In May of the same year Henry VII. wrote a letter to Sir John Wiltshire, Comptroller of Calais, about a correspondence with Margaret, in which King Henry tried to persuade her to arrange a meeting with him at Calais to treat with him in person about her nephew's marriage with Princess Mary. He suggests that some 'discreet and able personages' should be sent on before to 'reduce the said matters to a final and perfect conclusion' before he and Margaret met, so that when they did meet they could talk of 'other pleasant and comfortable matters,' and all business could be concluded before their meeting. But Margaret does not seem to have accepted this invitation, and the meeting so much desired by King Henry did not take place.
On July 23rd Maximilian wrote to tell her that he has received her letters, in which she begs him to alter the instructions given to his ambassadors who are starting for England. He says he cannot do so, as she knows that the principal reason which has induced him to betroth Prince Charles to Princess Mary is to get a good sum of money from the King of England. King Henry has promised 100,000 crowns, but has requested that in the security to be given by the towns of Flanders, each town should be responsible for the whole sum. But the utmost that the towns can be induced to do is that each town would be responsible for a certain portion. If the King of England is not content with this proposal, it will show that he loves money more than his friend, and the marriage of his daughter with Prince Charles shall not take place. But Maximilian adds, 'should the Flemish towns after all be willing to sign the bonds in the manner the King of England wishes, he will not object.'
Henry VII., who had been ailing for some time, now fell seriously ill, and his illness appears to have been the cause of the postponement of Prince Charles's marriage with Princess Mary, which was to have been solemnised before the Feast of Easter. Johannes de Berghes was deputed to go to England and perform the ceremony according to the rites of the Church, in the name of the Archduke.
'On the 7th of October 1508 Charles was indeed wedded by proxy to the English princess, and at the age of eight wrote or rather signed his first love-letter, addressed to little Princess Mary Tudor, to whom he presented a jewel bearing the monogram K., and the posy, Maria optimam partem elegit, quae non auferetur ab ea.
'This was the last of Henry VII.'s many diplomatic triumphs; and it was no nominal momentary union, but was confirmed in 1513, and the boy-bridegroom then visited his brother-in-law Henry VIII. in his newly-won city of Tournay, his first royal visit. The following year the future King of Spain and Queen of France were parted in the shuffling of the cards, and although Mary Tudor married the old French king, statesmen on both sides regretted the more natural alliance. Before six years more had passed Charles was pledged to his betrothed's younger namesake, and thirty-four years later he showed all a young lover's eagerness in courting this second Mary Tudor for his son Philip.'[32]
CHAPTER VI
THE LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY
Though Margaret's time was now fully occupied by her new duties, she did not forget the work she had begun at Brou. Early in 1508, immediately after her arrival in Brussels, she made a will, designating the church of the monastery of Saint Nicolas de Tolentin at Brou, near Bourg-en-Bresse, as her place of sepulture, where she wished to be buried near 'her very dear lord and husband.' 'The Duke Philibert of Savoy to lie between her and his mother, Madame de Bourbon.'
By an endowment she ensured the building of the monastery and the church of Brou, and the erection of the three tombs. Solemn religious services were to be performed there during each season, and only on certain days the people and magistrates were to be allowed to enter the sanctuary to offer up their prayers with those of the priests and monks. She also made gifts to the church of Notre-Dame de Bourg, and to several religious houses in the town, on condition that they should hold certain services; and she left legacies to the hospital, infirmary, and plague-house, and dowered fifty marriageable maidens of Bresse and fifty of Burgundy. Lastly, she ordained the ceremony of bringing her body to Bresse and the details of her funeral. All these provisions she made, lest death should take her unawares and stop the work she had so much at heart. This interesting will, expressing as it does Margaret's most intimate thoughts, also throws great light on the customs and practices of the time. The document is dated March 4th, 1508, and confirmed by a codicil twenty-two years later, in 1530.