On 13 May 1515 Mary Tudor married Charles Brandon, or rather had a third wedding ceremony. Mary and Brandon had gone through two ceremonies already, both taking place in France. Mary was widowed on 1 January 1515 when Louis XII died. She spent forty days in mourning, as was custom but even whilst in mourning Mary was under pressure to make a decision about selecting her next husband.
Francis I was eager for Mary to remain in France, this would ensure her income also remained in France and would be beneficial to a French nobleman to marry an English princess and dowager queen of France. Mary was quick to shut this down and confessed she wished to marry Brandon, who had recently arrived in France as part of Henrys embassy to pay respects for the death of Louis, congratulate Francis on becoming king, and of course, bring Mary home to England. Francis accused Brandon of coming to France with the intent of marrying Mary. Marrying Mary without the consent of Henry VIII would be treason, therefore Brandon initially tried to deny the accusation but Francis advised him that Mary had already confided in him and that he would support the couple by writing to Henry himself. Brandon wrote to Thomas Wolsey regarding the matter, who responded:
… as joyous I am as any creature living to hear, as well of your honourable entertainment with the French king, and of his loving mind towards you for your marriage with the French queen, our master’s sister, as also of his kind offer made unto you, that both he and the said French queen shall effectually write unto the king’s grace, for the obtaining of his good will and favour unto the same. The content of which your letter I have, at good leisure, declared unto the king’s highness; and his grace marvellously rejoiced to hear of your good speed in the same, and how substantially and discreetly you ordered and handled yourself, in your words and conversation with the said French king, when he first secretly broke with you of the said marriage. And therefore, my lord, the king and I think it good that you procure and solicit the speedy sending unto his grace of the letters from the said French king and queen, touching this matter: assuring you that the king continueth firmly in his good mind and purpose towards you, for the accomplishment of the said marriage: albeit that there be daily, on every side, practices made to the let of the same, which I have withstood hitherto, and doubt not but so to do, till you shall have achieved your intended purpose.
A very interesting response concerning Henry’s reaction when we consider his later ‘reaction’ on discovering they had married.
Mary rejoined society from the isolation of mourning on 11 February 1515 and a few days later, on 15 February, watched Francis enter Paris as king. As a royal, Mary technically should not have the freedom to decide her own future, but Mary was no ordinary woman. She was not about to let anyone decide who she should marry and allegedly gave Brandon an ultimatum, marry her or he would never get the opportunity to do so again.
The first ceremony took place around 3 March 1515 and was supposedly a secret, but not so much a secret that Francis didn’t know about it, and even attended as one of only ten guests. He then feigned outrage that Brandon had married Mary without permission in an effort to conceal to the French court, and possibly Henry, that he had attended. Brandon confessed to Wolsey on 5 March who reported that Henry had reacted ‘grievously and displeasantly’. It should be noted that most correspondence would be viewed by Henry’s privy council including Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, who unsurprisingly was strongly opposed to the marriage, having no liking for Brandon or Wolsey.
The second ceremony took place shortly after on 31 March in a more public ceremony, after which the couple waited for negotiations regarding Mary’s dower to be concluded and for Henry’s permission to return to England. The couple had already agreed that Henry could select whatever he wished for from Mary’s plate and jewels gifted to her by Louis, one of which was reportedly the Mirror of Naples which she had already sent to England, angering Francis who demanded its return to no avail.
The couple finally left France on 2 May 1515 sailing for Dover. Accompanied by Wolsey they travelled to Birling manor where Henry met them ‘as cordially and affectionately as he possibly could, rejoicing greatly in her honourable return, and great prosperity’. An indenture was formalised on 11 May 1515 confirming the debt of the couple as punishment for their actions. The indenture declared;
Mary the French Queen and Charles, Duke of Suffolk have indented with the King, that, for the release of 5,000l (£3,313,824) of the Duke’s debts, the King or his assigns shall receive 1,000l (£662,764) in crowns of gold at Calais on 1 Nov., and 1,000l. on 1 May every year, till 24,000l. be paid: and the French Queen also gives the King 200 crowns, the moiety of her dowry
It was determined that Mary and Brandon should marry once more. The previous ceremonies had taken place firstly at Lent, and then without the banns being read. Both situations required a licence from the pope which had not been obtained. This could result in the marriage being declared invalid at a later date, and any children declared illegitimate. This would have been a disaster for the Tudor family, therefore the third ceremony took place at Greenwich Palace on this day in 1515. The lavish ceremony was attended by Henry VIII, Katharine of Aragon, and much of the nobility followed by a celebratory joust in which both Henry and Brandon participated whilst their wives observed.
Despite the huge fines placed upon them, they were welcomed back to court, participating in entertainments, and Henry rarely enforced the payments owed, instead Henry granted more lands and offices to Brandon and enjoyed the company of his favourite sister and best friend once more.
Do you think Henry knew Mary and Brandon would marry when he despatched Brandon to France? Do you think his angry reaction was an act to satisfy the opposing faction at court?
You can read more about Mary in my latest book, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, available in all the usual places and coming soon in ebook format.
Great true story 🤗 I definitely think King Henry knew all and played his part to insure no trouble in his court long term.
I’m going to read your book asap I’m intrigued 😊
I knew very little about this marriage. Thank you . It seems that your writings are most illuminating for me and I enjoy reading them.