Mary I

Mary Tudor was Queen of England and Ireland from 1553 to 1558(her death).Her brutal persecutions of Protestants caused her opponents to name her Bloody Mary.Mary was the only surviving child of the ill-fated marriage of King Henry VIII of England and Katharine of Aragon ,his first wife.Her mother's divorced and banishment,the abolishment of her religion(Roman Catholicism)and the numerous wives of her father's,stigmatised her greatly and made her cruel and intolerant towards any difference in religion.Mary married Prince Philip of Spain,the son and heir of her cousin King Charles V of Spain,but died childless at the age of 42 from uterine cancer.

Season 1 of the Tudors
Princess Mary Tudor is played by young Blathnaid Mckeown in the first season of the Showtime miniseries The Tudors.Mary is the light of her parents and the court generally.She is presented as a smart and loving child.King Henry dotes on her and in Episode 2 arranges a noble marriage for her with the son and heir of the French throne,the Daulphin of France.The engagement however is repudiated after an alliance that King Henry forms with the Spanish King Charles V.Charles V of Spain is the beloved nephew of Princess Mary's mother,Queen Katharine of Aragon.Katharine persuades Henry to form an alliance with her nephew and as a result in  Episode 3,the two Kings decide a betrothal between the 20year old Charles V and the 6 years old Princess Mary.This betrothal is later repudiated,too.Meanwhile,Henry decides to enoble his young illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy and create him Duke of Richmond.Queen Katharine who has delivered of no son fears for her daughter's position as heir to the English throne.In order to calm her down,Henry decides to give Mary a householf of her own with multiple servants and the title of Princess of Wales,a title normally given to a Prince.However Katharine is now devastated that she is going to be split up with her soul comfort,Mary.The Princess moves on with the noble Countess of Salisbury as governess and Queen Katharine is left all alone.Henry soon falls in love with the young lady in waiting Anne Boleyn .Anne manipulates him and in order to become Queen over Katharine,promises her body and soul to Henry when they get married.Henry who even by the first Episode had doubts for his marriage to Katharine,decides to annul their marriage and marry Anne instead in the hopes of producing a son and heir.He claims that God himself cursed his union with Katharine and that is the reason that the Queen had miscarried of so many male children.

Season 2 of the Tudors
In season 2 of the Tudors,the adult Mary is played by Sarah Bolger.After years of struggle with the Pope over the matter of annulment,Henry decides to break with the Catholic Church of Rome and become Head of a new Church in England.The Pope excommunicates him and Charles V turns against him in favour of his aunt.Queen Katharine herself is banished from court and is stripped from the title of Queen.Henry's new Church declares their marriage null and void.Katharine resists to Henry's Supremacy over the church and refuses to acknowledge the invalidity of their marriage,thus gaining the anger of the King.In Episode 3,Henry forbids her to communicate with their daughter Mary anymore but Katharine remains strong to her beliefs.Henry marries Anne and crownes her Queen with every honour.He sends Anne's father Thomas Boleyn,his chief advisor, to Mary's estates at Ludlow to announce the news of his new marriage and his divorce from her mother.Mary denounces her father's new marriage and states that she shall not recognise any other Queen but her mother.Thomas Boleyn forbids her to communicate with her mother again.In Episode 4,Queen Anne gives birth to a daughter instead of a male prince.Mary and her mother's ally,the Spanish Ambassador Eustace Chapuys, are glad for Anne's demise and the birth of a simple daughter.Mary is sure that her father still loves her and he will eventually allow her to visit her mother.Meanwhile,Anne's daughter Elizabeth, is named Princess and heiress presumptive to the throne.Henry passes a Bill at Parliament that excludes Mary from the succession and names her illegitimate.He also forces her to leave her princely estates at Ludlow and settle at her infant sister's estates at Hatfield House.Mary meets the baby Elizabeth and later bursts into tears for her father's cruelty towards her and her mother.Later in that episode, Mary meets her father Henry who simply bows down to her as a sign of courtesy.Mary also meets her stepmother Anne Boleyn.Queen Anne promises to reconcile Mary with her father if only Mary would accept her as the only Queen, above her mother.Mary refuses and Anne begins to fear and hate her.In Episode 6,Mary has a tender moment with her half sister who is left alone and cries.Mary takes her in her arms and comforts her.In Episode 7,Queen Anne has a nightmare that includes Mary who tries to burn her alive.Anne decides that she wants Mary dead.Mary meanwhile is informed of her beloved mother's death and is devastated.Katharine after a long illness died abandoned in exile.In Episode 10,Queen Anne follows her predescesor to death as she is accused of treason and adultery and she is executed.Mary is glad for her punishment and is also informed by Ambassador Chapuys that her father is about to marry a Catholic woman,Jane Seymour who supports her and will try to do everything to restore her back to her father's favour.Mary is satisfied.Jane indeed prays Henry to legitimise Mary for the tranquility of his soul,of his country and of the children they may have in the future.Henry warns her to show interest only to their children an no others.

Season 3 of the Tudors
In Episode 1,King Henry has married Jane Seymour but wants no relationship with his two illegitimised daughters.Jane who is a pious Catholic like Mary and her mother Katharine of Aragon,persuades Henry to show her some kindness.The new Queen believes that is not the fault neither Mary's nor Elizabeth's that they are the daughters of a King and quitely wants to reconcile both of them with the King.Henry agrees to accept Mary at court on condition that she submits herself to him as Head of the Church,renounce Catholicism and the Pope and acknowledge her mother's marriage to him as unlawfull.Mary refuses to accept these demands for the salvation of her soul but she is being threatened by her father's ministers.After a conversation with Ambassador Chapuys,she decides to sign her submission unwillingly in order to save her life but asks God to forgive her.Henry is pleased with his daughter's submission and arranges a visit for both him and Queen Jane to Mary's new estates.Jane presents Mary with a beautiful necklace and Henry offers her his love and financial support.In Episode 2,Jane invites Mary to court and Henry shows her off to his subjects telling her to fear no more for her life.Jane also persuades Henry to give Mary rooms at court and the young teenager thanks her stepmother dearly.In Episode 3,Mary spends Christmas with her father and stempother and attends Mass with them at the Catholic way.Mary and Jane conspire to bring the young Elizabeth back to court for Christmas and reconcile her with the King.In Episode 4,Jane and Henry make plans to engage Mary with a relative of Charles V's.Mary is enthousiastic especially when she hears from Chapuys that Queen Jane tries hard to pursuade Henry to legitimise her again.The Queen is already pregnant and Mary helps her at her painfull labour.She delivers of a healthy boy making Henry the most happy.Mary stands as the baby's godmother at his christening.She also tries to explain to the young Elizabeth that a boy is much more important than the two of them for the running of a kingdom,in which Elizabeth disagrees.Jane Seymour dies 12 days later form puerperal sepsis and the King is devastated.Mary acts as chief mourner in her beloved stepmother's funeral and when in Episode 5 the King goes into seclusion to mourn,she takes care of her little brother Edward.She then takes Elizabeth with her at the countryside away from court and confesses to Lady Margaret Bryan her maternal love for both her siblings.Later Mary is informed by Eustace Chapuys of her father's cruelty towards the dissolved monasteries and expresses her fears that no engagement shall come forward for her.In Episode 6,Mary is informed of Lady Salisbury,her once governess' arrest for treason and beggs her father to show her mercy.Henry neglects her and puts the whole Salisbury family to death,an insident which Mary is led to believe it was Thomas Cromwell's doing,whom Mary wants to burn alive.In Episode 7,Mary reacts badly at the news of her father's new marriage to a Protestant Duchess,Anne of Cleves .She is forced to pay respect to her upon her arrival but soon comes to getting along well with her.The new Queen is affectionate towards Mary and wants to arrange an engagement between Mary and a cousin of hers,Duke Philip of Bavaria.Mary is relactunt at first but when she meets the Duke, falls in love with him.King Henry however,who wants to divorce his ugly and unpleasant new wife,sends her relative away from court,something that hurts Mary deeply.

Season 4 of the Tudors
In Season 4 Episode 1,King Henry has already divorced Anne of Cleves and marries a 17years old vivacious girl who happens to be the late Anne Boleyn's cousin,Kathryn Howard .Mary Tudor is presented to her new stepmother but acts coldly towards her since she finds it difficult to pay respect to a woman much more young than herself.Queen Kathryn informs the King of Mary's attitude and he reassures her that Mary will grow to love her when they familiarize with each other better.In Episode 2 Mary is invited at court for Christmas but she totally ignores the new Queen and when she sees Anne of Cleves' respect towards her,leaves the ball room exaggerating the Queen.Queen Kathryn later accuses Mary of jealousy and misconduct and dismisses two of her ladies.Mary bursts into tears and confesses Kathryn's cruelty to Ambassador Chapuys and her fears that she will never marry.In Episode 3 Mary accompanies the King and Queen in a progress at North and she is accepted with great joy by the Catholic Northern people.In Episode 5 Mary finds out about the Queen's infidelity and states that Kathryn Howard was neither a good Catholic nor a true and serious Queen.In Episode 6 Mary gladly announces to her sister Elizabeth that King Henry included both of them in the line of succession after their brother Edward and his heirs which means that their father still loves them.Later in the episode Henry allows Mary to be the Christmas hostess at court in the abscence of a Queen Consort.There Henry meets Lady Catherine Parr and becomes enamoured with her.At dinner,Mary is glad to see her father infatuated with such a noble and sweet woman as Catherine Parr.In Episode 7 both Mary and Elizabeth participate in their father's last marriage with Catherine Parr.Mary and Queen Catherine are co-hosteses at court and when Henry leaves for war in France leaves all of his children to the care of Queen Catherine.In Episode 8,Queen Catherine keeps the whole family united and tends to the royal children.Out of her respect Mary gifts her with a translated Catholic book.Henry returns back victorious and reunites with his family but Mary is saddened when her closest friend and ally,Ambassador Chapuys,decides to return back to Spain.Mary expresses her fears of Queen Catherine being a heretic Protestant and swears in the soul of her mother that she will burn hundread of heretics if she ever becomes Queen.In Episode 9,Mary is devastated by the news of Chapuys' death but forms an alliance with the Catholic Bishop Stephen Gardiner to bring the Protestant Queen Catherine down.In the final episode 10,Mary worries for the Protestant Edward Seymour's influence upon her brother Prince Edward.Before Christmas Henry bits the final farewell to his two daughters and wife asking Mary be like a mother to her younger brother.Mary beggs her father not to leave her alone with her enemies.