Today is the birthday in 1496 of Princess Mary Tudor. Henry VIII’s youngest sister, the youngest of Elizabeth of York’s children to survive infancy, she is famous for her beauty, and her marriage to the French King, and then subsequent marriage for love to Charles Brandon.
She had originally been promised to Charles of Castille, who later became Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and who was also Henry VIII’s nephew through his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. But after Henry VII died in 1509, Henry VIII decided to renounce that engagement and marry her to France. And so she became betrothed to Louis XII, his third wife.
Mary had always been Henry’s favorite sister – they were close in age, and also had been raised together. So before her marriage she supposedly extracted a promise from Henry that when the French king died, she could marry anyone she wanted. And thus, the story of her romance with Charles Brandon, who went to retrieve Mary to take her home, but instead married her.
Henry was infuriated by the affair, but through exhorbitant fines and even the assistance of Cardinal Wolsey, she was welcome back to court – though after Henry began to try to divorce his wife Katherine of Aragon, they drifted apart, and Mary wound up staying home more and more, and avoiding the court.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com where there is an episode on Mary.
Suggested links:
Episode 108: Mary Tudor, Queen of France
Spring 2019 Tudor Summit: Tony Riches on Charles Brandon, Mary Tudor, and Katherine Willoughby
To commemorate Women’s History Month, here are the Top Ten Tudor Women Episodes you might have missed!
Looking for your next Tudor read? Here’s a list of Tudor Book Recommendations.
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop. She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.