In today's Claire Chats I talk about the secret marriage of Mary Tudor, dowager Queen of France, and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, in 1515.
Notes, Sources and Further Reading
- Letters of royal and illustrious ladies of Great Britain, from the commencement of the twelfth century to the close of the reign of Queen Mary by Mary Anne Everett Wood, also known as Mary Anne Everett Green. This can be read on archive.org and here's a link to one of Mary's letters to Henry VIII - https://archive.org/stream/lettersroyaland04greegoog#page/n214/mode/2up
- Lives of the Princesses of England, from the Norman Conquest by Mary Anne Everett Green (Wood) - This is also available on archive.org and the bit about the secret marriage is on page 89 - https://archive.org/stream/livesprincesses01greegoog#page/n108/mode/2up
- Mary Tudor, Queen of France, by Mary Croom Brown, available at https://archive.org/details/marytudorqueenof00brow, see Chapter 8.
- Journal de Louise de Savoye - https://books.google.es/books/about/Journal_de_Louise_de_Savoye_duchesse_d_A.html?id=P7cPAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y, see p. 397 for the mention of the couple's marriage on 31st March.
- The French Queen's Letters: Mary Tudor Brandon and the Politics of Marriage in sixteenth century Europe by Erin Sadlack
- Mary Rose by David Loades
- Charles Brandon: Henry VIII's Closest Friend by Steven Gunn
- Charles Brandon: The King's Man by Sarah Bryson
- Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy by Alison Weir
Here is a photo of Le musée de Cluny, or the Musée national du Moyen Âge, which was known as the Hôtel de Cluny or Palais de Cluny and was where Mary Tudor stayed following Louis XII's death and where she and Brandon got married in secret. Click on it to enlarge it.
Le musée de Cluny