Bloody versus Virgin






Tower of London dwarfed by the high-rise buildings now must have seemed much more horrifying back in the 16th century. Today in 1554, Elizabeth I was imprisoned by her sister Mary I of England in the Tower of London, allegedly after organizing a cabal against the queen. Mary was the daughter of famous Henry the VIII and Catherine of Aragon, the first legitimate heir of the throne, while Elizabeth was the daughter of him and Anne Boleyn, a sensational woman who led the grandiose change from the Catholic faith to the establishment of the Church of England. The two sisters were destined to have become the rivals at birth, as their mothers were; the Virgin Queen as a fierce supporter and the founder of the English Protestant Church versus the  Bloody Mary as the restorer of the Roman Catholicism. Although Mary had the chance to behead Elizabeth as the result of imprisonment, she released her to be under surveillance in house arrest. Separated and rivaled under inherited obligations, they will rest till eternity together in their abode in Westminster Abbey. Their inscription tells the whole story;

 "Partners in throne and grave, here we sleep Elizabeth and Mary, sisters in hope of the resurrection."

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