Free Sample

THANK YOU FOR DOWNLOADING THIS FREE SAMPLE RESOURCE!

Here, you’ll find a snippet of the fact file and an activity, which you can use to gauge
the quality of our offering, but will also find super useful in the classroom. We offer free
samples of ALL of our resources, so take some time to browse our website and
categories to see more.

School History is best in its class and offers the most value for its price point. You’ll
find everything you need to learn or teach a history subject for students aged 11-16
following AQA, Edexcel, OCR, CIE, Eduqas/WJEC specifically, or any other curriculum
from around the world.

If you want the more comprehensive and detailed worksheet collection then please
upgrade to one of our Premium plans and support our quest to make education
affordable for all. Don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter so you don’t miss out on the
dozens of new resources we release every week!

The School History Team

 Mary I of England
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

● Background and early life

● Succession to the English throne
● Reign of Mary I of England
● Death

Let’s find out more about

FACT FILE
Mary I of England!

The daughter of Henry VIII and

Catherine of Aragon, Mary I, was the
first queen regnant of England who
ruled from 1553 until her death in
1558. During her brief reign, she
mainly aimed to restore Catholicism
in an institutionally Protestant
England and provide an heir to the
throne aided by her marriage to
Prince Philip of Spain. She was
popularly known as ‘Bloody Mary’
due to her religious policy that
persecuted numerous Protestant
heretics. She remained childless and
later accepted her half sister
Elizabeth as her successor.
Portrait of Mary I by Sir Antonis Mor
 Background and early life

Born in 1516, Mary I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of
Aragon. Her mother had suffered several pregnancy losses before and
after she was born.

Family tree of Mary I

Ferdinand II Isabella I of Elizabeth of
Henry VII
of Aragon Castile York

Joanna of Maria of Catherine

Henry VIII Margaret Mary
Castile Aragon of Aragon

James V of Frances
Mary I
Isabella of Scotland Brandon
Charles V
Portugal
Elizabeth I
Mary, Queen Jane
Philip II of of Scots Grey
Spain Edward VI

● As a child, she received a thorough education in classical and

modern languages under the guidance of her governess Margaret
Pole, Countess of Salisbury.
● She was intelligent and well-educated as it
was assumed that she would inherit the
throne being Henry VIII’s first child.
● In 1525, she was sent to the border of Wales
and was given her own court based at Ludlow
Castle and many of the royal prerogatives
normally reserved for the king’s heir.
● Throughout her childhood, Henry VIII
negotiated potential future marriages for her. Princess Mary in 1522

Potential husbands for Mary

Holy Roman Emperor
Francis, the infant son of Charles V
King Francis I of France
James V of Scotland
King Francis I of France

Henry, Duke of Orleans, These marriage negotiations

second son of Francis I were later repudiated.
 THINK ABOUT THIS! ACTIVITIES FOR AGES 11-14

TIMELINE. Given your knowledge of the resource, make a timeline

1 of the significant events in the life of Mary I of England. (X marks)
 THINK ABOUT THIS! ACTIVITIES FOR AGES 14-16

SOURCE ANALYSIS. Carefully read Source A and answer the

1 questions which follow. (X marks)

“First I confess and acknowledge the king’s majesty to be my sovereign

lord and king, in the imperial crown of this realm of England; and do
submit myself to his highness and to each and every law and statute of
this realm, as it becomes a true and faithful subject to do; which I shall
also obey, keep, observe, advance and maintain according to my
bounden duty with all the power, force and qualities with which God had
endued me, during my life.”

- Excerpt from Mary’s letter to Henry VIII on 22 June 1536.

SOURCE A

QUESTIONS
● What was the purpose of the source?
● What was its consequence to the relationship between Mary and
Henry VIII?
This resource is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

You are free to:

● Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or

format
● Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material

Under the following terms:

● Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to

the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in
any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the
licensor endorses you or your use.
● NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial
purposes.

For more information on this license, visit the following link:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Thank you!
 Thank you
Thank you so much for purchasing and downloading
this resource.
We hope it has been useful for you in the classroom
and that your students enjoy the activities.
For more teaching and homeschooling resources like
this, don’t forget to come back and download the new
material we add every week!
Thanks for supporting School History. We can provide
teachers with low-cost, high-quality teaching and
homeschooling resources because of our loyal
subscribers and hope to serve you for many years to
come.
- The Entire School History Team :)