Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, became queen in 1553. Her reign was marked by religious persecution of Protestants, earning her the moniker "Bloody Mary." She married Philip II of Spain, a deeply unpopular move with the English people. Her younger half-sister, Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, succeeded her in 1558. Elizabeth's reign, known as the Elizabethan era, was a time of great flourishing in arts and culture and increasing English power on the world stage.
