The Sexual Politics of Elizabeth I – II

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: King Henry VIII's son, Edward died in 1553 after a short but chaotic reign of six years. After a 10 day flirtation with Lady Jane Grey, the English welcomed as Queen, Mary Tudor, Henry's daughter by Catherine of Aragon. She was the first female to claim the throne since Matilda, the daughter of Henry I tried and failed in 1139. Mary was determined to bring Catholicism back to an England that had long since passed by affection and conviction into the Protestant camp. Resistance to her plans only served to make the Queen more stubborn and then vicious. The vision of staked and burning bodies of hundreds of Protestant martyrs was seared into the English memory and earned for the Queen much anger and hatred.