Book
The First Queen of England
First published 2008
Linda Porter’s biography follows Mary I from her privileged childhood through Henry VIII’s repudiation of Catherine of Aragon, the loss of Mary’s legitimacy and the religious pressure imposed during Edward VI’s reign. Her defeat of the Lady Jane Grey succession plan in 1553 made her the first crowned queen regnant of England.
Porter reassesses Mary’s government, marriage to Philip of Spain and restoration of Catholicism without ignoring the execution of Protestant dissenters, contrasting the later ‘Bloody Mary’ tradition with evidence of political courage, learning, patronage and administrative reform.
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