Mary I is one of those historical figures that divides opinions, with some people viewing her as nothing more than Bloody Mary and others seeking to rehabilitate her image.
It’s hard to do her justice in a short time, but I hope that my 60-second history serves as an introduction to her, to pique viewers’ interests.
As I’ve explained before, the idea of this series is to give information about Tudor history in easy-to-digest 60-second chunks. Die-hard Tudor history fans don’t, of course, need these videos, but I hope they act as introductions to newbies or students.
My first five videos were on the Tudor dynasty, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Jane (Lady Jane Grey). You can catch them on the 60 Second History playlist of the Anne Boleyn Files YouTube channel.
Here’s the latest one!
WELL DONE CLAIRE – you encapsulated Mary’s entire life in 60 seconds! That is some achievement.
Mary cannot be summed up in 60 seconds, nobody can. However, still a good overall summary of the main facts. Best thing Mary did, although it was actually handed over in 1559 by Elizabeth…..lose Calais, an overly expensive useless part of France still in English hands which cost an absolute fortune to maintain and we should have sold back to them years earlier as we needed the cash.
I did not know Calais was still part of Britain. Very interesting considering today’s politics
It was English until 1558 when Mary lost it to the French. It’s why Anne and Henry were there in 1532 for their meeting with Francis I, it was part of England. Henry travelled to Boulogne to meet with Francis and then invited him to the English court at Calais. Anne of Cleves also travelled there in 1539 to be escorted by Englishmen on her voyage to the English coast. Calais was very important for trade and had been English owned for hundreds of years. The king would appoint a Lord Deputy of Calais and one wonderful primary source for Henry VIII’s reign is the Lisle Letters which is the correspondence of Lord and Lady Lisle, Lord Lisle being the Lord Deputy of Calais at the time.
Did the English regret the loss of Calais?
Yes, it had been the last bit of England on the Continent and was a major port, it was also a humiliating loss. Mary I was said to have said that when she died they would find the word Calais engraved on her heart.
well done Claire, your summary is great.