Chapter 7 - 1521
The end of January saw the birth of Catherine of Aragon's last child and only daughter. Mary Tudor, named for the Virgin arrived into the world on the 28th just before evening. The Queen had taken up residence in Windsor Castle and the heralds would fire salute from the round tower to proclaim that a princess had been born. A fleet footed messenger had been sent running with all due haste to St George’s Chapel where the king and his court was praying for the queen and her safe delivery. Upon seeing the young man rushing in, red faced and panting, the king rose up quickly, cutting off all the noise immediately.
“Lad, do you come from the queen’s chamber?” Henry demanded.
“Your Majesty, I do. The queen’s grace asked me to tell you…” the messenger couched from his exertion, much to his embarrassment.
“Easy lad. Breathe. What has the queen asked of you?”
“Your majesty, the queen has delivered a beautiful little princess and ask that you come see her as soon as you wish.”
“I have a daughter?! Is the queen and the child well?” Henry nearly shouted with relief.
“Yes, her grace is doing well and so is the princess.”
The courtiers held their breath, as they waited for Henry’s reaction. The king had spoken often of his future third son, his precious duke of Bedford, the last son in the trinity of heirs Catherine would give him. How would he react to a daughter instead?
“Have the church bells rung in every city! My Castilian rose had gifted me a fair Princess! My lords and ladies, lets give praise to the God and the Virgin! My daughter shall be named in her honour, let us all cheer for the Princess Mary of England!”
His joy was infectious and the gathered men and women broke into loud cheers as he spoke. Shouts of “God save the king! God bless the queen! Long live Princess Mary!” rose in the chapel hall from all assembled.
“Wolsey, Wolsey, Wolsey, where are you?!” Henry shouted.
“Your majesty, I am here!” the lord chancellor called, nearly elbowing through the crowds as to reach his king. Henry’s grin was wide and he clapped the cardinal on the back of the shoulder with force enough to nearly bring him to his knees. Wolsey straightened himself as quickly as possible, adjusting the cardinal cap the king had nearly knocked off. “I share your delight in this blessing, your grace. All of England will share it as well in the coming days.”
“A fine blessing indeed! And we shall share it with the people as is proper. Prepare a tournament and a feast in the Princess’s honour! I want fireworks and dancing a plenty! Fountains shall run with wine! Let all good men and woman in England share in our joy! Wolsey, see it done!”
“Your majesty, it will be done as you order! This will be a grand occasion in the Princess honour.”
With that said, Henry ordered the chaplain to have the Te Deum sung in the chapel and he himself sang along with joy and pride in his voice, alongside his happy court.
Henry strode over to Catherine’s apartments after the mass had ended. The king was nearly skipping with joy as he strode along the corridors, accompanied by his dear friend, Henry Norris. As they drew near the door of the queen’s chamber, one of her younger ladies stepped out and froze as she nearly collided with the king.
“Madam, will you tell the queen’s grace that the king had come to see her?”
The woman stared at Henry without being able to put her words out and only managed to make a squeaking sound, like that of a mouse being stepped on. Norris snapped his fingers in front of her face to break her out of the trance. The poor woman jumped and curtsied to the king, babbling apologises for her behaviour so fast the words stumbled over each other.
“Majesty, I’m so sorry, please forgive me, I will of course let the queen know you are here, please, only a moment!” she managed to say, before dashing back into the rooms, leaving Henry Norris laughing with mirth and even the king chortled. “Your grace must have frightened her so! I dare say the lass looked like a deer about to face the hunter’s arrows!”
Henry shook his head at his friend’s antics. “She must be new to my wife’s household, none of her maids acts like that nowadays.”
Their words were interrupted by Elizabeth Stafford, Duchess of Norfolk. The duchess was the chief lady of Queen Catherine, she gracefully curtsied and invited them both into the chamber where her mistress was resting. Catherine sat up in her bed as the king approached and smiled at him. “My darling Kate. How are you feeling? Are you well?”
“My lord, I am fine. The birth was not too taxing and I have rested plenty.”
Henry leaned over and kissed her temple and then her hand. “I am relieved beyond words. We have a fair princess together.”
“Your majesty, would you like to see the lady Mary?” The wetnurse asked and curtsied at the king. In her arms was a wrapped bundle and Henry beckoned for her to come closer. Gingerly, she placed her burden in his arms and took a step back. Henry peered at his daughter. Mary slept without a care in the world, warmly swaddled in linens and wools to protect her from the cold. The king’s daughter had a round face with a rosy complexion and downy, reddish hair underneath her little cap. “She is as beautiful as her mother. My pearl, Mary, my little rose without thorns.” Henry gives her back to the wetnurse and turns his smile towards Catherine, once more the first woman in his heart.
The celebrations for Mary’s birth were grand and the tournament filled with brave knights clashing against each other before the cheering crowds. As the king promised, the spectators were treated to wine flowing from the fountains and gold coins was scattered into the crowds. The year had begun on a good note for the Tudors.
In Denmark, things did not look as good. The death of Charles of Burgundy in 1517 had postponed the planned conquest of Sweden. Christian II of Denmark had planned to reestablish Danish authority in the kingdom and while he had sent men and ships to support the archbishop of Uppsala, that army had been defeated by Sten Sture the Younger and his army of peasants. Gustav Trolle had been elected archbishop in 1514 and he was the leader of the pro-danish party in Sweden. But Christian becoming Duke of Burgundy had impacted Swedish politics and even Trolle had become contemplative. Christian’s absence from the Nordic countries in order to defend his wife’s inheritance for nearly three years as well had caused his enemies to gain strength. Since Christian had been dependant on the Hapsburgs, the Fugger family and Pope Leo X during his reign, now it all came crashing down. The imperial vacuum left behind by Maximilian in Austria. Queen Isabella’s absence from Denmark and the royal heir being raised in Flanders rather than Copenhagen also raised rancour. Despite callings from the estates, she refused to leave the Low Countries and also kept John with her. This caused strong outrage in Denmark and more people began to flock towards Christian’s uncle, Frederick of Denmark. He in turn had begun to gather the support of the aristocracy that had long resented the king for favouring the commoners. Anti dutch-factions also rose from 1518 as Isabella became duchess in favour of her brother Ferdinand and it inflamed the already tense situation. Sten Sture won even greater support in Sweden as the prospect of becoming ruled by the Dutch as well was even more intolerable. The Danish treasury had been drained in fighting against the French, and while the english had aided, the state of Christian’s reign had come increasingly fragile as he became even more aware of upon his return. The peace treaty with France had helped him in some way, but it could not replace the strength of Austria, thus, he was very much weakened. The emperor did not have much interest in aiding Christian as he wished to focus on Germany and not spending his resources further away in the northern kingdoms.
The new emperor had been elected in 1518 and he turned out to be Frederick III of Saxony. The election had been a complete chaos, as they lacked a clear candidate at this time. No doubt Charles of Burgundy would have become elected as the head of the Hapsburgs, but as he had died before his grandfather, the imperial family lacked a clear candidate. After Charles death, the Hapsburgs now consisted of Queen Isabella of Denmark, King Ferdinand of Spain, Queen Mary of Hungary and Bohemia and the youngest sister, Catherine of Austria residing in Spain as well. No one considered the 15-year-old king of Spain as a serious candidate and the Danish had their hands full keeping France from devouring the Low Countries. Perhaps Francis would have liked to see the status of a emperor, but he decided to instead invade Burgundy in order to annex the rich regions back to France once and for all. Henry VIII proposed himself as a dark horse candidate, but few took him seriously.
One of Frederick’s first tasks as emperor was the question of what to do with the Hapsburg inheritance itself. As Ferdinand had no intention of claiming anything except the Spanish lands, the troubles began with the succession of the Austrian lands. Christian and Isabella was the first claimants, but the troubles with the Low Countries and Denmark was of more focus, and after France tore back Burgundy, neither could spend any time governing Austria. Mary of Austria and Louis II wanted to claim it and the proximity to their lands made them the most important ones. But the problem was that the couples was still minor and under the thumb of the domineering magnates. In 1520, with the support of pope Leo and the Wittelsbach, Frederick declared that the rulers of Austria was the King and Queen of Bohemia and Hungary.
Frederick did face a contest from another ruling house related to the Hapsburgs: The Bavarian House of Wittelsbach. Maximilian’s only sister had married the late Duke of Bavaria in 1487 and that union had resulted in seven children, and the oldest son, William IV had become a candidate in the election. At the age of 25 he was an attractive candidate, especially as Frederick had no children. Plus, he did have a reasonable claim to the throne, as he was a grandchild of the late Emperor Frederick III. Fortune favored Frederick during this election, but as he was an elderly man with to heirs, the Bavarians could be patient. The next election would not be to far away and that once would be the one they were aiming for. The Wittelsbachs would become the next imperial house after Frederick’s death. William was determined to bolster his standing and too seek a proper bride for a future emperor. The obvious candidate was Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, the sister of King Louis II. As Maximilian had married his granddaughter Mary of Austria to Louis very young, Anne had been promised to Ferdinand of Austria as part of a double alliance with the Jagellions, but Ferdinand had broken of the engagement in order to wed Isabella of Portugal instead. This had been viewed as an immense insult in the kingdom and Louis had called him “a most dishonest and foul betrayer” for abandoning his commitment to his sister. Archbishop Cisneros had not been kind in his declaration when seeking a termination between his young charge and Anne, calling her an inferior choice of bride for the king of Spain to the pope and the estates of Bohemia and Hungary had taken great offence at his word. William had sought Frederick’s aid in securing Anne as a bride and the emperor had lent his support in dealing with the estates that finally agreed to the marriage in 1521. Anne arrived in Bavaria in the late summer, where she married William in a joyous ceremony attended by the emperor himself.
France also saw a wedding in 1521. Marguerite of Angouleme, the sister of King Francis wedded King Henri II of Navarre in a beautiful spring day in Toulouse. Her first husband, Charles IV of Alencon had died during the French invasion of Burgundy in 1518 and Francis decided that his cultured, elegant and beloved sister deserved to be married to a king, even a poor one as Henri. The lion’s share of Navarre had been conquered by Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1512, and the marriage between Marguerite and Henri was a clear signal that now that France was prepared to take it back in the near future. Ferdinand I of Spain and Isabella of Portugal was gravely concerned about French ambition after their wins in 1519 and they both saw the threat he posed against Spanish control of both Navarre and Naples. To further legitimatise their reign in Navarre, the king and queen left Burgos and entered Pamplona, for Ferdinand to be sworn in as king by the courtes. A rebellion had taken place in the end of 1520 and continued into the spring of 1521 and Navarre had come perilous close to recover the control of their kingdom, no doubt spurred on by the French marriage in that spring. A army commanded by the Lord of Lesparre, André de Foix rose up against the governor Inigo de Loyola and cities such as Tudela declared that their loyalties was to the House of Albret. Ferdinand had sent a army to crush the rebellion and Lesparre had been taken captive in late February and placed under arrest in Burgos. The rebel army had been completely crushed by Íñigo Fernández de Velasco, Duke of Frias in march and by June the whole kingdom had been pacified. Ferdinand and Isabella arrived in Pamplona in late July. The brought with them a host of officials of different kinds, all that was swiftly placed in different positions in Navarre, to ensure further loyalty to the crown.
Ferdinand took the traditional oaths of the kings of Navarre in the Pamplona cathedral on the 5th of August before the assembly of the courtes, and the joint coronation took place on the 7h days later. Isabella dazzled the onlookers in rich cloth of gold, crimson silks and an impressive amount of jewels from both Portugal, Spain and Navarre and was later properly dowered with the cities traditionally granted to consorts.
“Before the sacrament of the holy unction is completed, this blessed coronation of yours, it is necessary for Your Royal Majesties to swear an oath to the people, as the monarchs of Navarre preceding you did formerly, so that the people can also swear an oath to you as set by custom.”
After the coronation, Ferdinand went on a progress in Navarre, while Isabella remained in Pamplona to oversee the court itself. The Queen would gather many noble ladies of good families to her household in order to bind many nobles to their side. Isabella’s court was a large one during her years as queen, made up of ladies and officials from all kingdoms in Iberia and Naples. Isabella had given birth to her second child at the end of June in Burgos and Infanta Isabel had been left behind in the royal nursery with her brother Juan. The king promised that Juan would be sworn in as Prince of Viana later, when the infant had become old enough to travel longer distances.
The year ended with the death of Pope Leo X in December and now the Papacy saw a new election coming for the leader of Christendom.
Author's Note: So here are the year of 1521 in Europe. Frederick of Saxony becomes Emperor Frederick IV and the Bavarian's will come after him to the imperial throne as they are related to the Hapsburgs as the grandchildren of Emperor Frederick III. Anne of Bohemia and Hungary might get a emperor after all! My swedish side is happy to watch Christian suffer and that evil trull Roose Bolton Gustav Trolle can go screw himself. Everything is going well in Spain and my babies are doing perfectly fine. Spot the reference to the Tudors tv serie!