WI: Margaret of Angouleme, Queen of England

What might have happened in England if any of the proposals to marry Marguerite de Angouleme to Henry, Duke of York had gone off without a hitch when they were young? I'm curious about what might happen during the course of her marriage both with her tendencies to help those who needed it and with her love of the Renaissance. But in general I would like to know what might happen if she became Queen instead of Catherine.
 
What might have happened in England if any of the proposals to marry Marguerite de Angouleme to Henry, Duke of York had gone off without a hitch when they were young? I'm curious about what might happen during the course of her marriage both with her tendencies to help those who needed it and with her love of the Renaissance. But in general I would like to know what might happen if she became Queen instead of Catherine.

Following the example set by her mother, I could imagine, Marguerite becoming an influential woman in England similar to her time in France.

She was said to be very kind, gentle, gracious, charitable, a great dispenser of alms and friendly to all, which would be a change to Catherine and Anne Boleynn.

Why were the proposals called off?
Better offer from Castille-Aragon?
From what I can see no official reason was given, all sources seem to say that it was just simply courteously rebuffed. Knowing that Catherine of Aragon was already in England with her wealth and family alliance.
 
From what I can see no official reason was given, all sources seem to say that it was just simply courteously rebuffed. Knowing that Catherine of Aragon was already in England with her wealth and family alliance.
Ah, so an on the spot preemptive strike by Charles V
 
Based off of Margaret and Henry's personalities I don't see much middle ground between either passionate love or passionate hate. On the positive, Margaret is a whole lot easier for Henry to divorce.
 
Why were the proposals called off?
Better offer from Castille-Aragon?

Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing if the little information I have is true since I don't yet own a book about her but the 1500-01 offers appear to have been made by Louis XII for either the Prince of Wales or the Duke of York. Henry rejected them, possibly because he thought the proposed dowry was a little paltry, but he was also probably considering Catherine of Aragon for Arthur at that time. 1502 Louise de Savoy makes another attempt to marry Marguerite to the Duke of York but Henry's uninterested. 1505, Henry makes an offer but is rebuffed because Charles, Duc d'Alençon is on the marriage market and Louis wanted to keep the young man's extensive estates within the family.

So, four offers may have been made but the only viable ones are likely the offers before 1505 because Alençon was a very tempting offer for Louis.

By the way, Marguerite's dowry in her marriage to Alençon was 60,000 crowns. It's possible that a similar amount was offered in the first two marriage proposals but because Henry was looking to Spain as well he probably thought the dowry was too small in comparison with the Infanta of Spain.

Hopefully someone else can corroborate the above information.
 
Alençon could easily be removed from the table by Anne de Beaujeu's husband/comte de Montpensier living longer. Originally, due to tensions between Anne's husband and the comte de Montpensier, who refused to be acknowledged as duc de Bourbon in right of his wife (the match was between Suzanne de Bourbon and the Comte (after his and her father's deaths, she later wed his brother, the Constable), Anne and Pierre were considering marrying Suzanne to Alençon.

But the fact of the matter is, AFAIK, Henry rebuffed Marguerite since he would've preferred the candidature of one of Louis XII's daughters (only Claude was alive then). However, Louis wouldn't bite. The fact that he regarded the dowry as paltry is no surprise, since she would only be marrying as a princesse du sang not the sister/daughter of a king. As to the paltriness of said dowry, compared to Catherine it probably would've seemed small. But, to my mind, the only way Marguerite might end up married into England is if Arthur survives (but perhaps still predeceases his father with no issue).
 
Basically, to get Margaret of Angouleme as Queen of England events that somewhat match these need to happen:

1502: Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, survives his illness but is seriously weakened. Thus, pressure is put on Henry VII to marry off his second son.

1503: The 12 year old Duke of York is betrothed to Margaret of Angouleme. This is in an attempt to balance out the Spanish to the French.

1505: The 14 year old Duke of York marries the 13 year old Margaret of Angouleme.

1506: Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, dies from his continued health problems. His bride Catherine of Aragon thus leaves England and will later marry the Duke of Savoy.

1509: Henry VII of England dies, leaving his son the Duke of York as King of England, with his Queen being Margaret of Angouleme.
 
Henry VIII of England (b.1491: d.1547) m. Margaret of Angouleme (b.1492: d.1549) (a)

1a) Henry IX of England (b.1510: d.1562) m. Renee of France (b.1511: d.1575) (a)

1a) Elizabeth Tudor (b.1530)

2a) Miscarriage (c.1533)

3a) Edward VI of England (b.1535)

4a) Henry Tudor, Duke of York (b.1537: d.1538)

5a) Anne Tudor (b.1540)

6a) Edmund Tudor, Duke of York (b.1543)​

2a) Miscarriage (c.1512)

3a) Stillborn Boy (c.1515)

4a) Mary Tudor (b.1517) m. James V of Scotland (b.1512: d.1542) (a)

1a) James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (b.1537: d.1539)

2a) Alexander IV of Scotland (b.1540: d.1545)

3a) Margaret I of Scotland (b.1542)​

5a) Stillborn Boy (c.1520)

6a) Margaret Tudor (b.1524) m. Charles II de Valois, Duke of Orléans (b.1522: d.1545) (a)

1a) Miscarriage (c.1540)

2a) Charles III de Valois, Duke of Orléans (b.1543)

3a) Anne d'Orleans (b.1544: d.1545)​
Catherine of Aragon (b.1485: d.1536) m. Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales (b.1486: d.1506), Charles III, Duke of Savoy (b.1485: d.1553) (a)

1a) Ludovico Emmanuel of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont (b.1508: d.1515)

2a) Miscarriage (c.1509)

3a) Anna Catarina of Savoy (b.1511: d.1580) m. Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (b.1508: d.1559) (a)

1a) Miscarriage (c.1529)

2a) Alfonso d'Este (b.1534: d.1540)

3a) Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (b.1539)​

4a) Philibert III, Duke of Savoy (b.1514: d.1555) m. Maria of Portugal (b.1521: d.1577) (a)

1a) Philip III, Duke of Savoy (b.1543)

2a) Philibert of Savoy (b.1545: d.1550)

3a) Charles of Savoy (b.1549: d.1551)​

5a) Emmanuel Giovanni of Savoy (b.1517: d.1519)

6a) Miscarriage (c.1519)​
 
Just to get back on track a bit what might be some of the social and political effects of Marguerite being Queen of England? What were England's social services like at the time and is there a chance that Marguerite would involve herself with them here?
 
The trouble with understanding how this marriage would work is that Henry never really had any relationship like the one he would have with Margaret. No bride of his was an age peer to him. Catherine was 7 years older, Anne was at the least 10 years younger ect. So with Margaret we have a royal who is around his own age. Judging b her OTL fertility (it seems she didn't ever try with her first husband and with Henry II of Navarre she had 2 children in 2 years in her late 30s) she could most definitely give him children. In the timeline I suggested above I went with 3/6 living. Due to that they most likely stay married throughout Henry's life. In that way Margaret is lucky, however she will not have advantage Catherine had in that she will not be as idealised to her husband. Catherine represented both being able to compete and beat his brother, but also an untouched, mature woman to make him feel like an adult after not being treated as such by his father and grandmother. In truth, Margaret might take the position in Henry's mind as the second prize, particularly if Catherine becomes available soon after. And if Margaret still flirts with Protestantism/Reformation of the Church and Henry is still DEFENDER OF THE CHURCH I can see friction occurring.
 
This all sounds about right. It's possible that she would still flirt with the Reformation. How would her social works translate over in England? And would she try kick off the Renaissance in England as she would in France? I have a feeling that her biggest enemy here will be Henry's tendency to spend money lavishly. He's probably much too stubborn for her to redirect his spending to anything worthwhile.
 
She'd probably feel incredibly frustrated with the marriage. OTL she had incredible freedom OTL that she will not be given in this situation. But in saying that, I can see Henry romanticising France in a different way than he did OTL. If Margaret and him at least start off with a good relationship, she might make him not want to immediately invade, though that also might not happen either, it's hard to tell. She'd probably not have much leeway in the way of money for a very long time and I do see them clashing when Margaret gets older and looks more into being a true Renaissance woman.
 
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