The Rose Blooms in French Soil

In 1546 2 events began that started war in Europe. The first was the death of Henry II of Navarre and his son, also named Henry. These deaths left Sophia d'Albret, Queen of Aragon as Queen of Navarre in her own right, as well as her husband by right through his mother. However, both France and Portugal disagreed. For Manuel, Prince of Portugal, his mother had actually not been asked to renounce her claims upon her marriage, as it had not been seen as important at the time due to the speed at which Juan III of Portugal had married Buenaventura of Navarre. And thus he claimed it through his mother. In France, Queen Dowager Quiteria, who had not remarried since Louis XII's death decades prior, was 45 and felt ready to take the throne in her own right, claiming that Sophia had lost her right by marrying a foreign King, conveniently forgetting she herself was where she was at this moment by marrying a foreign King. But in an effort to seem a Queen, she married her continual lover of the past 15 years Louis, Count of Vaudémont. They had had a son in 1534, named Charles, who Quiteria raised in her private estates. Now legitimized by marriage (at least in Quiteria's mind), she offered a firm choice in that her line was secure. Thus began the War For Navarre, which lasted 9 years.
 
The death of Margaret of Angouleme in 1545 came as a blow to the English King. Aged 53, the Queen of England took a nasty bite from a piece of wish and went to bed with stomach pains, only to die in her sleep. Despite her grief, there was definitely some relief for the Queen of England, who's extreme Catholicism was highly threatened by Margaret of Angouleme's reformist views, which had gotten only stronger with age. With this change the English court transitioned into a den of prayer and feasts. Not an old man, Henry IX of England enjoyed parties, but with a family of 10 strong children* he looked to exude the image of a good honest husband. In an age where men took mistresses as a rule, his supposed fidelity** and good skills with children were assets in his aim to be respected as a man of virtue.

*Increased to 11 in the next year with was his last child by the Queen with Prince George.

**Rumours that the King had a longstanding affair with the Lady Grace Brandon, his first cousin and the younger daughter of the Duke of Suffolk by Madeleine d'Angouleme, who had given her husband 2 sons and 2 daughters (Eleanor in 1515, Henry in 1516, Grace in 1517 and Thomas in 1520).
 
The Marriage of Henry VIII to Margaret of Angouleme and their descendants as of 1546

Henry VIII of England (b.1491: d.1544) m. Margaret of Angouleme (b.1492: d.1545) (a)

1a) Henry IX of England (b.1509) m. Anne of Hungary and Bohemia (b.1503) (a)

1a) Katherine Tudor (b.1527) m. Manuel of Portugal, Prince of Portugal (b.1525)

2a) Mary Tudor (b.1529)

3a) Anne Tudor (b.1530)

4a) Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales (b.1532)

5a) Margaret Tudor (b.1533: d.1533)

6a) William Tudor, Duke of York (b.1534)

7a) Margaret Tudor (b.1535)

8a) Elizabeth Tudor (b.1537)

9a) Edmund Tudor, Duke of Bedford (b.1538)

10a) John Tudor, Duke of Gloucester (b.1539: d.1540)

11a) Eleanor Tudor (b.1541)

12a) Frances Tudor (b.1541)

13a) George Tudor, Duke of Gloucester (b.1546)​

2a) Elizabeth Tudor (b.1510: d.1537) m. Juan III of Aragon (b.1507) (a)

1a) Miscarriage (c.1528)

2a) Miscarriage (c.1530)

3a) Miscarriage (c.1531)

4a) Anna Margareta of Aragon, Princess of Girona (b.1532) m. John of Austria (b.1534)

5a) Stillborn Son (c.1534)

6a) Miscarriage (c.1535)

7a) Maria Catarina of Aragon (b.1537)​

3a) Miscarriage (c.1513)

4a) Edward Tudor, Duke of York (b.1516) m. Maria of Castile and Portugal, Princess of Asturias (b.1518) (a)

5a) Miscarriage (c.1517)

6a) Margaret Tudor (b.1520) m. James V of Scotland (b.1515) (a)

1a) James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (b.1539)

2a) Arthur Stewart, Duke of Ross (b.1541)

3a) Dorothea Stewart (b.1543)​
 
In 1547, at age 29, there were rumours and speculation that the Princess of Asturias was at long last due for a child. Doctors were called in, Prince Edward held balls and parties, but it was all for naught. Eventually 27 doctors from around Europe were brought in and all gave a variation of the same diagnosis. She has gone through the change. Her time is up. The Princess spent many nights crying in her rooms and her husband, in typical fashion, arranged a mourning hunting party*. The Queen, meanwhile, looked to her youngest daughter. Joanna of Castile was a beautiful child, as beautiful as Maria had been. But sturdier. And so, hoping for the best and praying that the English weren't to blame, she betrothed her youngest daughter to the English Duke of Bedford, a year elder then the Infanta and with a reputation for growing fast.
 
Quiteria of Navarre began to style herself as the Queen of Navarre sometime around June of 1547. She had done so before, but now her signature became consistent. Quiteria R. Her son, meanwhile, her son Charles was proclaiming himself Charles la Prince de Navarre. However, the Count of Vaudémont proceeded more cautiously, advising his wife:

"Be wary of gifts that are not made yet."

In Aragon, Juan III of Aragon and Queen Sophia d'Albret celebrated their first child this same year, a healthy son named Ferdinand. With a male heir to give the combined thrones of Aragon, Naples and now Navarre too, the King began the full overtake of the tiny kingdom, working through the territories he had not yet had. In true fashion for her personality, the Queen refused to here of her homeland and when the King offered to take her to the castle she had been born in, she

"My home was the place where my brother ruled, where I played as a Princess. It was free and now it is yours."

The King merely shrugged and continued his war. It would have been perfect, if not for the Portuguese. They too had actually begun fighting, though not in Navarre. Instead they attacked the other borders of Aragon, with the silent help of Eleanor I of Castile (she refused to send troops to any side but also refused to stop them from moving through her kingdom to battle eachother). Thus, Aragon slowed it fighting to prevent Portugal from destroying what it already had, only to find a second Portuguese army had been brought by ship to Navarre and had taken Pampalona, along with several key cities. Thus the war's first moves had been made.
 
The death of Charles IX of France in 1548 meant the end of France's support for Quiteria for now, as the new Francis I of France focuses on his two children, Anne de Bourbon and Louis le Dauphin. His daughter is betrothed to the Prince of Wales in an effort to keep the peace with England. His son Louis is betrothed to Dorothea Stewart, in an effort to bring the Scottish back to Catholicism.
 
The marriage of Charlotte de Bourbon, Fille de France to Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales in 1549 was a celebration that England had not seen since the Prince's birth. The celebrations lasted a months and their progress through England to Ludlow took 6 months, as the royal couple stopped at every town on the way to hand out alms and receive gifts*. Their thoughts on each other were recorded both by the Prince's friend and uncle** Thomas Brandon, and in Charlotte's letter to her brother***.

*One particularly enthusiastic woman, Hannah Chancellor (one of the few literate women not of noble birth), would write that the couple were like Gods standing in a sea of adoring eyes and wide smiles. There was also stories that in certain places they choose to stay for up to a week to ensure the people knew the royal couple.

**Brandon wrote in his private journals that The Prince thought Charlotte pretty, though somewhat unintelligent. This account is also where we get the most concrete version of her appearance, as the nobleman had a penchant for physically describing women he had met. In his opinion, the princess was large, fair and attractive, with a low, rumbling laugh. This seems to match with portraits done at the time, which show the Prince and Princess of Wales together. She seems to have been quite pale with ashy-brown hair, and with quite a large build. Her husband, also tall, was on a more delicate side and had the Tudor colouring, although even in portraits it is obvious his skin was more ruddy than was popular at the time and, no matter how flattering, they all showed his decidedly horselike, crooked nose, something gained by an unfortunate fall as a child that had left it healed oddly.

***Charlotte herself seemed pleased, and wrote the nose that many had considered offensive or terrifying was in fact quite charming and helped her more quickly become close to him, as she herself had a scar from childhood. In her case, it was the missing of the end of 3 of her toes, from yet another childhood prank. This injury was actually the reason that, under Francis I of France, rules about the inner machinations and workings of the court were tightened.
 
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Marie de Bourbon, Holy Roman Empress, sent a series of letters throughout the last months of 1549 and the early month of 1550 hoping to curb the violence that was beginning to define Navarre. She wrote especially enthusiastic letters to her "brother King" Juan III of Aragon, passionately pleading with him to end the bloodshed and come to an agreement. Her letters to the Queen Dowager Quiteria took a less kind nature, reminding the older woman that although she was younger she was wiser, and knew that Charles de Lorraine (as she called Quiteria's son) would never sit the Navarrese Throne.
 
The death of Marie de Guise, wife of Robert de Bourbon, Duke of Orleans in 1551, in childbirth with the couple's 4th child*, a son named Charles, who soon followed his mother to the grave. The Duke was devastated and decided, upon the engagement of his eldest son to the Princess Christina of Lorraine in 1552**, to lead his army for Quiteria of Navarre. The two were somewhat close and, after his wife's death, the Duke hopes to help the woman who had been there for him the most***. As such, the fighting between Portugal and Aragon took a terrible, unexpected turn.

*Marie and Robert's 3 other children were Nicholas Xavier in 1540, Henri in 1541 and a daughter named Charlotte in 1545.

**Eldest daughter of Francis I, Duke of Lorraine and his bride Amalia of Cleves. Born in 1539, she was followed by twin brothers (both dead shortly after birth) in 1542, a stillborn sister in 1544 and a third brother Francis in 1547.
 
Sophie d'Albret, nominal Queen of Navarre and Queen Consort of Aragon was not a happy woman. Her husband since the age of 9 had been the much older Juan III of Aragon, who now spent his days organizing what had become a bloody war for her homeland. Her 3 pregnancies had ended only with 1 son, although at 23 in 1552 there were still hopes that a second son would be born. She spent much time with her stepdaughter Maria Catarina, particularly after Anna Margareta and John of Austria had left the country in 1551 due to the rising tension between the couple and the Princess' father, who found the young Austrian insufferable. The Queen took to prayer during this time.
 
In Savoy, the Duke found that life was simple when the other powers of Europe were busy fighting their own wars. His sons Philibert and John of Savoy, born to him from his wife Isabella of Portugal, were healthy, as was his daughter Renata of Savoy*.

*The Ducal couple had welcomed many children throughout their marriage. The first, Philibert, had been born in 1522, followed closely by a stillborn brother in 1523. John of Savoy, the second son, was born in 1526. Twin girls were born and died in 1528. Renata, a beauty who Charles III of Savoy was aiming to marry either the recently single Duke of Orleans or the Duke of York, had come in 1531, followed by the shortlived Louis in 1533 and finally a stillborn boy in 1535.
 
1553 saw the largest battle in Navarre of the war. 1000 men were killed in a single night, mostly from the Portuguese and French. Juan III of Aragon actually sent an apology letter to the King of France, promising that he would ensure his brother was not harmed. The reply he received was that the Duke of Orleans was a traitor to the crown and only had not been punished due to the fact he was 2nd in line for the throne*. However, the greatest losses were for the Portuguese and thus, finally, Manuel of Portugal returned to the court, finally consummating his marriage with his bride. But Orleans would not end the fighting and thus the war continued for another 2 years. It ended only with the death of the Duke of Orleans, and thus the claims of Quiteria of Navarre fell as they had risen**.

*Dorothea Stewart of Scotland would arrive in France in 1555, to the joy of the court. A charming child, she managed not to be her mother's copy in appearance but in wit. That is not to say the girl was any match for the French beauties, but had a certain prettiness in her youth that allowed the Queen of France to proclaim that she was "not as much of a disappointment as we could have hoped". In fact, her eldest daughter, born later, would receive a reputation as a beauty.

**Quiteria, a tired old woman at this point, returned to her estates to die in 1563. Her son would continue to claim the crown of Navarre as his birthright, but would not marry before his death in a duel in 1570, thus ending that particular line.
 
The death of the King of England in 1557 was a shock. While by no means a young man (he would have been 50 in 1559), his vitality had been legendary and had actually performed with his children for the celebrations of the marriage of his second son to Renata of Savoy*. This left the Prince of Wales, the 35 year old man, as King, with his Queen being Charlotte de Bourbon. Their 3 daughters had since been born** and it seemed England would have a Queen before long, although the Queen had been pregnant upon their accession. However, this was not to be and in 1560 the eldest of the Princess was made Princess of Wales, to the shock of the court.

*This would not be a happy marriage and in 1561 their only child would be born, a stillborn daughter.

**The daughters were: Elizabeth in 1551, Margaret in 1554 and Joan in 1556.
 
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Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots was made a widow in 1558. Her husband, James V of Scotland, was not an old man at 42 but his health had had taken a downturn in 1554 after a mild fever takes a bad turn. They're 5 children* were all of high health and the Queen Dowager, aged 38, took her position as the central adviser to the new King, assuring her nephew in England that the betrothal between James and Eleanor Tudor was on the cards, while in fact attempting a betrothal for James with the Hungarian Princess Anne**.

*James in 1539, Arthur in 1541, Dorothea in 1543, Charles in 1544 and Mary in 1547.

**The Princess Anne of Hungary was one of 3 children of Vladislaus III of Hungary and Bohemia and Barbara of Austria. Born in 1545, she was the eldest of three, followed by Catherine in 1548 and Louis in 1552.
 
The Marriage of Henry VIII to Margaret of Angouleme and their descendants as of 1560

Henry VIII of England (b.1491: d.1544) m. Margaret of Angouleme (b.1492: d.1545) (a)

1a) Henry IX of England (b.1509: d.1557) m. Anne of Hungary and Bohemia (b.1503) (a)

1a) Katherine Tudor (b.1527) m. Manuel of Portugal, Prince of Portugal (b.1525) (a)

1a) Beatrice of Portugal (b.1555: d.1558)

2a) Juan of Portugal (b.1558)

3a) Alfonso of Portugal (b.1560)
2a) Mary Tudor (b.1529) m. Francis I, Duke of Lorraine (b.1517: d.1557) (a)

1a) Christine of Lorraine (b.1556)

2a) Charles of Lorraine (b.1557: d.1559)

3a) Francis II of Lorraine (b.1558)
3a) Anne Tudor (b.1530)

4a) Edward VI of England (b.1532) m. Charlotte de Bourbon, Fille de France (b.1530) (a)

1a) Elizabeth Tudor, Princess of Wales (b.1551)

2a) Margaret Tudor (b.1554)

3a) Joan Tudor (b.1556)

5a) Stillborn Boy (c.1558)
5a) Margaret Tudor (b.1533: d.1533)

6a) William Tudor, Duke of York (b.1534) m. Renata of Savoy (b.1531) (a)

7a) Margaret Tudor (b.1535) m. Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (b.1536: d.1559) (a)

1a) Edward Howard, 5th Duke of Norfolk (b.1558)

2a) Catherine Howard (b.1558)​

8a) Elizabeth Tudor (b.1537)

9a) Edmund Tudor, Duke of Bedford (b.1538) m. Jane Howard (b.1537) (a)

1a) Thomas Tudor (b.1559)​

10a) John Tudor, Duke of Gloucester (b.1539: d.1540)

11a) Eleanor Tudor (b.1541)

12a) Frances Tudor (b.1541)

13a) George Tudor, Duke of Gloucester (b.1546) m. Margaret Audley (b.1540) (a)

1a) Miscarriage (c.1560)​
2a) Elizabeth Tudor (b.1510: d.1537) m. Juan III of Aragon (b.1507) (a)

1a) Miscarriage (c.1528)

2a) Miscarriage (c.1530)

3a) Miscarriage (c.1531)

4a) Anna Margareta of Aragon, Princess of Girona (b.1532) m. John of Austria (b.1534)

5a) Stillborn Son (c.1534)

6a) Miscarriage (c.1535)

7a) Maria Catarina of Aragon (b.1537: d.1558)
3a) Miscarriage (c.1513)

4a) Edward Tudor, Duke of York (b.1516) m. Maria I of Castile (b.1518) (a)

5a) Miscarriage (c.1517)

6a) Margaret Tudor (b.1520) m. James V of Scotland (b.1515) (a)

1a) James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (b.1539)

2a) Arthur Stewart, Duke of Ross (b.1541) b. Margaret Gordon (b.1544) (a)

3a) Dorothea Stewart (b.1543) m. Louis de Bourbon, Dauphin of France (b.1540) (a)

4a) Charles Stewart, Duke of Albany (b.1544)

6a) Mary Stewart (b.1547)​
 
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