by his son-in-law and nearest male relative,
Francis of Angoulême.
Louis died on 1 January 1515, less than
three months into his marriage. Despite
the fact that his death was not unexpected,
many people blamed Mary, claiming that
the king had spent the last months of
his life trying to please his young wife.
Following her husband’s death, Mary went
into mourning and seclusion for 40 days,
while France waited to see if she was
pregnant with Louis’ child, which would
have impacted the succession.
Mary was not pregnant and Francis
succeeded to the throne as Francis I.
Henry dispatched Charles Brandon to
France again to bring his sister home. She
was still a young and highly desirable bride
and Henry wanted to ensure that they
kept the wealth that Mary had acquired
during her brief reign as queen. Henry
reportedly warned Charles not to marry
his sister while they were in France, which
Charles promised that he would not.
However, Mary was at risk of becoming
a diplomatic pawn again. As Henry’s sister,
he had an interest in marrying her off
again for his own advantage, despite the
promise he had supposedly made. Yet, as
the dowager queen of France, Francis also
had a vested interest in Mary’s marriage
prospects because he could possibly have
benefited from her remarriage.
Upset, Mary refused to marry again
unless she could choose the man she
wanted: Charles. In March 1515, the couple
married in secret in Paris, with only ten
people in attendance. This included King
Francis, who had been persuaded to
support the marriage by Charles, and who
likely supported the couple because it
prevented Henry from gaining a diplomatic
advantage by marrying Mary off again.
Henry was humiliated by Mary and
Charles’ secret wedding. What was
worse, Charles had committed treason by
marrying the king’s sister without express
permission. Mary was safe because she
was a royal princess and Henry’s favourite
sister, but Charles was in danger of being
executed. The newlyweds attempted to
minimise the fallout by writing letters to
Henry, apologising for their deception.
Mary took responsibility for the marriage,
most likely to protect Charles from her
brother’s wrath, with Charles claiming he
had no choice but to marry Mary because
she was so distraught.
The couple benefitted from the fact
that they also had the support of Cardinal
Wolsey, who intervened with Henry on
their behalf, and even edited Mary’s letters
to her brother before she sent them. The
fact that they stayed in France after the
wedding may have given Henry a chance
to cool off.
Although Henry was furious, he knew
Brandon was ultimately loyal to him and
was no threat to him, and his anger was
more likely the result that his right tomake the decision was taken from him.
Mary and Charles managed to buy the
king’s forgiveness by paying a fine of
£24,000, as well as Mary’s dowry and the
jewels and gold plate given to her by Louis.
In May 1515, the couple returned
to England and married officially in
Greenwich. Henry and Catherine attended
the ceremony, which was a significant and
public gesture of the king’s forgiveness.
Although Mary spent little time at court,
perhaps because she gave birth to four
children between 1516 and 1523, the
relationship between Mary, Charles, and
Henry improved over time – until Henry’s
desire to marry Anne Boleyn caused a rift
between the two siblings.Two formidable women
Mary died in June 1533, one month after
Anne Boleyn’s coronation. Margaret spent
the rest of her life in Scotland, where she
died in 1541. Their lives were certainly
complicated and both women took big risks
with Margaret, in particular, frequently
derided as reckless and ineffective for her
decisions. Yet she managed to survive
the fractious Scottish court while Mary
escaped the fury of their brother, who
grew increasingly cruel during his reign,
and regained his favour. The sisters made
the decisions that were best for them, at a
time when royal women had little say over
their lives – and that is truly remarkable.The Forgotten Princesses
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