Happy Birthday Mary Tudor!

On this day in history Mary Tudor, the youngest sister of King Henry VIII, was born. Mary was the fifth child of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Mary and Henry had a very close relationship - Henry names his daughter, the future Queen Mary I after her, as also was Henry's warship The Mary Rose.

At the age of 18 Mary was married to the 52 year old King Louis XII of France. While Mary knew her duty, she also knew she was in love and it was not with the king of France, but with the Duke of Suffolk, Charles Brandon. She made Henry promise that her next marriage would be of her choice and for love.

Mary and Louis XII

Conveniently Louis died a mere three months after their wedding at Abbeville and even more conveniently for Mary, Charles Brandon was sent to escort her back to court. Defying King Henry, they secretly wed...which by doing they put their lives in danger by committing treason. You couldn't just go willy-nilly marrying Royal Princesses without the King's consent! King Henry eventually got over it and the couple officially wedded at Greenwich. Mary and Charles had three children together.


If you'd like to read more about Mary Tudor, check out these novels...

Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy
The Secret Bride: In The Court of Henry VIII by Diane Haeger


3 comments:

  1. Hope Mary had at least few birthdays that were happy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have been watching the tv series, The Tudors, which is loosely based on King Henry VIII
    married life and affair with Anne Boleyn. His sister Mary and Charles are in the show as well, and I found thier story really interesting!I'll have to add Mary, Queen of France to my TBR :)
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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