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Mary I of England Quotes

Mary I , also known as Mary Tudor, was the Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death. She is best known for her aggressive attempt to reverse the English Reformation, which had begun during the reign of her father, Henry VIII. The executions that marked her pursuit of the restoration of Roman Catholicism in England and Ireland led to her denunciation as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents.

Mary was the only child of Henry VIII by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive to adulthood. Her younger half-brother Edward VI succeeded their father in 1547 at the age of nine. When Edward became mortally ill in 1553, he attempted to remove Mary from the line of succession because he supposed that she would reverse the Protestant reforms that had begun during his reign. On his death, leading politicians tried to proclaim Lady Jane Grey as queen. Mary assembled a force in East Anglia and deposed Jane, who was ultimately beheaded. Mary was—excluding the disputed reigns of Jane and the Empress Matilda—the first queen regnant of England. In 1554, Mary married Philip of Spain, becoming queen consort of Habsburg Spain on his accession in 1556.

During her five-year reign, Mary had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions. After Mary's death in 1558, her re-establishment of Roman Catholicism was reversed by her younger half-sister and successor Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn, at the beginning of the 45-year Elizabethan Era.

✵ 18. February 1516 – 17. November 1558
Mary I of England photo
Mary I of England: 7 quotes11 likes

Famous Mary I of England Quotes

“I recognize no Queen but my mother. But if the King's Mistress would intercede with the King on my behalf, then I would be grateful.”

Mary I of England

Source: Said to Anne Boleyn.

“Whiles my father lives i shall only be lady mary, the most unhappy lady in christendom.”

Mary I of England

Source: https://books.google.fr/books?id=xyMPfQ3gqjoC&pg=PR6-IA15&lpg=PR6-IA15&dq=whiles+my+father+lives+i+shall+only+be+lady+mary+the+most+unhappy+lady+in+christendom&source=bl&ots=woKH1s4nFC&sig=ACfU3U32Vvb5tsnSuPkgASpa2eZ8k1dg4A&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjCvY-KqoX5AhVI8BoKHX0FDdsQ6AF6BAgSEAM#v=onepage&q=whiles%20my%20father%20lives%20i%20shall%20only%20be%20lady%20mary%20the%20most%20unhappy%20lady%20in%20christendom&f=false

“Priest! Priest! Music! Music!”

Mary I of England

Source: Said at the age of two to the organist Friar Memmo

“When I am dead and opened, you shall find Calais lying in my head.”

Mary I of England

Said during her final illness, referring to England's loss of Calais to France.
Raphael Holinshed, The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, vol. III, page 1160 (1587).

“Her majesty, being now in possession of her imperial crown and estate pertaining to it, cannot forsake that faith that the whole world knows her to have followed and practiced since her birth; she desires, rather, by God's grace, to preserve it till her death; and she desires greatly that her subjects may come to embrace the same faith quietly and with charity, whereby she shall receive great happiness.”

Mary I of England

Proclamation concerning Religion (1553-08-18).

“This natural life of ours is but a pilgrimage from this wandering world, and exile from our own country: that is to say, a way from all misery to thee (Lord) which art our whole felicity. And lest the pleasantness and commodity of this life should withdraw us from the going to the right and speedy way to thee, thou dost stir and provoke us forward, and as yet ward prick us with thorns, to the intent we should covet a quiet rest, and end of our journey. Therefore sickness, weepings, sorrow, mourning, and in conclusion all adversities be unto us as spurs; with the which we being dull horses, or rather very asses, are forced not to remain long in this transitory way. Wherefore Lord, give us grace to forget this wayfaring journey, and to remember our proper and true country. And if thou do add a weight of adversity, add thereunto strength, that we shall not be overcome with that burden: but having our minds continually erected and lift up to thee, we may be able to strongly bear it. Lord! all things be thine; therefore do with all things, without any exception, as shall seem convenient to thine unsearchable wisdom. And give us grace never to will but as thou wilt. So be it.”

Mary I of England

Source: A meditation touching adversity, written by Mary in 1549

“And so am not I.”

Mary I of England

Source: Reply to Jane Dormer telling her that she was no longer sick.

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