Roman Catholicism in England and Copyright Law

The above picture shows Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor Dynasty. Queen Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Queen Mary I is remembered for her acts in restoring Roman Catholicism throughout England after succeeding her short-lived half brother, Edward VI (son of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour), and her cousin, the Nine-Day Queen, Lady Jane Grey, to the English Throne.

During her reign, in support of her acts in restoring England to Roman Catholicism, she ordered the promulgation of the famous Statute of Mary that granted monopoly to the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (better known as the Stationers' Company) (established in 1403 and received its Royal Charter in 1557), which held a monopoly over the publishing industry and was officially responsible for setting and enforcing copyright regulations until the promulgation of the Statute of Anne in 1709.

Queen Mary I, Consort of Philip II, King of Spain, son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor of the Habsburg Dynasty, died at 42 childless and was succeeded by her half sister, Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and her second wife, Anne Boleyn.

During her reign, she held the following full title and style:

Mary, by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and of the Church of England and also of Ireland in Earth Supreme Head" (Latin: Maria Dei Gracia Anglie, Francie et Hibernie Regina, Fidei Defensor, et in terra ecclesie Anglicane et Hibernice supremum caput)

Under Mary's marriage treaty with Philip, the couple were jointly styled Queen and King. The official joint style reflected not only Mary's but also Philip's dominions and claims; it was "Philip and Mary, by the grace of God, King and Queen of England, France, Naples, Jerusalem, and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Princes of Spain and Sicily, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy andBrabant, Counts of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol". This style, which had been in use since 1554, was replaced when Philip inherited the Spanish Crown in 1556 with "Philip and Mary, by the Grace of God King and Queen of England, Spain, France, Jerusalem, both the Sicilies and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Burgundy, Milan and Brabant, Counts of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol".

Henry VIII and Edward VI


Lady Jane Grey and Elizabeth I