Mary was renowned for her beauty, being described as "a Paradise - tall, slender, grey-eyed, possessing an extreme pallor" by the Venetian ambassador, and her motto was La volenté de Dieu me suffit (The will of God is sufficient for me).
In 1507, Mary was betrothed to Charles of Castile (the future Charles V Holy Roman Emperor), and their wedding was planned for 1514. However, the betrothal was cancelled due to Henry VIII’s diplomatic dealings and, much to Mary's horror, she was betrothed instead to the fifty-two-year-old King Louis XII of France, a man thirty-four years her senior, as part of Cardinal Wolsey’s peace treaty with France.
Mary married King Louis XII of France in Abbeville on 9th October 1514 when she was just eighteen, but the marriage was short-lived, with the king dying just a few months later, on 1st January 1515. Mary had been in love with Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and a great friend of Henry VIII, and before her marriage to Louis XII she had made her brother promise that if she married the French King and outlived him, that she could choose her next husband.
Mary had four children by Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, but only two daughters, Frances and Eleanor, survived childhood. Frances married Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset, and was the mother of Lady Jane Grey. Eleanor married Henry Clifford, the 2nd Earl of Cumberland.
Mary became ill in 1533, and died on 25th June (some sources say 24th) at Westhorpe, Suffolk. She was laid to rest in the abbey at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, and then moved to St Mary’s Church in Bury St Edmunds during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
You can find out more about Mary in the following videos and articles:
- The Marriage of Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk
- 6 November 1514 – The Entry of Mary Tudor, Queen of France, into Paris
- 25 June 1533 – The death of Mary Tudor, Queen of France
- Mary Tudor, Queen of France video
- Mary Tudor, Queen of France, Quiz
- Mary Tudor, Queen of France by Sarah Bryson
Extract from On This Day in Tudor History by Claire Ridgway.