Mary Tudor was a descendant of a powerful ruling couple in Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Her grandmother, Isabella, was an intimidating and powerful female monarch. Linda Porter writes in The First Queen of England that Isabella was a "warrior queen, equally ruthless in the pursuit of power and of religious certainty." [1] 

(Portrait of Queen Isabella of Spain)

Staunchly Catholic, their Catholic zeal was passed onto their daughter Katherine who in turn instilled Catholic values in her daughter Mary—values that would make up the moral foundation of Mary and her reign.

Mary was raised with nearly the same education that a prince would receive. She learned to speak French fluently and although she could not speak Spanish fluently, she was able to read it. In fact, during the turbulent 1530s, when Henry VIII divorced her mother, Katherine would write to Mary in Spanish as a precaution against prying English eyes. At the age of nine, Mary was already able to write in Latin, which enabled her access to the scholarly field. Her education also included physical exercise. For example, at the age of 6, she received a horse and often went hunting with it. [2]

Mary's early educational upbringing was remarkably advanced for a woman in the 16th century. Porter captures the miasma of sentiment towards women in general when she writes, "Before the Renaissance, women had been seen not so much as second-class citizens as a sub-species. They were the living embodiment of the biblical Eve, an outgrowth of the male tainted by sin....such creatures were scarcely fit to inhabit the same world." [3] It is important and revolutionary that Mary received such an education and upbringing in anticipation that she would become England's next heir to the throne. With Katherine reaching beyond a respectable age to bear a child, King Henry knew the chances of having a son with Katherine were slim, and "he could not bring himself to accept that Mary, alone, was his future." [4] Thus, he began exploring new options.