Tudor Queens of England

by David Loades

  16 The treaty was duly concluded in January 1554, proclaimed, and in due course ratifi ed by Parliament. This last step was unprecedented in respect of a royal marriage but then the circumstances were also unprecedented. Meanwhile, treaty or no treaty, there was a legal ambiguity to be resolved. By English law a married woman (or

  femme couvert) surrendered her property on marriage to her husband, in whom it remained vested for the duration of his life. Did the same apply to the Crown, and if so, where did that leave the marriage treaty? It was generally assumed that the law did not apply to the Crown but the issue was open to dispute. Again, resort was had to statute, and when Parliament reconvened on 2 April an Act was passed declaring that the Imperial powers of the Crown of England were the same, whether vested in male of female. In other words the Queen was also King and no legal or other gender limitations applied.17 Meanwhile, Philip appeared to be sulking. His formal betrothal to Mary took place in March but he was represented by his father’s servant the Count of Egmont and he sent neither message nor token. Nor did he communicate the reason for his delays to Simon Renard, who was left jumping up and down with frustration and rapidly running out of excuses. In fact he seems to have had genuine diffi culties, both in settling the government of Spain (where he was regent) and in raising the money that Charles insisted that he bring with him to pay the northern armies, but none of this was explained. Eventually, in early June, he set off from Valladolid on his leisurely way towards La Coruna, and as soon as word of this reached England, a group of English nobles set off to meet him – arriving in Galicia before he did. Philip’s English household was assembled at Southampton to meet him and the Queen travelled to Bishop’s Waltham in Hampshire, where Philip’s harbinger, the Marquis de las Navas, found her early in July. He bore the long-expected token from her betrothed, a magnifi cent table diamond

  18 and, although the household at Southampton was getting restive, the long period of waiting was almost over. On 20 July he landed at Southampton, was honourably received and girded with the Order of the Garter. He then made his way to Winchester where the Dean’s lodging had been prepared to receive him. The Queen meanwhile had moved into the Bishop’s palace, a distinction of status that was not lost upon the Prince’s vigilant entourage. The couple met for the fi rst time the same evening, and Mary’s feelings can only be imagined. She was on the brink of a political and sexual encounter that should, by the normal rules of royal marriage, have 196

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  occurred at least 20 years earlier. We are told that both were magnifi cently attired and honourably accompanied and that they greeted each other affectionately and ‘chatted pleasantly’

  .19 The whole thing was carefully staged for what would now be called ‘the world’s press’, and their real feelings are unknown. It is not even known what language they used for their pleasant chat. Mary understood Spanish but spoke it very hesitantly while Philip’s French was in the same state. He (of course) spoke no English so perhaps they used Latin, in which both were fl uent. The marriage duly took place on St James’s day, 25 July, in Winchester cathedral. The day was chosen as a careful compliment to the bridegroom, whose nose was otherwise put comprehensively out of joint. During the ceremony his seat was placed lower than hers and he stood on her left, which would normally have been the bride’s position. The royal sword was only borne before him after the wedding and his jealous servants claimed that even at the wedding banquet he was served from silver while the Queen was served from gold. 20 Nevertheless he was duly recognized as King of England when their elaborate titles were proclaimed and the crowd outside the cathedral gave him an unexpectedly warm reception, noting particularly how affectionate his demeanour towards his new wife appeared to be. The whole symbolism of the occasion had been designed to emphasize that Philip’s status in England depended upon his wife, but that was virtually ignored in the spate of Habsburg propaganda that celebrated his triumph in England. 21 Simon Renard may have known differently but continental observers were clearly expecting the new King to dominate his wife and to use his position in England for his own (largely international) purposes. It might be expected that Mary would have been traumatized by having sex for the fi rst time at the age of 38. Following custom, she remained secluded for a few days after the wedding but by all accounts was blissfully happy. Philip was less enchanted. From hints that were soon being dropped by his Spanish servants, he found her disappointing ‘para la sensualidad de la carne’, which may well have been the case as she was 11 years his senior and totally inexperienced.22 Nevertheless he had done his duty and when, three months later, there was talk of her being pregnant, he retained a discreet silence. As a sexual encounter, their relationship seems to have worked reasonably well and it may be signifi cant that, despite the fact that he had many enemies, no scandal attached to him while he was in England. The ‘bakers’ daughters and other poor whores’ whom he was accused of using after his departure do not feature, so presumably he found his wife satisfactory. However, there were other problems. Philip must have been aware that a full English household had been appointed for him. After all, he had signed a treaty that bound him to the use of English servants. Nevertheless, he brought a full Spanish establishment with him, which included not only a

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  Chapel Royal (which had been expected), but also a Majordomo and a complete set of Chamber servants (which had not). It can only be supposed that Philip had yielded to pressure from his Spanish offi cers, who had declared that their beloved lord could not be expected to entrust himself to a bunch of barbarians whose language he did not even understand. Of course, there was immediately trouble, which the King must have anticipated. He immediately decreed that he would be served in public by his English offi cers, in accordance with the treaty, but in private he would retain his Spanish servants. Both sides immediately and loudly complained – the Spanish that they were dishonoured and the English that they had no access to the privy apartments. The issue was never really resolved but both sides had to live with the compromise. More seriously, the lower servants on both sides were full of hatred and contempt towards each other and there was violence (‘knife work’ as one contemporary put it) even within the precincts of the court. There was also murder and robbery on the streets and the English were not always to blame. Both the King and the Queen were distressed by this blatant racism but neither could do much to halt it. Philip made the largest contribution by sending the majority of his noble followers and their retinues to join the army in the Low Countries, but the problem was never completely solved as long as Philip was in England.

  The King was in a very diffi cult situation. Despite his harmonious relations with his wife she had given him no English patrimony. This was unprecedented because consorts had always hitherto been endowed with lands of their own and expected to dispense their own patronage as well as paying some of their own expenses. Such lands had varied somewhat in value but had usually produced an income of between £3,000 and £4,500 a year. Philip might reasonably have expected to have received the Duchy of Cornwall or Lancaster, which would have given him an English clientage and English resources. Instead of which he received nothing and had to pay all his English bills out of his Spanish revenues. These were large, but already over committed and when we remember that he also felt obliged to pay substantial pensions to the members of the English Council and to other selected courtiers, it becomes apparent that the Crown of England was an expensive honour.

  23 Nor did he have much of a role in the government of England. All state documents were dutifully issued in both their names and he regularly accompanied the Queen on ceremonial occasions but most of his working life was spent with his own Council, dealing with the affairs of the Empire and of Spain. The proceedings of the English council were translated into Latin for his benefi t and he consulted regularly with those councillors (notably Gardiner) who were fl uent in th
at language but his fi ngerprints appear very little on the routine processes of English government. What he did do was rather more 198

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  subtle. Throughout the winter of 1554–5, and into the New Year, he encouraged courtly entertainments, and staged ‘war games’ – mostly tournaments. Mary had virtually neglected the Revels before her marriage. Her coronation in October 1553 had been the only one that century not marked by jousts and similar celebrations and Christmas 1553 had been exceptionally quiet. Philip had two motives for wishing to change this. In the fi rst place he wanted to make an impact on the Court, both to encourage loyalty and to cheer everyone up; in the second place he wanted some popular approval and some recruits for his armies. Both these aims were served by tournaments and if the King took part in person (as he sometimes did) so much the better. After all, as a knight of the Garter, he was supposed to be a showpiece of English chivalry – and that meant more than being affectionate to his wife.

  The other thing that the King did during his fi rst few months in England was to end the 20-year-old ecclesiastical schism. This was the outcome of a longmaturing scheme by the Emperor and was mainly in the interest of securing Habsburg infl uence in Rome. As we have seen, one of Mary’s earliest expressed wishes was to return to the papal obedience and in that she was fully supported by Cardinal Pole, who had been appointed Legate to England as soon as news of her accession had reached Rome. However, as soon as the possibility of a marriage between the Queen and his son was raised and the extent of his infl uence over Mary became clear, Charles began t

  o urge caution.24 The English were deeply sunk in heresy, the French might try to intervene – and so on. His real motive, however, was to ensure that the credit for such a reconciliation should go to Philip rather than to Mary and her English advisers. Through his agents in England, he managed to sabotage a unilateral declaration of allegiance proposed by the Lord Chancellor in the second parliament of the reign but as soon as the marriage was completed, his opposition evaporated and he began to encourage Philip to seize his opportunity. This was realistic enough, because opposition to the reconciliation in England (apart from the Protestant minority) came largely from those who had purchased former ecclesiastical property and who saw their investment disappearing. Philip understood this and quickly determined that the easiest route to success would be by persuading Pope Julius III to write off the English monasteries, relying on the piety of future generations to reestablish them. After some negotiation, he succeeded in doing that, and the way to reconciliation was thus opened. 25 Mary simply did not have the infl uence in the Curia to have accomplished that – nor was she convinced of its necessity. In this respect the Queen showed markedly less political judgement than her husband, whose Catholicism was fortunately above suspicion. Consequently, having secured his main objective in Rome, Philip then had to persuade both

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  Cardinal Pole and his wife to accept the deal. Pole was reluctantly convinced by early November and the formalities of reconciliation were then completed but it was Christmas before the King talked Mary round, and what method he used we do not know

  .26 There was then a question over the legal title to the secularized lands and this was resolved (with Philip’s support) by incorporating the terms of the papal dispensation into the statute that repealed the Royal Supremacy. Altogether, the reconciliation was very much Philip’s doing and was celebrated as such with thunderous applause all over Catholic Europe.27 Mary was barely mentioned, except by Julius in his offi cial correspondence and decrees. Just why the Queen allowed herself to be so comprehensively sidelined is not known. The idea of bargaining with heretics (or ‘possessioners’) was repugnant to her but her duty required no less. Perhaps she was compensating for her failure to give Philip a more active role in regular government by delegating this extremely important task to him; perhaps she was becoming increasingly preoccupied with her supposed pregnancy, or perhaps she was just ducking the issue. No sooner had the reconciliation been completed than the imprisoned Protestant leaders began to be put on trial. Philip had nothing whatsoever to do with this. He had no objection to persecuting heretics but judged that such an initiative in England was inexpedient. He also knew his own lack of rapport with the English people and realized that if the policy of burning the recalcitrant turned out to be unpopular (as it showed every sign of being) then he would be blamed. He made cautious dissenting noises but did nothing to check the persecution. 28 This was fronted by Reginald Pole as Cardinal Legate but the real driving forces were Lord Chancellor Gardiner, and the Queen. Mary was quite convinced that so-called Protestants were merely avaricious opportunists, seeking to ruin the Church both morally and fi nancially and their pretended constancy under affl iction was just a trick to win sympathy. The mere threat of burning would have them recanting in droves! Up to a point she was right; many did recant. However, when some of the leaders proved willing to suffer the ultimate penalty, Gardiner soon realized that, as a policy, this was not going to work. Unfortunately, the Queen showed no such sensitivity. As far as she was concerned, burning heretics was not a policy that could be picked up or laid down but a solemn religious duty. Insults to the Holy Mass seared her conscience to the bone and no punishment could be too severe for such blasphemy. She had defended the rite when it was under attack and would do so now from a position of much greater strength. As 1555 advanced, Mary’s condition became more pronounced and Philip, with his eye on his father’s affairs, became restless. It required fi rm guidance from the latter to persuade him to remain in England until his wife should be safely delivered. Once he was the father of an heir to the throne, his position would be 200

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  infi nitely stronger. Simon Renard dutifully conveyed the message but one of the benefi ts of Philip’s arrival had been the ending of his confi dential relationship with the Queen. The King neither liked nor trusted him, and although he remained at his post until the autumn of 1555 he had no real infl uence.

  29 In that respect at least, Mary observed her husband’s wishes. No one seems to have known when the Queen’s ‘hour’ was due, which was perhaps a sign of the impending disaster. About 20 April she retired into the customary female seclusion, and the government of the country simply carried on without her. No doubt some matters were referred to Philip but his role did not noticeably increase. Fortunately no major issues pressed upon the Council. Meanwhile the court waited … and waited. Nothing happened. Observers declared that birth was imminent and then withdrew their predictions. Scandalous tales began to circulate: the Queen was ill or bewitched; there was an elaborate substitution plot masterminded from Spain; 30 the Queen was not really pregnant at all – and so on. Still nothing happened and the upbeat predictions from her physicians and her ladies began to waver and then fell silent. By July it was obvious that no normal birth was in prospect, and Mary was forced to face the awful truth – her pregnancy had been a phantom. The implications of this for her health and the impact upon her state of mind were profound. The political implications were no less severe. The whole regime had suddenly lost credibility. Instead of a safe Catholic succession, extending the Queen’s proceedings into the indefi nite future, the prospect was now highly uncertain. If Mary were to die, would Philip ignore the treaty and bid for the Crown himself? Elizabeth was the next heir by English law, and she was a very different kind of woman. What was Philip to do? He was now, at the age of 28, saddled with a wife who was almost certainly barren. He had, admittedly, one son, the unpromising Don Carlos, but one life was a poor protection against dynastic failure, as Edward VI had just demonstrated. As soon as he decently could, the King took his mind off these problems by returning to the continent to assume the pressing responsibilities that his father was so anxious to shed, leaving Mary exhausted and depressed. Philip offi cially took over from Charles in the Low Countries in September
1555 and that gave him enough to be doing for the time being. However, he did not forget the problem of England. How could he when his distressed wife was constantly writing to him urging him to return? The country needed his strong hand (in what way is not clear); they could try again for a baby. She did not put it in so many words but that was the gist of at least one of her letters. The King had no faith at all in his wife’s fertility, but there was one option that he could try – he could have an English coronation. The fact that such a ceremony had not followed his marriage is indicative of Mary’s double standard towards her

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  husband. On the one hand she was anxious to please him personally and to be a good Habsburg wife; but on the other hand she was extremely cagey about giving away any aspect of her authority. This attitude was embodied in the marriage treaty, and was undoubtedly adopted on the advice of her Council. As long as there had been the prospect of an heir, Philip had been very restrained, feeling, probably rightly, that such a birth would give him most of what he wanted without any effort on his part. Now, however, the situation was changed, and the fact that Mary wanted him back gave him a hold over her. He had originally been intending to return for the parliament, which was called for 21 October, but that, he now discovered, would be impossible. In fact he might not come back at all unless he was given a more honourable position in England, and that would involve a coronation.

  31 He had been advised (wrongly, it would seem) that in England the coronation was of unusual signifi cance and that once he was crowned he would be able to fi nd ways to ignore, or at least to circumvent, his treaty limitations. It was precisely this fear that raised such a storm in England. Philip as a King Consort on a limited tenure was one thing, particularly now there were such grave doubts about the Queen’s health, but Philip in unlimited possession was something else entirely. A potentially serious conspiracy was raised, passing under the name of the adventurer Henry Dudley, which would have involved a small invasion by English exiles presently in France, and a major rebellion among the West Country gentry. Its declared purpose was to ‘send the Queen overseas to her husband’ and replace her with her sister Elizabeth. It was detected in March 1556, and came to nothing but it was a sinister indication of the way opinion was moving. At the same time the Cheshire agitator John Bradford published a scurrilous attack upon the King entitled