Equal and Indivisible - A Tudor Timeline
- Thread starter ranichi17
- Start date
Coming back to this thread after a while...(I hope it's still alive)
I think I've guessed who Mary's first and second husbands are...I'm like 98% sure. With the Duchess Consort and Queen Consort bits...yeah, I guess 98%.
Also, I really like this TL, going to continue watching for new updates! Lots of encouragement to ranichi17!
I think I've guessed who Mary's first and second husbands are...I'm like 98% sure. With the Duchess Consort and Queen Consort bits...yeah, I guess 98%.
Also, I really like this TL, going to continue watching for new updates! Lots of encouragement to ranichi17!
Yeah, it's still alive, I'm just trying to figure out in what order to put the next part.
Christ is Risen!
“Mary’s first Easter as queen also happened to be the first time that all three of Henry VIII’s recognised children were all present in court at the same time. The queen, resplendent in purple and cloth-of-gold and wearing the crown of state atop her head, presided over the usual court festivities with zeal that had not been seen in her since the Great Matter, participating in dances that were closely watched by the court for any hint of budding courtships, gambling at cards with her ladies, and loudly cheering in the first joust she had organized as queen, of which Sir Henry Norreys had won, having unseated the queen’s uncle Suffolk in the final tilt.
Easter was also Elizabeth’s first appearance at court since the infamous feast celebrating Katheryn of Aragon’s death, to the great surprise of a court who had assumed she would be hidden away from the queen’s sight. Rather, the little girl who was now surnamed Fitzroy like her older half-brother entered the great hall of Greenwich hand-in-hand with the sister who had grown fond of her. Now almost three, Elizabeth was by all accounts a precocious child who had felt the change precipitated by her reduced status, famously asking why she was now called ‘My Lady Elizabeth’ when it had been ‘My Lady Princess’ and asking her attendants why she could no longer visit ‘the nice lady,’ this being her name for her mother who was now living amongst the Poor Clares. Mary had given Elizabeth to the care of the child’s aunts, Lady Stafford and the Countess of Wiltshire, who had both wisely stayed out of intrigue and had thus survived the purging of the Boleyns and their supporters at court. To them were also added trusted Catholic attendants and tutors, so that the mother’s Evangelical influence could be kept from poisoning the child’s impressionable mind.
The Duke of Richmond and his wife were at court as well, restored by Mary to royal favour and welcomed with open arms in time for the Easter festivities. Fitzroy knelt before his sister as soon as he entered the halls, swearing loudly for all those present to be ‘Her Majesty’s leal servant,’ the same lines he had written to her during his short stint in the Tower. Mary smiled in return, pulling her brother up with both hands before embracing him and promising in turn to be ‘His Grace’s true and loyal friend in perpetuity.’ One could not help but wonder whether anyone present drew parallels between the scene and that of the queen’s great-grandfather Edward IV as he pardoned his brother Clarence.
On the other hand, all those present had noted how ill at ease Fitzroy’s wife, the Duchess, was with all of the proceedings, constantly whispering in her mother’s ear and flashing courtiers a lukewarm smile whenever they greeted her. Within a month though, everyone was to know the cause, for the Queen herself would announce her sister-in-law’s pregnancy, something that was sure to rattle even the most ambitious of the Howard women.”
Easter was also Elizabeth’s first appearance at court since the infamous feast celebrating Katheryn of Aragon’s death, to the great surprise of a court who had assumed she would be hidden away from the queen’s sight. Rather, the little girl who was now surnamed Fitzroy like her older half-brother entered the great hall of Greenwich hand-in-hand with the sister who had grown fond of her. Now almost three, Elizabeth was by all accounts a precocious child who had felt the change precipitated by her reduced status, famously asking why she was now called ‘My Lady Elizabeth’ when it had been ‘My Lady Princess’ and asking her attendants why she could no longer visit ‘the nice lady,’ this being her name for her mother who was now living amongst the Poor Clares. Mary had given Elizabeth to the care of the child’s aunts, Lady Stafford and the Countess of Wiltshire, who had both wisely stayed out of intrigue and had thus survived the purging of the Boleyns and their supporters at court. To them were also added trusted Catholic attendants and tutors, so that the mother’s Evangelical influence could be kept from poisoning the child’s impressionable mind.
The Duke of Richmond and his wife were at court as well, restored by Mary to royal favour and welcomed with open arms in time for the Easter festivities. Fitzroy knelt before his sister as soon as he entered the halls, swearing loudly for all those present to be ‘Her Majesty’s leal servant,’ the same lines he had written to her during his short stint in the Tower. Mary smiled in return, pulling her brother up with both hands before embracing him and promising in turn to be ‘His Grace’s true and loyal friend in perpetuity.’ One could not help but wonder whether anyone present drew parallels between the scene and that of the queen’s great-grandfather Edward IV as he pardoned his brother Clarence.
On the other hand, all those present had noted how ill at ease Fitzroy’s wife, the Duchess, was with all of the proceedings, constantly whispering in her mother’s ear and flashing courtiers a lukewarm smile whenever they greeted her. Within a month though, everyone was to know the cause, for the Queen herself would announce her sister-in-law’s pregnancy, something that was sure to rattle even the most ambitious of the Howard women.”
– Alexandra Huber, Princess, Bastard, Queen: Elizabeth of York and her granddaughters
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Mary seems to be doing splendid so far. And Elizabeth is precious. I hope she'll be fine in the future.
While I do kind of feel bad for Elizabeth, at least she isn't treated as badly as she was by her father IOTL. It's also interesting to see that Mary will soon be am aunt, and hopefully the arrival of a child does not make Richmond disloyal to her... Lovely update !
She is risen indeed!
“Though Mary had smiled as she announced her namesake’s pregnancy at court, behind closed doors was a different matter altogether. Her brother now expected an heir before her, and if god forbid the Duchess gave birth to a son, uprisings from the Evangelicals who wanted her removed from the throne were sure to follow. The pressure for her to wed and produce an heir was mounting, and there is evidence that it had affected Mary’s psyche. Now housed in the Royal Museum, the queen’s prayer book survives, its pages worn and stained, purportedly from her tears as she prayed for guidance and an heir to rule after her [1].”
– Rosalind Sharpe, This Fair Marigold: A Comprehensive Analysis of Mary I’s Reign
“Easter gifts to the queen doubled as courtship gifts, The Countess of Salisbury, on behalf of her son, sent her former charge a Book of Hours, famous even in the present day for prominently featuring a lioness devouring a falcon in its maw, an obvious jab at the Marquess of Pembroke who had owned a choir book bearing an illustration of a falcon pecking at a pomegranate [2]. Not to be outdone, the Queen of Scots sent over to her niece a jewelled cross, studded with precious stones, and a note that stated that it was part of her dowry as an heirloom from Elizabeth of York [3].
From the continent, too, arrived gifts for the highly eligible queen. The Emperor had sent over a massive oaken chest, evocative of an Italian cassone, which bore on the underside of its lid a carving of the late queen’s symbol, that of a crowned pomegranate impaled with the Tudor rose. Inside were rolls of damask and Flemish cloth from the Empress, as well as the portraits of her brothers, the Portuguese infantes Luis and Duarte, who had also sent over their own gifts. From Luis, Mary had received a pomander ball shaped as a pomegranate, studded with rubies and set with a clock on its centre. Duarte, for his part, had sent the Queen a fine goblet of gold decorated with pearls.
France, on the other hand, had sent over for the Queen’s inspection their chiefest jewel, for the Dauphin had landed with his retinue upon English soil that Easter Monday and was now on the road, arriving at the court in Windsor a day after the Duchess of Richmond’s pregnancy was announced.”
– Mara Russel, Veritas Temporis Filia: England’s First Queen
___________________[1] This was actually a thing, by the way, except historians think it happened during Mary's false pregnancy IOTL.
[2] Anne Boleyn did have a choir book with that exact illustration, most likely dating during the Great Matter as the falcon was not crowned.
[3] I based the description of the cross on the one Mary wears in this portrait, if anyone's curious.
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It would be cool if Francois' time in England butterflies his OTL death, although I still ship Mary with James V of Scotland! Time to unite the rose, pomegranate and thistle! 
Mary at this point you don't need to get married, just keep milking those sweet, sweet courtship gifts and you'll be the richest queen in Christendom.
Based on ranichi's infobox, she marries a duke for her first husband, and Francis is duke of Brittany around this time, so he's still a possibility. I myself favor James V, but a Portuguese match would also be interesting...
That would be an interesting thing, although in all likelihood ranichi17 could marry Mary to one of the Portuguese grooms instead.
I do not think who her daughter would inherit her father’s title then. Is most likely Francis of Brittany and that match made no sense from Mary’s side
Why would the Portuguese title be forbidden from being inherited by the daughter? Also Francis of Brittany is quite attractive as a match, IMO-personally I'd put him second to James V because both have or will inherit kingdoms, although an Anglo-Scottish union is less dangerous or alarming than an Anglo-French union, which is why I'd place Francis lower than James in this scenario. If Mary decides purely on what's best for expanding England, the Anglo-French union is actually better because it combines England, France, and Brittany to create a European juggernaut that would rival the HRE/Spain.
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