Mary Tudor - Anna Whitelock [101]
The prospect of Mary’s marriage was of great importance in the struggle between the Houses of Habsburg and Valois. If Charles could succeed in establishing his son, Philip, upon the throne of England as Mary’s husband, the sea route between Spain and the Netherlands would be secured, the Netherlands themselves would be saved from falling into the clutches of the king of France, as they seemed likely to do, and France would be encircled.4 Moreover, it would provide a counterweight against the intended marriage of the French dauphin to Mary, queen of Scots.
To the French an Anglo-Habsburg marriage was deeply alarming and had to be prevented. As Noailles wrote to the French king, the queen’s marriage would be “to the great displeasure of all, with perpetual war against your Majesty, the Scotch and her own subjects, who will unwillingly suffer the rule of a foreigner.” He continued, “It was a perpetual war against the King [of France] that the Emperor wished her to espouse rather than his son.”5 The final outcome of the long struggle between Habsburg and Valois seemed to depend on developments in England: at stake was the hegemony of Europe.
IT WAS ON JULY 29, at his first private audience with the queen at Beaulieu in Essex, that Simon Renard raised the question of the queen’s marriage. The emperor, he declared, was mindful of the fact that a “great part of the labour of government could with difficulty be undertaken by a woman” and urged her to “entertain the idea of marriage and fix on some suitable match as soon as possible.”6
Mary had told Renard that she had never thought of marrying before she was queen and “as a private individual she would never have desired it, but preferred to end her days in chastity.” Katherine of Aragon, in one of her last letters, had urged her daughter “not thinking or desiring any husband for Christ’s passion.”7 However, as she now occupied “a public position,” Mary was determined to follow the emperor’s advice and said she would “choose whomsoever you might recommend.” At his second audience two weeks later, Renard reopened the subject by mentioning Mary’s duty to the nation and implying that a foreigner would best help her fulfill the obligation. At this Mary laughed “not once but several times, whilst she regarded me in a way that proved the idea to be very agreeable to her.”8
Meanwhile, Charles wrote to his son, Philip, that he was “glad to see our cousin in the place that is hers by right, to strengthen her position and to aid the restoration of Catholicism.” He told him he was contemplating marrying the English queen himself, as he had some thirty years before: “I am sure that if the English made up their minds to accept a foreigner they would more readily accept me than any other, for they have always shown a liking for me.” But ill and aged, Charles had no real intention of marrying Mary. As his letter continued, he wondered whether Philip might be a better choice. He asked his son “to consider it privately and keep the matter a close secret.”9
A month later, Philip, who had been in negotiations for a possible match with the Infanta Maria of Portugal, finally responded to his father’s letter: “All I have to say about the English affair is that I am rejoiced to hear that my aunt has come to the throne … as well as out of natural feeling as because of the advantages mentioned by your Majesty where France and the Low Countries are concerned.” He continued, “As your Majesty feels as you say about the match for me, you know that I am so obedient a son that I have no will other than yours, especially in a matter of such high import.”10
Awaiting further instructions from Brussels as to the advancing of Philip’s suit, Renard