Today in 1522 Emperor Charles V entered London on a state visit. He’d been in England since landing at Dover on 26th May. This is the trip where Charles met the young Mary, Henry and Katherine’s daughter, with whom he was officially betrothed. Mary was six, and Charles was 22 – they agreed to wait until Mary was 12 to get married. On this trip Henry also gave Charles a tour of his flagship Henri Grace a Dieu, and the Mary Rose, and Charles told Henry that they surpassed any ship he owned.
To celebrate the engagement to Mary, Charles gave her a pony to ride, and she led him to a window so he could see his presents from her – the finest breed of horses, she told him. She then entertained him by showing off her musical skills, playing the spinet and dancing.
Charles wrote to the Abbot of Najera the following day, telling him of his experiences, and said that after seeing Henry’s fleet, he had no doubt that the two could take on France easily.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested link:
Episode 108: Mary Tudor, Queen of France
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.