Henry VIII's Sisters

henry viii's sisters [Music] henry viii is infamous for his relationships with women the domineering king took six wives during his 36 years on the throne and he disposed of them with as much scandal as he wooed them divorced beheaded died divorced beheaded survived but henry had two other important women in his life his sisters margaret and mary their lives and complicated relationships with their brother are just as intriguing as those of the famous six wives let's get to know the two tudor sisters margaret queen of scotland and mary queen of france in 1485 henry tudor emerged victorious from the wars of the roses he defeated richard iii at bosworth field and was declared king henry vii he was the leader of the lancastrian side of the royal family and he married elizabeth of york who after richard iii had murdered her brothers in the tower of london was the heir to the york side of the family their marriage unified at the fractured family and their children were the living embodiment of a hard-won piece this painting depicts mother father and their seven children praying under the image of saint george patron saint of england the family was a happy one mother and father very much in love and the children adored and well cared for queen elizabeth took a particular interest in her offspring's education they were all taught french latin philosophy and music this painting depicts a meeting between erasmus and thomas moore two of the leading philosophers of the time and the royal children margaret henry and mary the princes learned statecraft while the princesses expected to someday be charming queen's consort were taught dancing and embroidery they learned at their mother's knee the art of the softer side of politics how a queen must present herself how to host foreign dignitaries and how to keep courtiers happy while it was customary for royal children of the time to live apart from their parents elizabeth spent as much time with her children as her royal duties would allow while henry vii was notoriously miserly he was generous with his family and allowed his wife to keep a merry court filled with minstrels gambling and greyhounds christmas was an especially raucous and jubilant time as all the children would return home to greenwich palace and celebrate with their parents the king loosed his purse strings and spent generously on imported wine roasted meat and pies entertainers and presents for his wife and children but sadly this pleasant family portrait is a fantasy as those it depicts were never alive all at once princess elizabeth died at the age of three and prince edmond at just 15 months arthur prince of wales died of the sweating sickness at age 15 and one year later queen elizabeth died of childbed fever after giving birth to a daughter catherine who died a few days later king henry and the children were devastated at the loss this illuminated manuscript shows the three surviving children margaret 13 and mary six sobbing by the fire while eleven-year-old prince henry weeps into the sheets of his mother's empty bed without his wife by his side king henry vii spent the final six years of his reign falling deeper into depression and becoming all the more tight-fisted and unpopular with his people and he did the unthinkable for a medieval king he decided not to go to war after winning the crown on the battlefield henry was done with bloodshed and hoped peace might ensure economic prosperity for england so he brokered treaties with his kingdom's longtime enemies france and scotland the optimistically named treaty of perpetual peace was the first truce between the antagonists england and scotland in 170 years to seal the treaty henry agreed that king james iv of scotland would marry his eldest daughter margaret tudor some members of the english royal council objected to the marriage as it would bring the scottish royal family into the english line of succession as margaret was second in line to the throne after her brother if prince henry should die without an heir then the scottish king might claim the english throne on his wife's behalf but henry vii wasn't worried as he felt a union between the two kingdoms wouldn't be such a bad outcome and he was sure that england would remain the greatest power on the isle of britannia no matter what he was a century early in his prediction but he was right margaret was only 13 when she was betrothed her paternal grandmother and namesake margaret beauford was also strongly opposed to the marriage lady beauford had been wed at just 12 and had given birth at 14. as she was not yet physically mature the labor was incredibly traumatic and nearly killed her she was unable to bear any more children she feared the same for her beloved granddaughter but dynastic ambition won out and young princess margaret was sent north a few months shy of her 14th birthday her father provided for her a large wardrobe of clothes fit for a queen and italian silk bed curtains embroidered with the red lancastrian rose her grand procession northward took the entire month of july after crossing the border into her new kingdom she was greeted by the scottish court and her betrothed 30 year old king james iv who kissed her good night and bade her farewell until their wedding day a week later james and margaret were wed at hollywood abbey by the scottish archbishop of glasgow and the english archbishop of york in the 16th century a marriage that wasn't consummated wasn't legal so with the pressure of the treaty of perpetual peace the newlyweds did consummate their marriage on their wedding night but out of respect for her young age james did not sleep with his wife again until she was 17. despite their 16-year age gap the couple got on well james was handsome and agreeable although they both spoke english the scotch dialect was so foreign to margaret that she was unable to understand her new courtiers but she and james had latin and french in common so we're able to converse and get to know each other they kept a merry court at hollywood palace with dancing and minstrels king james named his greatest warship the margaret after his wife she decorated her chambers with fine tapestries which were perfumed with her favorite violet powder the queen brought with her 24 english attendants including two african sisters ellen and margaret moore at 17 margaret gave birth to her first child a son named james but tragically the little prince died a few days after his first birthday five months later she gave birth to a daughter who died shortly after birth in 1509 margaret's father died and her brother was crowned king henry viii the 18 year old king had no time for the cautious diplomacy his father had spent decades fostering he craved glory in the battlefield and wanted to emulate his heroes king henry v conqueror of france and king edward the first hammer of the scots henry declared war on france scotland france's longtime ally was honor bound to attack the english while henry was away on the continent losing battles king james invaded northern england henry's queen catherine of aragon rode north with the remaining english army to face james at the battle of floden the skirmish was a disaster for the scots thousands of scotsmen were killed including many prominent nobles and king james himself became the last british monarch to be killed in battle queen catherine sent her brother-in-law's bloody coat to her husband as a trophy of victory the widow queen margaret's son james only 17 months old was the only one of her children still alive he was also now king of scotland james iv will named margaret now 24 regent for their infant son for as long as she remained unmarried at the time she was pregnant with her seventh child she had a difficult delivery and was ill for several months after the birth so she was not able to be as active in politics as she would have liked and the fact that she was the sister of the enemy king made her unpopular with the scots they wanted to give the regency to jon stewart duke of albany king james's closest male relative and now third in the line of succession margaret acted with political skill and managed to broker peace with her brother henry and the various factions at the scottish court but rather than maintaining her place above the courtiers she made a catastrophic misstep by favoring the douglas family and marrying archibald douglas the earl of angus archibald was called a young witless fool by his uncle but he possessed a magnetic personality that margaret fell hard for they were wed secretly and when word of the clandestine nuptials reached the other noble families they were furious by remarrying margaret had also given up her legal right to be regent the privy council appointed albany to the position and they ordered the dowager queen to give up custody of her two small sons margaret was terrified for her children especially as under similar circumstances her mother's brothers had been murdered by their uncle to make way for him to take the throne she corresponded in secret code with her brother about a plot to flee with the boys to england but after a few months she was forced to hand her children over to albany thankfully he was more honorable than richard iii had been sadly baby alexander died in albany's care at just 16 months old albany's enemies tried to convince margaret that her son had been murdered but as james was alive and well the queen was convinced that it was yet another sorry case of medieval infant mortality margaret now pregnant with douglas's child did have fear for her own life so she decided to flee to her homeland on her journey south she gave birth to a daughter margaret when she reached england she was greeted warmly by her brother he set her up in grand style at scotland yard the ancient london residence of scottish kings which in 1873 became the back entrance and nickname of the metropolitan police there she lived happily frequently visiting her brother and catherine of aragon she must have gotten over them killing her first husband after a year in the south albany invited margaret back to scotland promising access to her son james and even offering her the regency while he went on a diplomatic mission to france upon her return margaret found that her husband archibald had moved his mistress into her home and together the lovers had been spending the queen's money with abandon furious she wrote to her brother henry asking for his support in a divorce henry wrote back with gobsmacking hypocrisy advising her that marriage was divinely ordained and that she mustn't consider a divorce when her son james reached the age of 12 and while albany was once again in france margaret staged a coup to end the regency she brought her son to edinburgh and had parliament declare that he was old enough to rule on his own and she was recognized as her son's chief counselor ousted albany never returned to scotland all seemed well for margaret until her estranged husband archibald showed up with an army to demand a place on his stepson's council the dowager queen fired cannons at her erstwhile lover but archibald overpowered margaret seized king james held him prisoner and ruled in his name for three years enraged margaret's desire for a divorce became an obsession she once again appealed to rome and was willing to use any possible legal grounds to end their union she even presented unfounded rumors that king james iv had survived the battle of flodden and lived another three years as a peasant thus she argued she was still married to james when she wed archibald nullifying the second marriage this groundless argument actually worked and the pope finally granted her a divorce margaret finally free once again jumped into a hasty marriage this time with handsome young master of the royal artillery henry stewart her ex was so outraged that he besieged the newlyweds at sterling castle and captured henry holding him prisoner king james now 16 was able to escape his stepfather's clutches and retake control of the government the young king had archibald and the entire douglas family exiled he released his new stepfather and out of love for his mother named him lord methane margaret and henry had one child dorothea who died young her third husband proved even worse than the second with regard to chasing other women and spending his wife's money on them margaret once again began divorce proceedings but her son james put his foot down and ordered his mother to stick it out with the marriage when it came to his own marriage james's mother had strong opinions she wanted to forge a closer alliance with her homeland and a union between her son and her brother's daughter mary she envisioned a grand meeting between the two monarchs similar to the field of cloth of gold but she was disappointed when both kings declined the meeting james resented his uncle for supporting archibald douglas instead he chose to strengthen the french alliance and married mary of keys the new queen consort was very kind to her mother-in-law she often invited her to court and fostered a stronger bond between mother and son queen margaret died of a stroke at the age of 51. with his mother gone king james no longer had motivation to maintain peace with his uncle so he attacked england while on campaign he caught a fever and died at the age of 30 leaving the crown to his only surviving child six-day-old mary her son would one day be crowned king james vi of scotland when henry viii's last surviving child queen elizabeth the first died without an heir she left the english throne to her scottish cousin making him king james the first and sixth of england and scotland as king henry vii had predicted when he arranged margaret's marriage 100 years earlier the king of scotland moved to london to unite both kingdoms mary tudor mary was five years younger than her brother henry and the pair were particularly close growing up mary was just six when queen elizabeth died and she suffered numerous childhood illnesses following the loss of her mother the princess was renowned for her beauty she had dark hair and gray eyes and erasmus wrote that nature never formed anything more beautiful when juana and philip of castile visited the english court mary entertained them by dancing and playing the loot and cavalicord the spanish couple were so impressed that they arranged with her father a betrothal between her and their eldest son charles the future holy roman emperor but once henry viii became king he had different diplomatic priorities after a brief war with france and scotland during which his brother-in-law king james iv of scotland was killed henry needed to make peace with france he betrothed his 18 year old sister to the 52 year old king louis xii mary was horrified and heartsick she pleaded with her brother to release her from the engagement he insisted that his sister do his bidding but promised that when her elderly first husband died she would be allowed to choose her second husband so mary reluctantly traveled to france to be wed she was accompanied by four english maids of honor including sisters mary and anne boleyn king louie was besotted with his young bride and called her a nymph from heaven despite two previous marriages he had no living sons he was desperate to get mary pregnant and she was miserable louis died after just three months of matrimony courtiers whispered that he had expired from over-exertion in the bed chamber but it was more likely gout mary was kept in france in isolation from men for several months in the hopes that she might be carrying a future king but she was not pregnant now free mary began to make plans for a marriage to a man of her own choosing but her brother conveniently forgot his promise and began making his own plans to marry her to yet another old man as part of a treaty he sent his good friend charles brandon duke of suffolk to france to retrieve mary and he made charles promise not to marry his sister but as soon as he arrived on the continent charles and mary who had long been secretly in love married their union without the consent of the king was treason and henry's counselors advised him that he was well within his rights to have charles beheaded but out of love for his sister and his friend he allowed the couple to wed again in his presence at an official ceremony at greenwich palace henry did however make the newlyweds pay a hefty fine of 24 000 pounds about 7 million pounds in today's money which nearly bankrupted them mary had to hand over all of her dowry and gifts and jewelry that king louis had given her despite their reduced finances mary and charles were very happy together they lived at west thorpe hall and had four children though only two survived to adulthood mary also raised charles's two daughters from his previous marriage the couple were frequent guests at henry's court mary was lively and fond of dancing and performing in masks henry named his daughter mary after his beloved sister they did have one more sibling tiff when she spoke out against henry's plans to divorce catherine of aragon and remarry and bolin had been one of the maids of honor who had accompanied mary to france years earlier and mary despised anne but in the end mary could only watch as her brother henry did as he liked mary died of the sweating sickness at the age of 37. henry threw his darling little sister a grand funeral and she was laid to rest in barry st edmonds near the home where she had spent her happiest years twenty years later when henry viii's only son king edward vi died at fifteen he skipped over his catholic sister mary and gave the throne to mary tudor's granddaughter lady jane gray but princess mary raised an army and seized the throne back from her cousin after just nine days sixteen-year-old jane was beheaded in the tower of london if you enjoyed this video please like subscribe comment your thoughts and check out my other royal history videos if you really want to help please consider supporting me on patreon a link is in the description thank you for watching

Channel: Lindsay Holiday

Views: 519,564

Rating: 4.9255228 out of 5

Keywords: history, game of thrones, documentary, royal family, royalty, bbc, the crown, british history, scandal, royal wedding, historic costumes, queen, Feminism, Feminist, queens of the world, european royalty, queens of europe, womens history, women in history, badass women in history, henry viii, henry viii's sisters, mary tudor, margaret tudor, mary tudor queen of france, margaret tudor queen of scotland, mary queen of scots, james iv of scotland, history of scotland, tudor history

Id: EI1B2PhYMpQ

Length: 22min 31sec (1351 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 19 2021