Emma, Duchess of Brabant - An Austro-Burgundian TL
Slight correction, John of the Palatine turns 20 in 1522, not 10.
Chapter 69: Iberian Marriages
Merida, January 1516: King Ferdinand II of Aragon, the famous warrior King who helped his daughter conquer Granada, passes away. Mourned by his wife and children, including Queen Maria and Infanta Isabella, who visit from Castile. His son, Juan III, ascends to the throne in a majestic coronation ceremony alongside his wife, Maria of Austria.
Segovia, June 1517: After a year of negotiations, and a proxy marriage in April, Prince Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, and heir to Castile marries for the second time to Archduchess Eleanor of Austria, the eldest daughter of Emperor Maximilian II and Empress Blanche.
Eleanor is the very much spoiled eldest daughter of the Emperor, and believes she is much deserving of the title of future Queen of Castile. Despite this, she makes a good impression on her husband and mother-in-law, who is very famous throughout Europe. Ferdinand is perhaps not entirely faithful, but he will treat Eleanor well and she will never be in want.
Segovia, June 1518: Exactly a year after their marriage, Princess Eleanor of Asturias delivers her husband’s first child. The child is, much to the joy of the realm, a male, who is christened Alfonso. In 1520, he will be betrothed to Princess Eleanor of England, the youngest daughter of Richard of Wales and Isabella of Castile.
Zaragoza, October 1519: Ferdinand, Prince of Girona, the eldest son of Juan III of Aragon, is married to Maria of Milan, the younger sister of Duke Francisco of Milan and the sister of the new Queen of France. Her mother, Jacquetta of England, goes along with her and will attend the marriage of her daughter.
Prince Ferdinand, having grown up in a close knit family, is happy to start a family of his own. With the fair blue eyes of his mother, and the dark hair of his father, he is quite handsome. His bride is very Yorkist in appearance, and everyone knows the Plantagenets are the most beautiful royal family in all Europe. Maria is also pious, having once considered life in a convent, and loves to read and write poetry. Both are optimistic entering the marriage.
Zaragoza, November 1520: Ferdinand and Maria have their first child, a son. Ferdinand complains of the endless royal lines of Ferdinands, Juans, and Alfonsos, and decides to name the blonde and cheerful baby James, after many previous Kings of Aragon.
Segovia, June 1517: After a year of negotiations, and a proxy marriage in April, Prince Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, and heir to Castile marries for the second time to Archduchess Eleanor of Austria, the eldest daughter of Emperor Maximilian II and Empress Blanche.
Eleanor is the very much spoiled eldest daughter of the Emperor, and believes she is much deserving of the title of future Queen of Castile. Despite this, she makes a good impression on her husband and mother-in-law, who is very famous throughout Europe. Ferdinand is perhaps not entirely faithful, but he will treat Eleanor well and she will never be in want.
Segovia, June 1518: Exactly a year after their marriage, Princess Eleanor of Asturias delivers her husband’s first child. The child is, much to the joy of the realm, a male, who is christened Alfonso. In 1520, he will be betrothed to Princess Eleanor of England, the youngest daughter of Richard of Wales and Isabella of Castile.
Zaragoza, October 1519: Ferdinand, Prince of Girona, the eldest son of Juan III of Aragon, is married to Maria of Milan, the younger sister of Duke Francisco of Milan and the sister of the new Queen of France. Her mother, Jacquetta of England, goes along with her and will attend the marriage of her daughter.
Prince Ferdinand, having grown up in a close knit family, is happy to start a family of his own. With the fair blue eyes of his mother, and the dark hair of his father, he is quite handsome. His bride is very Yorkist in appearance, and everyone knows the Plantagenets are the most beautiful royal family in all Europe. Maria is also pious, having once considered life in a convent, and loves to read and write poetry. Both are optimistic entering the marriage.
Zaragoza, November 1520: Ferdinand and Maria have their first child, a son. Ferdinand complains of the endless royal lines of Ferdinands, Juans, and Alfonsos, and decides to name the blonde and cheerful baby James, after many previous Kings of Aragon.
Chapter 70: British Troubles
London, March 1521: Beatrice d’Este, Countess of Richmond and longtime (25 year) mistress of King William IV dies of a tooth infection. Her lover is completely devastated and sinks into a deep depression. William has her buried in Westminster Abbey, and he publicly snubs his wife Queen Radegonde by declaring he will be laid next to her. Radegonde, as always, forgives him.
Glasgow, September 1521: Queen Catherine of Burgundy, the mother of King James IV of Scotland, dies of influenza. James, who loved his mother very dearly, is lost without her and demands a whole year of mourning at his court.
Meanwhile, James’ sister, Princess Catherine of Scotland, begins the process by which she may take the vows of stability, fidelity to the monastic way of life, and obedience as a Benedictine nun. She had long desired the convent, but has promised her mother to care for her until her dying breath. Catherine will honor her monastic vows faithfully, and will open a hospital and orphanage for the poor of Edinburgh.
Windsor, September 1522: On the 8th, King William awakens and immediately complains of sickness. His wife, Queen Radegonde, and his grandchildren (Robert, Marian, Margaret, Edmund, Mary, and Eleanor) were by his side as he passed in the afternoon. His last words were begging for forgiveness for all the pain he had caused his wife. Radegonde accepts this, and immediately requests for many masses and prayers for his soul. He will certainly need it.
Princess Margaret, rushed to London by her mother, powerful regent Isabella, is declared Queen of England at Westminster Abbey (though she is not yet crowned). However, she is not without her opponents.
Somerset, October 1522: Edmund, Duke of Somerset, the eldest male-line grandson of the first Edmund, Duke of Somerset, son of Richard III of England and Cecily Neville proclaims himself King of England. This first Edmund’s wife was Margaret Beaufort, a wealthy Lancastrian heiress. Edmund sources his claim through her, saying the Yorkists were, in fact, always illegally on the throne. The one problem with this is, of course, Margaret of Lancaster. Edmund accused her mother of having had an affair, and thus claimed that she was nothing more than a bastard.
Cornwall and Wales are ignited in rebellion, having grown tired of King William’s harsh taxing laws. Duke Edmund is at the head, calling himself King. He is supported by his sisters, Margaret and Mary, the Duke of Suffolk, and the Earl of Worcester and Countess of Pembroke. He also finds an unlikely supporter in the King of Scotland. Tensions between Scotland and England over territory disputes had been worsening, and James sees this as the opportune time to strike. He sends Margaret of Somerset’s husband, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus to fight on his behalf.
Isabella sends out forces to defeat Edmund, and in the mean time increases security around her own daughters.
Shrewsbury, March 1523: After much evasion, the two armies finally meet near Shrewsbury. The battle that ensues is long and bloody. But at the end, their is a clear victor. Queen Margaret’s forces have won, despite loosing Edward Lytton and his second son, William.
Edmund, his sisters, and the Pembroke-Worcester couple are taken to Tower of London. Maria de Salinas, Edmund’s wife, and her two daughters, Elizabeth and Catherine, manage to escape, hiding in the north of England. They hope to get safe passage way to Scotland. Regent Isabella sees this as an ultimate betrayal. From the cradle, Isabella and Maria had been the absolute closest of friends. Maria had accompanied Isabella across England, emotionally helped her during all the years of her painful marriage, watched all 4 of her children being born, and held her as she sobbed about over Richard’s death. Isabella had gifted Maria and her daughters endless dresses, books, and favors. She had ensured Maria and Edmund’s love match, and was godmother to both her children.
And now Maria had decided to destroy her country, and perhaps even cause the death of Isabella and her daughters. Queen Isabella was many things: brave, intelligent, and resilient. She was, however, not at all merciful to her enemies.
Maria will learn this the hard way, when she is caught at the Scottish border. While her daughters are spirited away by a faithful maid to the Scottish royal court, Maria is taken back to England. Maria is sure that Isabella will be merciful. After all, surely all those years together mean something to the Regent? Maria is, unfortunately, wrong. After Maria arrives in London, several trials, for each of the rebels will take place. The less noble men are hung, drawn and quartered immediately after their trials. Maria actually escapes from her cell, and runs down the hall to see her one time friend.
“Isabella! Please have mercy on me and my husband!” Maria cries over and over.
To this, Maria receives a slap to the face. “Traitors loose their heads.”
On a particularly windy and cold May morning, the entirety of the Somerset family is gather together in front of a large crowd on Tower green. Duke Edmund, formally stripped of his title, is the first to loose his head to an inexperienced axe-man. Maria de Salinas follows, completely emotionless. In prison she had gone completely catatonic. Archibald Douglas, the Earl of Angus, despite being a Scottish nobleman, is beheaded alongside his wife, Margaret. Their two children, Richard and Margaret, would have surely suffered the same fate, had it not been for the fact that they were under the protection of the King of Scotland.
John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk is the next to die, followed by his wife, Mary, who has gone completely insane at the sight of her dead family. She has to be held screaming by 4 men to allow for her execution. Even her young son, John, aged only 7, will die by the axe. His death was considered unnecessarily cruel, even by Isabella and Margaret’s strongest supporters.
As for the few survivors, their fate was less than joyful. Catherine Tudor was only saved by the intercession of her sister, Margaret of Lancaster. She took a vow of silence as a Benedictine nun, and died that December, out of pure depression. Mary of Somerset, a reclusive nun of the Dominican order, is smothered to death in her sleep. Sister Anne Boleyn, who had been living at the same convent (Our Lady of the Rosary), had predicted her death weeks beforehand. Margaret Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke, and her husband, Charles Somerset, Earl of Worcester, will spend the rest of their meager existence in the Tower of London (their son, William, was pardoned, as he had been on pilgrimage to Rome and then Greece during this whole affair). Margaret died in 1529, and Charles died in 1530. William, the new Earl of Pembroke and Worcester, would marry Lady Elizabeth Browne (b. 1505), by whom he would have 4 children before dying in 1536: Catherine (b. 1526), William (b. 1527), Thomas (b. 1529), and Anne (b. 1536). Alice and Eleanor de la Pole were kept in seclusion in the Tower of London until 1530, when they were released because of the mercy of Queen Margaret, who gives Alice the title of Duchess of Suffolk, on the condition she and Eleanor sign away their rights to England.
Pembroke, May 1523: On the 11th, Robert Plantagenet, the 16 year old son of the dead Prince James, Duke of Cambridge by his first wife, the lowly Mary Smith, prays his Rosary, to which he is very devoted, as he does every day. He is asking God, the Blessed Virgin, and all the Saints in Heaven for guidance. At the end of the prayer, he feels the same other-worldly peace he does after praying the Rosary every day. He is sure of his vocation. Robert decides to become a priest. While the decision usually wasn’t made so young, Sister Louise personally wrote to Pope Pius II saying, “the young man has a special purpose in the plans of Our Lord”. The Pope, obviously bias to his English family, agrees. Robert begins classes under the tutelage of one Father Stinson.
Robert is a very social and optimistic young man, extremely interested in history and Catholic devotion. He has the typical Plantagenet looks of long blonde hair and blue eyes, and is extraordinarily tall. Despite this, he could not be considered handsome, his face is not well put together, and he has terrible scars all over his body, resulting from a childhood illness that nearly killed him.
His sister, Marian, is very attached to him and to considers taking vows as a nun. Marian is the contrast to her brother: short, reserved, with dark eyes and dark hair. However, the two have very similar interests and have always been together. Robert can see that Marian doesn’t really want the veil of a nun. So he tells her that she should pursue the normal life of a noblewoman. After all, Robert has a premonition that she has a special fate too.
Dunfermline, November 1523: Princess Madeline of France, the daughter of Charles IX and Blanche of Aragon, finally arrives in Scotland after much delay. James, is a tall, handsome, and muscular man, who has the light brown hair and blue eyes of his mother. He will somewhat disappointed upon seeing Madeline. Though she is beautiful, with “angelic features”, she has physically suffered from the neglect and abuse she endured in the Paris “Temple”.
Even when meeting her husband, she cannot stop coughing and has to sit down after any sort of exertion. When the time comes for the consumption, Madeline bursts into tears and runs out of the room. Brought back, she confesses to her husband all the terrible things guards had forced her to do in prison. James promises to not touch her until she is ready. If she decides to remain celibate, she will be allowed an annulment and anonymity. Madeline says that James is very kind, and she wants be Queen as her parents would have wanted. James deeply sympathizes with his bride and says he will take revenge on France.
Lancaster, April 1524: Abbess Joan of Our Lady of the Rosary, youngest daughter of Richard III, and visionary to the October 13, 1476 Marian apparitions, dies in her convent, surrounded by her closest friends. One of her last wishes was for the abbreviated Bibles prevalent in Germany, Italy, and Burgundy to be printed in England. This will indeed occur, and free Bibles and rosaries will be handed to each peasant child attending the convent schools. They are encouraged to read and pray every day.
London, May 1524: At Westminster Abbey, Queen Margaret I is crowned Queen of England. The ceremony was structured around the Catholic Mass, and included Margaret taking a solemn oath, being anointed with Holy Oil, and receiving the coronation regalia. While 13 might seem young for a coronation, Regent Isabella wanted the security only a coronation could bring. It also helped that Margaret was very mature for her age. One courtier described her as “very tall and mature already, with bright and fabulously styled long red hair. Her Highness had beautiful deep blue eyes, and I gathered that she had a commanding presence.”
The visitors included ambassadors from 15 European kingdoms and duchies (Scotland, Brittany, France, Aragon, Castile, Portugal, Burgundy, Brabant, the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, Savoy, Milan, the Vatican, Naples, and Greece). Pope Pius II, born Richard Plantagenet, attended the coronation personally. Sister Louise of Nottingham tells him that her prophecy concerning Margaret has come true. Robert and Marian of Cambridge also have the pleasure of meeting him and Pius privately blesses them.
Edinburgh, July 1524: Despite having seemed to be improving health-wise over the spring, Queen Madeline of France suddenly worsens. She dies in her husband’s arms on the 7th. James, who feels very sorry indeed for the unfortunate young “summer Queen of Scots” has her buried at Holroyd Abbey, next to King James II.
Yorkshire, October 1524: The Scottish and English royal courts come together for a grand meeting in Yorkshire. The idea was Queen Margaret’s. During the summer, several small skirmishes had broken out at England’s northern border. To cultivate peace, Margaret personally wrote to King James suggesting a peace meeting. James agrees, and even promises to hand over Elizabeth and Catherine of Somerset if things go well.
The meeting is a success. Queen Isabella and her three daughters make a good impression by reading poetry each in a different language. James meanwhile shows off his archery skills.
At a grand ball, James meets the young Lady Marian Plantagenet, the Queen’s cousin. With her gracefulness and refined French manners, Marian makes an excellent impression on King James. After a months worth of near daily private dinners and long walks, Marian confides to her brother that James has proposed and she accepted. Robert smiles and embraces his sister, expressing great jubilance at her newfound happiness. The betrothal is announced, and Marian leaves with James at the end of November. She shares a tearful goodbye with her grandmother and her brother, who were he closest family in childhood.
James promises to send over Ladies Elizabeth and Catherine in the spring. Marian arrives to a surprised Scottish court, who declared her backward, shy, unpleasant, rude and, an unforgivable crime in the eyes of the patriotic world of the Scotland, she was found far too English. Of course, these claims were far from true. Marian was indeed terrified of the ill-mannered Scottish noblemen and their outspoken wives. But she does attempt to bond with her native country by learning Scots and starting a sewing circle.
Right when Elizabeth and Catherine were to be handed over, James’ brother, John, Duke of Ross, causes scandal by marrying Lady Elizabeth of Somerset. A cunning young woman, who desired nothing more than power, Elizabeth agreed to marry John, who was quite repulsive to most. She is unable to save her sister, Catherine, who is sent only on the condition that her survival is insured. Catherine was mentally destroyed from the constant moving and loss of her entire family. She willingly takes vows as a nun and lives a reclusive life at a Carmelite nunnery in Kent.
Edinburgh, November 1525: Queen Marian of Scotland gives birth to her first child, a daughter. The pregnancy had been very difficult, but her first daughter, Princess Margaret, was born healthy on the 15th. She had a large head full of hair and was strong and cheerful, with two immense eyes, of a bright and clear bluish-grey like the water of a sapphire.
Glasgow, September 1521: Queen Catherine of Burgundy, the mother of King James IV of Scotland, dies of influenza. James, who loved his mother very dearly, is lost without her and demands a whole year of mourning at his court.
Meanwhile, James’ sister, Princess Catherine of Scotland, begins the process by which she may take the vows of stability, fidelity to the monastic way of life, and obedience as a Benedictine nun. She had long desired the convent, but has promised her mother to care for her until her dying breath. Catherine will honor her monastic vows faithfully, and will open a hospital and orphanage for the poor of Edinburgh.
Windsor, September 1522: On the 8th, King William awakens and immediately complains of sickness. His wife, Queen Radegonde, and his grandchildren (Robert, Marian, Margaret, Edmund, Mary, and Eleanor) were by his side as he passed in the afternoon. His last words were begging for forgiveness for all the pain he had caused his wife. Radegonde accepts this, and immediately requests for many masses and prayers for his soul. He will certainly need it.
Princess Margaret, rushed to London by her mother, powerful regent Isabella, is declared Queen of England at Westminster Abbey (though she is not yet crowned). However, she is not without her opponents.
Somerset, October 1522: Edmund, Duke of Somerset, the eldest male-line grandson of the first Edmund, Duke of Somerset, son of Richard III of England and Cecily Neville proclaims himself King of England. This first Edmund’s wife was Margaret Beaufort, a wealthy Lancastrian heiress. Edmund sources his claim through her, saying the Yorkists were, in fact, always illegally on the throne. The one problem with this is, of course, Margaret of Lancaster. Edmund accused her mother of having had an affair, and thus claimed that she was nothing more than a bastard.
Cornwall and Wales are ignited in rebellion, having grown tired of King William’s harsh taxing laws. Duke Edmund is at the head, calling himself King. He is supported by his sisters, Margaret and Mary, the Duke of Suffolk, and the Earl of Worcester and Countess of Pembroke. He also finds an unlikely supporter in the King of Scotland. Tensions between Scotland and England over territory disputes had been worsening, and James sees this as the opportune time to strike. He sends Margaret of Somerset’s husband, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus to fight on his behalf.
Isabella sends out forces to defeat Edmund, and in the mean time increases security around her own daughters.
Shrewsbury, March 1523: After much evasion, the two armies finally meet near Shrewsbury. The battle that ensues is long and bloody. But at the end, their is a clear victor. Queen Margaret’s forces have won, despite loosing Edward Lytton and his second son, William.
Edmund, his sisters, and the Pembroke-Worcester couple are taken to Tower of London. Maria de Salinas, Edmund’s wife, and her two daughters, Elizabeth and Catherine, manage to escape, hiding in the north of England. They hope to get safe passage way to Scotland. Regent Isabella sees this as an ultimate betrayal. From the cradle, Isabella and Maria had been the absolute closest of friends. Maria had accompanied Isabella across England, emotionally helped her during all the years of her painful marriage, watched all 4 of her children being born, and held her as she sobbed about over Richard’s death. Isabella had gifted Maria and her daughters endless dresses, books, and favors. She had ensured Maria and Edmund’s love match, and was godmother to both her children.
And now Maria had decided to destroy her country, and perhaps even cause the death of Isabella and her daughters. Queen Isabella was many things: brave, intelligent, and resilient. She was, however, not at all merciful to her enemies.
Maria will learn this the hard way, when she is caught at the Scottish border. While her daughters are spirited away by a faithful maid to the Scottish royal court, Maria is taken back to England. Maria is sure that Isabella will be merciful. After all, surely all those years together mean something to the Regent? Maria is, unfortunately, wrong. After Maria arrives in London, several trials, for each of the rebels will take place. The less noble men are hung, drawn and quartered immediately after their trials. Maria actually escapes from her cell, and runs down the hall to see her one time friend.
“Isabella! Please have mercy on me and my husband!” Maria cries over and over.
To this, Maria receives a slap to the face. “Traitors loose their heads.”
On a particularly windy and cold May morning, the entirety of the Somerset family is gather together in front of a large crowd on Tower green. Duke Edmund, formally stripped of his title, is the first to loose his head to an inexperienced axe-man. Maria de Salinas follows, completely emotionless. In prison she had gone completely catatonic. Archibald Douglas, the Earl of Angus, despite being a Scottish nobleman, is beheaded alongside his wife, Margaret. Their two children, Richard and Margaret, would have surely suffered the same fate, had it not been for the fact that they were under the protection of the King of Scotland.
John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk is the next to die, followed by his wife, Mary, who has gone completely insane at the sight of her dead family. She has to be held screaming by 4 men to allow for her execution. Even her young son, John, aged only 7, will die by the axe. His death was considered unnecessarily cruel, even by Isabella and Margaret’s strongest supporters.
As for the few survivors, their fate was less than joyful. Catherine Tudor was only saved by the intercession of her sister, Margaret of Lancaster. She took a vow of silence as a Benedictine nun, and died that December, out of pure depression. Mary of Somerset, a reclusive nun of the Dominican order, is smothered to death in her sleep. Sister Anne Boleyn, who had been living at the same convent (Our Lady of the Rosary), had predicted her death weeks beforehand. Margaret Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke, and her husband, Charles Somerset, Earl of Worcester, will spend the rest of their meager existence in the Tower of London (their son, William, was pardoned, as he had been on pilgrimage to Rome and then Greece during this whole affair). Margaret died in 1529, and Charles died in 1530. William, the new Earl of Pembroke and Worcester, would marry Lady Elizabeth Browne (b. 1505), by whom he would have 4 children before dying in 1536: Catherine (b. 1526), William (b. 1527), Thomas (b. 1529), and Anne (b. 1536). Alice and Eleanor de la Pole were kept in seclusion in the Tower of London until 1530, when they were released because of the mercy of Queen Margaret, who gives Alice the title of Duchess of Suffolk, on the condition she and Eleanor sign away their rights to England.
Pembroke, May 1523: On the 11th, Robert Plantagenet, the 16 year old son of the dead Prince James, Duke of Cambridge by his first wife, the lowly Mary Smith, prays his Rosary, to which he is very devoted, as he does every day. He is asking God, the Blessed Virgin, and all the Saints in Heaven for guidance. At the end of the prayer, he feels the same other-worldly peace he does after praying the Rosary every day. He is sure of his vocation. Robert decides to become a priest. While the decision usually wasn’t made so young, Sister Louise personally wrote to Pope Pius II saying, “the young man has a special purpose in the plans of Our Lord”. The Pope, obviously bias to his English family, agrees. Robert begins classes under the tutelage of one Father Stinson.
Robert is a very social and optimistic young man, extremely interested in history and Catholic devotion. He has the typical Plantagenet looks of long blonde hair and blue eyes, and is extraordinarily tall. Despite this, he could not be considered handsome, his face is not well put together, and he has terrible scars all over his body, resulting from a childhood illness that nearly killed him.
His sister, Marian, is very attached to him and to considers taking vows as a nun. Marian is the contrast to her brother: short, reserved, with dark eyes and dark hair. However, the two have very similar interests and have always been together. Robert can see that Marian doesn’t really want the veil of a nun. So he tells her that she should pursue the normal life of a noblewoman. After all, Robert has a premonition that she has a special fate too.
Dunfermline, November 1523: Princess Madeline of France, the daughter of Charles IX and Blanche of Aragon, finally arrives in Scotland after much delay. James, is a tall, handsome, and muscular man, who has the light brown hair and blue eyes of his mother. He will somewhat disappointed upon seeing Madeline. Though she is beautiful, with “angelic features”, she has physically suffered from the neglect and abuse she endured in the Paris “Temple”.
Even when meeting her husband, she cannot stop coughing and has to sit down after any sort of exertion. When the time comes for the consumption, Madeline bursts into tears and runs out of the room. Brought back, she confesses to her husband all the terrible things guards had forced her to do in prison. James promises to not touch her until she is ready. If she decides to remain celibate, she will be allowed an annulment and anonymity. Madeline says that James is very kind, and she wants be Queen as her parents would have wanted. James deeply sympathizes with his bride and says he will take revenge on France.
Lancaster, April 1524: Abbess Joan of Our Lady of the Rosary, youngest daughter of Richard III, and visionary to the October 13, 1476 Marian apparitions, dies in her convent, surrounded by her closest friends. One of her last wishes was for the abbreviated Bibles prevalent in Germany, Italy, and Burgundy to be printed in England. This will indeed occur, and free Bibles and rosaries will be handed to each peasant child attending the convent schools. They are encouraged to read and pray every day.
London, May 1524: At Westminster Abbey, Queen Margaret I is crowned Queen of England. The ceremony was structured around the Catholic Mass, and included Margaret taking a solemn oath, being anointed with Holy Oil, and receiving the coronation regalia. While 13 might seem young for a coronation, Regent Isabella wanted the security only a coronation could bring. It also helped that Margaret was very mature for her age. One courtier described her as “very tall and mature already, with bright and fabulously styled long red hair. Her Highness had beautiful deep blue eyes, and I gathered that she had a commanding presence.”
The visitors included ambassadors from 15 European kingdoms and duchies (Scotland, Brittany, France, Aragon, Castile, Portugal, Burgundy, Brabant, the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, Savoy, Milan, the Vatican, Naples, and Greece). Pope Pius II, born Richard Plantagenet, attended the coronation personally. Sister Louise of Nottingham tells him that her prophecy concerning Margaret has come true. Robert and Marian of Cambridge also have the pleasure of meeting him and Pius privately blesses them.
Edinburgh, July 1524: Despite having seemed to be improving health-wise over the spring, Queen Madeline of France suddenly worsens. She dies in her husband’s arms on the 7th. James, who feels very sorry indeed for the unfortunate young “summer Queen of Scots” has her buried at Holroyd Abbey, next to King James II.
Yorkshire, October 1524: The Scottish and English royal courts come together for a grand meeting in Yorkshire. The idea was Queen Margaret’s. During the summer, several small skirmishes had broken out at England’s northern border. To cultivate peace, Margaret personally wrote to King James suggesting a peace meeting. James agrees, and even promises to hand over Elizabeth and Catherine of Somerset if things go well.
The meeting is a success. Queen Isabella and her three daughters make a good impression by reading poetry each in a different language. James meanwhile shows off his archery skills.
At a grand ball, James meets the young Lady Marian Plantagenet, the Queen’s cousin. With her gracefulness and refined French manners, Marian makes an excellent impression on King James. After a months worth of near daily private dinners and long walks, Marian confides to her brother that James has proposed and she accepted. Robert smiles and embraces his sister, expressing great jubilance at her newfound happiness. The betrothal is announced, and Marian leaves with James at the end of November. She shares a tearful goodbye with her grandmother and her brother, who were he closest family in childhood.
James promises to send over Ladies Elizabeth and Catherine in the spring. Marian arrives to a surprised Scottish court, who declared her backward, shy, unpleasant, rude and, an unforgivable crime in the eyes of the patriotic world of the Scotland, she was found far too English. Of course, these claims were far from true. Marian was indeed terrified of the ill-mannered Scottish noblemen and their outspoken wives. But she does attempt to bond with her native country by learning Scots and starting a sewing circle.
Right when Elizabeth and Catherine were to be handed over, James’ brother, John, Duke of Ross, causes scandal by marrying Lady Elizabeth of Somerset. A cunning young woman, who desired nothing more than power, Elizabeth agreed to marry John, who was quite repulsive to most. She is unable to save her sister, Catherine, who is sent only on the condition that her survival is insured. Catherine was mentally destroyed from the constant moving and loss of her entire family. She willingly takes vows as a nun and lives a reclusive life at a Carmelite nunnery in Kent.
Edinburgh, November 1525: Queen Marian of Scotland gives birth to her first child, a daughter. The pregnancy had been very difficult, but her first daughter, Princess Margaret, was born healthy on the 15th. She had a large head full of hair and was strong and cheerful, with two immense eyes, of a bright and clear bluish-grey like the water of a sapphire.
Isabella won’t be remembered for her kindness or mercy. I hate to write chapters like this but I planned this for months now.
No, she’s better, just absolutely ruthless. William was lazy, and selfish. She’s inspired by Isabella “the she-wolf” of France. And she did raise 3 amazing daughters.