Prologue - A Reversal of Fates
A Reversal of Fates: A Timeline
Late October 1497 was a busy time for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain. Their only son and heir, John had recently married the Austrian Archduchess Margaret, who in the few months since their marriage was already pregnant with their first child. Isabella and Ferdinand’s eldest daughter, Infanta Isabella was due to marry the Portuguese King, Manuel I as well. Manuel had sought Infanta Isabella’s hand ever since he ascended the throne back in 1495 [1]. Isabella and Ferdinand personally accompanied their daughter on her way to Portugal so that they may attend her wedding. On their way they stopped at Salamanca where they visited their son John and Margaret. Isabella, Ferdinand and Infanta Isabella soon moved on and continued their journey to Portugal. However, a few hours after they left a messenger from Salamanca caught up to them.
The messenger came bringing them grave news. John – who had never been particularly healthy – had fallen seriously ill and many of his physicians feared that he might not survive. The monarchs were frightened at this news and Queen Isabella is purported to have almost fainted at the news. It was soon decided that Isabella would continue to accompany her daughter to Portugal due to her involvement in the preparations for the wedding, while Ferdinand would rush to Salamanca to be with John. Before the group split up, Ferdinand promised to write to Isabella regularly, informing her of their heir’s condition.
When Ferdinand reached Salamanca, John’s condition had improved slightly. While he was still seriously ill, he was no longer on death’s door. Ferdinand remained by his son’s side for the next few days, and fulfilling his promise, wrote to Isabella regularly on their son’s condition. John would make a full recovery on October 13th, much to the relief of his parents and the Spanish court [2]. Two days later Ferdinand bid farewell to his son and swiftly rode to regroup with his wife and daughter, which would occur in late October, with the ceremony being held with great pomp. Both Isabella and Ferdinand would pray regularly to God in thanks for their son’s survival and would see to it that the finest physicians in the realm tended to him. Meanwhile the Spanish Court would spend the next few months preparing for the birth of John and Margaret’s child, with great excitement as well.
Portrait of John, Prince of Asturias in prayer.
The English Court, meanwhile, is not at all jolly. The Kingdom has just lost its Prince of Wales, Arthur Tudor [3]. At the time of his death, Arthur had been residing at his court at Ludlow Castle, when suddenly he was struck down with a mysterious illness, commonly believed to be a case of the sweating sickness, which resulted in his death on October 20th. When news of Arthur’s death reached his parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, they broke into tears and would spend months mourning their son. Henry VII’s Mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort and his other children were also devastated by Arthur’s death, especially Princess Margaret who had been fond of Arthur [4]. However, no one was as distraught as the King who had vested all his hopes and dreams into his eldest child. The King would soon have Arthur’s body brought to London a few days after he died, and he would be buried at Westminster Abbey on November 8th.
A Posthumous Portrait of Arthur Tudor, circa 1499
Once Henry VII came out of mourning, he took over Prince Henry’s education, wanting to ensure that he would be an able leader when he ascended the throne and would become the King that Arthur would’ve been. He also began negotiating his betrothal to the late Arthur’s former betrothed, Catherine of Aragon. Negotiations would move quickly as the Catholic Monarchs were just as eager to renew the Anglo-Spanish alliance as Henry was. The betrothal would be arranged by the end of the year, the terms being near identical to those of the betrothal between Arthur and Catherine, with the marriage scheduled to occur in 1505, when Prince Henry turned 14. Henry VII also began making moves to secure his throne, firstly by trying for a new spare with Elizabeth, who was pregnant by the year’s end and secondly by ramping up security on the pretenders Edward, Earl of Warwick and Perkin Warbeck and keeping his eyes on the De la Poles, who he distrusted [5]. Meanwhile, plots against him began to brew anew.
[1] Isabella refused to marry him due to her grief from the loss of her husband Afonso, Prince of Portugal who had died in 1491. She was eventually persuaded to marry him.
[2] Our first POD, in OTL John passed away, here he lives.
[3] Our second POD, in OTL Arthur lived until 1502.
[4] Arthur and Margaret were rather close in OTL.
[5] There had been plots to free Perkin and Edward and place one of them on the throne. The De la Poles also had a claim thanks to their descend from Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
Just something I have been working on for a while.
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