Henry
no old needed
Poor, Poor Mary.
At least the Tudors will rot in their cells until their hopefully swift deaths. (Swift for Soon. I care not how long and painful their deaths are.)
The Grand Duchy of the West - A Valois-Burgundian TL
- Thread starter BlueFlowwer
- Start date
Poor, Poor Mary.
At least the Tudors will rot in their cells until their hopefully swift deaths. (Swift for Soon. I care not how long and painful their deaths are.)
Oh my dear @Tsipouras1997. Whatever shall I do without your keen eyes?
I hope you will be pleased with the gruesome deaths coming in the next chapter. At least some of them.
True, the union won't survive past Charles as a double monarchy.
Spain isn't there yet, so hold on.
Yes, since I butterflied away Miguel some other baby have to take his place.
So a habsburg division between little Charles' future sons, i can get behind that, specially since they will still unite as both a family and agaisnt the french.
Oh, and the posibility of a united Iberia is always welcomed!
So long as the Burgundians still live, kill (all the others) away!
I can't promise everything, but I shall endeavour to please thee.
Good grief, I'm writing Shakespearean dialogue between two teenagers in love in front of the estates general of burgundy now. What in the world am I doing.
If nothing else take heart that your work is likely to be immortalised in folk songs,poetry and porn in the future ITTL.
That might be the most heartwarming
Don't @ me with the spellings. Its past midnight right now.
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I smell a succession war on the horizon. Who's gonna be the Harold and William this time?
I was quite mean to her, wasn't I. Charles lives right now, so we will see.
Well, one of the claimants are a wriggly little baby right now, so not much of a war at the moment.
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Chapter 11 - England 1483-5
Chapter 11 – England 1484-5
Charles of Burgundy lived for a hundred days.
His death came on the 11th of September, just before dawn. In the renaissance age many babies died before leaving the cradle. Nothing about his passing was different from other royal infants who met the same fate. Yet the history of England and the Low Countries would have been greatly different if the boy who was briefly the heir to both had lived. His grandmother had been to visit the evening before, and Charles seemed fine when she saw him. It was not a poisoning, or any other kind of suspicious incident that caused it. Just a normal case of sudden infant death syndrome.
In the morning, his grieving father ordered the church bells of Ghent to be rung. The citizens soon learned that their young prince had died. For a region that less than ten years ago had been exploding with fury after the death of another Charles, the reactions seemed to be of genuine grief at this time. More grief came two days later, as Edward IV of England joined his sole grandchild in death on the 13th.
Philip provided an outlet for the losses a week after, as gallows went up on the city square.
The man who could have been king of England was hanged on midday on the 19th.
Henry Tudor was brought out of his prison cell along with his uncle Jasper, while Buckingham remained incarcerated. The wind blew heavily that day and both men shivered in their thin shirts, hands bound behind the back. A single noose had been set up on the scaffold, whipping around in the wind. Upon their arrival, uncle and nephew was separated from each other and guards grasped Jasper firmly. Henry would be the first to die, as Philip had ordered the retribution to be particularly gruesome. The charges against Tudor had been plenty. Conspiracy, treason, planning the death of Mary of York, plotting to murder Richard of Gloucester, theft, and fraud to draw the duchy into an unnecessary war. The charges of plotting to kill Mary were certainly false, but Tudor made an excellent scapegoat for the public's rage. And Philip had not bothered with saving him from the very worst of death reserved for traitors: being hung, drawn, and quartered.
Jasper watched in horrors as his sole nephew perish in horrible agony; struggling for breath in the noose, his organs cut off and disembowelled while still alive. Henry drew his last ragged breath when the axe came down on his neck as a final stroke of mercy. Jasper was hanged afterwards, his last image being Henry’s head mounted on a spike.
Buckingham was executed ten days afterwards. He was given the more traditional death of a nobleman, beheading with a sharp sword. The Tudors had died as lowly scum, most likely to shame them for their aspiration to the throne.
In England there had been beheadings too. John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford had been found guilty of conspiring with Henry and so did Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a Welsh knight and landowner. Richard also gave Philip the green light for executing Buckingham in his place. Their lands were declared forfeit for the treason and taken by the crown. For the kingdom belonged to him now. Edward’s death had made him the king of England and the reign of Richard III began with heads mounted on the tower bridge.
While sometimes the bloodshed of noble enemies negatively impacted the beginning of a new ruler, Richard benefited from it. The country was just out of the turmoil’s of the Wars of the Roses from decades past and the fear of a infant king with a foreign realm had horrified many. The men paying with their lives had tried to drag England into a new era of bloodshed with civil wars and now justice had been restored. It showed that the new king was truly in charge and would protect England from enemies.
Afterwards, Richard embarked on a new mission: Finding a new queen. He had been widowed for nearly five years now and despite having two healthy princesses, he needed a legitimate heir. The bride would have to be of royal linage, healthy and virtuous, as Margaret of Scotland had disgraced herself and the succession with her sickly children tainted with bastardry. While Richard was not an old man and enjoyed a good health, he was thirty-one and life were unpredictable.
But where to find a queen? The picking was somewhat slim for him. Sophia Jagiellon had not yet married, but an alliance with Poland would not bring any benefit. Marie of Orléans had married John of Foix the year before. Marie of Cleves were too insignificant. Juana la Beltraneja was a bastard and Castile and Aragon had no princesses of the right age to offer. Jeanne of Bourbon was considered, but she was of too low status for a king.
The choice in October came down to three women. Emperor Frederick’s only daughter, Kunigunde or a Portuguese Infanta. Both women were of impeccable lineage and most importantly, of Lancastrian blood. There were actually two options for Richard in the court of King John II. The king’s unmarried sister, princess Joanna was no delicate spring flower, being the same age as Richard. However, she was the sister of the mightiest king in Europe and a very rich potential bride. The renewal of the Treaty of Windsor between Portugal and England would bring Lancastrian blood to the Yorks.
But attention was also given to Infanta Beatriz of Viseu, Joanna’s first cousin and youngest sister to Queen Eleanor. Beatriz was fifteen years old and had grown up with her sisters in court. Her other sister had married the Duke of Braganza, while the King had personally murdered her only surviving brother, Infante Diego. Beatriz had been a close friend to Isabella of Aragon, the eldest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel, betrothed to the Crown Prince Alfonso. She had received a proper royal education benefiting her stations in the subjects of literature, philosophy, canon and civil laws, heraldry, history, languages popular at this time for both princes and princesses to learn. Beatriz was a gracious dancer and played several instruments. Most importantly, she was virtuous and pious as well.
Joanna was not very interested in marriage as she had entered a nunnery, but her cousin made a appropriate proxy for her. Joanna returned to court to talk with her brother after the ambassadors arrived in Lisbon. The marriage of Beatriz to Richard would benefit both kingdoms as the old Treaty of Windsor would be reinvigorated, Beatriz would not become a focal point for a rebellious husband to John and the likelihood of England invading Portugal was rather non-existent. Eleanor also argued for the match, as her baby sister becoming queen as well appealed to her. John realised also that he could seize the lands and titles of Diego to the crown and gain an ally at the same time. A York and Avis match would be a strong alliance in his eye.
The English ambassadors described Beatriz in their letters to the King as
“Tall and pleasantly shaped, with full bosom and good hips, thick long auburn hair and a straight nose, with a pretty mouth and a gracious long neck. Her voice was low and melodious.”
Thus, John II started to negotiate with the English ambassadors for a royal match. Beatriz would receive a dowry benefiting a royal princess, made up by 300, 000 ducats and valuables like jewelry, gold and silver plate and tapestries. In return she would have to forswear her claim to the Portuguese throne and any claims to her late brother Diego’s estates.
In December of 1484, any imperial matches had been cast aside as Beatriz was married by proxy to Richard III of England. The Infanta would leave for England in late January by the sea to her new kingdom and the husband who waited for her. She would become the first Portuguese Queen of England in history.
Infanta Beatriz of Portugal, Queen Consort of England
Beatriz arrived in England on the tenth of February of 1485 with her entourage. The crossing was hard, but her ships had excellent captains and sailors and they got safely to Southampton with everything intact. The new queen’s arrival was greeted with overwhelming joy. The king met her five days later in Winchester Castle and Richard and Beatriz married at the 25th in a large and public ceremony at Winchester Cathedral. Beatriz would be coronated with Richard in Westminster Abbey in late March a month later as they arrived in London. The day itself was sunny and crisp and shouts of joy and good wishes filled the air. White roses decorated every available surface and Westminster Abbey was shiningly clear. The spectators had braved the lingering frost and dressed in their finest clothes to see their new queen. Beatriz, or Beatrice as she came to be known in England had started the year with grand success. Finally here were a queen to worship! Margaret of Anjou had been a bad match, Elizabeth Woodville had been been a beautiful widow of low birth, Margaret of Scotland had been a plain looking consort who had disgraced herself with infidelity and sick heirs. Beatrice of Portugal was a beautiful maiden from one of the richest kingdoms in Europe.
While Beatrice would become an influential consort, her first years was marked more with the symbolism of queenships, rather than practical powers. She retained around 100 people from Portugal and gathered ladies to supplement her own circle. Among then was Elizabeth Catesby, the sister of Sir William of Catesby, Eleanor Percy, the Duchess of Norfolk Margaret Chedworth and Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey. She also took on the task of being a mother to Joan and Eleanor, her stepdaughters. Eleanor quickly took to Beatrice while Joan took a while longer to warm to her new mother. The girl’s education became Beatrice’s task, as both girls would now become royal brides soon.
But Richard had not married Beatrice solely to educate his daughters, but to provide an heir. After the marriage in Winchester, he visited his wife’s chamber multiple times a week. The stained sheets from the bridal bed had been proof that the new queen was indeed a virgin and both spouses was determined to have a son for England.
Twelve months after her marriage, Queen Beatrice gave birth to a strong and healthy son in Windsor Castle in February of 1486.
Dedicated to @pandizzy because I got the idea of a female Manuel of Portugal coming to England from her. Please don't sue me for copyright infringement!
And I'm so sorry to all of you who got hopeful for a union between Burgundy and England, but it was a nope from me from the start. I mentioned Miguel da Paz three times as foreshadowing, guys. And I will take candidates for baby Richard's marriage now.Just kidding, we all know he's gonna marry Catherine of Aragon.
Charles of Burgundy lived for a hundred days.
His death came on the 11th of September, just before dawn. In the renaissance age many babies died before leaving the cradle. Nothing about his passing was different from other royal infants who met the same fate. Yet the history of England and the Low Countries would have been greatly different if the boy who was briefly the heir to both had lived. His grandmother had been to visit the evening before, and Charles seemed fine when she saw him. It was not a poisoning, or any other kind of suspicious incident that caused it. Just a normal case of sudden infant death syndrome.
In the morning, his grieving father ordered the church bells of Ghent to be rung. The citizens soon learned that their young prince had died. For a region that less than ten years ago had been exploding with fury after the death of another Charles, the reactions seemed to be of genuine grief at this time. More grief came two days later, as Edward IV of England joined his sole grandchild in death on the 13th.
Philip provided an outlet for the losses a week after, as gallows went up on the city square.
The man who could have been king of England was hanged on midday on the 19th.
Henry Tudor was brought out of his prison cell along with his uncle Jasper, while Buckingham remained incarcerated. The wind blew heavily that day and both men shivered in their thin shirts, hands bound behind the back. A single noose had been set up on the scaffold, whipping around in the wind. Upon their arrival, uncle and nephew was separated from each other and guards grasped Jasper firmly. Henry would be the first to die, as Philip had ordered the retribution to be particularly gruesome. The charges against Tudor had been plenty. Conspiracy, treason, planning the death of Mary of York, plotting to murder Richard of Gloucester, theft, and fraud to draw the duchy into an unnecessary war. The charges of plotting to kill Mary were certainly false, but Tudor made an excellent scapegoat for the public's rage. And Philip had not bothered with saving him from the very worst of death reserved for traitors: being hung, drawn, and quartered.
Jasper watched in horrors as his sole nephew perish in horrible agony; struggling for breath in the noose, his organs cut off and disembowelled while still alive. Henry drew his last ragged breath when the axe came down on his neck as a final stroke of mercy. Jasper was hanged afterwards, his last image being Henry’s head mounted on a spike.
Buckingham was executed ten days afterwards. He was given the more traditional death of a nobleman, beheading with a sharp sword. The Tudors had died as lowly scum, most likely to shame them for their aspiration to the throne.
In England there had been beheadings too. John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford had been found guilty of conspiring with Henry and so did Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a Welsh knight and landowner. Richard also gave Philip the green light for executing Buckingham in his place. Their lands were declared forfeit for the treason and taken by the crown. For the kingdom belonged to him now. Edward’s death had made him the king of England and the reign of Richard III began with heads mounted on the tower bridge.
While sometimes the bloodshed of noble enemies negatively impacted the beginning of a new ruler, Richard benefited from it. The country was just out of the turmoil’s of the Wars of the Roses from decades past and the fear of a infant king with a foreign realm had horrified many. The men paying with their lives had tried to drag England into a new era of bloodshed with civil wars and now justice had been restored. It showed that the new king was truly in charge and would protect England from enemies.
Afterwards, Richard embarked on a new mission: Finding a new queen. He had been widowed for nearly five years now and despite having two healthy princesses, he needed a legitimate heir. The bride would have to be of royal linage, healthy and virtuous, as Margaret of Scotland had disgraced herself and the succession with her sickly children tainted with bastardry. While Richard was not an old man and enjoyed a good health, he was thirty-one and life were unpredictable.
But where to find a queen? The picking was somewhat slim for him. Sophia Jagiellon had not yet married, but an alliance with Poland would not bring any benefit. Marie of Orléans had married John of Foix the year before. Marie of Cleves were too insignificant. Juana la Beltraneja was a bastard and Castile and Aragon had no princesses of the right age to offer. Jeanne of Bourbon was considered, but she was of too low status for a king.
The choice in October came down to three women. Emperor Frederick’s only daughter, Kunigunde or a Portuguese Infanta. Both women were of impeccable lineage and most importantly, of Lancastrian blood. There were actually two options for Richard in the court of King John II. The king’s unmarried sister, princess Joanna was no delicate spring flower, being the same age as Richard. However, she was the sister of the mightiest king in Europe and a very rich potential bride. The renewal of the Treaty of Windsor between Portugal and England would bring Lancastrian blood to the Yorks.
But attention was also given to Infanta Beatriz of Viseu, Joanna’s first cousin and youngest sister to Queen Eleanor. Beatriz was fifteen years old and had grown up with her sisters in court. Her other sister had married the Duke of Braganza, while the King had personally murdered her only surviving brother, Infante Diego. Beatriz had been a close friend to Isabella of Aragon, the eldest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel, betrothed to the Crown Prince Alfonso. She had received a proper royal education benefiting her stations in the subjects of literature, philosophy, canon and civil laws, heraldry, history, languages popular at this time for both princes and princesses to learn. Beatriz was a gracious dancer and played several instruments. Most importantly, she was virtuous and pious as well.
Joanna was not very interested in marriage as she had entered a nunnery, but her cousin made a appropriate proxy for her. Joanna returned to court to talk with her brother after the ambassadors arrived in Lisbon. The marriage of Beatriz to Richard would benefit both kingdoms as the old Treaty of Windsor would be reinvigorated, Beatriz would not become a focal point for a rebellious husband to John and the likelihood of England invading Portugal was rather non-existent. Eleanor also argued for the match, as her baby sister becoming queen as well appealed to her. John realised also that he could seize the lands and titles of Diego to the crown and gain an ally at the same time. A York and Avis match would be a strong alliance in his eye.
The English ambassadors described Beatriz in their letters to the King as
“Tall and pleasantly shaped, with full bosom and good hips, thick long auburn hair and a straight nose, with a pretty mouth and a gracious long neck. Her voice was low and melodious.”
Thus, John II started to negotiate with the English ambassadors for a royal match. Beatriz would receive a dowry benefiting a royal princess, made up by 300, 000 ducats and valuables like jewelry, gold and silver plate and tapestries. In return she would have to forswear her claim to the Portuguese throne and any claims to her late brother Diego’s estates.
In December of 1484, any imperial matches had been cast aside as Beatriz was married by proxy to Richard III of England. The Infanta would leave for England in late January by the sea to her new kingdom and the husband who waited for her. She would become the first Portuguese Queen of England in history.
Infanta Beatriz of Portugal, Queen Consort of England
Beatriz arrived in England on the tenth of February of 1485 with her entourage. The crossing was hard, but her ships had excellent captains and sailors and they got safely to Southampton with everything intact. The new queen’s arrival was greeted with overwhelming joy. The king met her five days later in Winchester Castle and Richard and Beatriz married at the 25th in a large and public ceremony at Winchester Cathedral. Beatriz would be coronated with Richard in Westminster Abbey in late March a month later as they arrived in London. The day itself was sunny and crisp and shouts of joy and good wishes filled the air. White roses decorated every available surface and Westminster Abbey was shiningly clear. The spectators had braved the lingering frost and dressed in their finest clothes to see their new queen. Beatriz, or Beatrice as she came to be known in England had started the year with grand success. Finally here were a queen to worship! Margaret of Anjou had been a bad match, Elizabeth Woodville had been been a beautiful widow of low birth, Margaret of Scotland had been a plain looking consort who had disgraced herself with infidelity and sick heirs. Beatrice of Portugal was a beautiful maiden from one of the richest kingdoms in Europe.
While Beatrice would become an influential consort, her first years was marked more with the symbolism of queenships, rather than practical powers. She retained around 100 people from Portugal and gathered ladies to supplement her own circle. Among then was Elizabeth Catesby, the sister of Sir William of Catesby, Eleanor Percy, the Duchess of Norfolk Margaret Chedworth and Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey. She also took on the task of being a mother to Joan and Eleanor, her stepdaughters. Eleanor quickly took to Beatrice while Joan took a while longer to warm to her new mother. The girl’s education became Beatrice’s task, as both girls would now become royal brides soon.
But Richard had not married Beatrice solely to educate his daughters, but to provide an heir. After the marriage in Winchester, he visited his wife’s chamber multiple times a week. The stained sheets from the bridal bed had been proof that the new queen was indeed a virgin and both spouses was determined to have a son for England.
Twelve months after her marriage, Queen Beatrice gave birth to a strong and healthy son in Windsor Castle in February of 1486.
Dedicated to @pandizzy because I got the idea of a female Manuel of Portugal coming to England from her. Please don't sue me for copyright infringement!
And I'm so sorry to all of you who got hopeful for a union between Burgundy and England, but it was a nope from me from the start. I mentioned Miguel da Paz three times as foreshadowing, guys. And I will take candidates for baby Richard's marriage now.
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