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Tragedy at Westminster: The Death of Henry VIII
Chapter 1
1511



In 1511 England appeared to be in wonderful shape. Not only had the Wars of the Roses become a distant memory but the Kingdom itself was in the best shape it had been since the early years of Edward III's rule. The King Henry VIII, descended from both Lancaster and York, was young, brave, and eager. To top this all off the King's wife Catherine of Aragon had just given birth to the couple's first surviving child, which was a son (much to the delight of his father). Celebrations were ordered all across the Kingdom as the heir to the throne, Prince Henry the Duke of Cornwall, enjoyed his first few days of life. The joy would not last however and darker days loomed on the horizon.

Henry VIII took part in the massive celebrations held across the Kingdom by participating in a jousting tournament. Under the banner "Sir Loyal Heart" the King sought to further the already blossoming relationship between himself and his wife, Catherine of Aragon who was likewise enamored with him. The jousting began uneventful, but soon turned violent by midday when Henry was throne from his horse with deep injuries. The wounds were too deep for medical assistance and so the King called upon Catherine as well as some of his other advisers. He ordered for Catherine to be named regent for the couple's son upon his death before dying in the early hours of the morning.

Catherine, a foreigner, knew that several steps had to be taken to prevent any pretenders and revolts from arising. With the backing of those whom had been at Henry VIII's deathbed, the Queen Dowager waited several days to announce the death of her husband. During this period she began to plan her regency and worked to earn the loyalty of many English families and nobles. It took 1 week after Henry died in the tournament for the news to be officially released, although rumors had circulated throughout the country on the fact that he had been injured. Catherine enjoyed broad support which was only broadened by sympathy for her loss. Henry had been struck down despite a promising future and his heir was only weeks old.

The news caused a large amount of attention from abroad. While Castille and Aragon were somewhat bolstered by good luck (Catherine's father was in control of both realms), France and Scotland were suspicious. Rumors abounded in the French Royal Court that Catherine sought to arrange Henry's death due to an affair and that Henry IX wasn't even the king's son at all. Likewise, these spread to Scotland where James IV began to prepare an invasion, using the rumors as an excuse to install his wife Margaret Tudor, who was first in line to the throne, was Queen. He departed Edinburgh with a large force in August 1511 and set out to snuff out Catherine's regency before it got too established. He expected significant French support, which had been guaranteed by ambassadors from Paris and believed Spain wound not involve itself in such a distant dispute.

Catherine took the news of the advancing Scottish Army extremely well. The Queen Dowager had been facing increasing opposition from a few nobles who viewed her as too much of a foreign influence. The news of James IV's actions brought them back into line however. A Spanish Princess ruling from London appeared to many to be better than an English Princess ruling from Edinburgh. Catherine knew that a failure in dealing with Scotland would likely not only cost her her job as regent but also could lead to her death. She dispatched an army to head north and in the meantime used the threat to a three way invasion (England, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire) as a way of deterring French recognition of Margaret Tudor, much to Scotland's dismay.

When news reached James of France's lack of support, the morale in his army crashed to an extreme low. Many men deserted in order to return to their families, viewing the war as already lost, despite James' promises of land, glory, and gold to those who stayed. With his numbers greatly reduced by desertion and disease throughout September, the Scots resorted to pillaging settlements in Northumbria. This in turn infuriated many local who had largely been indifferent to the conflict. When Catherine's army arrived in October the location of James' men was given to them by several peasants whom had had their homes raided and destroyed.

The two armies made battle just outside of Carlisle. James' men were severely outnumbered and lacked morale and so it was only mid-morning when the retreat was sounded. The Scots didn't expect a second group of soldiers to be flanking them however, and fled right into another group of English soldiers who massacred them among those killed was the second in line to the Scottish throne, John Stewart and the King's illegitimate son Alexander. James was caught and taken prisoner as the few men who escaped fled back towards Scotland.

When news of James' defeat reached Edinburgh, the situation became extremely dire. The next in line to the throne, after the King's slain cousin John Stewart, was not even from the House of Stewart. All of James III's and James II's legitimate descendants were deceased and so the throne would technically pass down to John Douglas, the Earl of Morton. John was descended from James I via his 5th daughter and was one of the few who had legitimate claim to the throne. By December John arrived in Edinburgh to officially push for the ousting of James IV, although this was considered improper and wrong as James IV was merely imprisoned, not deceased or mentally ill. Matters got even worse when it became clear that Margaret Tudor was pregnant, having conceived in July, a month before her husband's departure.

Queen Dowager Catherine had James IV moved to the Tower of London where she decided that England would watch the current events in Scotland unfold before taking action. While she wished for the Scots to choose to keep James as king, despite his imprisonment by the English (which had led to great troubles for James I many years prior), and believed that if the realm descended into Civil War, it would be beneficial for England. If John Douglas was given the throne however, further action would be taken including the prospective release of James IV to add additional confusion and leave the doorway for an English invasion of Scotland open.

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