Mary Tudor - Anna Whitelock [57]
IN FEBRUARY 1544, PARLIAMENT PASSED A NEW AND RADICAL ACT of Succession. The previous law, passed in 1536 following Henry’s marriage to Jane Seymour, had bastardized both Mary and Elizabeth and settled the succession on any son born of Seymour or “by any other lawful wife.”2 Yet now, as Henry visibly aged and the six-year-old Edward remained his sole heir, a real uncertainty hung over the Tudor succession. As the new act declared, “It standeth in the only pleasure and will of Almighty God whether the King’s Majesty shall have any heirs begotten and procreated between his Highness and his … most entirely beloved wife Queen Katherine” or whether “the said Prince Edward shall have issue of his body lawfully begotten.”3 Although still regarded as illegitimate, Mary, and then Elizabeth, were placed in the line of succession after Edward and his heirs.
On June 26, the royal children came together with their father at Whitehall for a lavish reception—a voyde—at which wine and sweetmeats were served. It was the first public outing of the reconciled royal family.4 The reunion was commemorated in the portrait known as The Family of Henry VIII, painted by an unknown artist. The picture is dominated by Henry, sitting on his throne between his son and heir, the six-year-old Prince Edward, and, to emphasize the line of dynastic succession, Edward’s mother, the long-since-dead Jane Seymour. On the left stands Mary, on the right Elizabeth. Both are dressed similarly, with Mary distinguishable only by being the taller sister. Despite having played a part in brokering the reconciliation between Henry and his children, Katherine Parr is omitted from the scene. This was more than just a family portrait, however; it was to commemorate the political settlement enshrined in the Act of Succession. This was the Tudor family as Henry had decreed it: the king’s heirs in degree of precedence. It would shape the English monarchy for the rest of the century.
WITH THE SUCCESSION settled, Henry looked to recapture the glories of his youth by going to war with France. The emperor and the French king had resumed hostilities, and both sovereigns once again began to compete for Henry’s favor. Chapuys reported that the French “now almost offer the English carte blanche for an alliance,” and he advised that England must, at whatever cost, be secured for the imperial interest.5 Henry would indeed make a secret treaty with the emperor, in February 1543, that provided for a joint invasion of France within two years.
But Henry first needed to secure the northern border by mounting a campaign against Scotland. At Solway Moss in November 1542, the English inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Scots. Three weeks later King James V died, leaving the kingdom to his week-old daughter, Mary. Henry then sought to subdue Scotland in advance of his invasion in France, and in July 1543 a treaty of peace and dynastic union was signed at Greenwich with Prince Edward betrothed to Mary, queen of Scots.6 But within five months, the entente had broken down as the Scots reaffirmed their alliance with the French.
Preparations were now made for war on two fronts: with Scotland and with France. While the emperor sought to make Francis relinquish his claim to Milan and support the German princes, Henry looked to force him to abandon the cause of Scottish independence. In May 1544, 14,000 troops were sent to Scotland, and a month later, an English force of some 40,000 men invaded France. On July 11, Henry, despite his greatly expanded girth and swollen, ulcerated legs, left Whitehall for France.7 In his absence, Katherine Parr was appointed regent of England, to rule the country in the name of the king as Katherine of Aragon had done some thirty years before. She managed the five-man council that Henry had appointed to assist her and oversaw the supply of men and money for the war. Writing to Henry’s council, Katherine adopted the full royal style: “Right trusty and right well-beloved