Bloody Mary: The Life and Legacy of England's Most Notorious Queen

*Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents 'When I am dead and opened, you shall find Calais' lying in my heart.' - Mary I Queen Mary I ruled England and its conquered territories in Wales and Ireland for only five years, from 1553 to 1558, yet she has been remembered for nearly 500 years as Bloody Mary, the Catholic oppressor of a Protestant country. The truth, as usual, is more complicated than the myth. The oldest surviving child of King Henry VIII, she grew up in an era of religious and political turmoil, both in England and abroad, and though united in its Christianity, the continent was divided in how it approached that faith. A growing wave of protest and dissent had been met with brutal suppression in the 15th century, only to emerge like a phoenix from the flames in the form of Protestantism. With religious faith and political practice deeply intertwined, countries were being torn apart in a growing