Welcome to part two of Johanna Strong’s episodes exploring Mary I’s life. In this one we discover Mary I’s connections to two English landmarks - Wolvesey Castle in Winchester, and Hampton Court Palace in Surrey. Both sites observed major moments in her life, namely marriage and expected childbirth.
Content Warning - This episode contains a sensitive topic that some people may find uncomfortable. It concerns phantom pregnancies. If you wish to avoid this section, skip between 11:15 and 15:18.
In 1553, Mary I succeeded Edward VI to the throne and in doing so made English history by being the first crowned queen regnant of England – that is, she was queen in her own right. As a result, many important events in her life as queen were historical firsts for England. Never before had a queen regnant in England been married during her reign and never before had an English queen regnant taken to her chambers to give birth. Yet little of her life has been interpreted at either of the sites which saw some of these historical firsts.
In this episode Johanna digs a little deeper into why Mary isn’t included in the larger narrative of;
Wolvesey Castle - photograph taken by and copyright to Johanna Strong.
Wolvesey Castle, once one of the greatest medieval buildings in England and Winchester’s second castle. It is where Mary stayed before her wedding to Philip II of Spain and also where their wedding banquet was held. The ruins are now owned by English Heritage, and you can visit throughout the year. Find out more here.
Hampton Court Place, the home of Mary’s father Henry VIII. It is where Mary had her ‘lying-in’ in 1555. The place is now run by Historic Royal Palaces, find out more here.
Further information: To hear more about Johanna’s research, follow her Instagram @_johanna.strong_, her Twitter @jo_strong_, or email her where she’d be happy to answer any and all questions about her research!
For more on Mary and Philip’s wedding and marriage, look out for Johanna’s chapter “Happily Ever After?: Elizabethan Representations of Mary I and Philip II’s Marriage” in Valerie Schutte and Jessica S. Hower’s edited collection ‘Writing Mary I: History, Historiography, and Fiction’, due to be published in late 2021
Primary Sources for Podcast [please contact us for details of secondary sources]
Holinshed, Raphael et al. The Firste [Laste] Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande Conteyning the Description and Chronicles of England, from the First Inhabiting Unto the Conquest : The Description and Chronicles of Scotland, from the First Original of the Scottes Nation Till the Yeare of our Lorde 1571 : The Description and Chronicles of Yrelande, Likewise from the First Originall of that Nation Untill the Yeare 1571 / Faithfully Gathered and Set Forth by Raphaell Holinshed. London: 1577.
http://english.nsms.ox.ac.uk/holinshed/texts.php?text1=1577_5331
Mary I in 1544, nine years before she took the throne. Painting downloaded from WikiMedia Commons, first painted by Master John
The chronicle of Queen Jane, and of two years of Queen Mary. Edited by J. G. Nichols. London, 1850.
Wolvesey Castle (Old Bishop’s Palace). English Heritage. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wolvesey-castle-old-bishops-palace/
History of Wolvesey Castle (Old Bishop’s Palace). English Heritage. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wolvesey-castle-old-bishops-palace/history/