The First Queen of England

This United States edition is the same Linda Porter biography first published in Britain as Mary Tudor: The First Queen. It follows Mary I from her privileged childhood through Henry VIII’s repudiation of Katherine of Aragon, the loss of Mary’s legitimacy and the religious pressure imposed during Edward VI’s reign. Her defeat of the Lady Jane Grey succession plan in 1553 made her the first crowned queen regnant of England.

Porter reassesses Mary’s government, marriage to Philip of Spain and campaign to restore Catholicism without ignoring the execution of Protestant dissenters. The biography contrasts the later “Bloody Mary” tradition with evidence of political courage, learning, patronage and administrative reform. This record duplicates the UK-title record already present in the export and is preserved solely because it has a separate supplied book key.