Mary I, typically called Mary Tudor and called 'Bloody Mary' by her Protestant challengers, ruled as Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 till November 17th, 1558. She is well recalled for her solid attempts to reverse the English Reformation, which started throughout her dad's reign, Henry VIII's reign.

Her effort to return property taken at the time of the prior 2 reigns to the Church was generally blocked by Parliament, but at the time of her five-year rule, Mary had more than 280 spiritual dissenters burnt at the stake in the Marian persecutions. You might give excuses for her behavior, you might justify it by saying she may not have been much worse than other dictators and royalty around that time, but the fact of the matter is still that she murdered hundreds of people for religious and political reasons.

Bloody Mary was cruel, cold, and from what we know, there was a cause for this. Let’s take a look at her life, her problems, and the way she handled them.