"I've been reading "Mary Tudor - England's First Queen" by Anna Whitelock (I even got to meet the author last year) which is a very good book aiming to kind of rehabiliate her memory. Even though the burning of the Protestants cannot be ignored, I agree that there has been a lot worser crimes committed.
Mary was a product of her time - she was incredibly religious and like any overly religious person of the 16th century, probably felt their decisions, what ever they were, were justified by their beliefs. As a result, I don't think she was any better than anyone else in that period - they were all as bad as each other. Her father alone enforced what he believed was right, what he believed was the will of God and this lead to loss of lives.
I sometimes wonder if it was due to the fact that Mary was half-Spanish so was often considered to be more of a "Spanish Queen" , was married to the not very popular Phillip of Spain and had effectively brought the Spanish Inquisition to England that she has gained some notoriety.
If she had been completely English and a man, would she have still been branded a "criminal" ? "

"The problem with Mary is that she was delusional. Any way you slice it. She was delusional even by the standards of her own time. She was deluded about the state of the country, about Phillip, about her pregnacies. And then some 300 people died due to her delusions. These people who died were doing nothing wrong based upon the laws of the previous 5 years. They were not criminals. .

Everyone who is a criminal is, in my mind, a bit off. They either believe they are justified in their actions or living in their own world with their own sense of right and wrong. i still don't think that Mary was a criminal, but she was certainly a person who caused a lot of people a lot of suffering."

"Extremely good points, Jes, and it shows just how complicated it was for Mary.
I do have sympathy for Mary because her life was so harrowing but she made really really bad decisions in just about everything. Elizabeth was no less an absolute monarch and did not make any bad decisions. She was able to stand back and make decisions that were in the best interest of her country, whereas Mary did was was best ( or so she thought ) for herself. That is what I meant above when i said she was delusional. When someone is delusional they cannot see reality clearly; they are imprisoned in their own world."