Mary I Early Days
A lady born into royalty happily at first, but later troubled by great a matter.
She was the daughter of Henry the Eighth and Catherine of Aragon. Her life
would be led by religious beliefs, and yet time and again, she would be ignored
at court. She was declared illegitimate and removed from the line of
succession, and her start in life would end in utter devastation. Join me now
as we look at the dawn of an era for Mary the first.
On the 18th of February
1516, a lady was born that would rule England with a viciousness that is hard to
accept even today. The place was the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich. At the
time, she was the only child of Henry the Eighth and his first wife Catherine
of Aragon, and the only child from the couple that would survive infancy.
Catherine had always struggled with childbirth, resulting in four stillborn
children, one daughter, and three sons. Yet this surviving lady was strong,
and she had to be. Her life would unfold into one of the most dramatic and
complex within the Tudor period. Mary was baptised just three days after her
birth, she had prominent godparents, including the much lauded Thomas
Wolsey, Catherine of York and Agnes Howard, the Duchess of Norfolk. It
would be one of Henry's cousins. The well known Margaret Pole who would
advocate her confirmation directly after the baptism. In 1517, Mary would become
a godmother herself to one of her cousins Frances Brandon, and by 1520,
Margaret Pole had been appointed as Mary's Governess. Mary grew up with far
more maturity than her age suggested. By 1520, and at the tender age of just
four she'd entertain a group of French delegates, with a musical performance
carried out on the Virginals. This was a 16th century style instrument of
the harpsichord family. And although music was a love of Mary's the majority
of her early education had been delivered by her mother, who had spoken to the
Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives, for advice and best practices on how to
bring up and educate children. This was a success, and Catherine urged Juan to
write a book on the subject. He did, and it helped in unravelling the secrets
to educating girls.
Mary had grown up to be more than adept at scholarly work,
she could now read and write in Latin, but she was also excellent at other studies
including languages, music and dance. At this time, the Tudor King was happy
with life he loved his daughter and regularly boasted to his friends and
colleagues about her demeanour. It's said that Mary was of a fair complexion, she
had blue eyes and golden hair, and she had rosy red cheeks, which were likened
to her father. On one occasion, he told the Venetian Ambassador that Mary
never cried. Yet, despite the joy surrounding the court over these years,
there was always the likelihood of darkness rolling in. We know Henry adored
Mary, but he started to feel more subdued towards his wife Catherine. She had not
produced any boys throughout their time together. When Mary reached nine years
old, it became apparent that a rift was opening up between King Henry and
Queen Catherine. It was due to her not having any more children, and in
Henry's eyes, this left him in a soulless world. By 1525, it was decided that
Mary should now go to the borders of Wales to live. Ludlow castle was the
destination a place usually designated and reserved for Princes. Mary was now
called the Princess of Wales. And although this was never affirmed, it was a
title that friends and close family would give her, and it would be a further
three years before Mary eventually returned to London. Throughout her early
years, Mary as with other children had been placed into marriage agreements.
At the age of just two she had been promised to Francis he was the son of King
Francis the first of France, but this was dissolved some years later. At six
she was then to marry her 22 year old first cousin Charles the fifth, the Holy
Roman Emperor. But again, this came to nothing after Henry and Charles agreed
to disagree on the issue. Cardinal Wolsey would then come into play, he had
suggested a marriage between Mary and Francis the first himself. Although this
was nothing more than a political move, the French King was keen on an
alliance with England. After months of negotiations, it's again ended with no
wedding. However, Wolsey did succeed in gaining an alliance with France. One
further opportunity came calling in 1528, when it was suggested she could now
marry King James the fourth of Scotland. He was her cousin, but it looks like this
idea was quickly erased from memory. Although Mary's life was hectic at all
these changes, she remained happy. However, it was a different story for her
parents. Henry had attempted to get his marriage to Catherine annulled. He wanted
to remarry and have at least a fighting chances of producing a male heir, but
Pope Clement the seventh refused, and all hell broke out.
Henry claimed anything and everything he could get his hands on to dispute his
marriage including verses from the Bible. Even stating his marriage to
Catherine was unclean. Due to the fact Catherine was the widow of his brother
Arthur, who had died just months into their marriage. Consummation was the word
of the day. Catherine had always disputed this and continued to throughout her
life. On the other hand, Henry would have nothing but disdain for this, and if
anything, it just made him roar a little more loudly then usual.
Although Catherine's first marriage had been annulled due to Catherine's statement
regarding the consummation. It seems Henry thought this would easily be
achievable in this instance to. The Pope, Catherine and many others,
including Charles the fifth, we're not going to budge. And together they
probably told Henry look, you made your bed now go sleep in it. Mary suffered
in 1531, an illness struck her down although as to what is not clear. It's been
said that this sickly behaviour could be attributed to the depression she was
feeling over her parent's. Quite possibly it was puberty issues, again another
stressful time for any young girl. It was also around now she was stopped from
seeing her mother and Henry had sent her away from court. In some ways this
could well have been the right thing to do as Henry and Catherine, were now
at the point of no return. In the early part of 1533, Henry took on a new Lady
Anne Boleyn. She set foot into the court and the couple married. Anne was due to have
their first child in May. All of this after Thomas Cranmer declared his
previous marriage to Catherine null and void, but this new marriage to Anne was
declared as being completely valid. For Catherine, she was demoted and now her
new title was the Dowager Princess of Wales. The title she would have held as
Arthur's widow. It was terrible news for Mary, the poor girl had been through
enough and now she found out that she would also become a illegitimate. She
would become the Lady Mary and even her line of succession was removed and
given to her sister, Elizabeth. Mary's household was removed from service
which included Margaret Pole, and by 1533, she had been sent to live alongside
her infant sister Elizabeth at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. The good old days
were now a distant memory, Mary struggled to cope with what had happened, her
father was besotted with this new woman in his life, and virtually disowned his
daughter. Catherine was left to wallow in what might have been, and it was a
sorrowful time for the majority within the court and around the country.
Mary was dogged she stood up for her mother and refused to be taken in by what
she saw as an imposter in their family. Henry raged, but he was good at that.
Now, Mary was restrained she was under what you could call house arrest and
her movements were restricted. She suffered from various ailments and you can
understand why, her ill treatment was significant. The turmoil and grief she
felt would have repercussions for years to come. Eustace Chapuys, the Spanish
ambassador to the court of Henry became close to Mary through these
troubling times. And especially as the relationship grew worse between Mary
and her now distant father to the point no words would come between them. For
almost three years. Catherine was now ill and still Mary was refused to visit
her mother. She would never see her mother again. Catherine died in 1536 and was
interred at Peterborough Cathedral. This was the final straw for Mary she was
now an object of total despair and grieved in desolate seclusion at Hunsdon
in Hertfordshire. Mary's blood was boiling yet she would eventually restore
parity and order in a way that would shock and impact the lives of many over
the coming years.