The Other Tudors (11 page)

T
he Court of Henry VIII was graced by two descendents of Robert le Blount, a Norman knight who came over with William the Conqueror: William Blount, 4th Lord Mountjoy, Prince Henry’s childhood mentor, and Elizabeth (Bessie) Blount, Henry’s mistress and mother of his son. Their common ancestor, Sir John Blount of Sodington (c.1298–1358), was born during the reign of Edward I. He had five sons: William was descended from the second son, Sir John Blount of Sodington, and Bessie from the fourth son, Sir Walter Blount of Barton and Belton.

Bessie Blount’s family was socially of modest stock. Her mother was Katherine, daughter and coheiress of Sir Hugh Pershall of Knightly, Staffordshire, who had held a place at Court briefly in 1502 as lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon when she was at Ludlow. Amongst the spouses of Bessie’s siblings there were no great titles.

William Blount, Lord Mountjoy, however, came from a family that played a prominent role at Court. After his time as tutor and mentor to the young Prince Henry, Mountjoy was given the post of Catherine of Aragon’s Chamberlain and his wife was one of her ladies. It was probably through family influence that Bessie, a distant cousin of Blount, found her place beside them as a lady-inwaiting. She was just the kind of young woman to catch Henry’s attention: blonde, beautiful and vivacious. She was a very good singer and dancer and wrote her own music – valuable assets in the service of a musically inclined young king who enjoyed the spectacle of masques in which he and his friends took part. In 1513, when she came to Court, Bessie received a year’s wages as a lady-in-waiting of 100s (£5).

Bessie made such an impact on her arrival that the King fell deeply in love with her. Lord Herbert of Cherbury wrote of Bessie that she ‘was thought for her rare ornaments of nature and education to be the beauty and mistress-piece of her time.’
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Henry and Bessie were reported to have fallen in love, or at least declared their affair, at a New Year Party in 1514; certainly her name is on the list of those who took part in the celebrations.

From 1514, Bessie became the King’s mistress for about five years. In 1518, her talents were demonstrated when Cardinal Wolsey hosted a banquet in honour of the betrothal of Henry’s infant daughter, Princess Mary, to the dauphin of France. One of the performers was Bessie Blount, singing a song she had written, with music by William Cornish, Master of the King’s Chapel.

Edward Hall wrote of Henry and Bessie: ‘The king in his fresh youth was in the chains of love with a fair damsel, called Elizabeth Blount, daughter of Sir John Blount, knight … she won the king’s heart, and she again showed such favour that by him she bore a goodly man-child, of beauty like to the father and mother. This child was well brought up, like a Prince’s child.’
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– the child in question was Henry Fitzroy (the surname means ‘son of a king’ in French). Bessie gave birth in 1519. Henry and Catherine’s daughter, Princess Mary, was three at the time. Bessie went to have her child at a house, given to her by the King, at Blackmore, near Chelmsford in Essex. After Bessie gave birth, Catherine of Aragon visited her to congratulate her whilst Wolsey set about finding her a husband.

According to Philip Morant’s
The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex
(1768), Blackmore was reported to have been one of ‘Henry VIII’s Houses of Pleasure and disguised under the name of Jericho, so that when this lascivious Prince had a mind to be lost in the embraces of his courtesans, the cant word amongst the courtiers was, that he was gone to Jericho.’
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Morant’s conclusions are inaccurate. Henry never kept a brothel and rarely enjoyed more than one physical relationship at a time. In fact, the house in question was Bessie’s home. The name of Jericho applied primarily to one hall or building (‘a tenement called Jericho’), a relic of the time when Blackmore belonged to a monastery.
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Bessie was henceforward known as the ‘Mother of the King’s Son’. She married Gilbert Tailboys some time around 1519, just after the birth of her son. From then on Bessie and her son were shown considerable respect around the Court, almost as if he were legitimate. After all, a bastard son might just inherit where a legitimate daughter might not.

The marriage between Bessie and Gilbert benefited both parties and they seem to have cohabited quite happily. Gilbert was the son of Sir George Tailboys. In 1509, at the time of the accession of Henry VIII, Sir George was Keeper of Harbottle Castle, and in 1513 he was in France with the King’s army. However, in March 1517, Sir George was declared insane, and his person, heir and estates were placed under the guardianship of Cardinal Wolsey. In 1531, Sir George passed into the care of the Duke of Norfolk, and finally died on 21 September 1538.

His son and heir, the young Gilbert, had been taken into the household of Wolsey, and when he agreed to marry Bessie Blount he was given the manor of Rokeby in Warwickshire and land in Yorkshire the following year, as his bride’s dowry. He also gained the favour of the King and the Chancellor, as well as a beautiful, agreeable and fertile wife. In March 1527, Gilbert was one of the gentlemen of the King’s chamber, and in November 1529 he was given the title of Baron Tailboys of Kyme.

Bessie went on to have three children with Gilbert. Their eldest son, George, became Baron Tailboys on his father’s death, but died without an heir in September 1539. The second son, Robert, had predeceased him, also without heirs, and the title now fell to the third child, a daughter, Elizabeth. She took the title of Baroness Tailboys, with the proviso that the title should pass to her husband as soon as they had produced a child. As it turned out, she married twice, to Thomas Wymbish and later to Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, but neither marriage produced a child and with her death in 1560, the title of Baron Tailboys became extinct.

Not everyone approved of Wolsey’s role in the affair. One of the charges brought against him later, indicating his unfitness to be a Minister of the Crown or a churchman, was, ‘We have begun to encourage the young gentlewomen of the realm to be our concubines by the well marrying of Bessie Blount; whom we would yet by sleight, have married much better than she is; and for that purpose changed her name.’
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At the time, however, Wolsey had pleased the only person who mattered. In June 1525, the Cardinal wrote to Henry, and asked after ‘your entirely biloved sonne, the Lord Henry Fitzroy.’
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The two men, King and Cardinal, could correspond about a base-born son with ease. Wolsey also had a bastard son, Thomas Wynter. The boy was made Dean of Wells, and later Provost of Beverly, Archdeacon of York and Richmond, and Chancellor of Salisbury – all while he was still at school and despite the fact that plurality (the holding of more than one church post) was illegal. It was said that the boy’s income was £27,000 a year.

In 1525, when he was six, Fitzroy was awarded his own household at Durham House, in the Strand, London. According to Hall, Wolsey was given the task of setting it up. This year was to become crucial in Fitzroy’s life and he now had a London house. Later he was given Baynard’s Castle, near St Paul’s, possibly one of the greatest houses in London. A prominent member of the household was the boy’s nurse, Agnes Partridge, who received 50s a quarter. Fitzroy was that most remarkable of boys, an acknowledged royal bastard. He lived in considerable state, as if he were a prince of the blood. His furniture included a throne and canopy of estate, made of cloth of gold fringed with red silk.

In 1525, Fitzroy was also made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Warden of the Cinque Ports, became a Knight of the Garter, and was given the titles of Earl of Nottingham (held by Richard, Duke of York, younger son of Edward IV), Duke of Richmond (held by Henry VII before he became king) and Duke of Somerset (held by the King’s great-grandfather). He was thereafter known by his title the Duke of Richmond.

The reason for the sudden influx of titles was political. In this crucial year there was a breakdown in diplomatic relations with Charles V, King of Spain. He had been betrothed to Henry VIII’s daughter, Princess Mary, for several years and now he needed a wife and a lot of money quickly. His ministers believed the marriage with Mary would not be finalised for some time and so turned to a more immediate and wealthy bride, Isabella of Portugal. After such a loss of diplomatic face, Henry sought to strike back at Charles through his aunt, Catherine of Aragon.

Richmond had been living quietly, and was now six years old, a fine, sturdy, little Tudor. Within days of the news from Charles, Richmond was brought into the limelight, given significant posts and made an earl and a duke (the highest level of nobility). The titles alone were not enough; Richmond needed estates to support his new position. Later that year Letters Patent, dated 11 August 1525, were issued that awarded Richmond lands and money that had belonged to Edmund Tudor, John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and Margaret Beaufort. Most of his holdings were in Lincoln, Somerset and Devon. He was given Colyweston (Margaret Beaufort’s house) and Corfe Castle.
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At this time Richmond was also made Lord Admiral, Keeper of the City and Castle of Carlisle and first Peer in England.

Of course, Catherine complained – through his actions, Henry was as good as nominating Richmond as his successor, passing over their legitimate daughter. In retaliation, Wolsey reorganised her household and dismissed her Spanish women (at least those who were not his spies). When she went to Henry, Wolsey had already told him that these women were the ones who had persuaded her to complain about Richmond in the first place. Henry was adamant that the ladies should return to Spain. He then sent Princess Mary to Ludlow, in the Welsh Marches, ostensibly to begin her duties as Princess of Wales, but in fact to separate mother and daughter, knowing how much it would hurt Catherine. However, some consolation was that the Princess’s governess was the Countess of Salisbury, Catherine’s old and trusted friend.

Richmond now outranked everyone at court, even Princess Mary. Henry’s intention was obvious: to set his bastard son up to succeed him should he fail to have a living male heir.

In time, however, Henry got over his pique and he resumed a life of sorts with Catherine. They read and hunted together, although their sex life had virtually ended. Catherine’s last pregnancy had been in 1518 and it was now clear that there would be no others.

It was now decided that Richmond should set up a court of his own. Princess Mary was at Ludlow, so it seemed a logical step to send Richmond north to the border counties. He set out in the early summer and by 26 July 1525 he had reached Stoke Newington, Middlesex, home of William Jekylle. He moved on to stay with Catherine Parr’s mother, at Hoddesdon (her brother-inlaw was in Richmond’s household), then to Buntingford, then Shengay, Cambridgeshire. Richmond reached York on 18 August and, on the 28th, he went on to Sheriff Hutton, Yorkshire, once a principal residence of Richard III. At York, he was joined by his recently appointed secretary, John Uvedale. Richmond stayed mostly at Sheriff Hutton, and sometimes at Pontefract.

When the young Duke travelled, he was attended like a prince. Richmond had his own household officers at Sheriff Hutton; these included Brian Higdon, Dean of York, as his chancellor; Sir William Bulmer as Steward of the Household; Sir Godfrey Engleham, treasurer, and a number of councillors including John Palsgrave, ‘schoolmaster’; and Walter Luke, ‘general attorney’. Also attending was Sir William Buttes, Henry VIII’s personal physician, present to look after Richmond.

The Duke had his servants, and these servants also had servants. From chaplains, ushers, grooms and footmen to carvers and servers; from cooks, bakers, brewers, stablemen and yeomen to an apothecary and the keeper of the garde-robe, the household numbered several hundred people. With such a formidable array of service, the wage bill for the year 1525 came to an astonishing £3,105 9s 8d, including food, clothing, etc. Clothes for the Duke alone cost £88, while £4 10s went on hounds, £3 18s 8d on players and minstrels, and £11 17s 10d for alms to the poor and needy.
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An inventory of Richmond’s wardrobe included: gowns of crimson damask [patterned silk], embroidered all over with gold; black velvet embroidered with a border of Venice gold [real gold thread]; purple satin tinsel [a fabric woven of silk and metallic thread] and a mantle of the garter of purple velvet and the garter wrought with Venice gold.

On 10 October (after reaching Sheriff Hutton), William Frankelyn, the Chancellor of Durham, wrote to Cardinal Wolsey, updating him on the journey: