems had plagued the Tudor monarchy from the outset, which ultimately led to the unlikely occurrence of two queens during this era. As Elizabeth had no children herself, there was no clear successor in place.

Before she died, she named James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary Queen of Scots, as her successor. When she passed away, this ultimately saw the end of the Tudor era and the beginning of a united England and Scotland when James began the Stuart dynasty in 1603 as James I of England.

Elizabeth’s decision to name James as her successor ensured that she had a long-lasting impact on Britain. When Elizabeth died, the country was arguably in a stable place financially and politically with an elevated international status due to their military victories. Ultimately, Elizabeth I was a complex queen who prevailed despite the prejudices and challenges she faced during her 44-year reign.^[10]

Mary I of England was the only surviving child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine. As the Catholic queen of a country that had fallen into religious conflict and established a breakaway church, she saw it as her duty to bring her subjects back under the “true” religion. This led her to persecute hundreds of Protestants after she came to power.

Overshadowed by her sister and successor, the Protestant Elizabeth I, Mary has largely been pushed aside in the public’s imagination. Today, most people associate her reign only with the Marian persecutions, and her chilling moniker, “Bloody Mary,” is probably more famous than she is. But as with most historical figures, there’s more to her story.

Here are ten reasons Mary wasn’t as evil as we’ve been taught.

10 Born into a Divided Family

Mary’s mother was Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess who’d been betrothed from a young age to young Arthur of the House of Tudor, then heir to the English throne. Shortly after the marriage, Arthur, in typical medieval fashion, succumbed to an untimely death, leaving the teenaged Catherine a widow in a foreign land. Arthur’s father, Henry VII, was also widowed and considered marrying Catherine himself but eventually proposed she wed his younger son and new heir, the future Henry VIII.

Negotiations over the marriage took so long that by the time it happened, Henry had already succeeded his father, and Catherine was in her twenties. It was into this tangled mess that Mary arrived in 1516 after several failed pregnancies. Her birth came at a time when royal parents were not exactly on the up and up regarding daughters being equal to sons. Altogether, Catherine gave birth to six children, including three sons, but none survived except Mary. The absence of a male heir eventually completely pulled Henry VIII away from his family.^[1]

9 Traumatized as a Teenager by Her Father

With no male heir, Henry VIII grew increasingly obsessed with the topic, seeking desperately to find an explanation for his lack of sons. Renaissance enlightenment principles aside, he concluded that by taking his brother’s widow as his wife, he’d broken the laws of God and been cursed with no heirs, even though the marriage had been sanctioned by the Vatican. Whether he legitimately believed this or simply found it a convenient pretext to remarry, only he knew.

Although Mary was already being educated as heiress presumptive, Henry remained vehemently opposed to a female successor. First, he appealed to the Pope to dissolve his marriage to Catherine. When that failed, he enlisted allies to continue with annulment proceedings domestically, undertook a secret marriage to his mistress, Anne Boleyn, and appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church in England. To uphold the claim that his marriage to Catherine had never been valid to begin with, he delegitimized the teenage Mary and removed her from the line of succession, all before Anne’s first child had even been born.^[2]

8 Humiliated and Forced to Wait on Her Baby Sister

In 1533, Anne gave birth to Elizabeth, her first and only child with Henry. Having been stripped of her royal titles, Mary was further humiliated by being made an attendant to her infant sister, who had replaced her in the line of succession. To make matters worse, Mary’s mother, Catherine, by this point, had been banished from court, and mother and daughter were officially forbidden from communicating.

For years, Mary refused to cave to pressure to accept her illegitimacy and recognize her father as head of the church, a testament to her strength of character in the face of what must have seemed insurmountable odds. Eventually, she did make those pronouncements but sent a secret message to the Pope explaining she’d done so under duress. Despite what Elizabeth’s birth and position represented for her, Mary loved her sister and was influential in getting her back on good terms with their father after he executed Elizabeth’s mother, Anne, for treason.^[3]

7 Spared the Life of Her Usurper

After Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, gave birth to a son named Edward, Mary assumed she’d never be queen. If all went according to Henry’s plan, Edward would succeed him and have sons of his own. And Mary would live the life of any ordinary princess. Edward did become king but lived only a few years after that, dying in his teens of a respiratory illness, having neither married nor had children. Although their father had reinstated Mary to the line of succession, Edward again removed her as he lay dying, not because he didn’t want a female heir but because he didn’t want her to undo the work of the Reformation, in which he’d been brought up.

Edward and Mary’s sister Elizabeth had also been raised Protestant, like Edward, but legally it would’ve been inadvisable to exclude only Mary, who held the stronger claim as the eldest. To this end, he also bypassed Elizabeth and instead designated his Protestant cousin, Jane Grey, as heir. After Edward’s death, Jane’s reign lasted a matter of days, with Mary rallying supporters and marching on London. Knowing Jane had only followed orders, Mary spared her life. Tragically, Jane remained a pawn in the conspirators’ dealings and eventually was put to death to thwart further attempts to unseat Mary.^[4]

6 Courageous and Trailblazing for the Time

Although feminism wasn’t exactly a hot topic in Mary’s time, her life was as close an example to it as we might expect for a sixteenth-century queen. In one of her most daring moments, Mary fled to a loyalist outpost as soon as she heard that her brother, Edward VI, was near death. If she’d remained nearby, she’d have been imprisoned and prevented from ascending the throne by Edward’s supporters, spelling the end of the Tudor dynasty. She was bold, decisive, and politically astute in an era when women were chiefly praised for modesty and obedience.

As Henry VIII’s eldest surviving heir, Mary based her claim to the throne on legitimacy, sidelining the topic of religion. This gained her support from both Catholics and Protestants. Both the common people and gentry came to her side, and Jane Grey’s government fell apart within days. Not long after Mary’s proclamation, Parliament passed an act enshrining the full and absolute power of the crown irrespective of gender, establishing equal rights between kings and queens regnant.^[5]

5 Guided by the Religious Conventions of Her Time

Today, we’d be horrified at the idea of burning someone at the stake for any reason, let alone their religious beliefs. But Mary grew up in a time when the importance of practicing the true religion was a matter of salvation. She believed her brother’s death proved God wanted a Catholic on the throne. Seeing the Pope as God’s representative on earth, she rejected the title of Supreme Head of the Church.

For Mary, finding herself on a throne she thought she’d never ascend was a vindication of her beliefs. To allow England to continue its course of separation from the Vatican would’ve been an affront to her duties as sovereign. Protestants who refused to convert back to Catholicism paid with their lives in a gruesome manner, but everything Mary had been taught told her it was her obligation to root out heresy in her dominions.^[6]

4 No Different from Other Monarchs of the Age

Giving someone the title “Bloody Mary” conjures up images of a cold, ruthless killer. And though you might argue the shoe fits, the truth is Mary was no different from other monarchs of the time when it came to eliminating disobedient subjects. In pursuit of his ambition to leave his marriage and father sons with other women, Henry VIII, who never quite reconciled his Catholic upbringing with his zeal for reform, put both Catholics and reformers to death, including death by burning.

Mary’s successor, Elizabeth I, not only executed many of her own subjects but even put to death a fellow queen. While it’s true that Mary’s infamous burnings reached almost 300 in a short period, Elizabeth once ordered over twice as many executions after quashing a Catholic rebellion early on in her rule. Of course, neither sister ever reached the dizzying heights of their father. By the end of his 36-year reign, Henry VIII had executed an estimated 57,000 people, a bone-chilling average of 1,500 death sentences a year. Among the victims were two of his own wives. And these numbers leave out what was happening in other parts of the world whose leaders were often even more brutal.^[7]

3 Counter-Reformation Was Popular During Her Reign

Since it was ultimately unsuccessful, it’s easy to imagine Mary’s attempt to re-Catholicize England as unpopular, but the truth is it wasn’t. Of course, those who subscribed to the principles of the Reformation were opposed, but Mary came to the throne less than a quarter-century after her father’s break with Rome. At that time, the question of religion in England was far from resolved, with Catholics still outnumbering Protestants.

Before Mary even set out her religious policy, news of her accession brought the revival of Catholic Mass in churches across the realm. She was no tyrant either—Parliament largely supported Mary’s policies and repealed most of her brother’s and father’s reforms. Eighteen months into her reign, England was fully realigned with the Catholic Church. Had Mary produced an heir, the child would’ve been raised Catholic, the Reformation may have fizzled out, and the restoration would’ve gone down in history as a cornerstone of her reign.^[8]

2 Laid the Groundwork for Some of Her Successor’s Achievements

Mary’s reign has largely been characterized by historians as ineffective and backward-looking, but these are oversimplifications. The two biggest “failures” of Mary’s reign—attempting to re-Catholicize England and the loss of the historically English territory of Calais in France—are often judged out of context (as we’ve already seen concerning the restoration). Future English monarchs presided over the loss of territories much more extensive than Calais, but it didn’t define their reigns, nor was it seen as evidence of their unsuitability.

In fact, Mary was a conscientious monarch who worked tremendously hard. Although her marriage to a foreigner was initially unpopular, she ensured her rights as queen were not ceded to her husband. During her reign, she undertook reforms in the navy as well as in coinage and the militia, reendowed several hospitals, and established a groundbreaking trading company with Russia. A revised customs book increased crown revenue and remained in effect through the reign of her successor. She also had plans drawn up for currency reform, which were carried out after her death.^[9]

1 Died Too Soon to Consolidate Her Policies

Despite having suffered from ailments of the reproductive system for years, Mary was eager to birth an heir and secure the succession. In 1554, she married the future Philip II of Spain, but the union produced no children. Although Mary was genuinely in love with her husband, by the time it was apparent she wouldn’t become pregnant, he’d retreated to his own dominions abroad. His absence affected her greatly, perhaps eliciting bitter memories of abandonment from her youth.

Only five years into her reign, Mary died during a flu epidemic at 42, having spent the last months of her life suffering from the same chronic disorders that had plagued her since adolescence. With no heir of her own, she had no one to carry on her legacy, and her reign proved much too short for her policies to take effect. Although considered illegitimate by Catholics, her sister Elizabeth was crowned in 1559 and soon reestablished the Protestant church. Her reign has largely gone down in history as a golden age, in sharp contrast with Mary’s.

It’s often said that history is written by the victors. Mary I of England, whose motto as queen was “Truth, the daughter of time,” would probably agree.^[10]