Gender Difference and Tudor Monarchy: The Significance of Queen Mary I

Abstract

The long absence of queens regnant in England owed little to any principled opposition to female rule. Even in France the fourteenth-century appeal to Salic law owed more to pragmatic politics than to systemic hostility to queens. Although there were no clear-cut barriers to female accession, Mary Tudor, England's first Queen Regnant was undoubtedly more acceptable because she came to the throne a mature woman, with an impeccable sexual reputation. Her accession was also made easier by Henry VIII's extended use of statute law; in turn she eased the path to the throne for the younger and allegedly more disreputable Elizabeth.