January 5, 1558: Mary I Loses Calais

This day four-hundred-and-fifty-seven years ago, Mary I's troops lost the battle in Calais, the last bit of English land in France. England would not even have been at war had it not been for their Queen's husband, Phillip II of Spain. Phillip had dreams of conquering lands in France, and rather than spare his own troops, he bade his wife do so. Phillip and Mary were married 25 July 1554, much to the English people's dismay. Following two false pregnancies and the heartbreak of Phillip's more than incessant absence, Mary took ill in the autumn of 1558 and died 17 November of that year. Phillip did not even attend her funeral.