Discovering Mary I – Instant Access Replay
I chose the very best Mary I experts to be part of my Discovering Mary I event, and now you can enjoy the 11 expert talks to really uncover the details of Mary I's life, reign and death.
Too often in fiction, on TV and in some history books, Queen Mary I is presented as a very two-dimensional character and is often written off as simply "Bloody Mary". But there is so much more to Mary than the persecutions of her reign...
- What was it like for Mary to go from being Henry VIII's "pearl of the world" to a banished bastard?
- How did Mary go about taking the throne from Lady Jane Grey in July 1553? How did she succeed?
- What was Mary's relationship like with her half-sister Elizabeth?
- Why did Mary choose to marry Philip of Spain and was it a good decision?
- How did Mary use her portraiture to create an image, and what image did she want to convey?
- How did Mary's religious policies impact her subjects? Who exactly suffered under them? Who benefited from them? And who supported them?
- How close was Mary to Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, and how did he help her?
- Does Mary I really deserve the nickname "Bloody Mary"?
- What was Mary I's reign like? How much did she achieve in just 5 years? Was it all bad?
- Mary suffered episodes of ill-health throughout her life, but what do we know about her health, and what did she die of in 1558?
These questions are what we explore in "Discovering Mary I".
Dates: Right now! Lifetime access.
Price: $50 (approximately £39.60, AUD 78.60, €47.60)
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The 11 talks included in this INSTANT ACCESS replay are:
- Mary I's background with Claire Ridgway
- Mary I and her father, Henry VIII with Melita Thomas
- The July 1553 Succession Crisis and the Rise of Mary I with Claire Ridgway
- Mary I and Spain with Dr Alexander Samson
- Mary and Elizabeth with Dr Linda Porter
- The Marion Burnings and Mary I's Religious Policy with Gareth Russell
- Mary's Imagery with Peter Stiffell
- Not so Bloody Mary with Johanna Strong
- Mary and Chapuys with Dr Lauren Mackay
- The Reign of Mary I with Claire Ridgway
- Mary I's Health and Death with Claire Ridgway
The experts you'll enjoy in the Discovering Mary I Instant Replay are:
Dr Linda Porter
Linda Porter has a B.A. and a D.Phil from the University of York. Her first book, Mary Tudor: The First Queen, was published to critical acclaim by Piatkus in the UK. It is available from St. Martin's Press in the US under the title The First Queen of England: The Myth of "Bloody Mary". This is a personal history of Mary I, the eldest of Henry VIII’s three children.
Linda's talk is "'Partners both in throne and grave': the story of the relationship between Mary I and her sister, Elizabeth I". Numerous films and historical novels have depicted the relationship between England’s first two queens regnant as bitter and adversarial. This may make good drama but it is far from the truth. In this lecture, Dr Linda Porter considers what lies behind one of the most famous sibling ivalries of the sixteenth century and how it has it has become part of national myth.
Dr Peter Stiffell
Peter Stiffell Is a PhD researcher at the University of Kent. His thesis examines the imagery of Mary I through portraiture and material culture. He spends much of his time visiting galleries and archives looking at rare images of England’s first crowned queen. He spends much of his time visiting galleries and archives looking at rare images of England’s first crowned queen.
Peter will be talking to us about the image of Mary I. To cement the love of her people Mary needed an influx of imagery; the easiest way was through portraiture and coinage. The power of iconography was used by all of England’s kings; how would it evolve to mould a woman? Peter will examine Mary's image through domestic and foreign portraiture and material culture to show Mary’s success as the first Queen of England. This examination of portraiture by using artworks both commonly known and relatively unknown will show how the queen commanded imagery to create an image of monarchy not yet settled, that of a female king.
Gareth Russell
Gareth Russell gained his History degrees from Oxford and then Queen’s, Belfast. He talks about the Marian burnings and Mary I's Religious Policy. The accounts of Protestants - victims and propagandists - shaped Mary I’s reputation for centuries. In the last two decades, they have been roundly discounted or dismissed, but should they be? How many of them can be taken seriously? This is an exploration of how the Marian religious policies impacted not only Protestants, but a very certain type of Protestants, by disproportionally focusing its attentions on those outside the elite. Although it is the names of Mary I’s famous victims, like Thomas Cranmer, endure in popular memory, the names of hundreds of ordinary people who died for their faith, have been forgotten. From the burning of the ‘proto-martyr’ John Rogers in 1555 to Queen Mary’s death in 1558, how did the Queen’s religious policies impact her subjects, who suffered under them, who benefited from them, who supported them?
Melita Thomas
Melita Thomas is the co-founder and editor of TudorTimes.co.uk. For too long, Mary I of England has been referred to as ‘Bloody Mary’, but although that ugly name is now being rejected, at least in academic circles, a new legend is taking its place – that of Tragic Mary, a woman so bullied, browbeaten, and humiliated by her father, Henry VIII that it was a wonder she could function at all as a queen. In her talk, Melita gives quite a different picture of Mary and Henry’s relationship. She is not, of course, going to deny that bullying and cruel treatment were a part of it, but that is not the whole story – the reality is far more nuanced. Mary and Henry had both a personal relationship and a political one, and it was the tensions between these two aspects that created conflict.
Dr Alexander Samson
Dr Alexander Samson is Professor of Early Modern Studies in the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies. His book "Mary and Philip: the Marriage of Tudor England and Habsburg Spain" was published in 2020.
Alexander's talk is on "Mary I and Spain". Controversy over the depth, extent and nature of the Anglo-Spanish alliance and co-monarchy of Philip and Mary, 1554 – 58, registers a series of historiographical problems and controversies at the heart of current discussions in Tudor history from the religious complexion of England at the time of the Marian ‘interlude’ to the nature of the state and state formation across the period. This intervention makes the case for seeing the Spanish marriage in a positive light even if its eventual result was undermined by the absence of a direct heir.
Dr Johanna Strong
Titled "The Making of a Queen: The Effect of Religion, National Identity, and Gender on Mary I’s Legacy in the English Historical Narrative", Johanna's PhD thesis examines the ways in which Mary I’s legacy was posthumously created and how this legacy is perpetuated through to the Republican period.
Johanna's talk for us is called "Not-so-Bloody Mary: Historical Challenges to One-Dimensional Interpretations of Mary I". Mary I, England’s first crowned queen regnant, is often remembered by the general public by her moniker “Bloody Mary”. But does she deserve this nickname? Drawing on research she undertook during her PhD, Johanna will examine how Mary’s “bloody” reputation emerged during the 1620s to 1650s. At the same time, sources in this period often highlighted Mary’s legitimacy and dynastic right to the throne, challenging the stereotypical one-dimensional interpretation of Mary with which so many of us are familiar. By looking at how historical authors portrayed Mary, this talk will argue why Mary’s morbid nickname is perhaps ready for retirement.
Dr Lauren Mackay
Dr Lauren Mackay, B.Mus, M.Hist, PhD, is an historian of Early Modern Europe, author, lecturer, and historical consultant, whose focus of study goes beyond familiar historical figures and events to lesser-known individuals, as well as beliefs, customs, and diplomacy of the 16th Century.
In her talk for us, Lauren will be exploring Mary's relationship with the imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys.
Claire Ridgway
Claire Ridgway is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the best-selling author of 13 history books. She is also the founder of The Anne Boleyn Files and Elizabeth Files blogs, The Tudor Society, and the popular Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society YouTube Channel.
Claire does several talks in this instant access event. She will be talking about the succession crisis of 1553 and the rise of Mary I, The reign of Mary I, and Mary I's health and death.
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