her half-sister Mary I becomes queen

In July 1553, Mary I, the eldest daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, became Queen of England after the death of her half-brother Edward VI. Although Edward had named Lady Jane Grey as his successor to preserve Protestant rule, Mary quickly rallied support and deposed Jane just nine days after her proclamation. Her accession marked a dramatic shift in England’s religious landscape, as she sought to restore Roman Catholicism and undo the Protestant reforms initiated by her father and brother. Mary’s reign was turbulent and deeply divisive. She earned the nickname “Bloody Mary” due to the Marian persecutions, in which over 280 Protestants were burned at the stake for heresy. Her unpopular marriage to Philip II of Spain further alienated her subjects, who feared England would become a pawn of Spanish interests. Political unrest culminated in events like Wyatt’s Rebellion, which aimed to replace Mary with her Protestant half-sister, Elizabeth. Though the rebellion failed, it led to Elizabeth’s imprisonment in the Tower of London under suspicion of treason. Despite their shared bloodline, Mary and Elizabeth were estranged by religion and history. Mary viewed Elizabeth as the daughter of Anne Boleyn—the woman who replaced her mother—and a symbol of Protestant defiance. Yet, upon Mary’s death in November 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her, reversing Catholic policies and ushering in the Elizabethan era. The transition from Mary to Elizabeth marked not just a change in monarchs, but a profound transformation in England’s identity and future