WI Reginald Pole maries Mary I?

Reginald Pole was considered as a possible husband for Princess Mary by Henry VIII... In OTL Reginald Pole entered the Church and raised to the Cardinalate... (He missed the Papacy for a single vote in the Conclave of 1555...)
WI Reginald Pole and Mary were indeed married? Pole had a claim to the English Crown himself being a descendant of George Plantagenet 1st Duke of Clarence...
How is this marriage altering English History? Since a birth of a child would have united the Tudor with the Plantagenet lines...
Any thoughts?
 
Reginald Pole

I remember this marriage proposal vaguely. It did'nt appear that Henry was particularly anxious to have Mary married off, especially once action had been taken to end his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Perhaps if Henry had had a son, then having Pole marry Mary would be a way of eliminating any rivalry that could develop. Incidently, I don't recall how Reginald Pole was related to the duchess of Salisbury, who was executed by Henry.
 
Unless Henry VIII gave up attempting to get a male heir gets even with Pope and marries Mary with Pole uniting that way the Tudor reign with the Plantagenet claim... And when Henry VIII dies his potential grandson from Mary and Reginald succeeds him on the throne...
 
Unless Henry VIII gave up attempting to get a male heir gets even with Pope and marries Mary with Pole uniting that way the Tudor reign with the Plantagenet claim... And when Henry VIII dies his potential grandson from Mary and Reginald succeeds him on the throne...

Doubt it. If I remember right the reasoning behind Henry divorcing Catherine was due to the marriage being illegitimate, and hence this would probably make Mary illegitimate too. So I don't think Henry could possibly use this, or assume Mary's offspring to be entitled to the throne.

But then, might be wrong, feel free to correct me in the basis of my argument.
 
Doubt it. If I remember right the reasoning behind Henry divorcing Catherine was due to the marriage being illegitimate, and hence this would probably make Mary illegitimate too. So I don't think Henry could possibly use this, or assume Mary's offspring to be entitled to the throne.

But then, might be wrong, feel free to correct me in the basis of my argument.

I'm not sure if anybody truly understood it (european dynastic politics:rolleyes:). The sense I got was that Henry "realized' that, since she was his brother's wife first, their marriage was illegal. The pope said no to the divorce, for reasons I am not sure about (probably because he was a Hapsburg puppet at the time), so Henry starts is own church. Not sure what Mary's legal status would be in the divorce had the pope agreed, or what happened afterward, but henry did put her in the line of succession before elizabeth.

Interesting point, though. I'll have to do some research.
 
I'm not sure if anybody truly understood it (european dynastic politics:rolleyes:). The sense I got was that Henry "realized' that, since she was his brother's wife first, their marriage was illegal. The pope said no to the divorce, for reasons I am not sure about (probably because he was a Hapsburg puppet at the time), so Henry starts is own church. Not sure what Mary's legal status would be in the divorce had the pope agreed, or what happened afterward, but henry did put her in the line of succession before elizabeth.

Interesting point, though. I'll have to do some research.

I was wondering if the illegitemacy of the marriage, or at least other events, meant Mary was ineligable for the throne anyway (what about all the Lady Jane Grey business?)
 
In the eyes of the Church the marriage was lawful and Mary was legitimate since Catherine testified under oath that the marriage was never consumated... Even if the marriage was consumated Henry VII could have obtained a Papal dispensation (with a little gold of course... after all Pope Alexander VI was friendly to Ferdinando and Isabella) which would allow his son to marry Catherine...
As for the divorce it would have been to easy for Pope Clement VII to annule the marriage but he didnt wante to displease Emperor Charles V since Catherine was his aunt... Clement VII had lived the Sack of Rome in 1527 by the Imperial troops and he wouldnt risk another action which could cause the wrath of Charles V...
 
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