CHAPTER 13
AROUND THE TIME MARY JOINED THE INFANT ELIZABETH’S HOUSEHOLD, she received a letter in secret from her mother. It was an extraordinary epistle, written in the most exceptional circumstances, born of Katherine’s concern for her daughter’s welfare.
Daughter,
I heard such tidings today that I do perceive (if it be true) the time is very near when Almighty God will prove you; and I am very glad of it for I trust he doth handle you with a good love. I beseech you, agree of His pleasure with a merry heart; and be sure that, without fail, He will not suffer you to perish if you beware to offend Him. I pray you, good daughter, to offer yourself to Him…. And if this lady [Shelton] do come to you as it is spoken, if she do bring you a letter from the King, I am sure in the selfsame letter you shall be commanded what you shall do. Answer with few words, obeying the King, your father, in everything, save only that you will not offend God and lose your own soul; and go no further with learning and disputation in the matter. And wheresoever, and in whatsoever, company you shall come, observe the King’s commandments.
But one thing I especially desire you, for the love that you do owe unto God and unto me, to keep your heart with a chaste mind, and your body from all ill and wanton company, [not] thinking or desiring any husband for Christ’s passion; neither determine yourself to any manner of living till this troublesome time be past. For I dare make sure that you shall see a very good end, and better than you can desire…. And now you shall begin, and by likelihood I shall follow. I set not a rush by it; for when they have done the uttermost they can, then I am sure of the amendment … we never come to the kingdom of Heaven but by troubles. Daughter wheresoever you come, take no pain to send unto me, for if I may, I will send to you,
Your loving mother,
Katherine the Queen.1
It is the suggestion of a shared martyrdom that stands out. If matters did not improve on Earth, they would do so, Katherine reassured her daughter, in Heaven. The letter enshrined many of what would become Mary’s guiding principles, not just for the next few torturous months but for the rest of her life: to dedicate her life to God, to remain chaste, and to accept struggles with good grace. Accompanying the letter, Katherine sent two books: De Vita Christi and Saint Jerome’s letters to Paula and Eustochium, women who lived austere lives and dedicated themselves to God.
Katherine was then at Buckden. In mid-January, Chapuys reported that she had not “been out of her room since the Duke of Suffolk was with her [in mid-December], except to hear mass in a Gallery. She will not eat or drink what her new servants provide. The little she eats in her anguish is prepared by her chamberwomen, and her room is used as her kitchen.”2 Katherine was convinced that Henry and Anne were seeking to poison her. She trusted only the imperial ambassador, referring to him in correspondence as “My Special Friend.”3 Katherine continued to beseech the emperor that the pope do her justice. She and Mary were imprisoned “like the most miserable creatures in the world.”4 Charles accused Henry of mistreating them, but the king remained unmoved; “there was no other princess except his daughter Elizabeth, until he had a son which he thought would happen soon.”5 Still Henry hoped for a male heir.
ALTHOUGH MARY LOVED and respected Henry as her father, she refused to submit to his will as king, and at the vulnerable age of seventeen, this meant painful rejection. In January, when Henry visited the household at Hatfield, Mary was ordered to stay in her chamber. Instead, Thomas Cromwell and the captain of the Guard were sent to Mary to urge her to renounce her title. Mary responded that she had already given her answer and it was useless trying to persuade her otherwise. She still craved her father’s favor, however, and begged for permission to see him and kiss his hand. When she was refused yet again, she went out onto the terrace at the top of the house as her father prepared to leave. As he was mounting his horse he spotted her and, seeing her on her knees with her hands together, bowed and touched his cap.6 Mary would not see him again for more than two and a half years.
Upon his return to court, Henry explained that he had refused to see Mary on account of her obstinacy, which “came from her Spanish blood.” But when the French ambassador mentioned how “very well brought up” she was, “the tears came into his [Henry’s] eyes and he could not refrain from praising her.”7
Anne continued to resent Henry’s clear affection for his elder daughter and persisted in conspiring against her. When she heard of Mary’s defiance, she railed that “her answers could not have been made without the suggestion of others” and complained that Mary was not being kept under close enough surveillance.8 When Anne went to visit her daughter at Hatfield in March, she wasted no time in humiliating her. She “urgently solicited” Mary to visit her and “honour her as Queen,” saying that it “would be a means of reconciliation with the King, and she would intercede with him for her.” Mary replied that “she knew no other Queen in England except her mother” but that if Anne would do her that favor with her father she would be much obliged. Enraged, Anne departed, swearing that “she would bring down the pride of this unbridled Spanish blood.”9
According to a source close to Chapuys, Anne had been heard to say more than once that as soon as Henry was out of the country, leaving her as regent, she meant to use her authority to have Mary killed, “either by hunger or otherwise,” even if she, Anne, was “burnt alive for it.”10