We'll see. OTL the treaty of cambrai lasted less than ten years but it did secure peace in europe for some of those six years.
An Imperial Match: Anne Boleyn marries Charles V
- Thread starter pandizzy
- Start date
Well, fans of my first timeline will be very pleased with the direction this story is going. As we get closer and closer to the mid-1550s, I will prove myself as an environmentalist by recycling and reusing MANY ideas.
Yeah. I haven't found much on this Erzsebet but we'll see what sort of personality she will develop as she grows!
My mind has kind of run away with the idea of the Erszebet Bathory somehow becoming Holy Roman Empress, TBH.
Perhaps she could manage a child or two before she dies. That might bring her some happiness.
Possible: she didn't have a seizure in over six months which we know from her medical records wasn't really a thing she experienced so she probably doesn't have as severe epilepsy as she did OTL. Her uncle Charles is also an epileptic for example.
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I had forgotten about that. Perhaps she can have a slightly longer life.
16th of August, 1529.
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. 16th of August, 1529.
The child came in the middle of the night. Labour progressed so quickly that they barely had time to fetch the midwife, or even to notify the king. When they woke her husband and had him dressed to meet his newest daughter, the child had already eaten and was sleeping peacefully in the arms of her mother.
It was a girl, not the son she hoped for, but Elisabeth didn't care. She looked like Christina did, and Dot, with round flushed cheeks and red hair covering her head. She'd grow to be a great beauty, Elisabeth was sure. The rose of Paris, the jewel of France. More beautiful and healthier than her paternal half-sisters, that was for sure. Madeleine was always sick and Marguerite… The poor child seemed more suited to be a bride of Christ than a mortal man.
But it would not do her to have those thoughts at that moment. Francis stood beside her bed as Elisabeth held her child, staring down at them both. She wondered if that was how Queen Claude felt when her babies were born: an outsider in her own family.
Elisabeth bit her lip and decided to speak first, breaking the awkward silence, "Look at our daughter. The midwife assures that she is healthy, my lord."
Francis nodded and he moved his eyes down to the child, his face softening as he did so. He sighed and stepped forward, arms stretched forward to take her in a silent command. Elisabeth imagined this was better than nothing and stretched to give him their daughter. Francis was an experienced father and he needed no help in supporting her soft head, adjusting the covers around her to keep her warm.
He smiled gently as he looked at her. "The Duke and Duchess of Guise shall be godparents," he murmured. "My sister will be the second godmother." Elisabeth nodded, listening intently.
"What shall you name her?" she asked, knowing very well that it was Francis' right to give their daughter a name from his own line. She only imagined what would happen if she chose to name her daughter Jeanne, or perhaps Isabelle.
He looked at their daughter once before he said, "Antoinette." Francis smiled softly, rocking the child gently. "Antoinette de Valois, after the Duchess of Guise."
Elisabeth smiled, but there was a strange look on his face. "My lord?" she murmured and he raised his gaze to look at her, eyes serious. "Is there something wrong?
He shook his head and moved to give Antoinette to her wet nurse, who curtsied and left with quick steps. Elisabeth watched her go with a twisted heart, even though she could still hear her stopping at the adjoining room.
She looked back at her husband. "A pity," said Francis, hands clasped behind his back. "My mother is returning from Cambrai after negotiating peace with your aunt." He sighed. "It has been agreed that a daughter of the Emperor or his brother will marry the eldest son of the Duke of Brittany, whenever they both come. Your unborn niece will bring with her a claim to all Habsburg lands and a hefty dowry, no matter her place in the succession."
"Why is that a pity?" Elisabeth asked.
"Anne de Lorraine passed away earlier this week," Francis responded. "She was betrothed to your nephew, the young Duke of Burgundy. If I had known you would give birth to a daughter, I could have arranged her marriage to Juan de Austria."
Elisabeth doesn't know what to say. For a moment, she wondered if there was something else behind Antoinette's name, the godparents that were to sponsor her. Why was Francis so determined to become closer, even closer, to the Guises? The Duke of Guise was a brother to the Duke of Lorraine and now, second in line to the ducal throne. Was there something behind his seemingly good intentions, to tie their daughter to the Guises at the same time that he suggested a match for her with her mother's Burgundian nephew? It was unsettling.
Francis arched his eyebrows at her and she realized she was quiet for a long time. Elisabeth cleared her throat and tried to think of something to say. It was another minute before she finally murmured, "Antoinette is just a baby and she has older sisters to be honoured with a betrothal before her turn."
Francis nodded before he sighed. "I will leave you now," he said with just a hint of sharp edge to his words. "Madame de Pisseleu expects me."
He left then and Elisabeth sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. It could have gone worse, but it also could have gone much better and that thought, she couldn't just shake off.
--
Linlithgow Palace, Scotland. 2nd of September, 1529.
Anna twisted her fingers together as she waited for her husband, aware of the eyes of his court around her. She tried to remain calm, neutral, but she was scared. Terrified, really. What if he didn't like her? What if she displeased him? Would he send her home? Would he put her in a nunnery? Anna didn't think she could take the humiliation.
She took a deep breath, then another feeling her chest rise and fall in a steady manner. It soothed her somewhat on that warm day. She could feel sweat pooling at her back and upper lip, both of nerves and anxiety beyond the warmth of the day. Anna fanned herself with her fan as she looked around her, the luxury item topped with peacock feathers. There were both Scots and Germans with her, those who came with her as her entourage and those that had received her. Anna had arrived in Scotland a week's past and this was the first time she would be meeting her husband. Her husband, the King of Scots.
She was fourteen. Old enough to be married, to be a queen and her mama said she would make a great consort for Cousin James. The King of Scotland was a great match for a daughter of Cleves, though papa seemed somewhat unwilling to send her off. It had been mama who arranged everything, only telling the Duke when the Scots were ready to make an official proposal, and her father didn't have time to get used to the idea. At least, that's what Anna had gathered during her last days at home.
She sighed and moved a bit, shifting the weight from her ankles. Anna was wearing one of her favorite dresses and her most decorated stickelchen cap. Her gown was dark red with hanging sleeves and a thick shift underneath whose heavy embroideries were visible because of the high neckline. She felt beautiful whenever she wore it, but when Anna looked at the other women around her, she did not feel it.
They wore heavy jewels, cheeks pinched to bring colour and their bosoms seemed to jump out of their tight bodices. She felt flush and averted her eyes, fingers holding to her fan tightly. When she was told she would be marrying King James, Anna asked the Scottish ambassador about him; she wanted him to tell her everything he knew about the King. And he must have known much because he was a cousin to her intended and bore the last name of Stewart. The idea of asking him sounded perfect to her.
"The King is handsome and charming," said the Dean of Brechin, with a gentle smile. "He is eager to be good and do good. If I may, my lady, I believe you will be very happy with him."
But then, on the very last day before she was to set sail, Alexander informed her mother that King James had an appetite for women. He had two bastards already, both boys. Anna wasn't supposed to have listened to the conversation, but she wanted to give her mother a handkerchief she had embroidered as a parting gift and ended up eavesdropping accidentally.
The Dean said James was unlikely to stop with his affairs and Anna was expected to turn a blind eye to them. Her mother said she would do her duty like she had done, and Anna knew to her to be somewhat obedient and follow her husband's lead, but the Duke of Cleves never had any mistresses that she knew of. How could she do as her mother had done if her mother never did that?
She took a deep breath, fanning herself still. She wasn't scared. Anna was brave like Sybille, even like little Amalia, who would be sailing for Sweden when she turned fourteen and showed more courage in her little finger than Anna did anywhere else. Amalia wouldn't be afraid. Amalia would be smiling, happy and so Anna could be.
Someone shouted out something in Scots and the entire court dropped to their knees, clearly understanding it well. Anna didn't know whether or not she was supposed to as well, but the large double doors of the chamber opened and an entourage entered.
At the head was a tall man with heavy-lidded blue eyes and aquiline features. Anna held her breath as he came in her direction, dressed in fine cloth of gold hose and an elaborate hat mimicking a crown. He was very handsome, with auburn hair and beard, the very appearance of what a king should look like.
Anna dropped into a deep curtsy and those that came with her did the same. When she rose up again, she held her breath, looking up at him in expectation.
Dear Lord. He made her skin crawl. His piercing eyes focused on her and he said something, a greeting in French that she didn't understand. Anna blanched, not wanting to look behind her, and the King repeated himself more slowly. This time, she did understand him.
"Your Majesty," she murmured in stilted French, curtsying again, "It is a pleasure to meet you." She raised her eyes and looked at the King.
He smiled then, a wide and bright smile that seemed to make her blind to everything else. She wondered if that was what it was like to fall in love.
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Yay Elisabeth has a daughter, a match between the girl and a Burgundian cousin would've been interesting, maybe it will work at some point?
Oh my, I think Anna and James may come to love each other eventually! Great chapter!
Oh my, I think Anna and James may come to love each other eventually! Great chapter!
She already has 3! And 3 deceased, from her mother's side that I do feel the need to count.