Mary I (1516–1558)

Queen of England from 1553. She was the eldest daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragón. When Edward VI died, Mary secured the crown without difficulty in spite of the conspiracy to substitute Lady Jane Grey. In 1554 Mary married Philip II of Spain, and as a devout Roman Catholic obtained the restoration of papal supremacy and sanctioned the persecution of Protestants (see Reformation, England). She was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I.

When Mary died, the Protestant Elizabeth I gained the throne and settled the religious question, for the time, during her long, pivotal reign.