Mary Tudor (queen consort of France)

Mary Tudor (queen Consort of France)

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Mary Tudor (queen consort of France)

This article is about Mary, queen consort
Queen consort

A queen consort is the title given to the wife of a reigning Monarch. Queens consort usually share their husbands' Royal and noble ranks and hold the feminine equivalent of their husbands' monarchical titles....
of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. For her niece and namesake, Mary Tudor, queen regnant
Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state....
of England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, see Mary I of England
Mary I of England

Mary I , was Queen of England and Monarchy of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived half brother, Edward VI of England, to the English throne....
.

Mary Tudor (March 18 1496 – June 25 1533) was the younger sister of Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
and queen consort

Queen consort

A queen consort is the title given to the wife of a reigning Monarch. Queens consort usually share their husbands' Royal and noble ranks and hold the feminine equivalent of their husbands' monarchical titles....
of France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
due to her marriage to Louis XII

Louis XII of France

Louis XII , called "the Father of the People" was the thirty-fifth List of French monarchs of France and the sole monarch from the House of Valois Cadet branch of the House of Valois....
. After his death, she married Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk , was the son of William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII of England....
.

was the fifth child of Henry VII of England

Henry VII of England

Henry VII was the Kingdom of England and Lordship of Ireland from his usurpation of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty....
and Elizabeth of York

Elizabeth of York

Elizabeth of York was the daughter, sister, niece, wife and mother of Kings of England. She was List of English consorts as spouse of King Henry VII of England, whom she married in 1486....
, and the youngest to survive infancy.

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Encyclopedia

Mary Tudor (March 18 1496 – June 25 1533) was the younger sister of Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII of England

Queen consort

France

Louis XII of France

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk , was the son of William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII of England....
.

First marriage: Queen of France

Mary was the fifth child of Henry VII of England

Henry VII of England

Elizabeth of York

Richmond Palace

Richmond Palace was a royal residence from 1327 to 1649 on The Green in Richmond, London which was then a village in Surrey and is now a suburb of London, England....
. She and her brother, Henry, were close when they were children – he named his daughter, the future Queen Mary

Mary I of England

Mary I , was Queen of England and Monarchy of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived half brother, Edward VI of England, to the English throne....
, after her and the warship Mary Rose
Mary Rose

The Mary Rose was an English Tudor carrack warship and one of the first to be able to fire a full broadside of cannons.The Mary Rose was well equipped with 78 cannon and was the pride of the English fleet....
was also named in her honour.

Known in her youth as one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe, Mary was betrothed

Betrothal

Betrothal is a formal state of engagement to be marriage.Historically betrothal was a formal contract, blessed or officiated by a religious authority....
in December 1507 to Charles of Castile

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I of Spain, of the Spanish realms from 1516 until his abdication in 1556....
, later Holy Roman Emperor

Holy Roman Emperor

Image:HRR 14Jh.jpgThe Roman of the Emperor's title was a reflection of the translatio imperii principle that regarded the Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, a title left unclaimed in the West after the death of Julius Nepos in 480....
. However, changes in the political alliances of the European powers meant this wedding did not take place. Instead, Cardinal Wolsey negotiated a peace treaty with France, and on October 9, 1514, at the age of 18, Mary married its 52-year-old King Louis XII at Abbeville

Abbeville

Abbeville is a city in Picardie in northern France....
. One of her Maids of Honour

Maids of Honour

Maids of Honour were the junior attendants on a Queen in the Royal Household of England and later of the United Kingdom. Anne of Brittany is said to have instituted the Queen's Maids of Honour at the court....
who attended her in France was Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn was List of English consorts as the Wives of Henry VIII of Henry VIII of England. She was also Earl of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the start of the English Reformation....
. Mary was described by the Venetian Ambassador as " a Paradise- tall, slender, grey-eyed, possessing an extreme pallor". She wore her glorious silken red-gold hair flowing loose to her waist. Despite two previous marriages, the king had no living sons and sought to produce an heir; but Louis died on January 1, 1515, less than three months after he married Mary, reputedly worn out by his exertions in the bedchamber. Their union produced no children. Following Louis's death, the new King Francis I

Francis I

Francis I may refer to:* Francis I, Duke of Brittany * Francis I, Duke of Lorraine * Francis I of France * Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany ...
made attempts to arrange a second marriage for the beautiful widow.

Second marriage: Duchess of Suffolk

Mary had been unhappy with her marriage to Louis, as at this time she was almost certainly already in love with Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Henry knew of his sister's feelings but wanted any future marriage to be to his advantage. When he sent Brandon to bring Mary back to England in late January 1515, he made the Duke promise that he would not propose to her. However, the couple married in secret in France on March 3, 1515. Technically this was treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of loyalty to one's sovereignty or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife ....
, as Brandon had married a Royal Princess without Henry's consent. The King was outraged, and the Privy Council

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British monarchy. Its members are largely senior politicians, who were or are members of either the House of Commons of the United Kingdom or House of Lords....
urged that Brandon should be imprisoned or executed. Due to the intervention of Wolsey, and Henry's affection for both his sister and Brandon, the couple were let off with a heavy fine. They were officially married on May 13, 1515 at Greenwich Palace.

Even after her second marriage, Mary was normally referred to at the English court as "the French Queen", and was not known as the "Duchess of Suffolk" in her lifetime. Mary spent most of her time at the Duke's country seat of Westhorpe Hall in Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a Non-metropolitan counties of England of Historic counties of England in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south....
.

Relations between Henry VIII and Mary were strained in the late 1520s when she opposed the King's attempt to obtain an annulment

Annulment

Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage Void . Unlike divorce, it is retroactive: an annulled marriage is considered never to have existed....
of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon also known as Katherine or Katharine; was the List of English consorts as the Wives of Henry VIII of Henry VIII of England, and Princess of Wales by her first marriage to Arthur, Prince of Wales....
, whom Mary had known for many years. She had developed a strong dislike for the future Queen, Anne Boleyn, whom she had first encountered in France.

Mary died at Westhorpe Hall, Westhorpe, Suffolk on June 25, 1533, and was initially buried at the abbey at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Her body was moved to nearby St. Mary's Church, also in Bury St Edmunds, when the abbey was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, denotes the administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII of England disbanded all monastery, nunnery and friary in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their income, disposed of their assets and provided f...
. Her husband soon married their son's fiancée, who was also their ward, fourteen year-old Catherine Willoughby

Catherine Willoughby

Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, suo jure 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby , was a noblewoman living at the England courts of Henry VIII of England, Edward VI of England and later, Elizabeth I of England....
, by whom he had two sons.

Children

She and Brandon had three children:

Henry Brandon
Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln

Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln was the eldest child and only son born to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, Queen of France, who was a daughter of Henry VII of England....
, 1st Earl of Lincoln
Earl of Lincoln

Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England. It was probably created for the first time around 1143 as William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel, is mentioned as Earl of Lincoln in 1143 in two charters for the abbey of Affligem, representing his wife Adeliza of Louvain, former wife of Henry I of England...
(March 11 1516 – March 8, 1534)
Lady Frances Brandon
Lady Frances Brandon

Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk , born Lady Frances Brandon, was the second child and eldest daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor ....
(July 16 1517 – November 20 1559), who married Henry Grey
Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk

Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset , was an England nobleman of the Tudor dynasty and the father of Jane of England....
, 3rd Marquess of Dorset
Marquess of Dorset

The title Marquess of Dorset has been created three times in the Peerage of England. It was first created in 1397 for John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, but he lost the title two years later....
, and was the mother of Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey , also known as Queen Jane of England, was a claimant to the Kingdom of England and Monarchy of Ireland, who was de facto monarch of England for just over a week in 1553....
Lady Eleanor Brandon
Lady Eleanor Brandon

Eleanor Clifford, Countess of Cumberland was the third child and second daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, Queen of France, the former Queen consort of France....
(1519 – September 27, 1547), who married Henry Clifford
Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland

Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland was a member of The Cliffords which held the seat of Skipton from 1310 to 1676. He was married to Lady Eleanor Brandon, a niece of Henry VIII of England....
, 2nd Earl of Cumberland
Earl of Cumberland

The title of Earl of Cumberland was created in the Peerage of Peerage of England in 1525 for the Baron de Clifford. It became extinct in 1643. See also Duke of Cumberland....
.

In popular culture

Mary was portrayed by silent screen

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the Vitaphone system....
star Marion Davies

Marion Davies

Marion Davies was an United States film actress.Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst....
in the 1922 film When Knighthood Was in Flower, reputed to have been, at the time of its release, the most expensive film ever made. It was one of Davies' biggest hits. Another fictionalized version of Mary's marital adventures is portrayed in the 1953 Walt Disney

The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment corporation in the world. Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O....
film The Sword and the Rose
The Sword and the Rose

The Sword and the Rose, is a United States family and adventure film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by Ken Annakin. The film features the story of Mary Tudor , a younger sister of Henry VIII of England....
starring Richard Todd

Richard Todd

Richard Todd is an Ireland-born actor, United Kingdom soldier and film star....
and Glynis Johns

Glynis Johns

Glynis Johns is a British people stage and film actor, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer....
.

She is also the subject of the novels Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy, The Reluctant Queen by Molly Costain Haycraft

Molly Costain Haycraft

Molly Costain Haycraft was born in Toronto, Canada, and spent her childhood in Philadelphia, where her father, the well-known novelist Thomas B....
, and Princess of Desire by Maureen Peters. The novel of When Knighthood Was in Flower
When Knighthood Was in Flower

When Knighthood Was in Flower is the debut novel of United States author Charles Major written under the pseudonym, Edwin Caskoden. It was first published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1898 in literature and proved an enormous success....
, by Edwin Caskoden (the pen name of Charles Major

Charles Major

Charles Major was an United States lawyer and novelist.Born to an upper-middle class Indianapolis, Indiana family, Major developed in interest in both law and English history at an early age and attended the University of Michigan from 1872 through 1875, being admitted to the Indiana bar association in 1877....
) was published in 1898, and was the source material for both the Davies and the Disney films. She was also fictionalized in the historical fiction novel The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper.

The drama series The Tudors portrays Mary and Charles's relationship, though the character is named Princess Margaret, and is a composite of Mary and her sister Margaret Tudor

Margaret Tudor

Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII of England....
, portrayed by Gabrielle Anwar

Gabrielle Anwar

Gabrielle Anwar is an England actress, known for her roles in the 1990s films Scent of a Woman, The Three Musketeers , and Body Snatchers ....
. Charles Brandon is portrayed by Henry Cavill

Henry Cavill

Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill is a British actor....
. Many liberties have been taken with the story. For example, in the television series, Henry arranges his sister's marriage with the aged King of Portugal

List of Portuguese monarchs

This is a list of Portuguese monarchs dating from the independence of Portugal from the kingdom of Kingdom of Le?n in 1128 under Afonso Henriques, who proclaimed himself King in 1139, to the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic on October 5, 1910, during the reign of Manuel II of Portugal, "the Patriot," or "the Missed Kin...
, not of France, in the late 1520s. Margaret/Mary then kills her husband. Another fictitious sub-plot has Henry making Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk so the latter would be of appropriate rank to give away Henry's sister at her supposed wedding to the King of Portugal. In the story, the Tudor/Brandon marriage soon cools and no mention is made of their three children. Yet another discontinuity relates to Henry's sister dying before Wolsey (who died in 1530).

Ancestry

External links

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