Queen Mary I of England, the eldest daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon, is known to history as “Bloody Mary” due to the hundreds of Protestants who were executed during her reign in an attempt to restore Roman Catholicism in England. Mary’s harsh methods and fixated resolve earned her this notorious nickname, which has endured for centuries.
When Henry VIII broke with Rome in the 1530s, England was transformed into a Protestant nation. Henry dissolved the monasteries, confiscated church lands, and made himself head of the new Church of England. After Henry’s death in 1547, the young Edward VI continued his father’s Protestant policies, even instituting a more radically Protestant version of worship in 1552 called the Book of Common Prayer. However, Edward died at age 15 in 1553, and the throne passed to Mary, Henry’s eldest daughter by Catherine.
Mary was a devout Catholic who sought to overturn the Protestant reforms introduced during the short reigns of her father and brother. Just days after ascending the throne, she received approval from Parliament to repeal Edward’s religious laws. Mary then began reinstituting Catholic practices and worked to restore the authority of the Pope in England. She had strong support from Catholic nobles and was intent on making England a Catholic nation again after 16 years of Protestant rule.
To achieve her aims, Mary reinstituted former heresy laws that allowed execution by burning at the stake for those deemed heretics by the church. Major Protestant reformers were arrested and executed in what became known as the Marian Persecutions. Some 800 Protestants were burned alive, including bishops, scholars, and other church leaders. Key figures executed included Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury who helped Henry VIII sever ties with Rome, as well as Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. The results were so horrific that some towns petitioned the Queen to send heretics to other towns to be burned.
The most notable victim was the Reformation preacher Thomas Cranmer, who had been Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII and Edward VI. Cranmer recanted his Protestantism under pressure in 1556 but later withdrew his recantation. Enraged, Mary had him burned at the stake for heresy. As the flames rose, he put his right hand into the fire as punishment for signing a previous recantation. “As my hand hath offended, writing contrary to my heart, my hand shall first be punished,” he said. His death sent a powerful message that Bloody Mary would show no mercy to her Protestant opponents.
Beyond executions, Mary worked aggressively to undo England’s Protestant reforms. She forced the married clergy to separate from their wives, reinstated Catholic imagery in churches, and brought back the Latin Mass. Her goal of returning England to Catholicism became an obsession that dominated her brief reign, though she ultimately failed to undo the Protestant transformation that had taken root. Nicknamed “Bloody Mary” even before her death in 1558, her harsh actions left a deep impression on the English psyche for centuries to come.
While Queen Mary acted out of religious fervor and a desire to stamp out what she saw as heresy, her bloody campaign caused tremendous suffering and cast a dark shadow over her rule. Later Protestant depictions often caricatured her as a bloodthirsty tyrant, though modern portrayals have tried to show more nuance and empathy for the challenges she faced. Nonetheless, the hundreds of gruesome executions on her watch cannot be ignored and remain central to her historical reputation as Bloody Mary. Though committed in the name of Catholicism, her unrelenting cruelty shocked people on all sides and has secured her unfortunate moniker for posterity.
In the Bible, there are a few principles and examples that can provide insight into Queen Mary’s reign:
1. Earthly rulers often oppose the true faith
The Bible shows that earthly rulers and authorities are often opposed to the true faith and persecute believers. In John 15:18-21 Jesus told his disciples that the world would hate and persecute them as it had hated and persecuted him. He warned that those who killed his followers would think they were offering service to God. The apostles later faced intense persecution from both Jewish and Roman authorities who opposed the message of Christ (Acts 4-7). Mary viewed Protestantism as a dangerous heresy and felt justified in persecuting its followers, believing she was defending the true Catholic faith.
2. God’s people must show love, not vengeance
While Mary responded to Protestant reforms with violence and retribution, Jesus commanded his followers to love their enemies and not retaliate against persecution (Matthew 5:43-48). The apostle Paul wrote that Christians should not take revenge but leave room for God’s wrath (Romans 12:17-21). Mary took matters into her own hands rather than trusting God and showing grace. Her vengeful spirit contradicts the Bible’s emphasis on love.
3. Even faithful believers can distort the faith
Mary was a sincere Catholic who sought to honor God through her reforms. However, her fixation on stamping out Protestantism led her to perpetrate great cruelty. The Bible contains other examples of people who sincerely believed they were defending the faith but engaged in sinful actions instead. In Acts 7-8, Paul (then Saul) zealously persecuted Christians before his conversion. His misguided zeal led him to endorse Stephen’s stoning and to ravage the church. Though sincere, his efforts did not align with God’s will.
4. The danger of human pride and power
Mary’s cruel methods show the corrupting nature of power and the evil human pride can produce even in religious people. The Bible warns that “pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18) and cautions rulers against oppressing their people (Psalm 94). Mary’s pride in her religious reforms led her down a path of merciless violence, causing great human suffering. Her unchecked power corrupted her into a tyrant.
5. The need for godly wisdom and counsel
As a monarch, Mary lacked accountability and refused counsel that contravened her aims. Proverbs 11:14 warns, “in abundance of counselors there is safety.” Mary prioritized her personal zeal over wise input and restraint. The Bible commends leaders who heed wise advice and apply God’s Word rightly (Proverbs 8:14-16). Mary lacked godly wisdom and ignored all pleas for mercy, leading to tragedy.
Queen Mary’s nickname Bloody Mary endures centuries later as a sobering reminder of religious extremism and the corruption of power. Though she pursued a mission she believed righteous, her brutal campaign against Protestants violated biblical values of grace, restraint, love of enemies, and justice tempered by mercy. Mary’s unchecked religious fanaticism produced great suffering rather than national redemption.
While we may understand Mary’s motivations, we cannot condone her horrific methods which showed no mercy to the accused. Her fixation on crushing Protestantism twisted a virtuous desire to serve God into a force of repression and violence. The lessons from her reign remain sadly relevant today as many continue to distort faith as a means to oppress others. Ultimately, only God’s wisdom coupled with sacrificial love can produce genuine reformation in individuals and societies.