Margaret, whilst enjoying the flirtation to begin with, was now troubled by it. Twice she mentions that her ring was too well known. True, Charles was the king’s closest friend and one of her ambassadors, Philippe de Bregilles, had even called him ‘a second king’ but he was only a Viscount and even that title had only come through the wardship of a young orphaned girl. For Charles to be seen with her ring would be disastrous for her reputation.
But it was too late. Already the rumours were flying. Not least, goaded on by Charles himself, who bragged to all and sundry about his conquest of Margaret of Savoy. Although Margaret would have to answer to her father for her behaviour – and Charles’ – the next year she accepted his eldest daughter, Anne, into her household in December. She was accompanied by another young girl, Magdalen Rochester, the daughter of an Englishman living in Calais, whom Charles is reported to have saved from drowning. The girls took their positions at the palace, the Hof van Savoye (Court of Savoy), at Mechelen in Belgium and would remain there for the next two years.
Henry, Charles and their victorious companions celebrated back in England at the close of the year but Mary seems to have been ill in the last months of 1513. Her physic, Dr Yaxley, was paid £13 6s 8d for ten weeks attendance on her prior to December. Her illness remains a mystery. Was it an occurrence of a childhood illness? Payments were ‘made to the royal apothecary, Richard Babham, for medicines dispensed to her, from the year 1504 to 1509, during the whole of which time she seems to have been under medical surveillance’.13
Or was it something more sinister? Henry would come down with smallpox in the new year. Had Mary had the same illness but it was covered up due to her impending marriage? Smallpox was notorious for leaving scars and disfiguring the most attractive of women. Mary was well known for being one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe. She must remain so at all cost. Henry’s older sister Margaret had lost her husband at Flodden but if Henry had his way, his younger sister would soon gain a husband to cement his political alliances, whether she was ill or not.
Mary Tudor marries Louis XII at Abbeville.
Drawn by Pierre Gringoire
Chapter Four
1514–1515
The French Marriage
For his valour and outstanding contribution to the war in France, Charles was made Duke of Suffolk on 1 February, when the Earl of Surrey also received the title of the Duke of Norfolk for his part in the Battle of Flodden. Charles was also granted, in tail male, ‘the manor, castle and park of Donyngton, Berks, and an annuity of 40l. out of the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge’.1
Not everyone was happy with Charles’ continuous rise. Vergil noted that ‘many people considered it very surprising that Charles should be so honoured as to be made duke’. Rumour had it that Henry was increasing Charles’ status for a possible match with Margaret of Savoy or perhaps another high-ranking lady. Criticism abounded. Erasmus writing to a friend commented ‘Gossip has it that Maximilian’s daughter Margaret is to marry that new duke, whom the King has recently turned from a stableboy into a nobleman’.2 His disparaging remark about Charles being a stableboy harked back to his employment as Master of the Horse.
Rumours were spreading fast and wide about Henry’s intention to arrange a triple marriage to cement his alliances, his sister Margaret to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian, Mary to Charles of Castile and Charles Brandon to Margaret of Savoy. Margaret’s father, Maximilian, was furious when he heard the rumours that his daughter might marry such a man, and Margaret was devastated that their harmless flirtation had grown into a full blown diplomatic issue.
She revealed all to Sir Robert Wingfield in several letters, one saying:
My lord, the ambassador, you may have seen how the things have been, and you know the unhappy rumor which has run not only here but in all parts, as well in Germany as in all countries. Whereof I have found myself so much abashed that I cannot imagine why this thing is said so openly as in the hands of merchant strangers. And to tell you the truth, I have been constrained as well by the advice of my council such as the lord of Berghes and others, to make inquiry whereof it came, and by information and writings as well I have always found that it proceeded from England, whereof I have had a marvellous sorrow.3
Henry was forced to react by saying that
Because it has come to our knowledge that a strong running rumour in various places that a marriage has been made between you and our very dear and loyal cousin and counsellor the Duke of Suffolk, we are trying in every way possible to know and understand from where this rumor comes and proceeds; and if we discover that it proceeds from this side, we will make such grevious punishment that all other inventors and sowers of lies will take example’.4
He never admitted his own part in egging on his close friend. He apologised to Maximilian and Margaret, smoothing things over so that at least the marriage of Mary and Charles of Castile could continue. Apart from dressing as a pilgrim carrying a long staff on which was written who can hold that will away, apparently a dedication to Margaret, at the May joust, Charles seems to have been quiet on the whole matter. Henry was the consummate politician, Charles was not and he allowed him to smooth things over on his behalf.
While Margaret of Savoy had had to deal with the consequences of this flirtation, she was still very much pushing for Mary’s marriage to her ward. Henry pressed her to set a wedding date, but with the prince ill and, unknown to Henry, Maximilian’s delaying tactics, she could do no more than send assurances that it would be soon. Mary’s marriage preparations continued. Henry was sparing no expense on her retinue and belongings. The inventory for her trousseau was eleven pages long and included the most luxurious of items; gilt candlesticks, cups, spoons, basins, rich tapestries, cloth of gold, china, silverware, carpets, wall hangings, a feather bed and the highest quality furnishings for her bed chamber. Everything was thought of from a silver crucifix and private pew for her chapel to finely caparisoned horses and palfreys plus a litter of cloth of gold for her travel. Not to mention the gowns, robes, bonnets, girdles, necklaces, bracelets, jewels and wedding coronet. Golden jewellery and sumptuous gowns of the highest quality meant that Mary would truly shine out as a Tudor princess and a future queen.
Henry instructed that Margaret of Savoy should know of all these preparations and inform him should any be lacking. ‘The ambassadors shall take a book with them of all the apparel and provision made by the King for my said Lady, both for her person, her chamber, the houses of offices and her stable, desiring her (Lady Margaret) to say if she sees anything wanting’.5 They were also instructed to give Margaret the names and number of the ladies, officers and servants appointed to attend Mary and to ask if this satisfied her. A household of over one hundred people was arranged to serve the princess, including her chamberlain, confessor, master of horse, her ladies, waiters, ushers and all the necessary people.
Mary must have been caught up in the excitement of wedding arrangements, and her new family eagerly awaited her arrival. Gerard de Pleine, the president of the Council of Flanders wrote that she was ‘one of the most beautiful women in the world’ and in correspondence with Margaret he went on to say that he had ‘never seen so beautiful a lady. Her deportment is exquisite both in conversation and in dancing, and she is very lively. If Margaret had seen her she would not rest till she had her over; she is very well brought up, and appears to love the Prince wonderfully. She has a very bad picture of him, and is said to wish to see it ten times a day, and to take pleasure in hearing of him. She is not tall, but is a better match in age and person for the Prince than he had heard say’.6
Henry planned to see Mary to her wedding and then ride off with his army behind him to battle with the French once again. As well as sending over to Margaret a list of Mary’s trousseau, Henry had also sent a request that Margaret would provide 6,000 Flemish cavalry men and 6,000 of Maximilian’s German foot soldiers to swell his ranks. But there was still a delay and worse, King Ferdinand, his Sp
anish ally and member of the Holy League, and Maximilian, Holy Roman Emperor, had aligned themselves with France. Henry’s former collaborators had abandoned him. There would be no support forthcoming for any further hostilities. Henry had had enough. The alliance and the wedding was off.
After all the preparation and all the expense, Mary was made to renounce her marriage to the Castilian prince on 30 July 1514 at Wanstead, Essex witnessed by the Duke of Norfolk, Wolsey and Charles Brandon. When Charles of Castile heard the news at the court of Savoy, he took hold of a hawk and began plucking out its feathers. He told his councillors, ‘Because he is young he is held in small account and because he is young he squeaked not when I plucked him. Thus you have done by me. I am young, you have plucked me at your pleasure and I knew not how to complain. Bear in mind that for the future I shall pluck you’.7 Charles obviously had a teenage temper tantrum but we don’t know how Mary felt at this time. It wouldn’t be long before the eighteen-year-old princess had other things to worry about.
Earlier in the year the King of France’s wife, Anne of Brittany, had died. Relations with France were still tenuous. There had been a raid on Brighton when the French burnt most of the town to the ground and in retaliation, Henry had sent troops to terrorise the area around Cherbourg. So it may have seemed surprising that discussions began for Mary to marry the aging king. Henry had an absolute hatred of the French but by now his relationship with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire was no better. He had been furious at the constant stalling of Mary’s marriage to Charles of Castile as well as Maximilian’s and Ferdinand’s duplicity. As early as May, Henry was corresponding with King Louis XII who thanked him for consenting to a marriage with Mary – the first time it is mentioned in the letters and papers of the king. They had even gone so far to reach an agreement that Louis would receive jewellery and furniture to the value of 200,000 crowns as Mary’s dowry.
It had been considered that Mary’s sister, Margaret, widowed by the Battle of Flodden, could marry the French king but Henry had no real control over her, and she was soon to marry Archibald Douglas, the Earl of Angus, in a secret ceremony in the parish church of Kinnoull, near Perth, on 6 August 1514. Even though Henry had offered her to Louis for 100,000 crowns rather than what would be Mary’s expansive settlement, the French king wanted Mary and no other.
On 7 August, surprisingly, England signed a peace treaty with France. It can be credited to Henry’s chief advisor Wolsey who had been working tirelessly to form an agreement to stop the enmity between the two countries. Henry agreed to the treaty but only if King Louis would pay him a million gold crowns in ten instalments. Peace came at a price – a very hefty price. And for Mary, the price was that she would marry Louis and become the Queen of France.
King Louis XII of France was in his fifties, toothless, gouty, with a scurvy-like skin condition, and rumoured to have syphilis and leprosy. Imagine Mary’s horror at hearing she would become his bride – but there was no time for delay. The arrangements moved swiftly giving Mary little time to try to persuade Henry otherwise and, on 13 August, Mary’s proxy marriage to Louis was held at Greenwich. Mary was still Henry’s pawn and there was nothing she could do but she did hold out hope that this marriage may not last long given the king’s age. She made Henry swear to her that if and when the French king died, she would be free to marry whomever she chose. Mary had grown closer to Charles Brandon and already it was known at court that there was something between them.
Henry and Katherine escorted Mary and her ladies to her wedding ceremony. Mary looked resplendent having dressed in a silver gown and robe of purple and gold. King Louis was represented by two of his ministers and also the Duc of Longueville, a hostage at Henry’s court since the Battle of the Spurs. Archbishop Wareham, assisted by Wolsey, conducted a ceremony very similar to the one Mary had taken part in for her union with Charles. After their vows were exchanged in French, the Duc de Longueville placed a ring on her finger and formally kissed her.
Mary was then led to a chamber where she changed into her nightdress and lay on a bed. In a bizarre ritual, Longueville took off one boot and lay beside her while the gathered dignitaries watched on. He then touched her with his bared foot, skin to skin, whereby Archbishop Wareham pronounced that their marriage had been consummated. After attending Mass, they retired to the banqueting hall for feasting and dancing.
From having her betrothal to Charles of Castile dragged out over years, Mary went to having the French king eager and anxious to have her by his side as soon as possible. Word was sent within days that their wedding proper would take place in Abbeville, and the Sieur Marigny and Jean Perreal were sent from France to underline King Louis’ wishes. Marigny arrived with two coffers full of plate and jewels and presented Mary with the Mirror of Naples, a fabulous diamond – ‘as large as a man’s finger’ – and pearl pendant valued at 60,000 crowns. Jean Perreal was to paint her portrait and help to design her French wardrobe so that she would be dressed in the latest fashions as Louis’ queen.
On 14 September, King Louis XII held his own proxy marriage in Paris where Mary was represented by the Earl of Worcester. The French king then left for Abbeville on the 22nd to await Mary’s arrival. But Mary had been delayed. Violent storms had battered the south coast. Mary left London in a torrential downpour but that did nothing to dissuade the city from giving her a royal send-off. All the drapers, merchants and haberdashers of London assembled to bid farewell to the new Queen of France, giving thanks for all of Henry’s recent expenditure on her trousseau. Henry had supplied Mary with new gowns of cloth of gold and silver as well as many jewels fashioned in the shape of Tudor roses and the French fleur-de-lys. The Venetian ambassador, Pasqualigo, wrote ‘about a week ago all the merchants of every nation went to the Court. The Queen (of France) desired to see them all, and gave her hand to each of them. She wore a gown in the French fashion, of woven gold (oro tirado), very costly; she is very beautiful, and has not her match in all England’.8
She was ‘accompanied by four of the chief lords of England, namely, the Treasurer, the Lord Chamberlain, the Chancellor, and Lord Stanley, besides 400 knights and barons and 200 gentlemen and other squires, with their horses. The lords, knights, and barons were all accompanied by their wives, attended by their damsels. There would be about 1,000 palfreys, and 100 women’s carriages. There are so many gowns of wove gold and with gold grounds, housings for the horses and palfreys of the same materials, and chains and jewels, that they are worth a vast amount of treasure…’9 Her tutor, John Palsgrave, was also in her entourage, and Lady Guildford as her chief lady, but Jane Poppincourt, her French tutor since her childhood days, was made to stay behind. King Louis had refused to have her as one of Mary’s attendants after hearing of her affair with the Duc de Longueville, who had a wife at the French court and would be among their wedding guests. Charles Brandon too stayed in the background.
Henry and a pregnant Katherine accompanied Mary to Dover where fourteen ships were waiting to escort her to France. After several days rest at Dover Castle, a break in the weather on the 2 October meant Mary could take her leave of England and set sail for Boulogne. She said her goodbyes to Katherine at the castle while Henry accompanied her to her waiting ship. Mary took the opportunity to remind her brother of his promise – that she could marry whom she may after King Louis’ death.
The voyage was horrendous. A fresh storm caught the group of ships and scattered them, buffeting them around the English Channel for two days. Only four, Mary’s included, managed to steer close to Boulogne but yet could not dock. Mary’s ship was run aground and Sir Christopher Garnish had to unceremoniously carry her ashore. Soaked to the bone, dishevelled and unhappy at such a disastrous start to her life in France, Mary was greeted by the Duke of Vendôme and the cardinal of Ambroise. She looked a far cry from Pasqualigo’s description of her as ‘a nymph from heaven’.
After a brief respite, Mary travelled to Montreuil to stay with Madame de Moncaverel to prepare for her on
ward journey to Abbeville. She set out on the 7 October, refreshed and recovered from her ordeal. She was at first greeted in the town of Montreuil by the Governor of Picardy. Pageants were staged for her entertainment and a song was performed in honour of her forthcoming nuptials:
Princes, try to entertain and keep
The Rose among the lilies of France,
So that one may say and maintain-
Shamed be he who thinks ill thereof.10
She continued on her twenty-five mile journey until she was met by Francis, the king’s son-in-law and Dauphin of France. The king was so anxious to hear news of his approaching bride that he sent his men out to greet her near Anders forest and send him back news of her arrival. Francis warned her to expect a surprise and a little while later, Louis himself, arrived on the pretext of being out hunting with his hawks in the forest. This ‘accidental’ meeting of the king and new queen of France saw them wearing matching clothes of crimson velvet and cloth of gold – a statement of unity for all to see. Mary doffed her crimson cap at Louis and made to dismount her horse to curtsey to him but he bid her stay. She blew him a kiss but this was not a gesture he understood however he ‘kissed her as kindly as if he had been five and twenty’.11 Louis was determined to make an impression but it was time for him to return to Abbeville via a different route so that Mary could enter the town with all due ceremony.
The Tudor Brandons Page 6