History, however, has no room for such imponderables. The three children of Henry VIII are, in fact, the eight children of Henry VIII. A man who longed for a son actually had five; a man who didn’t want daughters had three. The tragedy was that so many of them were outside the lawful boundaries of marriage.
Henry VIII was a man who longed for love. His tragedy was that he was looking for a love that could never exist. He had a vision of the perfect woman, an image of his mother, and no woman could measure up to this fantasy. Apart from this was the obsessive need for a male heir. These two, together with the power struggles going on amongst the noble families and foreign diplomats, distorted Henry’s natural desire to love and, most of all, to be loved. He often played the game of the disguised stranger. He would appear at a joust or feast, disguised and masked, and revel in the applause. Who is this masked stranger, people would ask? How strong and talented he is! The men would envy him and the women desire him. Eventually someone, perhaps the queen herself, would utter the sentiment, I wish the King were here; only he could equal or excel this stranger! This was the cue to unmask, and to revel in the adulation that followed because he had heard that people loved and admired him for himself and not just because he was the king.
His mistresses gave him this adulation and devotion, whether for hours or years. With them he was the ardent young king again and basked in their love. From Elizabeth Denton to Katherine d’Eresby, each woman’s humble reverence touched him and made him happy. As each love faded, a new love would appear ready to take her predecessor’s place.
None of his bastards was planned for, and each one has a different mother; no lady had a second child by Henry without a wedding ring. Yet they are all Tudors, and their charm and exceptional natures let King Harry’s Bastards make an indelible mark on the history of the Tudor period.
Introduction
1
Marie Louise Bruce,
The Making of Henry VIII
, Collins, London, 1977, p.75
2
Edward Lord Herbert of Cherbury,
The Life and Raigne of King Henry the Eighth
, Thomas Whitaker, London, 1649, p.175
3
Alison Plowden,
Tudor Women: Queens and Commoners
, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London, 1979, p.96
4
Alan Haynes,
Sex in Elizabethan England
, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 1997, p.72
5
William J Tighe, ‘The Gentleman Pensioners in Elizabethan Politics and Government’, Dissertation, 1984, p.399
Chapter 1
1
G. Milne, Sir Roland de Velville (1474–1535),
http://www/gmilne. demon.co.uk/roland.htm
2
Michael K. Jones & Malcolm G. Underwood,
The King’s Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Duchess of Richmond and Derby
, CUP, 1992, p.69–70
3
Roger Lockyer & Andrew Thrush,
Henry VII, Seminar Studies in History
, Longman, 1997
4
Christopher Falkus (Ed.),
The Private Lives of the Tudor Monarchs
, Folio Society, London, 1974, p.16]
5
Marie Louise Bruce,
The Making of Henry VIII
, Collins, London, 1977, p.21
6
Ibid., p.72–3
7
Ibid., p.86
8
Thomas Hinde,
Hinde’s Courtiers: 900 Years of English Court Life
, Victor Gollancz, London, 1986, p.39
9
Peter Green,
John Skelton
, Longmans Green & Co, 1960, p.12
10
‘Holinshed’s
Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland
, Vol. III, London 1808, p.527
11
Marvin H. Albert,
The Divorce
, George G. Harrap & Co, London, 1966, p.29–30
12
Marie Louise Bruce,
The Making of Henry VIII
, Collins, London, 1977, p.134
13
Ibid., p.140
14
Neville Williams,
The Life and Times of Henry VII
, Book Club Associates, London, 1973, p.194
15
Neville Williams,
Henry VIII and His Court
, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London, 1971, p.194
16
The Reign of Henry VII from Contemporary Sources
, Vol. III, University of London Historical Series, Longmans, 1914
17
Christopher Falkus,
The Private Lives of the Tudor Monarchs
, Folio Society, London, 1974, p.19
18
Marie Louise Bruce,
The Making of Henry VIII
, Collins, London, 1977, p.198
19
Frederick Chamberlain,
The Private Character of Henry the Eighth
, Bodley Head, London, 1932, p.92
20
The Reign of Henry VII from Contemporary Sources
, Vol. III, University of London Historical Series, Longmans, 1914
21
Marie Louise Bruce,
The Making of Henry VIII
, Collins, London, 1977, p.201–2
22
S. B. Chrimes,
Henry VII
,Eyre Methuen, London, 1972, p.301
23
Marie Louise Bruce,
The Making of Henry VIII
, Collins, London, 1977, p.166–8
24
Marie Louise Bruce,
The Making of Henry VIII
, Collins, London, 1977, p.196
25
Ibid., p.223
Chapter 2
1
Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic: Henry VIII
, Vol. I 1509–1513, HMSO, London, 1920, p.54 & 64
2
John Schofield,
The Building of London from the Conquest to the Great Fire
, British Museum, 1984, p.61 & 104
3
Charles Lethbridge Kingsford (Ed.),
A Survey of London by John Stow, 1603
, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1908, p.236–7
4
Nicholas Harris Nicholas, (Ed.),
Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York: Wardrobe Accounts of Edward IV
, William Pickering, London, 1830, p.99
5
Neville Williams,
The Life and Times of Henry VII
, Book Club Associates, London, 1973, p.124
6
Michael K. Jones & Malcolm G. Underwood,
The King’s Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Duchess of Richmond and Derby
, CUP, 1992, p.272
7
T. N. Cooper, University of Sheffield,
http://www.midlandshistory.bham.ack.uk/issues/1994/coopertn
8
J. L. Laynesmith,
The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445–1603
, p.147
9
John Strype,
A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster
Chapter 3
1
Hall’s Chronicle: Containing the History of England, etc
, London 1809, p.507
2
J. J. Scarisbrook,
Henry VIII
,Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1968, p.12
3
J. S. Brewer,
The Reign of Henry VIII: From his Accession to the Death of Wolsey
, Vol. I, John Murray, London, 1884, p.5
4
Barbara J. Harris,
Edward Stafford Third Duke of Buckingham 1478–1521
, Stamford University Press, California, 1986
5
Alison Weir,
Henry VIII: King and Court
, Jonathan Cape, London, 2001, p.28
6
Barbara J. Harris,
Edward Stafford Third Duke of Buckingham 1478–1521
, Stamford University Press, California, 1986
7
Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic: Henry VIII
, Vol. I, HMSO, London, 1920, p.474
8
Neville Williams,
Henry VIII and his Court
, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1971, p.47
9
Holinshed’s
Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland
, Vol. III, London, 1808, p.558
10
Charles Cruickshank,
Henry VIII and the Invasion of France
,Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, 1994, p.29–30
11
Ibid., p.110
12
Ibid., p.120
13
Ibid.
14
Alan B. Hinds (Ed.),
Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Existing in the Archives and Collections of Milan
, Vol. I 1385–1618, HMSO, London, 1912, p.394–403
15
Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic: Henry VIII
, Vol. I Pt.II, HMSO, London, 1920, p.3163
16
http://genealogy.euweb.cz//French/neufchtl2
17
Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York
, p.23
18
British Museum MSS 7100
19
Neville Williams,
Henry VIII and his Court
, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1971, p.66
20
Maria Perry,
Sisters to the King
, Andre Deutsch, London, 1998, p.85–6
21
Alison Plowden,
The House of Tudor
, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 1998, p.71
22
M. le Dr. Hoefer (Ed.),
Nouvelle Biographie Générale
, Vol. IV, Firmin Didot Freres, Paris, 1862, p.810
Chapter 4
1
Alison Plowden,
The House of Tudor
, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 1998, p.97
2
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic
, Vol. IV, Introduction –E. Hall, ‘Chronicle Containing the History of England’, H Ellis (Ed.), 1809
3
P. Mordant,
The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex
, Vol. I, 1763; Vol. II, 1768
4
Patent Rolls, 18 Feb, year 20 Henry VIII
5
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic
, Vol. IV, Introduction
6
Beverley A. Murphy,
Bastard Prince: Henry VIII’s Lost Son
, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2001, p.52
7
Letters Patent, 11 August 1525
8
John Gough Nichols, Inventory of the Wardrobe, Plate, etc of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond & Somerset,
The Camden Miscellany
, Vol. III, Camden Society, 1854, p.xxii–xxvii
9
Ibid.
10
C. R. N. Routh,
Who’s Who in Tudor England
, Shepheard-Walwyn, 1964, p.54
11
J. S. Brewer,
The Reign of Henry VIII: From his accession to the Death of Wolsey
, Vol. II, John Murray, London, 1884, p.105
12
John Gough Nichols, Inventory of the Wardrobe, Plate, etc of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond & Somerset,
The Camden Miscellany
, Vol. III, Camden Society, 1854, p.xci
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid., p.xc
15
Douglas Brooks-Davies (Ed.),
Silver Poets of the Sixteenth Century
, Everyman, 1997, p.112
16
John Martin Robinson,
The Dukes of Norfolk: A Quincentennial History,
OUP, 1982
17
The Chronicles of Calais
, The Camden Society, p.41
18
Holinshed’s
Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland
, Vol. III, London 1808, p.776
19
John Gough Nichols, Inventory of the Wardrobe, Plate, etc of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond & Somerset,
The Camden Miscellany
, Vol. III, Camden Society, 1854, p.xcv
20
‘Mary Duchess of Richmond’,
The Gentleman’s Magazine
,May 1845
21
John Gough Nichols, Inventory of the Wardrobe, Plate, etc of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond & Somerset,
The Camden Miscellany
, Vol. III, Camden Society, 1854, p.xcvii–iii
22
Ibid., p. xvciii
23
Ibid.
24
E. W. Ives,
Anne Boleyn
, Basil Blackwell, 1986, p.409
25
Carolly Erikson,
Bloody Mary: The Life of Mary Tudor
, Robson Books, 1978
26
Heather Hobden, ‘Roger Parsons’ Lincolnshire World: Elizabeth Blount’,
http://homepages.enterprise.net/rogerp/blount
27
Alison Plowden,
The Young Elizabeth
, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 1999, p.61
28
John Gough Nichols, Inventory of the Wardrobe, Plate, etc of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond & Somerset,
The Camden Miscellany
, Vol. III, Camden Society, 1854, p.xcv
29
Neville Williams,
Thomas Howard Fourth Duke of Norfolk
, Barnie & Rockcliff, London, 1964, p.14–6
30
Ibid., p.16
31
Muriel St Clare Byrne,
The Letters of King Henry VIII
, Cassell, London, 1936, p.422
Chapter 5
1
Carolly Erickson,
Bloody Mary: The Life of Mary Tudor
, Robson Books, 1978, p.34
2
E. W. Ives,
Anne Boleyn
, Basil Blackwell, 1986, p.32
3
Ibid., p.34
4
Alison Plowden,
Tudor Women: Queens and Commoners
, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1979
5
Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury,
The Life and Raigne of King Henry the Eighth
, Thomas Whitaker, London, 1649
6
Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic
, Vol. III, p.33