20/05/2026
Why do we call Mary I of England ‘Bloody Mary’? Should we call her that? Is it justified? five years after Mary passed away, there was a book written by a man named John Foxe and it became known as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. And in this book, he vividly, graphically, and shockingly describes the over 280 executions that happened under Mary I’s reign. It was incredibly widely read, very popular, very, very well received, and it was in this book that the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’ was written. This book was written with a very specific political and religious agenda and it was one of the most prolific and most important pieces of propaganda written during Elizabeth I's reign.