Today in 1548 Mary Seymour was born. She was the daughter of Catherine Parr to Thomas Seymour. There are plenty of rumors that Katherine Parr had had a thing with Thomas Seymour before Henry VIII started showing interest in her, and so she had to put that on hold to become Henry’s wife. After Henry died, she married Seymour quickly, and got pregnant. Catherine Parr died less than a week after Mary was born, leaving her without a mother. Then, less than a year later her father Thomas experienced a downfall that would lead to his execution, leaving her an orphan.
Mary was left in the care of Katherine Willoughby, the Duchess of Suffolk, but she disappears from the records after 1550. It’s one of history’s mysteries as to what happened to her. The Victorian author Agnes Strickland contended that she lived until adulthood, but more recently historian Linda Porter pointed to an inscription in a child’s tomb that suggests it’s Mary’s.
Either way, the one thing we do know is that Mary was born today.
That’s your Tudor Minute. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 093: Tudor Times on Katherine Parr
The Death of Katherine Parr
Autumn 2018 Tudor Summit: Rebecca Larson on Thomas Seymour
From the shop:
Katherine Parr Collection
Featuring: “Methinks Love Maketh Men Like Angels” Katherine Parr Quote Mug
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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.