Chapuys told the Emperor that the Pope had said, that “if there was written evidence of the great familiarity and scandalous conversation, and bad example of the King and the Lady, and of the ill-treatment of the Queen, his Holiness would immediately fulminate his censures”. But, by this time, Henry was reckless of all save Anne, and his hunting expedition having come to an end, he wished to return to Windsor, and intimated to Katharine that both she and her daughter must depart. Mary was to return to Richmond, while she herself had orders to repair to the More, a house in Hertfordshire, formerly belonging to Wolsey, but which had come into the possession of the Abbey of St. Albans, and was granted to the King, in December 1531. The house itself is described as “a commodious habitation in summer,” but the park and garden were in a ruinous condition and “the ways so foul that those who went there in carriages, broke down the pales and made highway through the park”. The keeper, Sir John Russell, wrote repeatedly to Cromwell about the condition of the said palings, but could get no answer, and complained that if the king would “give no money for the paling,” no deer would be left; and if the charge were not so great, he would bear it out of his own purse. Moreover, the king would only give the gardener sixpence a day, and no one would take it at that price. If he would give eightpence, Sir John declares that he himself would contribute “twenty nobles of the charge”. “The Queen’s servants, with their carriage, broke down the pales in many places.”[78]
Katharine remained at this place for several months. She declared that she would have preferred going to the Tower as a prisoner, but Chapuys said that the King knew quite well, that if he sent her there, the people would have risen in mutiny; that he was often waylaid as he went to hunt, with entreaties to take the Queen back, and that Anne met with insults from the women wherever she went. Nevertheless, she protested loudly, that the King would marry her in three or four months, and began preparing for her royal state.
Katharine never saw her daughter again, and could only communicate with her secretly. They were sternly forbidden to write to each other, whereupon Mary begged that some one might be sent from the King to read the letters which she wrote to her mother, that it might be seen she only informed her about her health. But even this was refused, and henceforth none but furtive missives passed between them, letters written in dread, and conveyed with danger, at times when exceptional terrors appeared to hang over the one or the other. Henry hoped by a systematic persecution, to break the spirit of both; but each was of the blood royal of Spain, the noblest in Europe, and the indignities heaped upon them only served to increase the dignity with which they suffered. Mary was, moreover, a Tudor also, and could be as resolute as her father.
In 1531, an Italian, Mario Savagnano, with some companions, paid a visit to the English Court, and in an interesting account of his journey recorded his impressions of the King, Queen, and Princess:—
“I saw the King twice, and kissed his hand; he is glad to see foreigners, and especially Italians; he embraced me joyously, and then went out to hunt with some forty to fifty horsemen. He is tall of stature, very well formed and of very handsome presence, beyond measure affable, and I never saw a prince better disposed than this one. He is also learned and accomplished, and most generous and kind, and were it not that he now seeks to repudiate his wife, after having lived with her for twenty-two years, he would be no less perfectly good, and equally prudent. But this thing detracts greatly from his merits, as there is now living with him a young woman of noble birth, though many say of bad character, whose will is law to him, and he is expected to marry her should the divorce take place, which it is supposed will not be effected, as the peers of the realm, both spiritual and temporal, are opposed to it; nor during the present Queen’s life will they have any other queen in the kingdom. Her Majesty is prudent and good; and during these differences with the King, she has evinced constancy and resolution, never being disheartened or depressed. I returned to Windsor Castle, and from thence, on the fourth day of my departure from London, arrived at a palace called the More, where the Queen resides. In the morning we saw her Majesty dine: she had some thirty maids of honour standing round the table, and about fifty who performed its service. Her court consists of about two hundred persons, but she is not so much visited as heretofore, on account of the King. Her Majesty is not of tall stature, rather small. If not handsome, she is not ugly; she is somewhat stout, and has always a smile on her countenance. We next went to another palace called Richmond, where the Princess her daughter resides; and having asked the maggiordomo for permission to see her, he spoke to the chamberlain, and then to the governess (the Countess of Salisbury) and they made us wait. Then, after seeing the palace, we returned to the hall, and having entered a spacious chamber, where there were some venerable old men, with whom we discoursed, the Princess came forth, accompanied by a noble lady, advanced in years, who is her governess, and by six maids of honour. This Princess is not tall, has a pretty face, and is well proportioned, with a very beautiful complexion, and is fifteen years old. She speaks Spanish, French, and Latin, besides her own mother-English tongue, is well grounded in Greek, and understands Italian, but does not venture to speak it. She sings excellently, and plays on several instruments, so that she combines every accomplishment. We were then taken to a sumptuous repast, after which we returned to our lodging, whither, according to the fashion of the country, the Princess sent us a present of wine and ale (which last is another beverage of theirs) and white bread. On the next day, which was the 6th, we returned to London to the house of our ambassador, where we remained two days, and then by boat went down the Thames, which is very broad, and covered with swans, and thus we got to Dover the passage port.”[79]
KATHARINE OF ARRAGON.
From a fine original in miniature by Holbein, formerly in Horace Walpole’s Collection at Strawberry Hill.
Another Italian visitor, the Venetian, Ludovico Falier, describes Mary at sixteen years old as “a very handsome, amiable and accomplished princess, in no respect inferior to her mother”. He remarks that Katharine was so much loved and respected, that the people were beginning to murmur against the King. “Were,” he continues, “the faction to produce a leader, it is certain that the English nation, so prone to innovation and change, would take up arms for the Queen, and by so much the more, were it arranged for the leader to marry the Princess Mary, although by English law females are excluded from the Crown.”[80]
Another, Marin Giustinian, writing to the Signory, says: “The English King is not popular with his subjects, chiefly on account of his intention to divorce his wife, who is much loved, and they hold her daughter in very great account”.[81]