Mary I

The first woman crowned queen of England in her own right, in October 1553, after a rival had held London for nine days (1553)

Parliament passed an act in 1554 confirming that a queen regnant held the same authority as a king.

A marriage treaty of 1554 that made a foreign prince king in title but barred him from ruling alone or taking England into his inheritance (1554)

Philip of Spain, later Philip II; he spent about fourteen months in England in total and the marriage was childless.

A Kentish rising of early 1554 against that marriage, which reached Ludgate before it collapsed (1554)

Wyatt's rebellion; it cost Lady Jane Grey her life and put Princess Elizabeth in the Tower.

The revival of the medieval heresy laws and the burning of nearly three hundred Protestants in under four years (1555–1558)

The fires at Smithfield and elsewhere; recorded in detail by John Foxe.

Three bishops burned at Oxford, one of them telling his companion they would light a candle never to be put out (1555–1556)

Latimer and Ridley in October 1555, Cranmer in March 1556 after thrusting his recanting hand into the flames first.

A papal legate, and cousin of the queen, who returned from exile in 1554 to absolve the kingdom and became Archbishop of Canterbury (1554–1558)

Reginald Pole, who died within hours of the queen in November 1558.

Two pregnancies announced with bells and Te Deums that came to nothing (1554–1555, 1557–1558)

Probably illness — ovarian cysts or uterine cancer have been suggested — rather than wishful thinking alone.

The loss in January 1558 of the last English possession in France, held for over two hundred years (1558)

Calais, lost in a war entered for Spain's sake; she is said to have declared its name would be found written on her heart.