By June of 1536, with few people to support Mary, King Henry went on the assault with regards to Mary's title as Princess. Henry had married his third wife, Jane Seymour and the power was getting to his head. He had his top advisor, Thomas Cromwell, handle the situation with Mary, and demanded that she surrender to the laws that he had instituted. Cromwell wrote out a draft letter to the king, and sent it to Mary to sign it. The letter called for Mary to not only relinquish her title as princess, but to deny her mother's marriage and in turn diminish her into a bastard. Henry was making grounds on disowning his daughter. Mary wrote back to Cromwell imploring Cromwell to lessen the demands.
"I have done the uttermost that my conscience will suffer me...But if I be put to any more (I am plain with you, as with my great friend) my said conscience will in no ways suffer me to consent thereunto...For I promise you (as I desire God to help me at my most need) I had rather leave the life of my body, than displease the king's grace willingly. Sir, I beseech you for the love of God to take in good worth this rude letter. For I would not have troubled you so much at this time, but that the end of your letter cause me a little to fear that I shall have more business hereafter." [19]
Mary had much to fear. Charles V's ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, pleaded with Mary to sign the document in order to save her life. He assured her that she could worry about her soul and reputation later. On June 22, 1536, under extreme duress, Mary signed away her dignity and her faith. In her letter of submission Mary surrendered, "I do now plainly and with all mine heart confess and declare mine inward sentence, belief and judgement, with a due conformity of obedience to the laws of the realm." This surrender also included acknowledging that her mother's marriage was "to have been by God's law and man's [law] incestuous and unlawful," along with accepting her father as supreme head of the Church of England. [20] With a swoop of a pen, Mary signed away everything she fought against her entire life: her own legitimacy, papal authority, and her mother's marriage.
*__________________Author's Note__________________*
Okay, so I get you hate your ex-wife because she couldn't bare you a son (in reality I don't get it, but I'll entertain the notion), but singing praise and "dancing for joy" because she died is a bit too much, don't you think? Now imagine being in Mary's shoes. Imagine having to put up with a father and step-mother who danced and sung praise because your loving mother died. Katherine was truly Mary's only friend and ally. Katherine also died forgiving her husband for all that he put her through. All she asked was for Henry VIII to be a good father and treat his daughter like the princess she was.
Instead, he took away her title as princess and her religious faith, a crutch that kept her going in such troubling times.
But hardships shape a person's character. Mary's struggles prepared her for the rough roads ahead to becoming the first ruling queen of England.
Next, we'll see the obstacles she had to overcome in order to rise to the throne. Until then...
- L. A. Rivera
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The Real "Bloody Mary" ✓
No Ficción"Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary." She's held responsible for the burning of nearly 300 protestants, granting her the infamous title little girls chant today in dark mirrors. But do you know her true story? The story of how her father bastardi...
