(no subject)

Died on this day in 1558 aged 42 Queen Mary I of England (my toy,wikipedia). Mary was the first woman to successfully hold the throne of England as Queen Regnant (Jane... wasn't exactly successful, Matilda was never even crowned). She restored England to Catholicism, and executed a lot of unrepentant Protestants (Elizabeth would later restore England to Protestantism and execute a lot of Catholics; executing "heretics" was not uncommon at the time). When Mary married Philip (III of Spain) he became King of England, ruling jointly with her (although in practice she ruled alone since Philip spent, to her great disappointment, very little time in England). (Mary II also ruled jointly with her husband, William III, although at least he had a claim of his own to the throne and of course it was his army that they used to invade; other married Queens regnant have not made their husbands King whilst Mary's sister and successor Elizabeth refused to marry since she did not want to give up being In Charge).

Born on this day in 1493 to Richard Neville , 2nd Baron Latimer and Anne Stafford, John Neville , 3rd Baron Latimer (my toy,wikipedia). One of Catherine Parr's several husbands (who included Henry VIII). Catherine Parr was his third wife, and much younger than him. And, yes, related to *that* Neville (Warwick, the Kingmaker): have a handy family tree, http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/ucgi/~naath/family.py?fam=Neville . He got mixed up in the Pilgrimage of Grace (a Northern uprising against Henry VIII) but survived it.