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wife, although it is likely that if he had told Mary this Elizabeth would have never lived another day.

There was another brief possibility that Mary thought she was pregnant again. But much the same thing happened. This time Phillip decided he had had enough of England, England's weather, and England's subjects, including the Queen. Sobbing and horribly heart broken, Mary watched him sail from the port of Dover, never to return. Her abdomen issue revealed itself to be a tumor, and at this point everyone knew she didn't have time to live.

There wasn't time to get rid of Elizabeth or come up with another plan, so everyone knew that Elizabeth would ascend the throne. This was terrifying for all of Mary's supporters as they had systematically tried to purge Protestantism from the land. Many had been executed, including almost three hundred that were burned. Priests fled into exile for their lives. Her advisors fell over themselves to declare allegiance to Elizabeth so they wouldn't meet the fate that Mary gave to those backing Elizabeth. Mary, depressed, alone, and mute with pain near the end, watched the last chapter of her miserable life come to a close that was even worse than anyone ever imagined.

CONCLUSION

For a monarch to earn the nickname "Bloody Mary" they would have to be pretty bad. And Mary Tudor was actually worse. With a singular purpose she spent her miserable five years as England's worse monarch ever trying to do nothing for the realm but right personal wrongs to her mother, and her church. She had Protestants burned and attempted to reinstate Roman Catholicism to a land that had largely rejected it at that point. Distracted by her petty vengeance and her unrequited love life, England's economy went down the drain, security was abismal as riots broke through the land, and the last piece of land England owned on the continent was lost. A sadder figure there never was, even in this sad and tumultuous age.

Learn more about this author, Carol H. Morgan.
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