Thanks to modern DNA testing, the era when a stranger could convincingly pose as a long‑lost relative is virtually over. Yet before the age of genetic proof, impostors relied on forged documents, shaky eyewitness testimony, and occasionally a healthy dose of bribery. Below, we count down 10 audacious fraudsters who tried to live a life that wasn’t theirs.

10 imposters who baffled their contemporaries

10 Jeanne Calment

Jeanne Calment earned fame as the world’s longest‑lived woman, reportedly reaching the astonishing age of 122. Yet a team of Russian scientists later argued that the real Calment may have been merely 99 when she died.

The investigators, a mathematician and a gerontologist, claimed that the authentic Jeanne passed away in 1934 at 59, while her daughter Yvonne assumed her mother’s identity to dodge a massive inheritance‑tax bill.

According to the theory, the mother’s body was interred under Yvonne’s name, with a death certificate issued without a doctor’s or coroner’s verification. Yvonne’s husband never remarried and reportedly lived for years alongside his “mother‑in‑law.” Photographs suggest a striking resemblance between the two, and Calment had arranged for her personal papers to be destroyed after her death.

The Russian scholars even interviewed Calment, probing her about childhood memories; while some answers were off‑base, they argued that the passage of time could explain the errors. By the time she died in 1997, she still held the record for human longevity, outliving the next contender by over three years.

Only an exhumation paired with DNA analysis could finally resolve whether Calment truly lived to 122. Regardless of the outcome, mother and daughter now rest side by side, and no one appears eager to disturb their graves.

9 Roger Tichborne

Roger Tichborne, the eldest heir of a wealthy Victorian clan, vanished when his ship sank in a ferocious Atlantic storm. His mother, refusing to accept his death, placed advertisements worldwide, begging anyone with information to come forward.

A decade later, Lady Tichborne received a letter from a man in Australia claiming to be her son. The claimant spoke with an Australian twang rather than the expected French, was noticeably heavier, and stood a few inches shorter than the real Roger. However, he possessed a peculiar physical trait—deformed genitals—that matched the genuine Tichborne’s distinguishing feature, leading his mother to accept him as her child.

To reclaim the family fortune, the impostor faced a courtroom showdown. Witnesses testified that the man was actually Arthur Orton from Wapping. The trial collapsed when the claimant failed to correctly describe the contents of a sealed envelope left with the estate manager, mistakenly claiming it held provisions for a potential pregnancy.

The fraudster, never definitively identified as Orton or anyone else, was convicted on 32 counts of perjury and sentenced to fourteen years of hard labor.

8 Perkin Warbeck

If you’re going to masquerade as someone, why not aim for the throne? That seemed to be Perkin Warbeck’s mindset when he proclaimed himself the rightful King of England.

Warbeck bore a passing resemblance to Edward IV, a similarity that bolstered his claim to be the missing Duke of York—one of the infamous “Princes in the Tower” allegedly imprisoned by the ruthless King Richard II. His claim attracted supporters eager to topple Henry VII, who had seized the crown from Richard and founded the Tudor line.

In 1496, James IV of Scotland marched into England with Warbeck at his side, but the invasion was swiftly repelled. Warbeck organized several more attempts before being captured in 1497, after which he surrendered and renounced his royal pretensions.

For a short period, Henry seemed prepared to forgive him; Warbeck was welcomed at court and even dined at royal banquets, though he remained under guard. When he tried to escape, he was recaptured, sent back to the Tower of London, and ultimately hanged in 1499.

7 The False Dmitry

Dmitry, the youngest son of Czar Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible), was believed to have died in 1591, allegedly taking his own life. Some historians argue he was murdered by the usurper Boris Godunov, while others suggest he escaped the assassination.

Three other claimants emerged, each insisting they were the surviving Dmitry. Only one, later known as the “False Dmitry,” succeeded in seizing the throne. In 1603 he rallied an army against Godunov, who tried to label the pretender as Grigory Otrepev, a runaway monk.

The uprising coincided with Godunov’s death, allowing the impostor to march unopposed into Moscow and claim the crown. He ruled for about a year, enjoying reasonable popularity among his subjects.

His reign ended dramatically in 1606 when, during his own wedding celebrations, a riot erupted, and rebels stormed the Kremlin, killing the False Dmitry. Subsequent hopes that the real Dmitry had survived sparked further civil strife, with multiple hopefuls claiming to be the resurrected prince. Whether the body dumped in Red Square belonged to Ivan IV’s son remains uncertain, though most scholars doubt it.

6 Paul Tagaris

Paul Palaiologos Tagaris, a Byzantine monk, boasted an alleged royal lineage that he used to climb the ecclesiastical ladder.

He secured ordination in the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, ostensibly to escape his marital ties. Charismatic and self‑confident, he was appointed over several bishops, only to sack them and sell their dioceses for profit.

Tagaris crowned himself Patriarch of Jerusalem, then, just before his arrest, fled to Rome. There he presented forged credentials, publicly confessed his sins, pledged allegiance to the Catholic Church, and was granted the title of Latin Patriarch of Constantinople.

His newfound piety was short‑lived; clergy in his new jurisdiction complained about exorbitant taxes. He fled again, this time to Avignon, where a rival pope resided, and offered another confession. He later returned to Constantinople, made a final public renunciation of Catholicism, and was once more forgiven. Whether his last conversion was sincere remains doubtful.

5 James Reavis

James Reavis was a cunning opportunist. During the Civil War he first served the Confederacy, making a tidy profit selling forged military leave passes.

When his scheme nearly caught up with him, he switched allegiance, joining the Union army to evade capture.

After the war, Reavis embarked on an elaborate fraud involving fabricated land titles. He concocted a slew of documents proclaiming that an ancestor—purportedly a Spanish royal official—had been granted the title “Baron of Arizona,” along with a massive tract of land to be inherited by his descendants.

While his claim languished in bureaucratic limbo, Reavis struck a deal with a railroad company, granting them access to the imaginary estate and pocketing a fortune. He also sold quit‑claims for parcels he never owned.

When the legitimacy of his claim was threatened, Reavis traveled to Spain, claiming to search for proof. Archivists there “discovered” documents that appeared to back his story, though many suspected he had planted them. Ultimately, the fraud was exposed; Reavis was convicted of forgery, sentenced to two years in prison, and fined $5,000—a relatively light punishment given his illicit gains.

4 Natalya Bilikhodze

In 2002 a press conference aired a video in which Natalya Bilikhodze claimed to be Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II, supposedly rescued from the Bolshevik massacre of 1918.

Although many impostors have surfaced over the years, Bilikhodze’s claim would have made her over a century old—101—if true.

A committee was formed to arrange Anastasia’s “homecoming” to Moscow, promising to restore her honor and even pursue the massive Romanov inheritance once her identity was verified.

The twist: Bilikhodze had actually died two years earlier, her funeral modest and uncelebrated. Her video testimony had been recorded years before her death, meaning the claim was posthumous.

When investigators uncovered the truth, the committee dissolved overnight, and its chairman promptly abandoned the effort to reinstate Anastasia’s reputation.

3 Martin Guerre

Martin Guerre is perhaps the most renowned impostor in history. A 16th‑century French peasant, he vanished in 1548 after being accused of stealing from his own father.

His wife was left in limbo for six years, unable to divorce him or prove his death—an impossible position for women of that era. When a man suddenly appeared claiming to be her long‑lost husband, she was torn between relief and suspicion.

Although the newcomer bore a physical resemblance to the real Guerre—similar height and build—and seemed familiar with family details, doubts lingered. An uncle, convinced the impostor was Arnaud du Tilh, a local villager who had gone missing, pressed the wife to sue for inheritance.

The trial featured over 150 witnesses. Some swore the man was the genuine Martin, including his four sisters, while others identified him as du Tilh. The court ultimately convicted the impostor of fraud and sentenced him to death.

Just as the judges prepared to acquit, a man with a wooden leg arrived, asserting he was the true Martin Guerre. After intense questioning, the original wife, uncle, and sisters instantly recognized him as the authentic husband, leading to du Tilh’s execution in front of the Guerre household.

2 Mary Baynton

Imagine a remote 16th‑century English village receiving a stranger who proclaimed herself the daughter of Henry VIII. That was the scenario when a woman claiming to be Princess Mary arrived in Lincolnshire.

She asserted she was the offspring of Henry and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and recounted a prophecy from the Queen of France that she would one day endure great hardship.

She begged locals for money, claiming the king had abandoned her and that she needed funds to reach safety in Spain. While many suspected the ruse, the villagers treated her as a symbolic mascot for the supporters of Mary Tudor, who felt sidelined in the line of succession.

In reality, the impostor was Mary Baynton, a commoner. She was arrested in 1533, forced to renounce her royal pretensions, and vanished from the historical record. Ironically, the prophetic warning about “great hardship” did indeed materialize for the real Princess Mary.

1 The Countess of Derwentwater

In 1857, a woman calling herself Lady Amelia Matilda Mary Tudor Radcliffe claimed to be the granddaughter of the fourth Earl of Derwentwater, a title that had supposedly died out 120 years earlier without an heir.

She alleged that the Earl had fled his family during the Jacobite uprising and faked his death. To substantiate her claim, Lady Amelia presented a full family tree, portraits, documents, and even heirloom jewelry, all intended to prove her right to the estate now managed by a hospital trust.

The courts dismissed her claim outright.

Undeterred, Amelia turned to the press, captivating readers with her poise. She amassed donations, and in 1868 she stormed the derelict Derwentwater mansion, dressed in regal‑styled attire, brandishing a family‑sabre, and hoisting a banner over the ruined tower.

When the hospital finally evicted her—dragging her out in front of a crowd—she set up a tented camp on the adjacent road, drawing public sympathy as a “distressed gentlewoman.” She began collecting rent from self‑appointed tenants and even auctioned off the hospital’s property and livestock.
The institution sued, levying a £500 fine that forced Amelia to sell off the counterfeit heirlooms she had displayed. Historians now agree no genuine Countess of Derwentwater ever existed; the portraits and jewels were her own fabrications.

2020 is finally winding down, and after a roller‑coaster of catastrophic headlines, the finale feels like a sigh of relief. While the year was riddled with COVID‑19, contested elections, raging wildfires, and fresh conflicts, it wasn’t a complete disaster. In fact, amid the chaos, several bright spots emerged that proved humanity can still pull off remarkable feats.

Below we unpack the ten most uplifting developments that reminded us 2020 had its share of silver linings. These moments range from life‑saving medical breakthroughs to historic peace accords, and even heart‑warming stories of rescued pups. Let’s dive in and see why the year wasn’t an absolute dumpster fire.

Top 10 Reasons 2020 Wasn’t a Total Dumpster Fire

10 19 Vaccines Were Developed

COVID‑19 slammed the globe into a standstill, forcing nations to shutter businesses and impose stay‑at‑home orders. By December, the virus had claimed over 1.5 million lives out of more than 67 million infections worldwide, reshaping economies and daily routines.

Massive financial and scientific resources were redirected toward a single goal: a vaccine. Although widespread distribution wouldn’t begin until the following year, the sheer speed of development was unprecedented, signaling a turning point in the pandemic fight.

By the end of 2020, two front‑runners—Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna—had reported efficacy rates of roughly 90 % and 94.1 % respectively. Other candidates, such as AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax, were still navigating Phase 3 trials, adding to the hopeful pipeline.

On December 8, 2021‑year‑old Margaret Keenan became the world’s first recipient of the Pfizer vaccine, marking a historic moment that foreshadowed billions of future inoculations and a decisive blow against the virus.

9 A Possible Control For Malaria Was Discovered

Malaria remains one of the planet’s deadliest diseases, with roughly half of humanity residing in regions where transmission risk is high. In 2016 alone, the disease generated about 216 million clinical cases, resulting in 445 000 deaths.

The World Health Organization estimated that 90 % of those fatalities occurred in the African region, underscoring the continent’s disproportionate burden.

Control strategies have spanned from pesticide spraying to genetically modified mosquitoes, each aiming to curb the vector population and interrupt transmission cycles.

In May 2020, a collaborative team of Kenyan and British researchers unveiled a promising discovery: a microbe called Microsporidia MB that renders mosquitoes incapable of harboring malaria parasites.

This breakthrough could pave the way for a novel, biologically based malaria control method, with ongoing research seeking to transform the finding into a practical, field‑ready intervention.

8 The #MeToo Movement Scored A Huge Victory

The #MeToo movement, which first appeared on MySpace in 2006, finally clinched a landmark win in 2020 when the Harvey Weinstein saga culminated in a criminal conviction.

Activist Alyssa Milano urged women to tweet #MeToo, emphasizing the sheer scale of harassment. Her call amplified the conversation, thrusting the movement into mainstream discourse.

In February, Weinstein received a 23‑year prison sentence, a verdict many had deemed impossible years earlier. The conviction sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry and beyond.

The charges stemmed from a 2013 hotel rape and a 2006 forced oral sex incident. While not all allegations led to additional convictions, the sentencing represented a monumental triumph for survivors and a warning to powerful abusers.

7 Africa Was Declared Free Of Wild Polio

Most Western nations stopped thinking about polio after its eradication in 1979, but the virus lingered in parts of the world where vaccination campaigns faced obstacles.

Countries such as Nigeria saw spikes in cases, with 2006 recording 1 100 infections. While wild poliovirus still circulates in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Africa finally achieved freedom from the disease.

Dr. Jonas Salk introduced the injectable polio vaccine in 1952, and by 1961 an oral version became widely available, dramatically reducing incidence in developed nations.

Campaigns led by figures like Nelson Mandela, who championed the “Kick Polio Out of Africa” drive in 1996, helped immunize millions. By 2020, the continent celebrated the eradication of wild poliovirus, a testament to decades of perseverance.

6 Sudan Finally Achieved Peace

Sudan endured a protracted series of conflicts rooted in ethnic, cultural, and religious divisions, as well as power struggles. The civil war that erupted in 1983 officially concluded in 2005, yet violence persisted for years.

From 1989 to 2019, the nation was ruled by dictator Omar al‑Bashir, whose regime was marked by severe human‑rights violations and sponsorship of terrorism.

The Darfur conflict alone claimed between 300 000 and 400 000 lives, while Sharia law governed daily life until the regime’s collapse.

Following Bashir’s ouster, a transitional secular government emerged. By August 2020, major factions—including the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement‑North, two Darfur groups, and a southern coalition—signed a preliminary peace accord.

After decades of bloodshed, Sudan entered a new era of democratic governance, with peace finally taking root across the nation.

5 Multiple Successes In Israeli‑Arab Peace

Despite relentless criticism, the Trump administration brokered two historic normalization agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbors in 2020.

Since the 1994 Israel‑Jordan treaty, no Arab nation had formally normalized relations with Israel. Egypt’s 1979 agreement remained the last precedent for over two decades.

On August 13, 2020, the United Arab Emirates and Israel signed the Abraham Accords, marking the third Arab state to establish formal ties with Israel.

Just a month later, Bahrain followed suit, sealing its own agreement with Israel on September 15, 2020. Both deals were mediated by the United States.

Negotiations continue as several other regional powers—including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia—have yet to formalize relations with Israel, but the momentum suggests further breakthroughs may be on the horizon.

4 The Falkland Islands Were Declared Landmine‑Free

The 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina, lasting ten weeks, left a legacy of landmines scattered across the islands and the South Sandwich archipelago.

Landmines are notoriously indiscriminate, continuing to maim civilians long after hostilities cease. Decades after the conflict, roughly 30 000 mines remained buried on the Falklands.

International treaties have since outlawed the use of such devices, yet many remnants persisted. A 1998 treaty mandated their removal, prompting a painstaking, hand‑delivered de‑mining campaign.

Operations persisted for nearly four decades, with specialist teams clearing fields by field until October 2020.

In October, the final site at Gypsy Cove was cleared, officially rendering the Falkland Islands mine‑free for the first time since 1982, allowing unrestricted public access to previously hazardous beaches.

3 Dog Adoptions Soared, Thanks To COVID

The pandemic’s isolation paradoxically sparked a wave of compassion, as shelter adoptions surged across the United States.

People confined to their homes discovered they had the time and emotional bandwidth to welcome a canine companion, prompting both breeders and shelters to experience unprecedented demand.

Some shelters reported a doubling of daily adoptions. For example, the Los Angeles SPCA recorded ten to thirteen adoptions per day in late June, and many shelters found their animal inventories dwindling to the point of waiting lists for prospective owners.

2 We Found Ways To Adapt And Overcome

COVID‑19 upended daily life, but humanity proved remarkably resilient, devising new ways to thrive amid restrictions.

Remote work, once a rarity, became the global norm, reshaping corporate culture and likely persisting beyond the pandemic. Simultaneously, drive‑in movie theaters and concerts revived, offering safe entertainment alternatives.

Manufacturers pivoted production lines: companies that usually made spirits turned to hand‑sanitizer, while others fabricated masks for worldwide distribution, showcasing rapid, collaborative ingenuity.

These collective adaptations underscored our capacity to confront adversity, turning a health crisis into a catalyst for innovation and community solidarity.

1 The Second‑Largest Ebola Outbreak Ended

While COVID‑19 dominated headlines, the Democratic Republic of Congo wrestled with the second‑largest Ebola outbreak on record, which began in August 2018.

Ebola’s case‑fatality rate far exceeds that of COVID‑19, though it spreads through bodily fluids rather than airborne transmission. The Kivu outbreak infected 3 453 individuals, claiming 2 280 lives.

The World Health Organization, alongside numerous NGOs, mobilized extensive response teams, driving case numbers down to zero by February 2020.

After a brief resurgence of three cases 52 days later, the outbreak finally ceased in June 2020, marking the end of a two‑year nightmare.

Since the 2014‑2016 West African outbreak, which caused over 11 000 deaths, the rVSV‑ZEBOV vaccine has proven 97.5 % effective, offering a powerful tool to prevent future epidemics despite distribution challenges.

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]