All of Catherine of Aragon's children died in infancy until Princess Mary was born in February of 1516. Mary was healthy and King Henry VIII was happy to have an heir. But Henry would have been happier to have a son.

The Treaty of London or Universal Peace was signed in London between the major European countries, England, France, Burgundy and many more. For Cardinal Wolsey this treaty was a plan to produce a peaceful Europe. The treaty stated that the countries must not attack one another and if they did the other countries would come to the aid of those being attacked. Within the treaty was the agreement that Mary, the 2 year-old daughter of King Henry VIII, would marry the French dauphin.

By the order of King Henry VIII Mary's title of Princess had been removed and she was taken to Hatfield to be a servant in the household of Princess Elizabeth, her younger step-sister. Mary was around eighteen years old at this time. Mary was not happy with this arrangement and could not accept that Elizabeth had a better claim to the English throne than she did. ^[1]

A statute passed by Parliament called the 'Act of Succession' declared that Mary Tudor was illegitimate and not the heir of King Henry VIII because the marriage between Henry and Catherine of Aragon was void. This meant that children of Henry and Anne Boleyn would be the true heirs to the English throne.

Parliament declared that Elizabeth, like her elder step-sister Mary, was illegitimate. This allowed the next son of King Henry VIII to be born to become the heir to the English throne. ^[1]

The Succession to the Crown Act was an act passed by Parliament specifiying the order of succession to the English throne after the death of King Henry VIII. Although Edward was the youngest the order would be Edward, Mary and then Elizabeth.  ^[1]

Mary Tudor called for support against the Duke of Northumberland and Lady Jane Grey. Large numbers of supporters gathered around her at Kenninghall Manor in Norfolk with supplies and weapons.

King Edward VI died at Greenwich Palace as the age of 15.

The Duke of Northumberland proclaimed that his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey was the next monarch of England. Jane was moved to the Tower of London. Although Northumberland controlled London many of the town's people supported Mary Tudor's claim to the throne.

The Duke of Northumberland and an army of some 3,000 men travelled to Cambridge in an attempt to stop Mary Tudor. Moving on to Bury St. Edmunds the Duke came up against a much larger army supporting Mary. Accepting defeat, Northumberland was arrested and taken back to London to be held in the Tower of London. ^[2]

Mary Tudor arrived at London to a huge welcome. Entering through Aldgate she was met by Elizabeth, Anne of Cleves and many others. Mary quickly ordered the release of her supporters that had been locked up at the Tower of London. The Duke of Northumberland and his supporters were placed in the Tower of London to await trial and execution.

The funeral service for the late King took place at Westminster Abbey.

Elizabeth agreed to attend a mass but when the day came she pretended to be ill and only took part under protest. Elizabeth had refused to attend any Catholic ceremony including the one that Mary had arranged after the death of Edward. Mary and Elizabeth disagreed strongly over religion. ^[3]

The coronation of Mary Tudor took place at Westminster Abbey. Mary became the first true Queen of England. In the past, Matilda and Lady Jane Grey had come close but neither had ever been crowned.

Issues over religion and succession to the throne became too much for Elizabeth and she requested that she could leave court and return to Hertfordshire and to Hatfield (or Ashridge). Queen Mary granted her request against the advice of her ministers who suspected Elizabeth was preparing to remove Mary from the throne.

Several groups around the country were unhappy with the proposal of marriage between Mary and Philip of Spain. In Wales a group was led by Sir James Croft. In Devon another group was led by Sir Peter Carew. The Duke of Suffolk was in Leicestershire, but it was only Sir Thomas Wyatt from Kent who managed to get a force together. ^[4]

A Spanish embassy arrived at the Court of Queen Mary of England with a formal offer of marriage to Philip of Spain. ^[5]

Queen Mary sent a letter to Elizabeth asking her to come to London. This was, Mary said, for her own protection because to the rebels threatening to prevent the marriage of Mary to Philip of Spain. Mary could have been unsure of Elizabeth's involvement in the plots against her and it was best to keep Elizabeth close where she could be watched. ^[4]

Sir Thomas Wyatt and this followers reached London but he was to learn that the other groups of rebels around the country had been defeated and their leaders arrested. The entrance into London was blocked by the Londoners whose support for Mary was higher than the rebels. After a short fight the rebels were defeated leaving many dead and Wyatt was captured. on 11th of April 1554. Elizabeth was also held in the Tower for a while as it was suspected she was involved in the plots because she would have benefited if they had succeeded. ^[4]

Lady Jane Grey was executed on Tower Hill in London. ^[6]

The Queen gave orders that married bishops were to be deprived of their sees.

Parliament agreed to the marriage between Mary and Philip of Spain under certain conditions. These stated that Philip could not interfere with the workings of the realm and could not put any foreigners in positions of importance. Philip must not make moves to start a war between England and France. It also stated that Philip's son from his marriage to his first wife had no claim to the English throne and that only offspring from Philip and Mary could go on to rule England. If Mary died without an heir, Philip could not himself claim the Englsih throne. Philip could not alter any laws or remove any wealth from the country.

Sir Thomas Wyatt was executed at Tower Hill for leading the rebellion against Queen Mary. Wyatt denied that Elizabeth had been involved in any part of rebellion. ^[4]

Princess Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower of London. ^[6]

Elizabeth was removed from the Tower of London and taken to Woodstock. She was held under house arrest by Henry bedingfield, a Privy Councillor to Queen Mary. ^[6]

With marriage arrangements well under way Philip II of Spain landed at Southampton. He then travelled to Winchester where the marriage was to take place. ^[5]

The marriage of Queen Mary of England and Philip of Spain took place. The marriage was conducted at Winchester Cathedral.

Queen Mary travelled to Hampton Court Palace in preparation for the birth of the child that she was thought to be carrying.

Reports reached London that the Queen was in labour and the birth was imminent. But the rumours turned out to be false and the celebrations that the news resulted in stopped.

The hope that Queen Mary was expecting a child faded at the end of July and at the start of August the Court left Hampton Court Palace and travelled back to London via Oatlands Palace.

Philip II of Spain left England and travelled back to Brussels to see his father Charles. Charles was suffering from premature aging due to his excessive lifestytle and was preparing to abdicate from his duties as King of Spain and retire. ^[5]

Philip returned to England and Mary's side. During his stay he attempted to persuade the Queen to declare war on France.

Thomas Stafford, a Protestant, and a small number of followers who had fled from Mary's persecution captured Scarborough Castle on the Yorkshire coast. They did so by entering the castle on market day disguised as peasants. When enough of his men had entered the castle they took control of the gates and let in the rest of the small army. Their hope was to start an uprising against the Queen and this endevour may have been aranged by Henry II, the French King. But within three days Thomas Stafford had been captured. He was taken to London and executed.

Mary's requests for her Council to agree to declare war on France were turned down. Their concern was that the country could not afford such an expensive endevour and risk losing such an important trading partner.

Ignoring the wishes of her Council, Mary proclaimed that England was at war with France.

With the help of Mary, Philip now had extra support for his war with France and he departed England from Dover. This would be the last time they would see each other.

A French army attempting to raise the siege at St Quentin was defeated by the Spanish. The capture of the town by the Spanish was assisted by an English army led by the Earl of Pembroke.

The defences of Calais had not been maintained as Queen Mary had been spending the country's wealth elsewhere and when the French laid siege to the city it did not take long for it to fall. The shock of losing Calais was felt all over England.

Queen Mary of England died at the age of forty two. She was buried at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth became the new Queen of England.