ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Mary was Catholic but accepted that Scotland was officially Protestant – some people consider this an early example of religious toleration. Mary secured the legitimate succession to the throne by having a son.

Detailed explanation-2: -Mary remained faithful to Roman Catholicism and defiantly celebrated traditional Mass in her own chapel. She appealed to her cousin Emperor Charles V to apply diplomatic pressure demanding that she be allowed to practise her religion.

Detailed explanation-3: -She is most commonly known for being a Catholic who burnt almost 300 people during her reign! She wanted to bring the country back to Catholicism, which meant undoing all the work her half brother Edward VI and her father Henry VIII did.

Detailed explanation-4: -During her five-year reign, Mary had over 300 religious dissenters burned at the stake in what are known as the Marian persecutions. It is a statistic which seems barbaric. But her own father, Henry VIII, executed 81 people for heresy. And her half-sister, Elizabeth I, also executed scores of people for their faith.