Tudor Times is the online repository for all things Tudor and Stewart (1485–1625)

On 28^th June 1491, Elizabeth of York gave birth to her third child and second son at the Palace of Placentia (Greenwich). He was named Henry for his father and baptised by Bishop Fox in the Chapel of the Observant Friars, next to the palace. When Henry was ten, his older brother, Arthur, died, leaving him as heir to the throne. He went on to become probably the most famous king in British history.

On 27^th June 1505 Henry, Duke of York, repudiated his betrothal to Katharine of Aragon, which had taken place two years before. The significance of the date, is that it was the eve of his fourteenth birthday. In the 16th century, fourteen was the age of marital consent for a male, at which time they could decline to honour any arrangements entered into before their maturity. We can suppose that Henry was acting on instruction from his father, Henry VII. The older Henry, although he had vigorously promoted the match initially, was no longer so keen. The death of Katharine’s mother, Isabella of Castile, had led to the break-up of Spain back into the constituent parts of Castile and Aragon. As the Queen of Castile was married, with several children, the alliance would now only be with Aragon, a less important country. Instead, Henry VII was putting out feelers for a match between young Henry and the Queen of Castile’s daughter, Eleanor of Austria.

On 26th June 1515, Antoine, Duke of Lorraine married Renee of Bourbon. Lorraine, situated to the north-east of France was an independent duchy within the Holy Roman Empire. Antoine’s brother, Claud, took French citizenship and received the title of Duke of Guise. Antoine played an important part in the life of his niece, Marie of Guise, who had been destined for a convent until Antoine decided that she was more suited to making a dynastic match to increase the power of Lorraine.

Antoine attempted to maintain neutrality between France and the Empire, at the same time as fending off Protestant incursions from Germany. Antoine and Renee’s descendant married Maria Theresia of Austria, to found the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine, which hung on first to the Holy Roman Empire, then its post-Napoleonic incarnation as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, finally overthrown in 1918.