The Camelot King and His Pomegranate Queen - A Collaborative Timeline

[EdwardRex]

Arthur, Prince of Wales around 1502

April 1502: King Henry VII holds a celebratory feast for the recovery of his son and heir, Arthur, Prince of Wales, and his bride, Catherine of Aragon, from the mysterious sweating sickness. He also invites Arthur and Catherine back to court and sends workman to work on a new, modernized wing of Ludlow Castle.

July 1502: Arthur, Prince of Wales announces his wife’s first pregnancy, much to the joy of the Tudor family, particularly Elizabeth of York, who is eager to have a grandchild after she had a rather serious miscarriage in June. Luckily, Elizabeth has recovered and can attend the celebrations, but physicians believe she will never bear another child.

Rules:
1. Each post should cover no more than a year, though you can go into as much detail about the events that occurred in said year.
2. No contradicting previous posts.
3. You can make reference to a butterfly that occurred in a previous year, so long as it doesn’t contradict a previous post.
4. You don’t need to cover what’s happening in every country in a year, just write about what you want to or are knowledgeable in.
5. You must wait until at least one person has posted after you before posting again.
6. You can add portraits if you wish to.
7. The posts can be formatted any way you like, for instance they can be from a characters point of view, just make sure they do not cover more than a year, or contradict a previous post in any way.
8. You cannot kill a character out of the blue unless it contributes to the story.

 

[RedKing]

August 1502: Henry VII celebrates the news of his daughter in law’s pregnancy by holding a jousting tournament in London as well as a feast. He gifts his son and daughter jewels and writes to them regularly, wanting to know every detail of the pregnancy. Henry’s Queen, Elizabeth also writes to Arthur and Katherine, guiding them through the pregnancy.

October 1502: Henry VII secures the betrothal of his spare, Henry, Duke of York to the French Princess Margaret of Angouleme, in a bid to bring the English and French nations closer together. That same month, Henry writes to congratulate the French King, Louis XII on the news of his wife’s pregnancy. Louis prays for a son so that he will finally have an heir of his own body. He also bounces around a betrothal between a Dauphin of his and a daughter of Philip of Burgundy.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

January 1503: To Elizabeth's surprise, she is pregnant again. She goes into confinement earlier than normal so as to care for the unborn child. Katherine gives birth to healthy twin daughters named Elizabeth and Mary, and the godmothers are the princesses' paternal aunts: Margaret and Mary Tudor. Margaret is shipped off to marry James IV of Scotland. Henry VII orders a chapel to be built to celebrate such happy times.
February 1503: Margaret of Angouleme arrives in England. She enchants the English royals with her beauty and eloquence, and Henry of York in particular is smitten with her. Katherine, for her part, is just happy to find another person to practice her French with. Louis XII's wife, Anne of Brittany, gives birth to a son christened Francis after her father.

 

[Fergie11]

March 1503: On the 10th of March, Princess Joanna of Asturias goes into labour, emerging with a healthy baby girl who would be named Mary for her aunt, the Queen of Portugal. The joy following the birth of the Infanta/Archduchess would be short lived for on the 24th of March, her father the Duke of Burgundy would succumb to illness he had developed upon returning to Flanders, leaving his 3 year old son as Duke of Burgundy.

October 1503: Portugal would welcome their own little Infanta that year too, with Isabella of Portugal being born on the 24th. Upon hearing the news from Portugal, Catherine of Aragon began to think of her own daughter's futures, perhaps one of her girls could marry the Prince of Portugal or the Duke of Burgundy. The miracle of life would bless the English royal family again on the 30th of the month, when Queen Elizabeth of York gave birth to a baby boy she named Edward for her father.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

Philip of Burgundy dying earlier and therefore Ferdinand, Catherine etc don't exist? Interesting.

---

November 1503: The king's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, falls ill. Henry VII does all he can to save her life. Henry and Margaret of Angouleme officially marry, though they do not yet consummate this union

 

[Kynan]

November - December, 1503: James IV of Scotland is dead. No one is quite sure what happened, except that either he’s fallen from his horse while hunting, or he was pushed while celebrating his marriage. Margaret Tudor, a teenager in a foreign land who can attest that she’s definitely not a virgin but also definitely not pregnant, is suddenly left vulnerable. The new James V of Scotland certainly assumes he can just pick up when his brother left off. Margaret writes and begs for her father to save her. But he’s plotting.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

January 1504: Lady Margaret Beaufort dies from her illness. She is accorded a lavish funeral. Margaret Tudor is in talks to remarry to the new James V, so as to keep the dowry with Scotland. The Scottish king argues with Henry VII over matters of her dowry and he refuses to return it. Katherine of Aragon is pregnant again, as is Elizabeth of York.
February 1504: Christ's College, Cambridge receives a royal charter as according to the last will of the king's mother, and St John's College is founded. Henry VII signs a treaty that allies England with Burgundy and the Habsburgs. Edmund de la Pole is arrested and brought to the tower of London, but Henry is careful to maintain transparency about what is going on in that tower, knowing what happened to his wife's brothers.
April 1504: Margaret of Angouleme is made ambassador of France, so as to allow her to stay in England despite her youth. She joins her husband in their education with leading tutors. Margaret Tudor writes to her father about her grief and homesickness, and he creates her ambassador of England, copying the move of Louis XII.
October 1504: Katherine gives birth to a son named Arthur after his father. His uncle, Henry of York is godfather. The young duke was said to be utterly enchanted with the child, spending hours singing to him, despite the fact that his birth meant he would now never be king. The couple celebrate with dances and jousts. Elizabeth of York miscarries her child but she pulls through and doesn't die. While the queen is grieving for the loss of her son and mother-in-law, she dotes upon her grandson who adores her.
November 1504: Joanna, Princess of Asturias is crowned the queen of Castile upon the death of her mother, Isabella. Unfortunately this brings her into conflict with her father, who wishes to keep power for himself. Anne of Brittany announces that she is pregnant again, to France's great joy.
January 1505: While Joanna of Castile travels to England to visit her sister, Ferdinand II of Aragon dies after being accosted by angry Castilian noblemen. Joanna is now also queen of Aragon. Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII is in talks to be betrothed to Joanna's son, the duke of Burgundy, Charles. The queen of Castile and Aragon stays in England for the entirety of 1505.

 

[Kynan]

January, 1505: Katherine of Aragon gives birth to a second son, named William, who dies a week after his birth. Devastated, she draws further into the Church.

February, 1505: Having been granted a dispensation by the Pope, and despite Henry VII’s quibbling over the dowry, James V of Scotland marries the Queen Dowager of Scotland in a rushed and secret ceremony. Margaret Tudor relates the story to her brother succinctly: “he came to me during supper, we met with the Duke of Ross, a knight named Patrick and his wife, Euphemia, and the bishop, and were wed in short order”. Some relayed the story as her food still being warm by the time they returned to her rooms. The new King, not quite as lusty as his brother had been, waits a week to consummate the marriage, fearing the consequences of his actions. But what’s done is done, and Duke John Stewart of Ross is given the task of representing his brother in England to soften the blow. The fact that the King knows his brother will be likely imprisoned for being the messenger seems to sweeten the deal, and John gets to feel important for a few weeks.

The English court is less furious than it is confused.

Henry VII asks the Scottish Ambassador why the marriage was rushed through, and rumours spread Margaret Tudor is already pregnant (she’s not), but the biggest reaction is from Elizabeth of York. She’s still recovering from her last pregnancy and had looked forward to even a few weeks being reunited with her daughter. But instead, everything is moving too fast. In a move that’s probably the most shocking in her life, she refuses to speak to Duke John when he arrives, more does she agree to mention her daughter in public. The most she says for a while is “she is well”.

April, 1505: Bianca Maria Sforza, pregnant but not hopeful that she’ll see a live child, gives birth to a surprisingly healthy daughter, named Eleanor.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

January, 1505: Katherine of Aragon gives birth to a second son, named William, who dies a week after his birth. Devastated, she draws further into the Church.

February, 1505: Having been granted a dispensation by the Pope, and despite Henry VII’s quibbling over the dowry, James V of Scotland marries the Queen Dowager of Scotland in a rushed and secret ceremony. Margaret Tudor relates the story to her brother succinctly: “he came to me during supper, we met with the Duke of Ross, a knight named Patrick and his wife, Euphemia, and the bishop, and were wed in short order”. Some relayed the story as her food still being warm by the time they returned to her rooms. The new King, not quite as lusty as his brother had been, waits a week to consummate the marriage, fearing the consequences of his actions. But what’s done is done, and Duke John Stewart of Ross is given the task of representing his brother in England to soften the blow. The fact that the King knows his brother will be likely imprisoned for being the messenger seems to sweeten the deal, and John gets to feel important for a few weeks.

The English court is less furious than it is confused.

Henry VII asks the Scottish Ambassador why the marriage was rushed through, and rumours spread Margaret Tudor is already pregnant (she’s not), but the biggest reaction is from Elizabeth of York. She’s still recovering from her last pregnancy and had looked forward to even a few weeks being reunited with her daughter. But instead, everything is moving too fast. In a move that’s probably the most shocking in her life, she refuses to speak to Duke John when he arrives, more does she agree to mention her daughter in public. The most she says for a while is “she is well”.

April, 1505: Bianca Maria Sforza, pregnant but not hopeful that she’ll see a live child, gives birth to a surprisingly healthy daughter, named Eleanor.

April 1505: Joanna, Queen of Castile and Aragon, is deciding on potential suitors. She knows her children need a father figure and she needs a husband to be palatable to her subjects. The only question is who. Perhaps Ferdinand II of Naples? She is currently undecided. Margaret, twice queen of Scotland, announces her first pregnancy. The queen of Portugal, sister to the princess of Wales and queen of Castile and Aragon, Maria, is also pregnant and is eagerly anticipating her new child.

June 1505: The king and queen of England, Henry and Elizabeth are found entwined in a garden with their throats slit.

 

[Brita]

June 1505: While staying in Nantes, Anne of Brittany gives birth on the night of Saint John's Eve. The child, a boy, is named John.

 

[Fergie11]

July 1505: As June turns to July, the Tudors are faced with the task of organising a funeral for both King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York as well as organising the new King Arthur's coronation which is to be in joint ceremony with his wife Catherine of Aragon. While the funeral was rather unremarkable because of the fact that it was just like every other royal funeral, there was a ceremony and then they were interred at Westminster Abbey, the coronation for King Arthur was quite a joyous occasion. The ceremony itself took some inspiration from the coronation of King Arthur of Camelot and it was followed by a fireworks display, similar to the one his parents enjoyed during their wedding celebrations. The King also launches an investigation into the murder of his parents and finds Sir John Brookeburn, a low ranking noble man who had supported the House of York as guilty, and he confessed under torture that he didn't intend to kill Elizabeth of York too but just King Henry. In attendance to these events was Joanna I of Castile, who returned home soon after.

 

[FalconHonour]

July 1505: As June turns to July, the Tudors are faced with the task of organising a funeral for both King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York as well as organising the new King Arthur's coronation which is to be in joint ceremony with his wife Catherine of Aragon. While the funeral was rather unremarkable because of the fact that it was just like every other royal funeral, there was a ceremony and then they were interred at Westminster Abbey, the coronation for King Arthur was quite a joyous occasion. The ceremony itself took some inspiration from the coronation of King Arthur of Camelot and it was followed by a fireworks display, similar to the one his parents enjoyed during their wedding celebrations. The King also launches an investigation into the murder of his parents and finds Sir John Brookeburn, a low ranking noble man who had supported the House of York as guilty, and he confessed under torture that he didn't intend to kill Elizabeth of York too but just King Henry. In attendance to these events was Joanna I of Castile, who returned home soon after.

August - October 1505: Rumours start circling that, while John Brooke burn was indeed the person who struck the fatal blows on King Henry and Queen Elizabeth, he did so while in the pay of the Duke of Buckingham and Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, who intended to use the chaos that was bound to follow their deaths to install Edmund de la Pole on the throne, with either one of Elizabeth or Anne Stafford, Buckingham's younger sisters, as his Queen.

The Regency Council in Burgundy disavows the plot wholeheartedly, and to prove its faith, promises Burgundy's young Duke, Charles, in marriage, to Arthur's eldest daughter, Lady Elizabeth rather than her aunt Mary, a King's daughter being more valuable than his sister. Buckingham, however, evades Arthur's agents and flees to the Continent, eventually ending up at the Court of Queen Catherine of Navarre.

November 1505: Queen Margaret of Scotland announces the birth of her first daughter, a child she names Margaret, after herself. Queen Maria of Portugal, meanwhile, gives birth to a son, who is named Fernando after his late grandfather.

 

[Fergie11]

January 1506: Although Joanna is still deep in grief for her late husband, she finds herself being strongly advised by the Cortes of Castile and Aragon to marry again and have another son to inherit her crowns and keep them separate from the young Duke of Burgundy who her only living son. The Cortes began to consider the possibility of Castile and Aragon staying in the hands of the Trastamara dynasty through a marriage to the son of Frederick I of Naples, the Duke of Calabria.

Catherine of Aragon also announces her next pregnancy, much to the delight of her new court, who are all hoping for another lusty Prince.

 

[Kynan]

March, 1506: The Princess Margaret Stewart dies in her sleep, leaving the King and Queen bereft. This follows the return of Duke John of Ross to court.

In England, the Queen once again miscarries a child, and Arthur agrees to abstain from his wife’s bed for at least 6 months. Being a lusty young man, his solution is simple: a mistress. While Katherine remains an invalid, Arthur takes as his lover Anne Stafford, wife to Sir William Herbert and sister to the Duke of Buckingham. The knight remains unaware, busy with his new role leading construction of a monument to the King’s deceased parents. Anne thus escapes the punishments her family is suffering following the murders.

In France, Anne I of Brittany miscarries another child, She is thus not there for the marriage of Germaine of Foix to the Duke of Alencon.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

April 1506: The queen of Portugal announces another pregnancy.

 

[FalconHonour]

June -July 1506: The summer starts with a double celebration in England. The young Duchess of York announces her first pregnancy. Her husband is ecstatic, declaring to all and sundry that a girl will be named after his dearest Daisy, who has made him the happiest man in Christendom. (It goes without saying that a boy will be Henry, for his father.

The second reason for celebration, meanwhile, is that the ten-year-old Lady Mary is affianced to the Danish Crown Prince, Christian, with the marriage set for the summer of 1512, after Mary's sixteenth birthday.

France, however, is not celebrating. Anne I of Brittany dies in early July of yet another miscarriage, plunging France into mourning. She is succeeded on the ducal throne of Brittany by her infant son.

November 1506: By the late autumn, the Stafford-strewn chaos has spread to Navarre. Queen Catherine gives birth to a baby girl, one she names Magdalena for her mother. However, King John claims to have been away on campaign at the time of the child's conception... And little Magdalena has very green eyes. So too did the Duke's mother, Lady Katherine Woodville.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

December 1506: The king of Portugal, Manuel I dies in his sleep.
January 1507: Katherine of Aragon is pregnant again. After listening to her doctors, she has radically changed her diet and stopped fasting, at least while she is pregnant. (She has already determined to fast after the child is born.) Her sister, Maria gives birth to a healthy posthumous son while the duchess of York, Margaret gives birth to a stillborn son. Louis XII offers his hand in marriage to the widowed Joanna of Castile and Aragon, to great scandal by all. Joanna is thinking of accepting, but is not too sure.

 

[EdwardRex]

February 1507: The Death of the infant Jean, Duke of Brittany, after a bout of measles throws the Breton and French successions into chaos. Louis was devastated by his sons death, but managed to but his eldest son, Francis, on the ducal throne. The King himself wanted to worried for his line, and began to educate his precocious son Francis. He arranges his marriage to Juana I of Castile, whom finally relents into marriage.

July 1507: Queen Catherine of Aragon’s pregnancy comes to term. Catherine gives birth to a daughter, named Margaret after the now-dead Margaret Beaufort. Arthur delights in his beautiful newborn daughter, and promises Catherine to remain faithful, casting off his mistress, Anne Stafford.

Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England, painted shortly after the birth of Princess Margaret

August 1507: Juana I of Castile dies after a terrible fever. This left her son Charles as King of Castile and Aragon. However, he reigned for barely nine days, as he fell ill with typhoid and died. With this, Alfonso, Ferdinand II of Aragon’s illegitimate son, became regent for the the new Queen Leonor I of Castile and Aragon.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

October 1507: Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Castile and Aragon, Duchess of Burgundy, is tentatively betrothed to Francis, the son of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany. Margaret of Angouleme, Bianca Maria Sforza and Margaret Tudor all announce their pregnancies. Both Maria and Katherine of Aragon, the queens of England and Portugal respectively, have fallen ill. While the duke of Buckingham is rumored to be back in England after being deported from Navarre by the king John. Germaine of Foix, the duchess of Alencon, gives birth to a healthy daughter named after herself. The daughter of Catherine of Navarre, Magdalena, is growing up to be quite the beauty.

 

[Fergie11]

December 1507: Maria of Aragon, Queen Consort of Portugal dies of a fever on the 20th of the month, plunging the Portuguese court into a year long period of mourning for their beloved late Queen. The death of Maria meant that not only the Portuguese court would be in a somber mood over Yuletide, but also the English court as Catherine of Aragon entered into her own mourning period with her entire household being instructed to do the same.