The First Queen of England: The Myth of “Bloody Mary”

Overshadowed for posterity by her wittier, younger, long-reigning sister, Elizabeth, Mary Tudor has perhaps been given a bad rap by history. So thinks British biographer Porter, who depicts Mary I as a complex, outspoken, highly strung woman who ruled independent of her cousin Emperor Charles V and her husband, Philip (who was Charles's son). According to Porter, she prevailed thanks to her pride, stubbornness, an instinct for survival and bravery—particularly her quashing of Jane Grey's usurpation. As queen, she never shrank from the business of government and was willing to work even with those politicians who had tried to deprive her of her throne, making it her priority to re-establish the structure of orderly government and policy on the economy, foreign affairs and religion. This intelligent, engrossing biography succeeds somewhat in restoring Mary's reputation as trailblazer and crucial link in the Tudor dynasty. Porter is less successful in finessing the loss of Calais to France, Mary's phantom pregnancies and the burning of nearly 300 Protestants as heretics during her reign. 16 pages of b&w photos. (July)