The Childhood of Princess Mary Tudor
Blathnaid Mckeown as Mary Tudor
Mary was the only child of King Henry VIII of England and his first wife Catherine of Aragon to survive infancy. Her mother had many miscarriages,and Mary had been preceded by a stillborn sister and three short-lived brothers, including Henry, Duke of Cornwall. Through her mother, she was a granddaughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. She was born at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London, and was baptised three days later at the Church of the Observant Friars.Her godparents included her great-aunt the Countess of Devon, Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey, and the Duchess of Norfolk.The King's cousin once removed Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, stood sponsor for Mary's confirmation, which was held immediately after the baptism. The following year, Mary became a godmother herself when she was named as one of the sponsors of her cousin Frances Brandon. In 1520, the Countess of Salisbury was appointed as Mary's governess.Sir John Hussey, later Lord Hussey, was her chamberlain, and his wife, Lady Anne, daughter of George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent, was one of Mary's attendants.
Mary was a precocious child. In July 1520, when scarcely four and a half years old, she entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord). It was said that the princess was very beautiful in her youth, as a child and young woman. A great part of her early education came from her mother, who consulted the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives for advice. By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin.She studied Greek, music, and dance. Henry VIII doted on his daughter and boasted to the Venetian ambassador Sebastian Giustiniani, "This girl never cries";he would sometimes show delight in her developing musical skills. Despite this obvious affection, Henry was deeply disappointed that his marriage had produced no sons.
By the time Mary was nine years, it was apparent that her mother would have no more children, and it looked likely that Henry would have no legitimate male heir. In 1525, Henry sent Mary to the border of Wales to preside, presumably in name only, over the Council of Wales and the Marches. She was given her own court based at Ludlow Castle and many of the Royal Prerogatives normally reserved for the Prince of Wales. Vives and others called her the Princess of Wales, although she was never technically invested with the title.
Throughout Mary's childhood, Henry negotiated potential future marriages for her. When she was only two years old she was promised to the Dauphin, the infant son of King Francis I of France, but after three years the contract was repudiated. In 1522, at the age of six, she was instead contracted to marry her 22-year-old first cousin, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.However, within a few years, the engagement was broken off by Charles with Henry's agreement. Cardinal Wolsey, Henry's chief adviser, then resumed marriage negotiations with the French, and Henry suggested that Mary marry the Dauphin's father, King Francis I himself, who was eager for an alliance with England. A marriage treaty was signed which provided that Mary marry either Francis I or his second son Henry, Duke of Orleans,but Wolsey secured an alliance with France without the marriage.
