Mary and Edward...

In 1554 (or somewhere around that time) Edward Courtenay proposed to his cousin Mary I of England, hoping she'd accept his proposal. Though she had rejected him for Philip II of Spain (who at the time was only Prince Philip) even though he had courtiers that already bowed to him and the fact that she was very affectionate towards him.

But what if in 1554 Mary rejected Charles Vs offer for her to marry his son Prince Philip, and instead she chose to marry someone closer to home, someone she was already affectionate towards? Edward Courtenay to be precise.

The affects of this at first would be good due to the lack of an uprising as large as Thomas Wyatts, and thus no huge challenge to her throne. Another affect would be that Mary is likely to get pregnant. With a husband who himself loves her and is always close to her the likelihood is that Mary will become pregnant, and this chance of an heir may in fact lead to a large uprising. Also the loss of Calais would be butterflied away (or at least the loss of it in the Italian Wars would be.)

Can you think of the long lasting affects? Better Anglo-Irish relations maybe? And what would the affect of a Catholic heir be on England? Also what would happen in Scotland, the colonies and continental Europe?

Discuss :)
 
Mary had to marry for political reasons.

Courtenay had little to offer her in terms of prestige, money, alliances etc. Philip was the heir to the greatest power of Europe.

It's a no-brainer.

The only way to rule Philip out is to have him marry someone else, leaving Mary to find an alternate husband; and even so, I think she's more likely to find a husband from the great houses of Europe [a Valois? any eligible Stuarts perhaps? even a de Medici - they were good enough for the French after all] than pick an English noble, even if she does have feelings for him.

For all that the Protestant hardcore hated her, Mary wasn't that unpopular in England. Certainly, she swept to power when remnants from Edward's reign tried to put up Jane Grey. She doesn't need an English marriage to bolster her support at home, and there is much to be gained from an appropriate alliance abroad.
 
Philip was the only really suitable foreign claimant for her to marry. There weren't any other Princes available at the time, and she sought out a pro-Spanish foreign policy at any rate, probably influenced by her mother who had a great deal in raising her.

Even if she marries Edward, it's unlikely she becomes pregnant. She was rather old at the time of her marriage and was suffering from ovarian cancer (that's what ended up killing her). While the marriage butterflies away the alliance with Spain and dragging England into the Italian Wars, she will no doubt be a little more popular domestically.
 
Philip was the only really suitable foreign claimant for her to marry. There weren't any other Princes available at the time, and she sought out a pro-Spanish foreign policy at any rate, probably influenced by her mother who had a great deal in raising her.

Maybe if Philip isn't available (for example, if his first wife doesn't die) and Mary still want a Habsburg marriage than a likely candidate would be Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria, the second son of her cousin Ferdinand I. BTW, even Ferdinand I himself would be available as Anna of Bohemia died in 1547.
 
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