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30-12-10

12M

p24

That Monstrous Regiment

by

Harry Stone

Part I 1542 - 1548                                                      The Widow and her Child

 

When that turbulent priest John Knox wrote “that monstrous regiment of women” he was in for a big surprise. He wrote it in a pamphlet “The Blast on a Trumpet” in which he deplored that two nations were subjected to the rule of women. How appalled he would have been had he foreseen that even within his life-time there would be not two but seven women holding power in four nations. At that time it was obvious that Marie of Guise, Regent in his native Scotland, would be succeeded by her daughter Mary, Queen of Scots. Then in England, even if one did not count the 16 day reign of Lady Jane Gray, Mary Tudor would probably be succeeded by her sister Elizabeth. But he could hardly have foreseen how Catherine de Medici would dominate her three sons, as each in turn succeeded to the throne of France. Nor could he have guessed that Philip of Spain would twice appoint his sister Margaret to govern the Netherlands.

Worse, the curse would be upon him for the rest of his life for he died before Elizabeth and Catherine. All these ladies were also going to humiliate him. Without them Protestantism, his all consuming passion, would probably have remained an obscure doctrine in Geneva. Philip of Spain, Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and, of course, a succession of Popes, were all staunch upholders of Catholicism. They tried mercilessly to stamp out all forms of heresy. The ladies however, with the exception of Mary Tudor, were quite ambivalent about Protestantism. They may not have actively encouraged it, but for most of the time they allowed their subjects to follow their conscience.

This feminine era began immediately after Solway Moss. It was yet another battle King James V of Scotland, had lost against the marauding bully Henry Vlll. He was isolated for most of his leading nobles had been taken prisoner by Henry. Probably suffering a mental breakdown, James took to his bed. There they had brought him news that his French wife Marie, had successfully given birth - but it was not the prince he had hoped for - it was a girl. He simply turned his face to the wall and within five days he was dead.

And so Marie was left a defenceless widow with a new born babe in a foreign land. The rough, unprincipled Scottish chieftains were making advances from every side. In the sixteenth century a baby princess was extremely vulnerable. Under the conventions of the time, her betrothal made her little more than a bargaining pawn. But when the Princess was also heir to a throne, she became a magnificent prize. Normally her husband would take over the throne and the country would be added to his realm. Consequently princesses who were future Queens were betrothed while still a baby and they were married just before puberty. So Marie had hardly given birth before she and her daughter were surrounded by the prowling fathers of would-be suitors. At the front of the queue was Henry VIII, anxious to book the young princess for his son Edward. The relationship was strange. He had tried to form an alliance with the Scots by marrying his sister Margaret to James IV. But he was not best pleased when his brother-in-law refused to go along with him in throwing out the Catholics and embracing Protestantism. Henry found his nephew, James V, no less obdurate. When he had summoned him to a meeting at York, James made some lame excuse. In fact he had been warned, and with good cause, that if he went he would probably not be allowed to return home.

Henry had for years been keeping a wary eye over Scotland since both France and Spain could use it as a launch pad for invading England. So he took advantage of a temporary spat to show the Scots what they could expect should they arbour thoughts of French ideals. He invaded Scotland winning the outright victory of Solway Moss. To make his point he followed through, burning and pillaging without mercy and far beyond the acceptable ravages of war.

Yet Henry must have been well aware that Marie was pregnant. What is more, he was well placed for either eventuality. If it was a boy, he could marry his daughter Elizabeth. If it was a girl, there was his son Edward. And now he apparently considered all his recent outrages of no particular concern. Brushing them aside, he demanded the princess for his son. Indeed he seemed to think he already owned the girl. He demanded that she should be sent to London so that he could oversee her education.

To all appearances Marie seemed to go along with him. Henry sent his ambassador Sir Ralph Sadler to inspect the babe, for there had been rumours she was a weakly child. Marie not only showed her to him but insisted on unwrapping the little girl until she was completely naked to prove she was healthy all over. However Marie also had personal experience of Henry. Indeed he had proposed to her before she had married James. The fact she had turned him down in preference for a minor royal in a benighted little country must have hurt his pride. Also her witty aside must in due course have reached his ears. When wooing her, he had complemented her on her figure. She later remarked “Yes, but I have a slender neck.”

She was the daughter of the mighty Duc de Guise whose family considered themselves to be second only to the King of France. So her affiliations with her daughter were weighted in favour of the French. She was a remarkable character. She was tall and had a “presence” yet she had the softness to remain feminine. She had charm and this helped make her a successful conciliator and enhanced her ability at persuasion. From her family she had learnt prudence, tolerance and she was naturally intelligent. When she had first arrived in Scotland, she had been horrified at the primitive state of the country, the houses and the people. But she had gone to great lengths to praise wherever she could. She found Fife particularly charming and she was enchanted by the children. And behind this lay a quick and shrewd mind. Almost at once she realised that if a woman in Scotland wanted something, she must ask for the opposite. It was a tactic that was to serve her well.

But the question over little Mary’s betrothal proved not to be so simple. Unknown to Henry, there was a rival. The Earl of Arran also had a young son who, he considered, was admirably suited to be engaged to Mary. He was quick to emphasise that a girl-child was ever at a disadvantage. There was always the possibility she could be pushed aside in favour of any male who had strong claims. Betrothed to his son she would have a strong ally right there in Scotland and it would prevent the crown being shared with a foreign King. He also insisted he was next in line to the throne. In this, however his problem was a blot on the escutcheon. There was considerable doubt as to whether the old earl really was his father. If not, then he would lose all reasonable expectations. So Arran felt that the engagement would be the perfect way of ensuring that his son could gain the throne.

But whatever precautions Marie might take to protect her daughter, she could not exert complete control. As Queen of Scotland and a minor, Mary was the charge of the nation and a Regent. The Regent had to ensure her best interests, including decisions over her betrothal. Marie’s problem was that the Regent could not be a woman.

Of course Marie had considerable influence. But the royal family was inherently weak. The Stewarts lacked several advisable assets. Their forbears were not lost in the mists of antiquity. The court contained several nobles who, although they had been created comparatively recently, still had almost as strong a claim to the throne. This made it necessary to be constantly watching for rebellion. When the Tudors had been in a similar situation they had eliminated all likely rivals. The Stewarts really were Stewards for they had been stewards to the ancient lineage. They had succeeded to the throne by the far less finite method of marriage. As a further drawback, Mary was one of the most recent of several minorities each with a Regent further diluting the authority of the crown. All this meant that quite a number of chieftain lords considered their lineage to be virtually equal to the crown.

Besides being a woman, Marie was confronted by the severe disadvantage of being a foreigner. Initially it looked as though the problem could be satisfactorily decided. Cardinal Beaton was a leading politician as well as family friend. He had presided over her marriage in Paris. He was also ardently pro-French which meant he was very anti-English. He had the advantage of being one of the few people who was impervious to Henry’s bribes.

It was at this crucial moment that he produced a paper which had undoubtedly been signed by James and which purported to make Marie and himself joint Regents for the little girl. This was immediately challenged by Arran who claimed, and with good reason, that Beaton had browbeaten the dying man into placing his signature on a blank sheet of paper.

Henry pounced. After the battle of Solway Moss he had not followed the usual procedure of holding the greater nobles for ransom. Instead he had taken them back to London and held them as his “guests.” There he had indoctrinated them to appreciate all the advantages there could be in having a firm Anglo Scottish alliance. Now he felt was the opportune moment to free them so that their influence could shape the situation. To make sure they continued upholding his ideals, he kept them on a “pension.”

Marie’s fears proved to be only too real. These ex-hostages, together with Arran who was also on Henry’s payroll, put Beaton in prison. Now Marie found herself completely isolated in her need to protect her daughter. She strongly suspected the bribery and realised that she and her daughter were in a very delicate, not to say dangerous, position. There was every likelihood Mary would be kidnapped or even murdered. Marie took every precaution and even arranged for the baby to sleep at the foot of her bed.

However, she could claim limited authority as the mother of the Queen. In recognition of this she was in 1544 elected Honorary Lady President of the council. This allowed her to oversee the welfare of her daughter. She was also in a position to blackmail Arran. If she divulged to Henry that Arran also wanted his son to be Mary’s wife, Henry would cut off his “pension” and bring down upon him the full force of his fury.

But Marie realised she needed to use every advantage if she was to neutralise the situation. She flirted with Arran, that is until he discovered she was at the same time flirting with his nearest rival in line for the throne, the Earl of Lennox. It also suited her to flirt with Patrick, Earl of Bothwell who was so besotted he spent most of his fortune wooing her. She tried to flirt with the English ambassador but he was too fly and realised what she was up to. She even confided in him that, having been married to a King, she could not now look lower for a husband. In other words she was open to advances from Henry again. But by this time Henry was too busy with Katherine Parr.

So she tried to disarm him with her humility. “It becomes me not” she said, referring to his interest in her daughter, “to play the dissembler with so noble a prince as His Majesty of England.” Of course, that was exactly what she meant to do.

It was not long before she began undermining Arran’s position. She made sure Henry got to hear of his rivalry for her daughter. She also made quite sure he heard it in Arran’s exact words: that by the time Mary was of marriageable age, Henry might well be dead. She knew full well that Henry hated anyone mentioning the possibility of his death.

Then two years on, in January 1544, all these elaborate subterfuges were disrupted by a completely new and unexpected development.

Catherine de Medici had been married to the King of France for ten years without issue. It had been assumed she was barren and there had even been talk of “returning” her to her family in Florence. However in the summer of 1543 it was clear that she was pregnant.

Catherine had been born in 1519 into the mighty Florentine banking family. Her mother died twelve days later and her father six days after that. She was brought up first by her grandmother and when she died, by her aunt who also died while she was still a child. Her education was completed in a convent. Her fortune was so prodigious that even at the age of six she was, like Mary Queen of Scots, the object of interest to many great people anxious to have her affianced to their offspring. They even included James V of Scotland and the future Duke of Milan. In the end it was Henri, Duc d’Orleans, second son of the King of France who was chosen. The marriage took place when she was 14. It was truly spectacular. She was escorted to the coast of France by the Duc d’Albany with 27 ships and a 300 oar galleon. When she reached Nice, her procession was joined by the Pope and 13 cardinals. The ceremony itself was opulent beyond belief.

After four years of marriage, the Dauphin died and Henri became heir to the throne. But the French aristocrats made little effort to hide their contempt for “the merchant’s daughter”, particularly since her uncle, the Pope, had not kept his side of the bargain and once he had got her married he refused to pay the promised dowry. Nor was her appearance in her favour.  She was tall, stout and with a red face and her hair looked as though it was a wig. She had pale eyes which seemed to bulge and a big mouth. To add to these blemishes, her French accent was like a peasant. Surprisingly she worked the most beautiful delicate embroidery and was a graceful dancer. Her character was in complete contrast. Death had robbed her of one after another of the people she could look to for security and affection. It could have left her insecure, introverted and incapable of affection. But she emerged a remarkable woman. While still in her early teens, she completely won over her reticent crabby old father-in-aw Francis I.  He considered all women to be shallow and a waste of time. But the child Catherine was different. He enjoyed going for long studious walks with her. To please him Catherine learnt Latin and Greek and unlike ladies of the time, begged to be allowed to join his hunting parties. She introduced the idea of riding side-saddle and, to preserve her modesty when mounting a horse, she introduced women’s knickers. She loved to shoot and play tennis with the ablest. She was described as the true daughter of Florence: “gay and brilliant; always ready to laugh, and her nimble repartee meant her rooms were always full of friends.”

Despite such gifts, she suffered sorely on two counts. For seven years she was desperate to produce the required heir to the throne. When there was talk that if she did not produce an heir soon she would have to be divorced and sent back to Florence she, in desperation, petitioned her father-in-law. For a young woman of her age she wrote a letter of astonishing insight and grace. She quite understood that he thought it advisable not to wait any longer hoping for an heir to such a great kingdom. Her gratitude for having been accepted, even as it was, as a  daughter-in-law was so great she would never resist the will of His Majesty but rather bear the great grief if she had to leave Then either she would enter a convent or, if it was pleasing to His Majesty, remain in the train of the fortunate woman who was to take her place as the wife of her husband. Francis was so moved by her plea he told her to have no fear and that since God had willed her to be wife of the Dauphin he did not wish to make any change and that perhaps “it will please Almighty God in this matter to grant to you and to me the gift we so much long for.”

Whether God was pleased or whether it was the pills of myrrh, prescribed by Jean Fernel, but in 1544 Catherine gave birth to a boy. The crisis was over and, as though to make up for lost time, a whole string of children followed.

Her second difficulty was not so easily overcome. The man she had married already had a mistress. Worse, he quite openly paraded her, often giving her preference over his wife. It was a strange set up. Diane de Poitiers was 20 years older than the Dauphin. There must have been a degree of mother complex in this and indeed Diane would sometimes admonish him and instruct him to stay the night with his wife and carry out his conjugal duties. She has been described as having masculine intelligence which Henri found, like his father, infinitely preferable to the trivial chattering of the women at court. Even in an age when it was considered perfectly normal for a King to have a mistress, his excessive attention to Diane was an affront to Catherine. He would give Diane preference at court festivities and even on public occasions. But Catherine remained completely calm and retained her dignity. All the time she remained studiously courteous to Diane. She never took advantage of her official position nor tried to influence the King politically. While she may not have loved her husband, she was very fond of him. Despite the loose morals of the court, there was never any suggestion of impropriety on her part.

It is difficult to imagine Henry VIII had never heard that Catherine was pregnant. Its significance was obvious. If the child was a boy, he would be a direct rival against Edward for Mary’s hand. More than this, with Marie’s strong French connection, she would almost certainly give the Dauphin priority among suitors for her daughter. Fear of Henry’s retribution when he found that the French had moved his son down to second on the list seemed inevitable. So, in July 1543, the Scots hoped to pacify him by signing the treaty of Greenwich. Certainly the Scots won generous terms in response to agreeing to baby Mary’s betrothal to Edward.

If Edward died leaving Mary a childless widow, she would return to Scotland and England would recognise Scottish independence. Henry even agreed, though with considerable reluctance, not to insist on Mary going to England for her education until she was at least ten years old…