In Spain, at Cadiz, there was a tragic death, as on December 1st, Luis de Trastámara, second son of Sancho of Cadiz and Catherine de Medici, would die of scarlet fever, just a few weeks after his first birthday. Such news caused some obvious distress among the boy’s parents, especially his pregnant mother, though fears that Catherine would miscarry because of the loss were, fortunately, misplaced.
To the north, across the Pyrenees Mountains, there was to be some news pertinent to the ruling families of France and Lorraine.
In France, at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on August 15th, Maria of Savoy, Duchess of Orleans would suffer a third misscarriage, causing her not only great grief, but deep worry over her future. She wrote to her mother, Susanna of Bavaria that,”My beloved Charles has been a doting husband, but I wonder, will he continue to love me if we suffer more misfortune?”
Of course, Charles was not so steadfast as his wife thought him to be, and he soon took his first known mistress, a beautiful Italian courtesan: Filippa Duci (known to the French as Philippa Desducs) (b.1520, d.1586), who he also seemed to admire for her skills in the art of love, apparently bragging to his father that,”Since, Mademoiselle Desducs has joined my bed, I have never been bored, sometimes I feel too spent by her to visit the Duchesse.”
King Francis would also arrange a good match for his daughter, the Princess Agnes, in the form of Charles of Lorraine, only living son of Francis of Lorraine and Mary Tudor.
In Lorraine on June 14th, Mary Tudor, Duchess of Lorraine, would give birth to her sixth and final child, just four days after the death of her father-in-law, perhaps caused to go into labor weeks early by the death of Antoine, Duc de Lorraine, with whom she had enjoyed a close friendship. The child that she birthed three weeks early would be a daughter, named Philippa of Guelders, the mother of the late Duke, who was still alive, and in fact shared a bond with her granddaughter-in-law, for Philippa reminded Mary quite a bit of her own mother Catherine of Aragon, and maternal grandmother, Isabella of Castile (Who she never met, since her grandmother died when she was four years old) , with whom she shared a pious and dignified personality.
To the east, across the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire, in Vienna, there was to be a birth at the Hofburg Palace. This was the birth of the eldest child of Phillip of Austria, King of the Romans, and his wife, Isabella of Aragon, This birth would occur on July 8th, and would take seven hours, in which there was great fear for the life of mother and child, especially well placed given that her own mother died of illness after birthing her.. Still, mother and child would survive the birth, and the son that Isabella gave birth to would be named Charles, after his paternal grandfather, Charles V. Speaking of which, he was overjoyed to find that his daughter-in-law, homely though she may be, managed to give him a grandson so quickly..
To the south, in Savoy death would strike... On August 5thth, Phillip III, Duke of Savoy, tripped over a tree root while hunting, and bashed his head on a rock as he fell. Panic-stricken attendants rushed forward to see how badly the forty-five-year-old was injured and were initially relieved to see that his skull was not split open… Unfortunately, that hid the true damage that lay beneath, and when his son, Philibert shook him, trying to wake him, there was no response, he clearly slipped into a coma. Duke Phillip III would hold to life for thirteen days, until finally passing on August 18th just five years after he succeeded his father. His passing meant that his twenty-six-year-old son, Philibert III would become Duke, with his pregnant wife, Elizabeth of England becoming Duchess of Savoy. Duke Phillip’s widow, Susanna of Bavaria (age 42) was devastated by her husband’s death but would do all she could to protect his legacy, such as by mediating feuds between her son and daughter-in-law. On September 24th, Elizabeth of England, Duchess of Savoy would have her fifth child, a son named Henry, for her father, the King of England.
In Italy, there were a number of important births and death, some of which would be quite impactful.
In Ferrara, on January 2nd, the year would start with great misery, for the Ducal family, for the fifteen-year-old Alfonso d’Este heir to the Duchy died of a mysterious illness, after suffering for several months. Modern physicians have concluded that it was likely diabetes, inherited from his maternal grandfather, Phillip I, Holy Roman Emperor. Indeed, weeks before his death, the teen complained of blurry vision as well as badly swollen feet, the latter of which was particularly telling, given that the young man was thin in build. Thus, after it was determined that his heartbroken widow, Matilda of Savoy, was not pregnant (She would return to Savoy and join a nunnery, refusing to remarry) ,his ten-year-old brother, Carlo d’Este was thrust into the position of heir to the Duchy. This was somewhat problematic, for Carlo, though healthy, was not really prepared for life as a ruler. Indeed, his mother Catherine of Austria and grandmother Bona Sforza seemed to have spoiled the boy before this, the result being a rather demanding, and as he reached puberty, debauched, personality.
In Florence, at the Palazzo Vecchio on February 19th, Juana of Aragon, Grand Duchess of Florence, would give birth to a stillborn daughter, causing great sadness, though her husband Grand Duke Lorenzo III would stay loyal to her.
Further south in Naples, on June 19th, Marguerite of France, wife of Frederick, Duke of Calabria would give birth two months early, to a stillborn son.
In Poland, on July 7th, Crown Prince Sigismund would die of smallpox at Ujazdów Castle, near Warsaw, just short of his twenty-fourth after suffering for nearly a month. Initially, it seemed that he may pull through, but inexplicably his condition worsened, and the heir to the Polish throne died, much to the heartbreak of his parents, siblings, mistress, wife and children. His pregnant widow, Bianca Maria Sforza would give birth to a stillborn son four days later, adding to the immense grief that was felt, and she herself would succumb to blood loss on that day, July 11th, at the age of twenty-seven, leaving behind her children, Anna(b.1535) and Sigismund (b.1537) as orphans. The rapid succession of these tragedies would cause King Sigismund I to have a heart attack several days later, and though he would survive it, his health would gradually weaken over the next years. This caused, the saddened Queen, the forty-five-year-old Eleanor of Austria to take what measures she could to try and secure the safety of her grandchildren and the succession. Firstly, she took her legitimate grandchildren, Anna and Sigismund into her personally custody, watching over them in case of illness, and seeing to it that they received a thorough, humanist education.
Then she decided what to do with her son’s bastards Olbracht (also known as Wojech) (b.1537) and Jadwiga (b.1542)… While she loved them dearly as her grandchildren, she was acutely aware of the threat that they (Olbracht) could pose to her legitimate grandson’s reign. Thus, they were to be educated by their aunt, her daughter, spinster Princess Sophia (age 18) , who had remained unmarried due to her hunched back, and irregular menstrual cycles but enjoyed the independence of not having a husband, and liked to assist her parents. The illegitimate children would have only supervised, twice a month visits by their mother, Barbara Radziwiłł, to ensure that she did not influence them too much. Olbracht, under his aunt’s direction, would be destined for a Church career, becoming Bishop of Poznań in 1562 until his death in 1580 whereas Jadwiga would ultimately marry a Hungarian nobleman, Stephen Báthory (b.1533, d.1586) who would become Voivode of Transylvania… Eleanor would also see to it that her grandson, Sigismund would be crowned Vivente rege, as succesor to his grandfather Sigmund I, and made it clear that should her husband die while their grandson was still in his minority, that she would be regent. The magnates of the realm chafed under such actions, but made it a point that they would stay loyal to King Sigismund “The Old”, though, loyalty to his wife, and grandson would be another matter entirely…
To the south, in Hungary, there was a wedding, one of some importance, considering that Crown Prince Vladislaus, only surviving son of Louis II of Hungary, had just came of age. In month of March, in the capital of Hungary, at Buda Castle, the fifteen-year-old Vladislaus was married to his fiancé, Ippolita d’Este who was a little over a year his senior, the youngest sibling of Duke Ercole II of Ferrara. With her, she would bring a fine trousseau, befitting the fact that she was from one of the richest Ducal families in Italy (which included a sapphire necklace that her mother Bona d’Este had given her) , as well as a large dowry, the latter of which was especially well welcomed in a kingdom that was very much on the fringes of Christendom, and feared another Ottoman invasion. Quiet and demure, Ippolita was well received by her new family, especially her mother-in-law, Mary of Austria, who was glad that she would not have to compete with the girl for power and influence. As for her relationship with the Crown Prince, she seemed to get along well enough with her husband, who, though cool and reserved, shared a mutual interest in falconry, of all things. The two could perhaps be described more as friends than anything else, but both would remain faithful to the other, and focused on their mutual obligations. Indeed, the obligation of producing an heir was perhaps the foremost reason for this marriage to occur, for Ippolita herself came from a large family, with six siblings, so it was hoped that she would enjoy similar fertility.
These hopes would seemingly come to pass, for, a child, likely conceived within weeks of the wedding, was born, at Buda Castle, eight months later. The child, born a month early on November 19th, would prove to be a son, named Louis for his paternal grandfather, the King of Hungary, who was also born prematurely. Unfortunately, despite the same measures taken by the royal physicians (Including wrapping the infant in warm animal carcasses), the boy would die just a day later, on November 20th, much to the heartbreak of his parents. Ippolita d’Este was said to have written in a letter to her father, Duke Ercole II that,”I don’t know if I will ever be happy again, after this year… First my brother and now my son dies, why must God by so cruel?”
In England, in the Duchy of York, Prince Henry, Duke of York and Amalia of Cleves, Duchess of York would have their fifth child on January 12th, a daughter named Mary, for Henry’s elder sister, the Duchess of Lorraine.
To the north, in Scotland at Dunfermline Palace, Isabella of Navarre would have her second child on December 2nd, a son named Arthur, conceived the night before King James V left to go on campaign.
The Great North Sea War c.1544-1546
In 2015, Maria Bearde (1) , European History Professor at the University of Oslo, has described the goals of the Norwegian Republic in the war in the deadpan Norwegian Documentary
Den store Nordsjøkrigen, (The Great North Sea War, c.2015) as,”A flight of complete fucking idiocy.” Which, in retrospect, is correct given how the war eventually went…
Prime Minister Henrik Nielsen, after handily being reelected in 1541, (his second term beginning in 1542) felt supremely confidant, especially as he won on an estimated 90 percent of the vote, running against Kol Filipsson (b.1491, a member of a minor noble family), with his opponent winning just ten percent of the vote. It was during his first term and the first year of his second term that Nielsen worked on something very dear to his heart, expanding the army and navy, and drafting plans for his
Straff mot England (Punishment of England). In short, this plan was to end in either the destruction or curtailment of England’s Tudor Monarchy, which had earned the ire of the Prime Minister through commercial disputes, as well as the brutal persecution of Pederssonists in England.
Details of the now infamous war plan and its goals include
1: Cooperation with the King of Scots to invade Northern England, and an expedition into Ireland (via Ulster) to liberate the Irish people.
2: Funds given by King Francis I of France are to be used to hire mercenaries, chiefly from the Lutheran areas of the Holy Roman Empire, such as Brandenburg.
3: These mercenaries, as well as five thousand French volunteers, are to be ferried into Scotland via the North Sea, transported primarily by “merchant” ships so as not to arouse suspicion.
4: Once in Ireland, the Norwegian-Scots force will inform the Irish of their intentions, that they will fight for Irish independence, and for the formation of a Republic, so that they could live free from the tyranny of English Kings and their puppets.
5: As Northern England is invaded, attempts will be made to reach out to Lutherans, Perderssonists, and other considered heretics by the English King, inducing them to revolt against King Henry VIII’s zealous tyranny.
6: If the Irish campaign is successful, the army used to invade Ireland will make forays into Wales, and try to provoke a rebellion amongst the Welsh, with the end goal being the establishment of a Welsh Republic.
7: The French King will raise his armies, and send threats of war to the King of England demanding the return of Boulogne and Calais, while not actually waging war, deceit designed to make the English divert men to their continental possessions.
In February Prime Minister Henrik Nielsen, asked the Senate of Norway to declare war on England, and of the 130 Senators, 105 voted to do so, thus, Norway was in a state of war with the Kingdom of England. In his speech he decried the rulers of England,”King Henry and his Spanish harridan oppress the followers of the Pederssonist and Lutheran faiths like the Pharaoh did to the Jews of old, so, we must declare war upon him. May God strike him down, and bring a plague upon his house!”
Of all the vessels sent to transport the troops of Norway and her allies, nearly all of them made it to Scotland, with only a handful being sunk by stormy weather, or sunk by the English Royal Navy, meaning, that, at least the initial stage of the war was to go according to plan.
In March a joint Norwegian and Scottish force, numbering some forty thousand (Twenty-five thousand Scots, five thousand Frenchmen, five thousand other mercenaries, and five thousand Norwegians) crosses the Scottish border into England, occupying cities such as Berwick and Carlisle, sweeping over scattered opposition. This force is led by King James V, George Gordon, the 4th Earl of Huntly, as well as some other Scottish nobles. The Norwegian contingent is led by General Sven Hrafinsson Norheim (b.1496) a man from the lower nobility who led troops in the Norwegian War of Independence. By May, however, an English force of some forty thousand men, led by King Henry, as well as his older sons, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of York arrives at York, ready to defend the jewel of Northern England from the invaders. Concurrent with this, a force of some fifteen thousand (ten thousand Scots, five thousand Norwegians) lands in the region of Ulster, under the command of James's maternal half-brother, Robert Stuart, 3rd Duke of Albany (eldest son of John Stuart, Duke of Albany and Margaret Tudor) and Norwegian General Ingrid Bodilsdottir Froiland ( b.1500, fought as a member of the women's regiment against the Danes).
In this year, there would be little more action on the English front, other than a few skirmishes south of the Scottish defensive line at Berwick, while civil governance in England would be entrusted to the Queen, Catherine of Aragon, who did what she could to maintain order, and raise men for the defense of her husband’s Kingdom.
As news of the invasion (Which is styled as liberation by the Norwegians) filtered in, much of Ireland revolted against English rule, with five thousand Irish volunteers joining the Norwegian-Scots force. In the South of Ireland, order was maintained by the Princes Edmund and Edward, who with twenty two thousand men at their disposal used a combination of ruthless repression against the peasants and burghers as well as bribes and threats to the local nobility to keep them in line, though the more English affiliated population was not as rebellious as their Gaelic cousins to the north. ... The war would soon escalate, with allies of the respective powers joining, as King Christian II of Denmark (whose daughter-in-law is the youngest daughter of Henry VIII), declares war on Norway, with the intention of reforming the Kalmar Union. King Gustav I of Sweden then gets involved, to defend his ally, declaring war on Denmark and preparing for a defense of Skane. In this year, the Scandinavian theatre was mostly quiet, for, there were just a few, inconclusive naval clashes between the Swedish and Danish navies, with a Norwegian attempt to land at Skagen being repulsed, with 500 of the two thousand soldiers being assigned with the landing being killed, though the rest would be able to flee by sea back to Norway by sea.
The Irish Theatre
The first proper battle of the war would occur on April 17th, in Ireland, outside of the village of Clontibret,when fifteen thousand men under, Prince Edward, Duke of Richmond moved against the Norwegian Scots a Norwegian-Scots force of some fifteen thousand under General Ingrid Bodilsdottir Froiland while Robert Stuart, the Duke of Albany was leading a force of 5,000 Irish rebels into Connacht, where he waged a brutal guerilla war against forces under Prince Edmund, the Duke of Somerset. The battle opened with an exchange of artillery fire, for the five English cannons managed to knock out all three of the Scots-Norwegian cannon, losing two of their number to enemy counterfire. The remaining English cannon soon found itself too far away to engage their enemies, for General Froiland ordered her troops to move into the forest to the north of the field. Thus, the cut and thrust of proper battle would begin, with volleys from Aquebusiers, of which the Norwegians and Scots held a bit of an advantage, for they were able to shield and conceal themselves from enemy shot with the tree trunks. When the melee began, it became apparent that General Froiland’s decision to retreat to the forest was a wise one, for her troops were well versed in fighting in such terrain, which also made the 1,000 English heavy horse practically useless. Eventually, after three hours of fighting, Prince Edward, the Duke of Richmond ordered his struggling men to make an organized treat, and they successfully did so, and a Norwegian attempt to pursue them was fought off by the English cavalry, who inflicted substantial casualties. At the end of the day both sides suffered a modest amount of casualties, Prince Edward’s army loosing about 4,000 and General Froiland’s army losing 3,000, though in the fighting Prince Edward was lightly wounded, as he was stabbed in the leg by a Scottish Swordsman.
Overall, it can certainly be said that the conflict would begin with uncertainty for both sides, The Norwegians and their allies were successful in their maneuvers, but had not advanced as far as they hoped, while the English were preparing to launch a counteroffensive in England proper, and to focus on holding onto Southern Ireland.
(1) A shameless reference to Mary Beard of the BBC
Fillipa Duci, Mistress of Prince Charles, Duc d'Orleans
Ippolita d'Este, Crown Princess of Hungary
Vladislaus, Crown Prince of Hungary
Images for the Norwegian and Scots generals will be released in another post
