Vivat Rex Henricus IX: A Tudor Timeline

With Catherine having the key relationship to Charles V, it is likely she'll marry Mary off to him.
Given the age difference and also that in OTL he found someone closer to his age (and he also didn't want to wait for mary to grow older), do you think he will still go for such a match?
 
Given the age difference and also that in OTL he found someone closer to his age (and he also didn't want to wait for mary to grow older), do you think he will still go for such a match?

The age difference is a factor, but the fact that Mary is no longer being disowned by her father makes a big difference in her marriageability.
 
I think you're confusing Mary Tudor, the daughter of Henry VIII, with Mary Tudor, the daughter of Henry VII en the sister of Henry VIII and Margaret Tudor. The Habsburgs, from the time that Maximilian was still the head of the house, were interested in a match between Charles and Mary (the latter, as in the elder of the two), who was a few (not many) years older. Anyway they would have been closer in age, than Mary and her OTL husband Louis XII of France.

However you're right that IOTL Mary Tudor (the younger) the daughter of Henry VIII was deemed too young for Charles V.
 
Vivat Rex Henricus IX: A Tudor Timeline
May 1513-January 1514

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Mary Tudor, the wife of Charles of Burgundy and the beloved Aunt of Henry IX

King Henry IX was now two years old and appeared, in the eyes of his mother as well as his Court, to be exceptionally bright. He early signs of mastering both Spanish and English (this was in large part accredited to Catherine's choice of Spanish, as opposed to English, nurses). He resembled his father according to most courtiers, with the exception being his inheritance of his mother's light hair. Despite his young age he had clear favorites at Court. He greatly admired and loved his mother, although this was to be expected, but he also was enamored with his Aunt Mary who frequently visited his nursery in order to play with her nephew. She showered him in gifts and got love and admiration in return. This would build a bond that would span the rest of both individual's lives.

Therefore it was to be expected that Henry IX was devastated when Catherine of Aragon and Margaret of Austria, the regent for Charles in Bohemia, decided that despite Charles' young age, the marriage long ago quietly agreed to ought to occur between the young heir to most of Europe and Mary Tudor. Mary was escorted from London by a wide variety of English officials, including an upcoming, new member of Parliament by the name of Thomas More who caught Catherine's eye as an ally due to his extreme piety. After a teary farewell with her nephew, Mary crossed the Channel in July and arrived at the Court of Charles in early August. Charles, a mere boy of 13, greatly disappointed Mary and she quietly worked against the marriage the 3 weeks leading up to it. Her complaints fell of deaf ears and despite tears, stubbornness (likely the same kind that was often seen in her brother), and quiet protests she was marched up the aisle and married to the 13 year old Lord of the Netherlands.

The married was supposedly consummated, as Mary displayed signs of pregnancy a few months later, but her stomach soon receded. Some believed that she had cheated on Charles, as the King appeared too young to many to be able to conceive.The issue was hushed up however by Margaret of Austria who viewed it as attempts to weaken the claims of both her nephew and his yet to be born heirs. Mary remained at the Court of Charles both bored and depressed. She did not take well to the Low Countries and often wrote of Catherine of Aragon (in letters where she masked her discontent) and several other individuals including the 2 year old King.

Back across the channel Catherine had many other issues which took a higher priority than a scorned sister-in-law. Catherine emulated both her father-in-law and Louis XII by addressing tax reform. She lowered taxes nationwide, much to the dismay of many nobles, who were afraid to act due to her high popularity among the people of England, which only increased after she began charging them less for living in England. While meddling with taxes lowered the Crown's income, Catherine believed that the expenses the government would have would follow in decline as England was at its most stable point since the years prior to the Black Plague and the later rule of Edward III.

Thomas Howard and Catherine's Advisory Council had been intentionally separated by the Queen. Howard and his sons were to remain in Edinburgh, securing Margaret II's control of the city, but not any of the surrounding countryside and especially not the highlands (which were still technically in rebellion) and Thomas Wolsey had yet to be recalled from Rome although he had little objections about this as he was building diplomatic ties for England in the Vatican as well as with Pope Leo X. Thomas More, fresh off the boat from Burgundy, was added to the Council by Catherine without alerting the other members and correspondence between More, Howard, and several other disaffected nobles began to increase. While no one opposed More, they were against Catherine increasing the size of the Council without their position. There was little they could do from their foreign positions however, and instead they resigned themselves to waiting for a time when they could return to England and begin to curb Catherine's influence at Court.

Catherine was aware that both Wolsey and Howard were greatly disappointed, as one of her husband's former favorites Charles Brandon had been receiving letters from Wolsey and Howard which were also being sent to several other Noble Families. She decided the best course of action would be to eliminate one of them from opposing her through kindness. The Queen Mother postulated Wolsey would be the easiest to win over despite past coldness that had existed between herself and him. She knew that Wolsey enjoyed power and prominence, as could be evidenced by his great plans for Hampton Court, and therefore she enlisted the help of William Warham to gain the ambitious diplomat a religious post. Letters were sent to Pope Leo X, who was sympathetic to Catherine, and he suggested offering Wolsey the position of Archbishop of York, so long as he'd be consecrated, and Leo would then offer him the position of Cardinal. Most of these negotiations with the pontiff were conducted by Warham, as Catherine often declined to engage in Church politics.

Wolsey accepted the offer, eager to return home from Rome. After a month of travel he arrived in London where he was appointed the Archbishop of York. From this point forward he ended his correspondence with Howard and assumed a more relaxed position in regards to Catherine. Upon receiving the offer of the position of Cardinal Wolsey accepted but decided to remain in England at Hampton Court, which had begun to be extensively remodeled, instead of returning to Rome. Wolsey's rise was viewed as unparalleled at the time, as many people including the Cardinal himself were unaware of Warham and Leo's negotiations, the Cardinal was suspicious however, and took it as a sign Catherine was aware of his borderline treason. Howard in the meantime, was kept up north in Edinburgh, a problem Catherine would hold off on dealing with.

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Thomas Wolsey, the Archbishop of York
 
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In 1514 Bohemia and Hungary were still ruled by Vladislaus II Jagiellon. Margaret of Austria was Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands for Charles V (and while he was a minor de facto for Maximilian).

However Maximilian and Vladislaus did agree upon a succession treaty (actual a couple of them), which IOTL paid off for the Habsburgs, when Ferdinand became king of Bohemia & Hungary.

Anyway hopefully Charles and Mary can become a bit closer, when they grow older.
 
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Sorry about the lack of updates :p

I just bought Crusader Kings II and Europa Universalis IV and so that's been eating away a lot of my free time.
 
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