(Cover image – © Unknown Artist)
Today we found ourselves celebrating the wedding anniversary of Mary I with Felipe II, who united their power in a Catholic ceremony 469 years ago.
Mary I had dreamed for a while about having her own little family and ruling over England and she’d been close enough to both on different occasions during her lifetime. When she was a sweet little two year-old baby her father, Henry VIII, had already promised her hand in marriage to another two year-old baby, Francois, Dauphin of France, in one of the peace eras between both countries. This was done against Mary’s mother, Katherine of Aragon, who wished to have her daughter married off to a Spaniard rather than a French. Around three years later, Queen Katherine must’ve been happy that the betrothal was over and her nephew, Charles V, was the new suitor (even though he was 22 years old, but hey, he was Spanish and that’s what mattered). He even visited and met little Mary, which might have given him a clear idea of how many years he would have to wait before expecting any heir from her. Once again, Mary was broken up with.
Sadly, the rifts with her father caused by his divorce and remarriage as well as her legitimacy and their religious differences, made Mary remain unmarried for decades and her desire to be a mom and a wife had to wait. She’s said to have been a doting sister to both Elizabeth and Edward, but not to Henry Fitzroy (the son conceived out of wedlock with Bessie Blount that proved to Henry VIII that the problem to conceive male heirs didn’t lie in him but in poor Katherine) so one can argue she could’ve been thinking about her future offspring while holding her young siblings.
The wheel of fortune spun again and after her brother’s sudden death and after taking care of the nine day Queen, Jane Grey, with help from the people themselves, Mary found herself sitting on the throne at 37 years old, becoming the first English Queen who ruled in her own right. While the council was trying to figure out who her heir could be, since they thought her too old to conceive and she wasn’t even married to begin with, she set her sights on reestablishing her legitimacy and returning the country to Rome after her father and brother’s reform and break from the Pope. She rebuked her title of Head of the Church of England and tried to save her country from the evil new religion by marrying Felipe II of Spain, who was Catholic like her and a decade younger with a son from a previous marriage.
But that wasn't good news for her subjects, who didn’t like the idea of having a foreign King (who could adhere England to his own territory), much less a Spanish one. Her council and the Parliament pushed for a marriage with her cousin Courtenay, earl of Devon, but were totally disregarded by Mary, who’s reported to have said: “My marriage is my own affair”. She had received his portrait in September 1553 and had been immediately infatuated. She was definitely Henry VIII’s daughter.
In fact, the marriage between Mary I and Felipe II of Spain was so unpopular within the English population as well, that amongst other advices, Felipe was told to:
From: The Tudors by Numbers: The Stories and Statistics Behind England’s Most Infamous Royal Dynasty, by Carol Ann Lloyd
To be fair, I would’ve run the other way, even more so if I wasn’t marrying the love of my life. As much as Mary may have been besotted by her husband (even though I think it was the idea of having her own family finally what excited her the most along with marrying into the Spanish family where her late mother had come from) it was a political match at its core. Mary I found herself at the head of a country that had gone through a religious change of heart and she believed that it was her mission to save all English souls from the hellish Protestantism. Who could possibly be better than the Catholic King Felipe II to help her achieve that sacred fate? Her mom would’ve approved of the union, as he was the son of Mary’s first betrothed, Charles V. She might’ve even dreamt of them both becoming the new magnificent Catholic King and Queen as her Spanish grandparents had been years before, taking Spain back from Muslims. With this union and the heir that would surely follow (even though she was in her late thirties by now), they’d rebuild England from the traitorous ashes and restore the old faith.
The wedding took place at Winchester Cathedral on Wednesday 25 July 1554. Felipe had arrived at the destination two days earlier, riding his white horse under the rain and later spent some time with his wife-to-be, who taught him how to say “goodnight” to the English lords. The celebration arrangements prepared were based on her mother’s first marriage to her uncle Arthur Tudor and the ceremony was performed in Latin, according to their faith. Mary’s said to look completely enamoured of Felipe and he, in turn, seemed to be attentive towards her, though he didn’t share her feelings.
Finally, Mary had found her happy ending… or had she?
Felipe kept his promise and didn’t meddle with England’s affairs, but it was widely known that he was totally feeling the age gap with his wife, being disinterested in her. Portuguese Ruy Gómez da Silva, 1st Prince of Éboli, a man close to Felipe, wrote:
“The Queen is a lady of quality, but older than we thought, but His Highness is behaving so well and gives so many gifts that I’m sure both will be very pleased with each other. The king is trying to be as friendly as possible, he believes that his marriage was not made for flesh, but for the restoration of this area and preservation of those states”, bringing back the idea that for him it was only a political match while for her it was a political match as much as a love one. They build a routine together though, with another source reporting: “His Highness never leaves her, and when they are on the road he is ever by her side, helping her to mount and dismount. They sometimes dine together in public, and go to Mass together on holidays”.
All this happened while locals started to become more uncomfortable with the Spaniards at court. Spanish nobles that had come to England with Felipe’s entourage, started to be attacked and robbed, and soon after their dissertations began to come, asking for permission to abandon England. Mary also became a bit more ruthless with the heretics even though she had reassured everyone that they didn’t have to renounce their faith when she ascended to the throne. She burnt hundreds of heretics at the stakes to purify their souls and clean the country off the unfaithful, which, again, caused discontent over the nation.
But in the midst of all this chaos, new hope seemed to have arrived at court. Mary I was believed to be expecting her desired heir that would one day rule over Spain and England and secure Catholic faith in the country. Physicians confirmed the pregnancy and letters were sent across the English land to ask for prayers for a safe delivery. Mary ecstatically wrote to her father in law and previous fiancée the following:
“As for that child which I carry in my belly, I declare it to be alive and with great humility thank God for His great goodness shown to me, praying Him so to guide the fruit of my womb that it may contribute to His glory and honor, and give happiness to the King, my Lord and your son”.
It was near the end of 1555 and Mary had her crown, her man and her baby, and was working to have her faith put back on the streets after years of general heresy. It had been worth it and she was surely wishing her mother could see her at that moment to cherish what both of them had fought for all along. Nothing could stop her now, happiness was on her side at last. 30th of April heard the bells dwindling all over England, announcing everyone the birth of a baby boy. Felipe, who was all in into war planification against France (Henry VIII would’ve been so proud of him) had been named regent in case Mary died during childbirth and it’s rumoured that he even thought of marrying his sister in law, Elizabeth, were that to happen.
But days and weeks passed and no baby came, making the Queen feel embarrassed and humiliated. Felipe went back to the Low Countries and both Mary and Reginald Pole became more obsessed with persecuting heretics. Felipe went back to his wife, and acted as a devoted husband would, but his intentions weren’t as noble as his royal blood. He needed money for his war and Mary let him take England into battle, leading to the loss of Calais. Legend says that Mary was so emotionally wrecked by this that on her deathbed she said: "When I am dead and cut open, they will find Philip and Calais inscribed on my heart".
But there was a light at the end of the tunnel; she thought she was pregnant again. Sadly, it was just another false alarm, but her health was taking a toll nonetheless. She grew more ill by the day, suffering from high fever, headaches and losing vision, with some believing it was a case of ovarian cysts or uterine cancer. Felipe was in Brussels due to the passing of Charles V, his father, and wasn’t present when at last, Mary I took her last breath on 17 November 1558, aged 42 and during an influenza epidemic that took Archbishop Pole's life later that same day. When told about his wife’s death, Felipe II wrote to his sister, stating: “May God have received her in His glory! I felt a reasonable regret for her death. I shall miss her, even on this account”.
Mary’s death put an end to Felipe’s second marriage but also to England’s Catholic days. With no heirs to succeed her, Elizabeth ascended to the throne and started a golden age that would see Protestantism grow and the Tudor lineage die. Felipe II tried to wed her, indeed, but she refused, staying single for the rest of her days.
During Mary’s funeral, John White, Bishop of Winchester, praised Mary claiming: "She was a king's daughter; she was a king's sister; she was a king's wife. She was a queen, and by the same title a king also." Regardless of her fight to restore Catholicism and create a family, Mary will always be remembered for being the first Queen in England to rule in her own right and not by marriage or regency. And by doing so, she made history and paved the way to the second Queen in England in her own right; her half sister Elizabeth.
References:
The Tudors by Numbers: The Stories and Statistics Behind England’s Most Infamous Royal Dynasty, by Carol Ann Lloyd (expected publication date: August 30, 2023)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Mary_I_of_England_and_Philip_of_Spain
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