This is totally AU but if Henry had 3+ children and betrothed them while they were in childhood (I.e while he was alive), who do you think he would marry them off too? As in the best choices (strongest allies, etc) obviously considering his break from the Catholic Church!

Child 1 - Female (born 1516) Mary I

Child 2 - Female (born 1533) Elizabeth I

Child 3 - Female (born 1535)

Child 4 - Male (born 1537) Edward VI

Child 5 - Male (born 1541)

Child 6 - Male (born 1542)

Thank you all for your help!
 
This is totally AU but if Henry had 3+ children and betrothed them while they were in childhood (I.e while he was alive), who do you think he would marry them off too? As in the best choices (strongest allies, etc) obviously considering his break from the Catholic Church!

Child 1 - Female (born 1516) Mary I

Child 2 - Female (born 1533) Elizabeth I

Child 3 - Female (born 1535)

Child 4 - Male (born 1537) Edward VI

Child 5 - Male (born 1541)

Child 6 - Male (born 1542)

Thank you all for your help!

Mary's going to be the most important kid. She's legitimate if you don't accept Henry's break with Rome, and even if she's not, she has much better blood - mother a Trastamara and dad a Plantagenet-Tudor - than any of her half-English half-siblings. Now, obviously it depends when Henry betrothes them, childhood is pretty long, and things change.

Mary originally was betrothed in childhood to both Karl V and to the duc de Bretagne. Karl decided that having to wait for her to grow up wasn't going to cut it, so he married Isabel of Portugal instead. The French found themselves alienated by the king's pro-Imperial policy, so yanked the betrothal. Although France could be encouraged to push Mary's suit (bastard or no) to James V of Scotland. James is Catholic, he keeps Mary out of the hands of the Spanish, and he's a king, but not one who's overly important on the European scene. If she gets married after her dad's married Anne Boleyn or Jane Seymour, a foreign duke. No king. Cleves and the Palatinate were both considered at some stage, but Henry didn't like the Pfalz match because he suspected he was being used, and the Cleves duke's demands for a dowry were exorbitant (he wanted Calais, for instance, IIRC)

Elizabeth, again, the who depends on the when. Her mom's pro-French, and wanted one of François Ier's sons, the duc d'Angoulême, but strangely enough, once the apple of discord that was Katherine of Aragon was removed, the HRE Karl was also open to Lizzie marrying either his own son, Felipe II, or his nephew, the Archduke Maximilian/Ferdinand II. Anne probably wouldn't like it, but if she's out of the picture by the time of the betrothal she wouldn't necessarily get a say.

Alternately, good matches for her (but perhaps this is hindsight) might be Frederik II of Denmark or the Johann Friedrich of Saxony if Henry's feeling more Protestant than Catholic. If her sister, Margaret (Henry's got a daughter named for his mom already, so naming one for his grandmother seems like a good bet), lives, Henry might even consider a match with Portugal (if her sister marries the prince of the Asturias). If not, and Henry wants a Protestant match for his daughter, then in Germany would be a good place to look. It could turn quite funny, what with Elizabeth as future Holy Roman Empress and her sister married to the duke of Saxony or something.

Edward VI (assuming this is the same boy as OTL, not that Anne Boleyn carries her 1536 child to term or ends up pregnant again before May 1536 (not impossible, if she was pregnant in summer 1534 (her so-called mystery pregnancy), then that means she got pregnant shortly after Elizabeth was born.)). The usual suspects - Mary, Queen of Scots, Élisabeth de Valois, or an Austrian archduchess.

For Henry, duke of York born in 1541, there are going to be the whispers about his paternity. There will be more than enough willing to settle a score with the Howards by accusing Queen Katherine Howard of committing adultery. During the pregnancy Henry might be willing to believe them, but once Katherine gives Henry a second son, she's safe. As to a bride, if Edward VI is seen to be sickly, and the Catholic Howards gain control of a possible regency, I can't see a Protestant match being considered. Most likely, the duke of York (like his dad, gets his brother's "left overs") and ends up with a French/Spanish princess.

Same goes for Thomas, duke of Somerset. Although, a stark difference will be the fact that he's probably marrying an English girl (particularly if both his older brothers survive). I'm not sure who in said category might be age-appropriate for him. If his brother ascends as Henry IX, he's a touch more important, second gentleman of the kingdom, but simply for that reason, a domestic match might be considered more appropriate for him, to prevent him from being a foreign king's puppet (as Karl V tried to do with François Ier's youngest son).
 
Thank you so much for your in depth reply! It's really appreciated.

Both female children are Boleyn's.

Edward being Seymour's!

Nice name ideas too, although I presumed a third boy would be named for his brother (Arthur) or a Tudor ancestor (Edmund or Jasper?)

Do you think Henry would have got rid of Catherine Howard if she had produced a second son?
 
Thank you so much for your in depth reply! It's really appreciated.

Both female children are Boleyn's.

Edward being Seymour's!

Nice name ideas too, although I presumed a third boy would be named for his brother (Arthur) or a Tudor ancestor (Edmund or Jasper?)

Do you think Henry would have got rid of Catherine Howard if she had produced a second son?

One would've been enough to save her or her cousin, Anne. A second one is just icing on the cake.
 
If Catherine Howard pops out a boy, Henry won't look too hard at accusations of adultery - although Culpepper and Dereham might find employment away from court - and no one will dare to accuse her, not with Henry VIII's temper. After all, the boy looks just like him (Henry's take).
 
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