Henry VII Dies in 1503

Merry Christmas all:)

In 1503, after his queen died, Henry VII's own health in his grief, circled the drain, and he retreated from court cloistering himself at Richmond. Two months later, he was back and he lived until 1509.

What would've happened if he had died in 1503? Obviously Henry VIII would have some serious issues due to him losing both parents in such a short space of time, but Margaret Beaufort would've been regent much as she was in 1509 until Henry's 18th. Would this mean there's a different dynamic for his marriage to Catherine of Aragon?

Please discuss:
 
Margaret Beaufort as regent most likely pushes for the betrothal to be ended and for Henry to be married off to Eleanor of Austria or some other, younger, princess. She tries to put it in Henry's head that war with France and others is unstable. Most likely he's married just prior to her death and Henry has a Queen. Let's say, for arguments sake, that he marries Anne of Navarre in 1508.

Catherine gets sent home and most likely becomes and abbess or is married off somewhere. She most likely is sent back to her parents in 1504/1505. Maybe she is married to Manuel I of Portugal after the Infanta Maria dies, though she'd be around 35 when that happened and it would be around the time her last child was born OTL. One match that could be considered is Charles III, Duke of Savoy. If that goes through Catherine, with the similarly aged Charles, may have a few more living children. If we compare her to her sisters, it's possible for her to have 3/4 living children.
 
I was under the impression that had been Maggie B. that had pushed for Arthur and Catherine's marriage in the first place. Plus, all the main candidates on the marriage market are nowhere near marriageable age (Marguerite d'Angoulême only married in '09), what with Eleonore being still in the single digits.

Catherine is young, nubile, pious and known to Henry, plus he's the only security that the Tudors have against England being ruled by a woman in the form of the queen of Scots. I think Maggie will marry him to Catherine posthaste to prevent that from happen.
 
It would seem that in TTL, an eighteen year old Catherine of Aragon would be the perfect bride for Henry VIII. I could see the couple having children ASAP in this scenario. After losing both her son and grandson in such a short amount of time, Margaret Beaufort (who gave birth to Henry VII at thirteen) would be looking to enlarge the Tudors quickly.
 
I was under the impression that had been Maggie B. that had pushed for Arthur and Catherine's marriage in the first place. Plus, all the main candidates on the marriage market are nowhere near marriageable age (Marguerite d'Angoulême only married in '09), what with Eleonore being still in the single digits.

Catherine is young, nubile, pious and known to Henry, plus he's the only security that the Tudors have against England being ruled by a woman in the form of the queen of Scots. I think Maggie will marry him to Catherine posthaste to prevent that from happen.

Margaret had pushed for Arthur/Catherine, but from what I understand he was incredibly wary of Henry/Catherine and was possibly the one who pushed for the betrothal to be done before Henry was considered old enough, so it would be easier to get rid of her when it was necessary. Margaret isn't stupid. Catherine may be young now, but the age difference is still considerable for those days and Henry is still at least 2 years away from the time he'll be allowed to try for children with her. By then she'll be 20 to his 14. It's too big a risk on Margaret's part to allow that to happen.
 
Okay, so Margaret's gonna have to take a gamble if she supports Henry-Catherine. But she's gonna have to take a gamble with any other bride too - (with Eleonore she's gonna have to wait until at least 1510-1512; Marguerite until 1506 and Anne d'Albret until about the same). Plus, that means sending Catherine's dowry out of England again (something Henry VII was loath to do OTL). Which means that any incoming queen is going to need to at least offset that dowry.
 
Okay, so Margaret's gonna have to take a gamble if she supports Henry-Catherine. But she's gonna have to take a gamble with any other bride too - (with Eleonore she's gonna have to wait until at least 1510-1512; Marguerite until 1506 and Anne d'Albret until about the same). Plus, that means sending Catherine's dowry out of England again (something Henry VII was loath to do OTL). Which means that any incoming queen is going to need to at least offset that dowry.

The simple fact is, Margaret isn't her son and her priorities are different. Even if Catherine's dowry is gone, England and the royal family in particular in a good position. She knows that they have lots of money coming in and an economical court going on. And Margaret Beaufprt knows how to play the long game. Henry VIII is around 12, he's not going to get married and start popping out children until (at the very earliest) the age of 15/16. By then Catherine's entered her 20s and over half a decade of her fertility is wasted. One scenario I see is Henry VIII being married to either Margaret of Angouleme or Anne of Navarre. Both are higher up women with good connections. But a marriage to Catherine just is as a bad decision as OTL and Margaret is both smart enough to realise it and a woman willing to solve the issues at hand.
 
So then the question is where does Catherine go? Marry the duke of Calabria instead of her stepmother? And just out of curiosity, how does Maggie's regency affect the prospects of Mary "Rose" Tudor?
 
So then the question is where does Catherine go? Marry the duke of Calabria instead of her stepmother? And just out of curiosity, how does Maggie's regency affect the prospects of Mary "Rose" Tudor?

I honestly think she'll end up with the Duke of Savoy. He's around her age and a really good match, at least on paper. The fact he waited and ended up marrying Beatrice of Portugal, who was born the year his reign began, is ludicrous to me. If not him, then maybe a German Prince?
 
I wonder at the chances of Margaret pushing Mary for a replacement wife for Fernando V? I think the paradisical princess would have her pick of suitors, maybe even Christian II as a way of establishing/repairing Anglo-Danish relations.
 
Well, IDK what a supporter Maggie will be of that, since Mary is betrothed to Karl V at this point. And she'd be rather young when Fernando does his bride shopping. Maybe a Danish match, but weren't they allied to Scotland at that point?
 
Mary Tudor will still be betrothed to Charles V until she isn't. I don't think a Danish match would work well, since the Danish-Scots alliance and the Auld Alliance were at odds with English policy. That said, I don't see the attempt to hitch her to the duke of Milan going through either - although it might end up being insanely awesome to see not only a surviving Sforza dynasty, but a surviving Sforza dynasty with a claim to England, and bonus points if Mary's son marries an alt-Christine of Denmark (lumping all those crowns together):eek:

But, I digress, even during Henry VII's bickerings with Fernando after Arthur's death, Mary still remained betrothed (at least in theory) to Charles. I don't recall ever seeing mention of the possibility of her being betrothed to possible son if Louis XII had one. And the only French play for her (other than her actual marriage), was François I's after her widowhood, due to Claude's sickly nature and the possibility she might die in childbed.

I don't know if Margaret will tamper with that, but I can't see her entertaining a desire to marry Mary off to a French prince.

Which brings us back to the prospect of Margaret as Regent. How does her regency look? Which policies does she follow? How do the other countries (esp. Scotland) react with England being under an underage king, his regent grandmother, with his brother's virgin widow and unwed sister available.
 
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