History.

Bloody Queen Mary; Succession to Throne

Question: Was Mary's succession to the throne easy or difficult in your opinion?

Some things we need to know about Mary:

* She is Henry VIII's daughter.
* After Edward VI died, his sister Mary became queen.
* Mary was a devout Catholic, who believe that unless the Roman Catholic Church was brought back, no one in England would be able to go to Heaven.

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There will be about 15 points for this one:

* Protestantism had only been the official religion of England for six years. Before that, England had been a Catholic country for centuries. Many people would be glad to go back to familiar Catholic ideas.

* Henry VIII had already closed all the monasteries and sold the lands to rich and important people. Mary would have to take all this land back.

* There were many Protestants in England. They hated the Pope and Catholicism.

* Mary was not married and had no children. Her sister Elizabeth was next in line to the throne. She was a Protestant.

* When Mary became queen, Protestants had tried to replace her, but they received no support.

... Once Mary decided to bring back Catholicism, she decided she could:

* reform and improve the Catholic Church so that people would want to be Catholics again.

* get the support of a powerful Catholic country like Spain.

* force people to become Catholics by persecuting Protestants.

HER METHODS:

* In 1554, Mary married the Catholic King Phillip II of Spain. (which was the most powerful Catholic country back then.)

* Between 1555 and 1558, Mary had burned 284 Protestants to death. She was hoping this would persuade other Protestants to return to Catholicism.