Queen Mary Tudor aka Bloody Mary

As I revise my historical romance, Fires of Destiny, I once again find myself pondering the difficult life of one of England’s Queens, Mary Tudor, aka Bloody Mary. Mary, daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, ruled England during the period explored in Fires of Destiny. She attempted to turn her people back to what she considered the “True Church” after Henry had dissolved the monasteries and appointed himself head of the English Church. My heroine, Alexandra, is a lady-in-waiting at Queen Mary’s court, while the man she loves, Roger Trevor, is helping Reformers (Protestant converts) escape the Queen’s wrath. “Bloody Mary’s” religious zeal included burning heretics at the stake, which made her quite unpopular with her subjects.