British Queens, "Bullet Book," Queen Mary, 1553 – 1558
BillJones
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Mary and Philip Groat
• Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.
• Some historians have described her as “a psychological mess.” For part of her life she was declared illegitimate because of her father’s divorce from her mother. She was very loyal to her mother and her mother’s religion.
• Mary was a staunch Catholic and desperately wanted England to return to the Papal fold.
• She married King Philip of Spain. This caused her considerable political problems in England. Spain was a strong rival, and many feared that Philip might become king if Mary died before he did. Mary tried to calm those fears by removing him from the line of succession.
• Mary ordered a series of Protestant executions. She had 283 Protestants executed, mostly by burning them at the stake. Her victims ranged from high church officials to simple peasants who had simply followed their faith. For this she received the moniker, “Bloody Mary.”
• Mary was desperate to produce an heir. She was 37 years old when she married, which made having a child more difficult. It also did not help that her husband Philip was often absent ruling Spain.
• She had two false pregnancies. The second one turned out to be a tumor which ended her life.
• Mary’s historical legacy was that of a bitter reactionary whose actions were a reflection of her youth when she was treated as outcast.
Comments
Mary is my least favorite British monarch because of her cruelty. One could understand her dislike and need for revenge against those clerics who helped her father get his divorce from Mary’s mother, Catherine of Aragon. But when she stooped to ordering the death of a simple peasant woman because of her Protestant faith, Mary was beyond forgiveness.
Furthermore her preferred method of execution was burning at the stake. This was a particularly cruel and unusual punishment, especially when Mary’s executioners botched it. In one of their early debacles they failed to get the fire going properly. The victim ended up burning alive very slowly. When the execution was done properly, the victims frequently died from asphyxiation as the fire consumed the oxygen around them. One method that some of the condemned used to cheat the torturer was to hide bags of gunpowder under their clothes. Their hope was that the fire would cause it to explode and kill them quickly.
Mary’s nickname was “Bloody Mary,” and she certainly deserved it. She was cruel, vindictive and probably deranged.
The portrait on the coin, if it had been fully struck, looks like it would have been impressive. Are fully struck examples of this coin ever found?
Mary also had a really bad case of what must have been halitosis - bad breath. King Philip was apparently repulsed by that and her physical condition.
This is the “economy model.” The “deluxe model" features Mary and Philip facing each other. Heritage sold a wonderful example a few years ago. Despite the high price, it would have been worth it. Later examples I saw were just over priced.
Nice groat of England's first queen.
Obverse inscription:
PHILIP.Z.MARIA.D.G.REX.Z.REGINA (Philip and Maria by the Grace of God King and Queen)
Note: The letter 'Z' is sometimes used for "et" or "and".
Reverse inscription:
POSVI-MVS.DE-VM.ADIV-TO(rem).NOS(trum) (We have made God our helper)
Many English kings and queens have used variations of "I have made God my helper" as their mottos.
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Thank you for the translation, WillieBoyd2 !!