Today is the anniversary of Henry Fitzroy and Lady Mary Howard, married at Hampton Court Palace. Henry was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Henry VIII with his mistress Bessie Blount, and Lady Mary was actually a cousin to Anne Boleyn, as she was the daughter of Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk.
Both bride and groom were 14, and they were told not to consummate their marriage yet, and in 1536 Henry Fitzroy died, and it’s thought that they never consummated the marriage. Mary remarried, but the bad luck of the family stayed with her – in 1547 both her brother and father were imprisoned, and her brother was executed. The only thing that saved her father was fate – Henry famously died just before the execution happened, so Thomas escaped death. Mary, though, took responsibility for raising her nieces and nephews after her brother was executed. She died in 1555.
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 56: Bessie Blount from James Boulton
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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.