Name: The First Queen of England
ISBN: 9780312368371

Linda Porter

A revisionist portrait of Mary Tudor contends that she is one of English history's least understood monarchs and discusses her mistreatment by her father Henry VIII and brother Edward VI, her struggles to retain her crown, and her premature death.

The Myth of "Bloody Mary"

The First Queen of England

Rachel Benton

This by far has been one of the best books that I have read on Mary I. I have always been fascinated with her, I don't think she deserves the labels that have been placed on her. Yes, she did kill people for their religious beliefs, but this is not anything new given the time period. Monarchs before and after Mary have done the same thing, but it seems that only Mary is singled out and given the title as being *bloody*. Porter did a good job of dispelling a lot of myths in regards to Mary. Like for example, many people that Mary wanted to take England back to the time before Henry became supreme head ruler of the Church of England. Which is not true, she supported many of her father's policy, she didn't like the name of supreme head leader of church because it brought back to many bad memories for her from her childhood. Mary was not oblivious to the faults of the Catholic Church either; she was trying her with all her might to reform the Catholic Church from within as well. Cracking down on Priest who had lovers, she brought new waves of priest into the church; she also updated and reformed some of the literature to help bring in new members to the Catholic faith. Though Mary reign is seen as a failure to many people, but not a lot of people know that the success of Elizabeth reign came from ideas of those of her sister in the previous reign. I highly recommend this book, in it we see Mary as more of a person with faults, instead of the *Bloody Mary* title that has been unfairly cast on her.

The First Queen of England The Myth of "Bloody Mary"

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