Awww what I sweet moment between Charles and Juana, good of Juana to have a pep talk with her son.
An Imperial Match: Anne Boleyn marries Charles V
- Thread starter pandizzy
- Start date
Quite likely....the rest of us are a little more cold-hearted with the characters, I'd think
21st of April, 1546.
Richmond Palace, England. 21st of April, 1546.
John ran his hand over the cold marble inscription, the gold leaf pressed into letters letting all know that Isabella Queen of England was buried there. His poor beloved mother had not been able to handle the cold English winter, taken by a chill just as February began. He might have thought to bury her near his father, but she didn't want to intrude upon his final resting place with Queen Catherine and requested to be buried here, in a new chapel built at the Richmond Palace of his grandfather.
"Mama," he whispered, tears brimming his eyes. "How am I going to live without your counsel and your love? Nora is in Scotland and Maggie…" He shook his head. "I don't know what to do with her. How to be a father as well as a brother." He closed his eyes, resting his head against her grave.
He imagined what she would say, how she would stroke his hair and tell him that it didn't matter if he did what she would do. Only that he did it with an open heart, doing what he thought was right.
John visited Kitty and the younger children after seeing his mother, walking away from a place of death to a place of life. Alfred was sitting in his mother's lap, head covered with a white bonnet as he chewed thoughtfully on a piece of bread. Katherine was playing her lute, entertaining her mother and the Queen's ladies as they all clapped excitedly for her. Little Isabella was sitting primly next to her mother, auburn hair twisted under a respectful French hood.
Katherine was the first to notice him. "Papa!" she exclaimed happily, interrupting her own music. As all others turned to look at him, John could only sigh at their formality, dipping into deep curtsies. He could see little Mary Stuart, as they began to spell her name in English, sitting close to her Scottish governess, Lady Fleming. A tiny beauty with dark auburn hair and clear blue eyes that would one day marry the Prince of Wales.
"Please, my love," he said. "Continue with your lovely music." He took Isabella into his arms and sat down on her chair, pulling her into his lap. His daughter giggled happily, settling against his chest and Kitty smiled.
"I'm so happy to see you," she murmured. John nodded and squeezed her knee affectionately, turning back to watch Katherine play. His daughter was nearly four and already as talented with an instrument as her aunt Marie.
He leaned in to whisper in Kitty's ear. "The Polish ambassador spoke to me this morning," he spoke in a low tone. Kitty raised her brow as she waited for him to continue speaking. "King Sigismund wants Katherine to marry his grandson, Stanisław. He might be King of Poland someday."
"That's incredible," Kitty whispered back, amber eyes glinting at the idea of their daughter becoming queen. "Are you going to make that happen?"
"I think so," said John. "There aren't many other future kings available for her. Many of our continental counterparts had multiple daughters. We must take any advantage we can." And the Polish desired Katherine as a way to silence both the Austrian and French parties in their court, taking a bride for their heir that was from neither country after Zigmunt August married first an Austrian archduchess than a French princess. He was pleased by it. "There's not much Poland can offer us, but in truth, I don't see anything wrong with the match. It will be good to have a friend in Eastern Europe. Their lands are vast and quite rich too, I hear."
"Katherine will make a wonderful queen," Kitty murmured as Alfred played with her thumb, bread crumbs around his mouth. "I'm certain of it. When she came to court today, everyone admired her. She will be a great beauty."
"How could she be anything else?" John asked, dropping a kiss to Kitty's knuckles. "Look at her mother."
He looked back at Katherine before they could do anything inappropriate in front of the children, clapping excitedly when she finished her presentation. His daughter had a pleased and flushed face, standing up to bow politely.
She would be a great Queen of Poland.
--
Madrid, Castile. 24th of April, 1546.
Felipe smiled at the sound of childish giggles reaching his ears, tapping his feet against the beaten earth underneath him. The sun was high, though the day remained pleasant, with a clean breeze flying above the city. It was almost enough to make him forget that just yesterday was María and Jorge’s shared birthday and that his sister had been gone for over four years, almost. He closed his eyes and sighed, suddenly turning around without a warning.
His children stopped in their place and Ana grunted, unfortunately stuck with one leg stretched behind her. She trembled slightly, balancing on just one foot and Felipe pointed at her with great delight. “Ana, you moved!” he called out. His eight-year-old daughter huffed angrily and walked back to the starting place, where Joana rocked little Elena in her arms. “Don’t look so sour, baby. Rules are rules.”
“Your rules are stupid!” she declared, yellow skirts swishing with the wind. He laughed a carefree laugh that came from being with the children and, at that exact moment, Carlos toppled over from his own form. Felipe hardly needed to say anything, the boy already huffed angrily at himself as he moved to stand next to his older sister. Chubby red cheeks, angry blue eyes that stared at his father in his youthful face of nearly three years. Ana and Carlos both, they had the Boleyn temper. It made him smile.
Earlier that week, his sister Catalina left for Portugal, to marry King Afonso. Felipe could hardly believe it, how his father would so easily sell off his sister to appease an enemy, the man who killed María. That was why he was playing with the children, instead of attending another council meeting with the Emperor. Because he couldn’t sit in the same table as him and pretend that everything was going well.
Mother. María. Eduardo. And now Catalina too. How many others would his father use for his purposes until they were little more than bones and good memories? Was he next? Or maybe Juanita, with her two children. Margarita too, whose husband and father-in-law were needed to curb French influence on Italy.
Felipe looked forward again. He heard the sound of little feet tapping against the beaten earth and then, a hand tugged at his arm. “I won!” Luisa exclaimed. “I won, papa!”
“Yes, you did!” He turned to look at her, at his six year old secondborn, with her blonde curls and light blue eyes. Luisa and Fernanda were the only ones to have inherited the blonde hair hidden in Felipe and Joana’s blood, whereas Ana, Carlos and Elena all had the dark, sleek hair of Anne Boleyn. Not that it made them any less perfect, of course. He tapped Luisa’s nose. “Now, you stay here and I will go play.”
“Alright!” Luisa bounced in the heels of her feet, taking his place. “I won’t let anyone get close to me.” His second daughter was such a perfectionist, even pretending to stretch to provoke her siblings. It made Felipe laugh.
This family, his children and wife, were the most important things to him. He wouldn’t let anything happen to them.
Oh no! Isabella of Portugal is gone too now! At least she got a few more years than otl, but I’m sad to see her go… At least we had some fluff from Felipe and his children
Good to see Isabella isn't buried next to Henry after all the grief he caused her during her tenure as queen of England
Interesting to see a Polish match for John's daughter, due to the fact most timelines have the reformation you don't really see countries like Poland in timelines with Tudor era English royalty
So with Catalina off to marry Afonso I sincerely do hope he doesn't break her heart into pieces. I doubt their relationship will be the perfect fairy tale love match Catalina envisions but I hope Afonso is a much better husband to her than he ever was to Maria especially since she was probably elated to discover that Afonso sought her hand instead of her father arranging her to be with Afonso and cause I want Felipe to not die from anger over something happening to Catalina
Interesting to see a Polish match for John's daughter, due to the fact most timelines have the reformation you don't really see countries like Poland in timelines with Tudor era English royalty
So with Catalina off to marry Afonso I sincerely do hope he doesn't break her heart into pieces. I doubt their relationship will be the perfect fairy tale love match Catalina envisions but I hope Afonso is a much better husband to her than he ever was to Maria especially since she was probably elated to discover that Afonso sought her hand instead of her father arranging her to be with Afonso and cause I want Felipe to not die from anger over something happening to Catalina
RIP Isabella. You were an amazing queen and mother.
Interesting to see an Anglo-Polish match, though John is right that the options are rather limited.
Well, Catalina’s off to Portugal. Let’s hope Afonso learns from his mistakes with Maria and is a better husband to her. It was so cute seeing Felipe with the children.
Interesting to see an Anglo-Polish match, though John is right that the options are rather limited.
Well, Catalina’s off to Portugal. Let’s hope Afonso learns from his mistakes with Maria and is a better husband to her. It was so cute seeing Felipe with the children.
Oh no not Isabella, at least she was surrounded by a loving, caring family in her final days.
Well, Isabella was rather sickly. She wouldn't have reached her 50s, unfortunately
Cast - Seven Founders (II)
Announced cast for season two of the controversial tv series, Seven Founders, that will depict the succession of François III, Duke of Brittany to the throne of France.
Luke Thompson as François III
Romola Garai as Marie Tudor
Louis Partridge as Francoys de Valois
Grace May O'Leary as Catherine de Valois
Sophie Turner as Isabel de Austria
Emma Hamilton as Marie de Guise
Rupert Friend as Henri, Duke of Orléans
Luke Thompson as François III
Romola Garai as Marie Tudor
Louis Partridge as Francoys de Valois
Grace May O'Leary as Catherine de Valois
Sophie Turner as Isabel de Austria
Emma Hamilton as Marie de Guise
Rupert Friend as Henri, Duke of Orléans
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Small edit because I realized I forgot to mention Antoinette's girls.
10th of May, 1546.
Madrid, Castile. 10th of May, 1546.
If Charles had hoped that Francis’ death would slow down the war path of the French armies, or even stop the war in its entirety, then he quickly learned how wrong he was. He listened hopelessly as another messenger detailed the end of the Navarrese conquest, or Basque liberation as the French had begun to call it, and how all of his grandfather’s work was undone in a few years.
He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, feeling as if he was a hundred years old. Charles brought a cup of wine over to his mouth, ruminating over the whole affair. Francis’ son was king, and still in his prime years as a man of twenty eight. He was one of multiple young headstrong monarchs and princes who had come to power. Charles had so few contemporaries left, men of his era were becoming scarce. He felt like a relic of a former time.
But still, he was the only thing that held his territories in one piece. When he passed, the Holy Roman Empire and the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon would separate. What became of his family then, only God could decide.
He could only spare so much time for morose thoughts. The French were rumoured to be eyeing Burgundy, the son itching to press a claim and reach a level of notoriety akin to his father and grandfather before him. He knew well enough to let the Milanese go undisturbed, considering his father’s failed campaign those years before that should have humbled him.
The Duke and Duchess would require Spanish aid to maintain their holdings against the undivided attention of the French. Charles did not for a moment doubt his favoured son’s martial abilities, but even his great victory had come from the French launching separate attacks, and against a known enemy such as Francis. The new King François was an unknown, having only served in war under the command of his father.
With a significant Spanish force to aid the Burgundians, they could very well manage to decimate the French and put them in their proper place once and for all. And of course, Isabel would marry the Dauphin in time, and raise a generation of half-Habsburg Valois kings and princes who would be gracious and obliging to their superior cousins. He thought. He hoped for. Isabel was obstinate and as determined as her deceased mother, who had forgotten all of her Castilian after being surrounded by Dutch and French attendants. She would be a good dauphine.
He could only hope that would be enough.
--
Whitehall Palace, England. 1st of June, 1546.
“What do you think he wants from me, mama?” Bella Ashley asked her mother as they stood outside the King’s solar, waiting to be called in. She was a girl of twelve with wide blue eyes and red hair visible even under her black hood, as they were both still in mourning. Her face was even paler than normal and she clutched her mother's hand, trembling.
Kat sighed and shook her head, stroking Bella's knuckles. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t know. Maybe he--” She held her breath. “Maybe the King merely wishes to meet his sister.”
Bella shivered even more, as if that was even possible, and looked at the closed doors. They had an appointment with the King, an audience, but the Lord knew how busy a King’s day was. Appointments could blend together as the hours ran past and the groom that was supposed to have let His Majesty know of their arrival might have been easily ignored. They would have to wait there, standing until their bones ached and the King agreed to see them, even though it had been him who invited them to court.
“He has been king for years,” Bella murmured. “He never wanted to see me before.”
“You were a baby when your father died,” said Kat, cupping her cheek. “And the King wasn’t much older, only twelve. He is a man now, a husband and father as well as a king. He is different.” She sighed and cupped her face, squeezing her hand tightly. “I hope so, of course.” She spoke so lowly that Bella didn’t hear her. “He is your brother, though, and the King so we must respect him. With your father dead--” Kat closed her eyes. It wasn’t like her to forget herself. “I mean, with Sir John dead, we have no money. The King must have received my letter.” Bella nodded, but she still looked terrified, especially when the door opened and one of the King’s grooms let them in.
They entered together, but Kat let go of Bella’s hand as soon as they were inside and threw herself forward, at the young man sitting at the end of a long table. He looked so much like Queen Catherine that it was almost startling, to see a face for so long associated with a queen now placed over a male body. He wasn’t girlish by any means, but rather, softer, with a gentler physique.
Kat knelt before the King. “I throw myself at your feet, Your Majesty, and I’m ever your humble servant,” she murmured, head low. Bella did the same next to her and Kat took the King’s hand gently, kissing the ring upon his little finger.
“Stand up,” the King ordered as he did the same. Kat felt there was no need for him to do so, because he towered over her, so tall and broad-shouldered, just like his father. She tried not to look too much in his eyes, could not know if he would find the act brazen and disrespectful, but the King wasn’t even paying attention to her. He was looking at Bella, who cowed behind her mother. “Dear Lord,” he mumbled, “But you look just like our father.”
“I-I--” Bella looked at Kat before she turned back to her royal half-brother. “I was sorry to have never been given the honour to meet him, Your Majesty.”
The King smiled gently. “Of course,” he said. “You were just a baby when he died." His face softened, stepping back slightly to give both of them space. "Sometimes, I forget that he's been gone for so long."
"Forgive me, Your Majesty," Kat began, "But Sir John was the only father Isabella ever knew." The King nodded. She didn't even know why she said that, why she felt the need to point it out.
"I'm aware you're prone to signing your name as Isabella Ashley," he told his sister. "Unfortunately, with Sir John's death, you two have hardly two pennies to rub together."
"King Henry would send money during his lifetime for Isabella's maintenance and the Dowager Queen continued it upon his passing," said Kat. "When she died, unfortunately, the money stopped."
"An oversight," John II pointed it out. "It was my fault for not paying attention to my Lady Mother's accounts. I hope you will find it in yourselves to forgive me."
"There is nothing to forgive, Your Majesty," said Kat. "The King does as he wills."
"Either way," said the King, "It will not happen again." He leaned back against his table. "I have asked Sir Thomas Cromwell to arrange everything, but with your permission, I'd like for Bella to join my daughters' household. It will come with an income to support her during it and enough to make savings." Kat felt her heart race at the words coming out of his mouth. "Lady Ashley, I'd also be greatly honoured if you joined my wife's household. She is always in need of new hands to help her and with her frequent visits to the nursery, you will see your daughter often enough."
"Your kindness knows no limits, Your Majesty," said Katherine Ashley.
"It's not kindness," the King said. "It's the bare minimum." He looked at Bella again. "Soon enough, you will also need a husband, little sister. I would be pleased to pay for your dowry myself."
At those words, Bella and Kat both burst into tears.
Charles, Charles, Charles. If you expect Isabel to do that, you're practically begging for her to be despised by her subjects.
And John is truly a good man, far better than his father ever was (though the bar isn't exactly high on that one). It's great to see him treating his illegitimate siblings so well.