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English heralds, Mary was given to Philip “in the name of the whole realm” by the marquess of Winchester and the earls of Derby, Bedford, and Pembroke.4 The pair exchanged vows in Latin and English: “This gold and silver I thee give: with my body I thee worship; and withal my worldly Goods I thee endow.”5 Mary then pledged “from henceforth to be compliant and obedient … as much in mind as in body”—in direct contradiction to Gardiner’s insistence that in the marriage contract Philip must undertake to marry as a subject.6 And whereas Mary endowed Philip with all her “worldly goods,” Philip merely endowed Mary with all his “moveable goods.”7 Her wedding ring “was a round hoop of gold without any stone, which was her desire, for she said she would be married as maidens were in the old time, and so she was.”8

Philip and Mary then proceeded hand in hand under a rich canopy borne by six knights. At the choir, a psalm was sung while the king and queen knelt before the altar, a taper in front of each of them. They then retired to their canopied seats on the raised dais to listen to the Gospels, reemerging to kneel before the altar for Mass. The king of arms solemnly proclaimed Philip and Mary king and queen, declaring their titles and style:

Philip and Mary by the grace of God King and Queen of England, France, Naples, Jerusalem, and Ireland; Defenders of the Faith; Princes of Spain and Sicily; Archdukes of Austria; Dukes of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant; Counts of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol.9

Their joint style had been difficult to agree on. The English Council had strongly resisted Philip being named before the Queen, but he had insisted “that no law, human or divine, nor his Highness’s prestige and good name, would allow him to be named second, especially as the treaties and acts of Parliament gave him the title of King of England.”10 England was now part of a much larger European empire.

AT THREE IN THE afternoon, to the blare of trumpets and cheers of the crowd, the royal couple walked hand in hand—the sword of state borne before the king by the earl of Pembroke—under a canopy back to the queen’s palace for the wedding banquet.11

Philip and Mary took their places at a raised table at the head of four long tables where the Spanish and English nobility were seated. Mary was served on gold plates, Philip on silver to indicate his subordinate status. Musicians played at the end of the hall throughout the banquet. When the feast was over and the queen had drunk a cup of wine to the health and honor of the guests, the party moved to an adjoining hall for dancing and entertainment. There was “such triumphing, banqueting, singing, masking and dancing, as was never seen in England heretofore, by the report of all men.”12 The king then retired to his chamber, the queen to hers, where they dined in private.

The evening ended with the blessing of the marriage bed. As one of Philip’s gentlemen wrote soon after, “the Bishop of Winchester blessed the bed, and they remained alone. What happened that night only they know. If they give us a son, our joy will be complete.”13

CHAPTER 50

MUTUAL SATISFACTION

ON AUGUST 4, THE BISHOP OF ARRAS WROTE TO RENARD, EXPRESSING his “incredible content, that the marriage for which both had worked, for so long, was accomplished, to the mutual satisfaction of both parties” and that the king “was behaving in every way so well, that he had gained the approbation of all in England.” He foresaw many difficulties ahead but hoped that with gentleness and benignity they might not prove too great.1

After ten days of honeymooning in Winchester, the royal couple began their journey back to London, stopping en route at Windsor on the third for Philip’s installation as knight and cosovereign of the Order of the Garter.2 The earl of Arundel once again deputized for Mary, investing Philip with the robe, while Mary placed the collar around his neck.

On the eleventh they moved to Richmond as final preparations were made for their formal entry into the capital.

AT TWO O’CLOCK on Saturday, August 18, Philip