When it comes to “frightening” English monarchs, none seem to inspire fear like Bloody Mary- aka Queen Mary I. And because of the damning moniker that Elizabethan Protestants saw fit to bestow upon her, Mary has now been permanently intertwined with an urban legend that has nothing to do with her but is nevertheless dark. So, how did Queen Mary I become “Bloody Mary”? How bloody is her record? And how bloody were her relatives who have escaped unscathed? Ahead of Halloween, let’s explore the (supposed) bloodiest monarch in English history.
The Bloody Mary Urban Legend
Depending on what version of the urban legend you hear, it can be relatively harmless or downright Satanic.
The first version involves a young woman walking backwards up the stairs with a lit candle- after she does this, she will see the face of the man she is going to marry in a mirror. (Or a stalker hiding in her home but I digress…)
The second features an individual or a group saying “Bloody Mary” three times into a mirror, at which point a poltergeist or demon in the shape of a bloody woman will come out of the mirror and attack you. (WHY. WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO DO THIS.)
Neither reference the Tudor queen specifically, but thanks to her sister, it gets complicated…
Protestant Propaganda
What do you do when you are a young Protestant queen who has ascended the throne amongst serious religious turmoil? You and your supporters make sure that people know that the last Catholic queen was bad and that you are different! I personally don’t believe that Elizabeth herself spread the nickname, but also didn’t do anything to stop it. Protestant Historian John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs really cemented this view.
Mary executed ~300 religious dissenters during her reign. Given that heretics in the period were burned at the sake, this feels like an incredibly high number, especially to someone in the twenty first century. However, it needs to be considered in comparison to her family members.
Elizabeth I was not innocent in regards to executions. Although she tended to execute people for treason rather than heresy, they are still dead at the end of the day. Elizabeth reportedly executed well over 100 Catholic priests during her reign, not to mention an additional ~450 others. And we can’t forget their father, Henry VIII, who killed well over 55,000 people…
Queen Mary, Bloody Mary…
Unfortunately for Mary, the nickname of Bloody Mary has been largely conflated with the unrelated urban legend. I’ve spoken with many people who think that Mary I is the bloody woman who appears in the mirror. On the one hand, I’m somewhat happy they know who Mary I is; on the other, it’s not a great legacy.
What do you think of “Blood Mary”, Queen Mary I?
Cheers,
The Historian
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I read all your posts. This one feels as if the main paragraph to answer the title’s question is missing. So how bloody was she? What did she do to earn the moniker? You told how many people Henry VIII killed and how many Elizabeth I killed, but you didn’t delve into how many Mary may or may not have killed. It seems a very strange and incomplete post.
Hi Sydney- thanks for letting me know, I didn’t realise that the latest version of the post hadn’t published, it is now there!