painting of Catherine of Aragon holding a baby
Early life of Mary of England
Mary was born on 18 February 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London.
before Mary's birth, four previous pregnancies had resulted in a stillborn daughter and three short-lived or stillborn sons, including Henry, Duke of Cornwall. She was baptised into the Catholic faith at the Church of the Observant Friars in Greenwich three days after her birth. Her godparents included her great-aunt the Countess of Devon, Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey, and the Duchess of Norfolk. Henry VIII's cousin once removed, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, stood sponsor for Mary's confirmation, which was held immediately after the baptism.
In February 1518, Catherine announced her sixth pregnancy. In March, she visited Merton College, Oxford and also made a pilgrimage to the shrine of St Frideswide, asking for a healthy son. On 10 November, she gave birth to a daughter, named Catherine, named after St Catherine, a few months after, Catherine of Aragon would die due to a certain illness, on Catherine’s deathbead Henry told Catherine of Aragon that she is still beautiful and he would love her until the end but he was not sincere at what he said and she told him to marry another woman as this is what she wants for him.
On the meeting of the field of Cloth on 1520 it was arranged that Henry VIII would a princess of Navarre, the heiress presumptive of Henry II of Navarre and Mary would marry the heir to France, earlier Francis had arranged the betrothal of his daughter Charlotte of France to the future King of Scotland, the nephew of Henry VIII.
Unfortunately for Anna of Navarre she wanted to be the queen of England that would fulfill the treaty, her brother died just after the meeting making her the Queen of Navarre and she was kidnapped and Catherine of Navarre, who was before a nun in training who planned to marry a cousin of Anne Boleyn was forced to come to Henry VIII, apparently Catherine of Navarre and Anne Boleyn became friends at the French court before she would depart to England due to Catherine of Navarre being cousins with Claude of France and Anne Boleyn would be an influence for Catherine as she is very liberal and very protestant in her outlook and an admirer of Luther and later a sympathizer of Calvin which would plunge England to a protestant future.
For Anna of Navarre she is kidnapped and brought forward to Charles I of Spain, the abduction was sanctioned by the King of Castile - he is just 20 years old and she is 28, they were married, the marriage would cause a war between France and Spain, it is said that she is a rose without a thorn.
After the marriage, Charles I said, the main reason why she is abducted and married to him is that her brother is dead and that she is the Queen of Navarre.
People often wondered what would happen if the intended marriage between Anna and Henry VIII did happen.
Empress Mary
Tribulations of Charles V
Charles I heard about the failure of expedition to the Mexica which led to the deaths of Cortes and the annihilation of the Spanish army there which means the Spanish would be stuck in the Caribbean.
Anna of Navarre is kidnapped and brought forward to Charles I of Spain, the abduction was sanctioned by the King of Castile - he is just 20 years old and she is 28, they were married, the marriage would cause a war between France and Spain, it is said that she is a rose without a thorn, the fiefs of Anna of Navarre in France were confiscated but all of Navarre fell into the rule of Spain.
The marriage caused a war between France and Spain which caused a lot of strife between the two countries, Anna of Navarre was able to gave birth to two children, Philip of Spain(1522) and Maria of Spain(1524) before dying in 1525, he was elected the Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V on 1526 after his grandfather died.
Charles V would marry Mary of England on 1530, which produced a single daughter, Isabella Clara Eugenia(1532) before Charles V died on 1533, the death was a relief for Mary of England, the marriage between Charles V and Mary of England happened because Henry VIII don’t want the French to gain a claim to the English throne.