6 January – April 1542
Catherine Wriothesley, due to give birth later in the month, delivered a stillborn daughter on the Feast of the Epiphany and after a two-week battle with childbed fever, died, ending her former husband’s worries about what to tell her sons about her death. He could now tell them she died in childbed rather than was executed for treason.
By the end of February Mary knew she was pregnant once more. James, looking at their growing family, privately mused that removing Elizabeth officially from the succession, like the removal of Margaret Douglas, had been more for the public than actual fears of their accession to the throne. He was carefully looking at the three remaining candidates for Elizabeth’s hand; a dispensation would be needed for all of them, but Archbishop Pole assured him that there would be no problem on that matter. It might come down to a question of dowry, James believed. The perpetually cash-strapped Charles Brandon might need a larger one than say, Henry Howard.
Countess Jane Percy was granted the wardship of her late husband’s heir, despite an appeal by her brother-in-law Ingelram to have it. His primary purpose was to get control of the estates, revealed when he argued about her not being experienced in the running of such estates and he could run them much more efficiently. He had no response for the question about how, being so inexperienced, she had managed to regain control of two properties Henry Percy had practically given away.
With April came the elevation of Alexander to Duke of York and Edward to Duke of Richmond; their households were appointed and the question of when to send Jamie to Ludlow arose. James wished him to go sooner than his mother wished; in the end, they agreed that his tenth birthday would signal the beginning of his experience with government.
more computer troubles....will post when I can!