Mary I of England

Profession: Queen of England

Nationality:

Biography: Mary I was the only child of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to survive to adulthood, and she ruled England from 1553 to 1558. She is best known for trying to make England a Catholic country again after her father had made it Protestant.

When Mary was a teenager, her father ended his marriage to her mother so he could marry Anne Boleyn. This made her illegitimate, and hence she was no longer in line to be queen.

As an adult, Mary refused to accept her half-brother Edward VI's Protestantism. When Edward died in 1553, Mary became queen and married Prince Philip of Spain in 1554. She brought back laws against heresy and had about 280 Protestants burned at the stake—for which her enemies called her "Bloody Mary."

Mary thought she was pregnant in 1555, but this proved to be a mistake. Meanwhile England lost its last land in France, Calais, while Mary was queen in 1558. Mary died later that year and her half-sister Elizabeth I inherited the throne.

Mary was the first woman to be the Queen of England in her own right. She is mainly remembered, however, for the many people she had killed for religious reasons.

Birthplace: Greenwich, London, England