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Return to other reviews of Mary Tudor: The First Queen
Reviews of The First Queen of England: The Myth of Bloody Mary:
Ohio Record-Courier Review
Mary Louise Ruehr
September 12, 2008
Some of the most intense, emotional, adventurous, passion-filled stories come from the lives of royalty, whether factual or fictionalized. Where do you think we got the term "drama queen"?
Let's start with "The First Queen of England: The Myth of 'Bloody Mary' " by Linda Porter. This well-researched biography is written in an easy, readable style. It tells the life of Mary Tudor, the daughter of England's King Henry VIII (the one with the six wives) and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Katherine, by the way, was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, the same duo who financed Christopher Columbus' trips to discover a passage to Central Ohio -- or was it India? Anyway, I digress.
With some nice background on the king's marriage and the birth of Princess Mary in 1516, the author goes on to tell us about Mary's younger years, her education and how she was brought up to be the future queen: "She was expected to dress superbly and wear gorgeous jewels, to symbolise power and magnificence in a way that all her father's subjects, from the highest to the lowest in the land, would understand. ... Her life was privileged, comfortable and predictable. Much was expected of her."
The court intrigues during the reign of Henry VIII are some of the most dramatic in all of British history, and this book also serves as a partial biography of the king from Mary's perspective. Henry decided to divorce Katherine because she didn't bear him a son, but the pope wouldn't sanction the divorce, so the king started his own religion, declared the marriage null and void, and made himself the head of the church in England. This schism between England and the Roman church is explained well in the book. Henry went on to marry the "other woman," Anne Boleyn, and Mary was sent away, was proclaimed "illegitimate," was not allowed to visit her mother, and was banned from seeing her father. Mary had to endure humiliation, duress, and "ruthless psychological abuse" because she refused to give up her beloved Catholic faith. Later, when she became queen, she tried to re-establish the Catholic church in England. She had an estimated 300 non-Catholics proclaimed heretics and executed, thereby earning the nickname "Bloody Mary." Says the author, "Chillingly, in our own time, the idea of religious terrorism has, once again, become familiar. The belief that those who hold a different faith should suffer a horrible death sits deep in the human psyche. It is nothing new." It certainly makes one appreciate having freedom of religion!
Porter's history includes the brief reigns of Mary's brother, Edward, and of Lady Jane Grey, and always in the background there was Mary's rival, her half-sister, Elizabeth. The author portrays the colorful personalities and political machinations well and describes some of the daily life in the 1500s, the economic conditions, and the world inside the queen's household. As for Mary Tudor, "She is still the most maligned and misunderstood of English monarchs," says the author. But, whatever else she did, Mary paved the way for her half-sister to take the throne by proving that a woman could rule England. The book contains an extensive bibliography and notes and two sections of photographs.