If Mary had,had a child that would have made all the difference not just for her but for the whole world. It was once said that if Mary had been given just 5 more years of life she may have actually succeeded in turning the country around and back to Rome too.
To be honest by the time Mary died the people were pig sick of the Catholic faith if being Catholic meant that you would have to die because you farted in church, then they could take the elevated host and shove it where the sun don’t shine.

As it happens Mary’s reign was the start of what we have now monachy wise. When James the 2nd he too was a devoted Catholic, and his reign was as big as the disaster Mary’s reign was. When James 2nd was tossed out on his backside (which by the way he and is wife set sail from Sheerness to France) I believe Parliament passed a law forbidding a Catholic to actually take the throne.
I don’t think it was just these 2 rulers that caused the problems however. Henrietta Marie (Charles 1st wife) caused her fair share of problems and Catherine of Braganza (Charles 2nd’s wife) wasn’t quite so much of a problem I agree but she was Catholic and therefore viewed with suspition, which led in turn to Rye house Plot which was an attempt to assasinate Charles 2nd and James, discredit and perhaps behead Catherine, and get the Duke of Monmouth (Charles’s bastard son) to rule instead. Of course that plan went out the window. Actually to give Charles some credit he actually from what I remember challeged the people who had said that Catherine was involved in this plot, by getting them to name dates times and places where Catherine met with them etc, of course they couldn’t so the whole plot was a complete shambles. I rather think Charles did pardon them for their silly behaviour and as we know he was forever forgiving Monmouth for his screw ups.

That’s the big tragdy about Mary…she longed to be a mother.She had a huge maternal streak and due to Henry, she was denied the chance to marry as a young woman and ended up trying to grab a few moments of happiness at a time when she was too old to be a mother…

Bill1978 said

Thanks Anya for the reply. I didn’t know about Carlos.

So the child would have been ruler in England BEFORE they ruled Spain? If the child was a daughter would they still have ruled Spain before the heir from the 4th marriage – I don’t know if gender played a role in the Spanish inheritance.

Here’s a little bit of info about Carlos..
Carlos, Prince of Asturias, also known as Don Carlos (8 July 1545 – 24 July 1568), was the eldest son and heir-apparent of King Philip II of Spain. His mother was Maria Manuela of Portugal, daughter of John III of Portugal. Carlos was mentally unstable and was imprisoned by his father in early 1568, dying after half a year of solitary confinement

Carlos of Austria, Infante of Spain, was born at Valladolid, and his mother died a month after his birth. The young Infante Carlos was delicate and deformed. He grew up proud and willful and, as a young adult, began to show signs of mental instability. Many of his physical and psychological afflictions may have stemmed from the inbreeding common to the House of Habsburg and the royal houses of Portugal and Spain. Carlos had only four great-grandparents instead of the maximum of eight, and his parents had the same coefficient of coancestry (1/8) as if they were half siblings. He had only six great-great-grandparents, instead of the maximum 16; his maternal grandmother and his paternal grandfather were brother and sister, his maternal grandfather and his paternal grandmother were also brother and sister, and his two great-grandmothers were sisters.
In 1562 Carlos fell down a flight of stairs, which caused serious head injuries. His life was saved by a trepanation of the skull, performed by the eminent anatomist Andreas Vesalius. After his recovery, Carlos became wild and unpredictable in his behavior.

Philip’s (Mary’s Husband) eventual succesor was his son by Anne of Austria, who was the daughter of Philip’s cousin Maximilian 2nd. Anne of Austria was also put forward as a possible bride for Carlos, as was Mary QOS..