The Queen is Dead!: Katherine of Aragon dies in 1518

Unusually, there is no description of the wound, which has led historians to speculate that the Queen’s brother may have been damaged in the more private nether regions, especially when the injury is coupled with the fact that, despite having had five pregnancies in the first six years of her marriage, so far as we know, the Countess of Ormonde and Pembroke failed to fall pregnant after the birth of her daughter Lady Matilda in June 1527.
Not nearly enough references to "nether regions" in most stories. Let alone wounds to said areas. Bravo. Elegantly played ... errr ... written. :extremelyhappy: ;)
 
his ancestral lands from the King’s natural daughter, Lady Grace Fitzroy

I’m guessing things might bet stirred up again when Grace actually governs her own land. While her mother’s Irish she’s going to have been raised in England, so they’re aren’t going to be super excited about her.
 
Not nearly enough references to "nether regions" in most stories. Let alone wounds to said areas. Bravo. Elegantly played ... errr ... written. :extremelyhappy: ;)
I couldn't resist. I know George and Kathy's family is complete with the birth of Matilda, but I had to find a reason for that, and I didn't want the reason to be Kathy, not when I'd already damaged Marie so she couldn't have more children, so George it was. A little reading up on Elizabethan attempts to colonise Ireland presented me with the Battle of Tawnybrack, and it would only make sense for the Earl of Ormonde to be playing a part in an ATL version of said battle. I put two and two together and made four...

I’m guessing things might bet stirred up again when Grace actually governs her own land. While her mother’s Irish she’s going to have been raised in England, so they’re aren’t going to be super excited about her.
No, she's been raised in Ireland. She and Honour are currently living on one of George's Irish estates, under the supervision of a loyal Steward, whom I haven't decided on, but is most likely a Shelton cousin. But yes, being the natural daughter of the King who has suppressed the last of the High Kings will not help her, particularly not when she takes a decidedly English husband in little Edmund Boleyn...
 
Always makes me sad to see the Gaelic Irish being repressed but that’s what happened IOTL so I can’t blame you. And at least George and Kathy have one healthy son and one healthy daughter to carry the Boleyn name forward.
 
Always makes me sad to see the Gaelic Irish being repressed but that’s what happened IOTL so I can’t blame you. And at least George and Kathy have one healthy son and one healthy daughter to carry the Boleyn name forward.
That they do... and I can assure you that the Boleyn name is not dying out TTL. You have my word on that.
 
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Section CLXXIII - May 1530
Windsor, May 1530
It was a warm May morning and Henry and Marie were revelling in it, lying together in the great bed of state, luxuriating in the warmth of the rays that were spilling through the window of Henry’s chamber. Marie had her head on Henry’s chest, and he was playing with her hair, marvelling at the fact that, even after nine years of marriage, he could still be so entranced by the way her curls moved under his fingers.

“I had a letter from Sir Henry last night. It seems Lionel is doing marvellously well in his studies, particularly of Latin and Greek. We must have him correspond with the scholars at Cambridge. I hear there’s a new Fellow there who knows the language fluently. A man named Cheke. I’ll write and tell him it would please me mightily if he’d exchange letters with our son to help him improve his knowledge of the classical languages.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Marie hummed sleepily, her eyes flickering open as she forced herself to concentrate on what her husband was saying, “My father always insisted that a good education would be of great help to us in whatever the future threw at us. I don’t agree with everything he did in raising George, Anne and myself, but I think he was right in that. I may not have benefited from it as much as my siblings did, but I still think he was right to try. And I agree we should give it to our children too.”

“Well, I’m sure the Bridgettines will see to giving Jackie an excellent schooling,” Henry smiled down at his wife, alarmed when she grimaced involuntarily.

“You want to give her to the nuns? Already? Henry, she’s only just turned six. She’s far too young!”

“Too young? Lionel has been preparing to rule since he was her age!” Henry exclaimed, but when he saw the tears pooling in Marie’s eyes, as she flipped herself over to look up at him, he softened his voice, “Come now, darling, I know you’ve always been protective of her, but we promised her to the church if God saved her and she’s well old enough to start preparing for her future. You know that. It’s not as if she’ll take her full vows for years yet. We can still visit her. She can still come to Court, occasionally.”

“Not Jackie, please,” Marie begged, catching at Henry’s hand, “Lionel, I understood. He’s our Prince of Wales, he was always going to be more England’s than mine. Dickon, too, needs to go to Normandy as soon as he’s old enough. His people need to get to know him and he needs to know them. I understand that. But not Jackie, please. Let me have her till she’s old enough to marry, at least.”

When Henry hesitated, she squeezed his hand and locked her gaze with his pleadingly, “I’m not saying I won’t give her to the church. I will. I swore an oath before the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. You know I’ll hold to that. But I’m going to lose Maria to Paris within two years. Don’t make me lose Jackie as well. Not before she’s a woman. Please.”

Her voice cracked on the last word. The tears swimming in her green-blue eyes threatened to spill over. Henry felt his heart clench. He’d never been able to resist her anything when she felt strongly enough about it to cry; not since the triplets’ birth.

“You’ll take Jackie to Syon,” he said at last, “You’ll take her to Syon and you’ll both swear an oath that she will return to take the veil as soon as she turns 12, do you hear me?”

“Yes, Henry! Thank you! Thank you!” Marie fell on top of him, embracing him and kissing him rapturously.

He chuckled softly and extricated himself from her death grip gently, pushing her away so he could look at her.

“I’ve been thinking. Marrying Lionel to Beatrice of Portugal is an excellent match, but Dickon needs a good match too. I’ll not have him resenting his brother because one of them gets a Princess and the other simply gets an English girl of good blood. King Christian of Denmark is in exile in the Spanish Netherlands with his son and two daughters. The girls are both only a few years older than Dickon. If we were to make one of them Duchess of York and Normandy and managed to reinstate King Christian on his throne, well, we’d have a very grateful trading partner in the Baltic, wouldn’t we?”

Marie couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at her husband’s words, “You’d marry our son off to a girl who’s been raised in exile? Who are you and what have you done with my proud husband?”

“It’s a gamble, I grant you,” Henry said carelessly, “But then, which major gamble of mine hasn’t come off in the last ten years?”

He winked at her, and she couldn’t help but laugh at his nonchalant confidence. Taking advantage of her distraction, he pulled her down into a kiss. Their lips met, silently sealing the unspoken pact between them: that they were in accord in terms of what they hoped to achieve for each of their children’s futures.
 
So that’s what Henry is gonna be doing in Scandinavia! Interesting. Will Christian II only be restored as king of Denmark-Norway? Or is Henry gonna go for Sweden too? Also, I’m assuming that Christian will also stay Catholic TTL since he was reinstated by the Catholic Henry? If this is the case, then protestantism will be severely entrenched.
 
So that’s what Henry is gonna be doing in Scandinavia! Interesting. Will Christian II only be restored as king of Denmark-Norway? Or is Henry gonna go for Sweden too? Also, I’m assuming that Christian will also stay Catholic TTL since he was reinstated by the Catholic Henry? If this is the case, then protestantism will be severely entrenched.
I haven't decided re Sweden. Do you think he should? And I wouldn't be so sure Protestantism would be so fiercely retarded...don't forget Henry's protecting the Huguenots in Normandy to prove his point to Francis...
 
I haven't decided re Sweden. Do you think he should? And I wouldn't be so sure Protestantism would be so fiercely retarded...don't forget Henry's protecting the Huguenots in Normandy to prove his point to Francis...
Ahh I had forgotten about that! Would be an Ironic twist if France turned Protestant, while England remained Catholic. If Protestantism should survive, I could possibly also imagine that Christian II’s son/grandson might embrace it, when the throne is more secure.
With regards to Sweden, I am always a fan of a surviving Kalmar Union, but it’s gonna be difficult. You could maybe take inspiration from the “To Be a Fox and a Lion” TL. However, it is more plausible that only Denmark-Norway will be reconquered. However, if Denmark-Norway and England remain allies, then it is likely that Denmark will fare better later on during the many Dano-Swedish wars, and Scandinavia will be more balanced. I also think that if one of the Scandinavian countries go protestant (which Sweden is Very likely to do) then the other one would also go Protestant.
 
For that matter, I'd expect Protestantism in one form or another to start cropping up in England, especially if Scotland goes Calvinist as IOTL.
 
Ahh I had forgotten about that! Would be an Ironic twist if France turned Protestant, while England remained Catholic. If Protestantism should survive, I could possibly also imagine that Christian II’s son/grandson might embrace it, when the throne is more secure.
With regards to Sweden, I am always a fan of a surviving Kalmar Union, but it’s gonna be difficult. You could maybe take inspiration from the “To Be a Fox and a Lion” TL. However, it is more plausible that only Denmark-Norway will be reconquered. However, if Denmark-Norway and England remain allies, then it is likely that Denmark will fare better later on during the many Dano-Swedish wars, and Scandinavia will be more balanced. I also think that if one of the Scandinavian countries go protestant (which Sweden is Very likely to do) then the other one would also go Protestant.
I say nothing of France, but Normandy... ;) And yes, England and Denmark-Norway are allies for at least a generation after this. But other than that, I haven't really thought about Scandinavia at all..

For that matter, I'd expect Protestantism in one form or another to start cropping up in England, especially if Scotland goes Calvinist as IOTL.
Oh that it will, you have my word on that!
 
Hmm...thinking back, I remember there was a book title about Christina of Denmark being the queen that England was never supposed to have...could it be that Lionel predeceases his father??
 
“It’s a gamble, I grant you,” Henry said carelessly, “But then, which major gamble of mine hasn’t come off in the last ten years?”
I wonder if Henry will be known as the luckiest King in Christendom? Certainly, a lot of historians would explain how most of his lucky breaks were actually simply good plans that paid off thanks to the larger geopolitical picture, but to the average student of history, there's the easy narrative that Henry just was a lucky SOB.
 
I wonder if Henry will be known as the luckiest King in Christendom? Certainly, a lot of historians would explain how most of his lucky breaks were actually simply good plans that paid off thanks to the larger geopolitical picture, but to the average student of history, there's the easy narrative that Henry just was a lucky SOB.
That's certainly one way of describing him, but his most famous sobriquet TTL will be 'England's Second Conqueror'. Marie is 'Beatrix' or 'The Golden Queen' and Lionel is 'The Lion Prince', but I haven't decided on Dickon's or the girls' yet...
 
That's certainly one way of describing him, but his most famous sobriquet TTL will be 'England's Second Conqueror'. Marie is 'Beatrix' or 'The Golden Queen' and Lionel is 'The Lion Prince', but I haven't decided on Dickon's or the girls' yet...
I don't think it'd be something often call him, certainly not in his lifetime beyond as a snide insult from his enemies. I, however, could see entire schools of debate forming in the modern-day whether Henry was smart and skilled or just plain lucky, with a third school pointing out that most successful rulers are lucky no matter how skilled and making such a distinction is pointless. Mostly because that seems like the sort of argument that historians love to have.
 
Another great chapter I am wondering where Faclonhonor gets his vision of this Henry VIII are you looking at the Young Henry VIII of England or it your character of your Henry more original character with a bit of the young Henry VIII before he became an fat tyrant and his joycing accident in 1536.looking forward to seeing more.
 
That's certainly one way of describing him, but his most famous sobriquet TTL will be 'England's Second Conqueror'. Marie is 'Beatrix' or 'The Golden Queen' and Lionel is 'The Lion Prince', but I haven't decided on Dickon's or the girls' yet...
Dickson could be the Black Prince of his age and his brother Lionel could play his Edward III of England with a bit of Philip iV of France mixed in. Whish you good luck.
 
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