In June of 1531, Henry VIII broke with tradition and took only Anne Boleyn on an annual summer progress, leaving his wife Katharine of Aragon behind at Windsor Castle.1 The Queen drew consolation from the fact that her daughter, the fifteen-year-old Princess Mary, was allowed to spend the summer with her. On 31 July 1531, the imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys wrote that the Queen and princess intended to pass their time hunting and visiting the royal seats around Windsor, but their reunion was to be cut short. In mid-August the King informed Katharine that he wished to hunt near Windsor and she should remove to The More, while Princess Mary was ordered to leave for Richmond Palace.
Most historians will tell you that the summer of 1531 was the last time Princess Mary saw her mother.2 Yet this is clearly not the case because on 27 September 1534 ambassador Chapuys wrote to Charles V that Katharine of Aragon was allowed to visit Mary:
“The Princess [Mary] has been very ill. Having been obliged to remove and follow the Bastard [Mary’s half sister Elizabeth] when a little indisposed, it increased her illness, but she is better. It has been a great comfort to her that the King her father sent her his physician, and permitted the Queen also to visit her, and the apothecary from whom she has received all her medicines for four years.”3
Mary’s condition was apparently so serious that the King sent his own physician to treat her and allowed Katharine of Aragon to come and see her; this is often overlooked by historians who state that Katharine and Mary never met after 1531. This sudden change in Henry VIII’s treatment of Mary reflects his love for his elder daughter and, perhaps, a personal disappointment. That summer, Anne Boleyn was not by Henry’s side. She had given birth to a stillborn child, dashing the King’s hopes for a male heir yet again.4 However, when Katharine of Aragon died in 1536, Henry didn’t allow Mary to see her, but that’s a different story.
1. Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, Volume 5, n. 308.
3. Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, Volume 7, n. 1193.
4. During my research I stumbled upon evidence that in the summer of 1534 Anne Boleyn gave birth to a stillborn child. Some historians believe she miscarried.
4. During my research I stumbled upon evidence that in the summer of 1534 Anne Boleyn gave birth to a stillborn child. Some historians believe she miscarried.
It makes my heart happy to know Mary and Katharine got to see one another again. They loved one another so much.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? I couldn't believe that Henry allowed them to meet! Thanks for your comment, Lissa.
DeleteI love that centuries later new sources emerge.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the same letter in the Calendar of State Papers for Spain, the translation is different, and says that "The Princess has lately been very ill, owing to her having been obliged, whilst in delicate health, to move from where she was, and follow the bastard. In consequence of the fatigues of the journey, and of the many annoyances to which she is daily subjected, her illness increased considerably, though, thanks be to God, she has since recovered, and is now well. The King sent his own physician to visit her, and permitted that her mother's, and the apothecary who has been her medical adviser for the last three years, should also be in attendance; which permission has considerably helped to her recovery. True it is that the King had previously given orders that both his own physician and that of the Queen, as well as her apothecary, should be expressly requested and induced to go and make their reverence to the bastard before calling on the Princess, but, luckily for all parties, the messenger arrived too late."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol5/no1/pp252-267
Interesting that the translations are different with very different meanings!