Handwriting of the Kings and Queens of England, W. J. Hardy, 1893
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.21209/page/n99/mode/2up
Above: Queen Mary I of England, painted by Anthonis Mor.
Above: Queen Mary I of England, painted by Anthonis Mor.
Mary I, also known as Mary Tudor (born February 18, 1516, died November 17, 1558) was Queen of England from July 1553 until her death. She is best known for her vigorous attempt to reverse the English Reformation, which had begun during the reign of her father, King Henry VIII. Mary's attempt to restore to the Church the property confiscated in the previous two reigns was largely thwarted by Parliament, but during her five-year reign, Mary had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions, which led to her opponents referring to her as "Bloody Mary".
Mary was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive to adulthood. Her much younger half-brother Edward succeeded their father in 1547 when he was just nine years old. When Edward fell mortally ill in 1553, he had Mary removed from the line of succession because he assumed correctly that she would reverse the Protestant reforms that had continued during his reign. Upon his death, leading politicians declared Lady Jane Grey as queen. Mary quickly assembled a force in East Anglia and overthrew Jane, who was executed by beheading. Aside from the disputed reigns of Jane and the Empress Matilda, Mary was the first ever queen regnant of England. In 1554, she married Philip of Spain, becoming queen consort of Habsburg Spain upon his accession in 1556.
After Mary's death in 1558, her re-establishment of Roman Catholicism in England was reversed by her younger half-sister and successor, Queen Elizabeth I.
The letter:
By the Quene.
MARYE THE QUENE,
Trusty and welbiloved, we grete you well. And where certain lewd and ill disposed persons minding to set furth their devilish sedicious purposes, sum to the hinderaunce of the true Catholicq religion and divine service, now by the goodness of God restored within this our realm, other of a traitorous conspiracy against our personne and state royall, have of late, and still do maliciously publishe, many false rumours of the cumming of the high and mighty prince our deerest cousin the Prince of Spayne, and others of that nation into this our realm. Albeit we nothing doubt but all our good loving subgetes of the honnest sort have that affiance of us, that we neither have, nor will, during our lief agree to any thing that may be to the hinderaunce or prejudice of thauncient libertes, fredoms, and communwelth of this our realm or subgetes; yet to satisfie such as through the crafty malice of other be perchaunce abused with this thing, we have caused the very true effect of tharticles of the treatye, lately concluded, to be delivred to sundry persons of credit, to be by them published in sundry partes of our realm, wherewith as we do right well knowe, the great part of our subgetes be (as they have good cause) right well satisfied. So being credibly enformed that the great nombre of our good subgetes of that our county of Devon have shewed themselves well willing to obey and serve us, notwithstanding sum lewd practises of late unnaturally attempted, and many false and untrue reportes spred amonges them, we have thought good to signifie unto you, by these our letters, that we take and accept the same in very thankfull part, and shall not faile to have it in our good remembraunce. Which our good determination towards them, our pleasour is, ye shall cause to be published unto them, so as the good, being thereby the better comforted to contynue in their duetyes of allegeaunce, may take the better hede and beware of thauthors of thies, or any such like false bruts and rumours. Whereby as they shall best provide for their own suretes, quiet, and preservation, so shall we not faile to see them succoured and provided for, and be glad to shew ourselvelfes their good and gratious Lady as often as any occasion may serve. Geven under our signet at our Manour of St James the 22nd of January the furst yere of our reign.
Trusty and welbiloved, we grete you well. And where certain lewd and ill disposed persons minding to set furth their devilish sedicious purposes, sum to the hinderaunce of the true Catholicq religion and divine service, now by the goodness of God restored within this our realm, other of a traitorous conspiracy against our personne and state royall, have of late, and still do maliciously publishe, many false rumours of the cumming of the high and mighty prince our deerest cousin the Prince of Spayne, and others of that nation into this our realm. Albeit we nothing doubt but all our good loving subgetes of the honnest sort have that affiance of us, that we neither have, nor will, during our lief agree to any thing that may be to the hinderaunce or prejudice of thauncient libertes, fredoms, and communwelth of this our realm or subgetes; yet to satisfie such as through the crafty malice of other be perchaunce abused with this thing, we have caused the very true effect of tharticles of the treatye, lately concluded, to be delivred to sundry persons of credit, to be by them published in sundry partes of our realm, wherewith as we do right well knowe, the great part of our subgetes be (as they have good cause) right well satisfied. So being credibly enformed that the great nombre of our good subgetes of that our county of Devon have shewed themselves well willing to obey and serve us, notwithstanding sum lewd practises of late unnaturally attempted, and many false and untrue reportes spred amonges them, we have thought good to signifie unto you, by these our letters, that we take and accept the same in very thankfull part, and shall not faile to have it in our good remembraunce. Which our good determination towards them, our pleasour is, ye shall cause to be published unto them, so as the good, being thereby the better comforted to contynue in their duetyes of allegeaunce, may take the better hede and beware of thauthors of thies, or any such like false bruts and rumours. Whereby as they shall best provide for their own suretes, quiet, and preservation, so shall we not faile to see them succoured and provided for, and be glad to shew ourselvelfes their good and gratious Lady as often as any occasion may serve. Geven under our signet at our Manour of St James the 22nd of January the furst yere of our reign.
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