CHAPTER 48
WITH PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED AND THE MARRIAGE TREATY RATIFIED, preparations began in earnest for Philip’s arrival and the royal wedding, which was to take place at Winchester Cathedral, the episcopal seat of Bishop Gardiner. The gallows scattered throughout the City of London, where the condemned rebels had hung, were taken down; the cross at Cheapside was repaired and a scaffold erected for the celebrations to welcome the prince.1
Mary had commissioned a suit to be made for Philip’s entry into Winchester and for the wedding itself, together with hangings for the royal bed embroidered with the arms and devices of Spain and England. Some 350 Englishmen had been selected as Philip’s household officers, among them individuals who had supported Mary in July 1553, such as John Huddleston. All had been assembled before the chamberlain of the royal household and asked to swear an oath of allegiance, and they, together with a hundred archers who were to join the guard Philip brought with him, now traveled to Southampton to await the prince’s long-anticipated arrival.2
Finally, on June 16, Mary and her entire court set out from Richmond for Winchester and there took up residence in the Episcopal Palace of Bishop’s Waltham, which had been specially prepared ahead of her arrival.
The decision to hold the wedding ceremony outside London had been driven by fears of disorder in the capital. Rumor and discontent were rife. Seditious prophecies were published in London to the effect that Philip’s delay in embarking for England was caused by his reluctance to marry Mary and that the Spaniards would not let him come.3
As Renard reported on July 9, “the officers appointed for his Highness’ service have been living at Southampton at great expense for a long time and are now beginning to leave that place, speaking strangely of his Highness.”4 Two aldermen in the City of London were ordered to keep watch every night and one or two constables until three or four in the morning for fear of “some disturbances among the citizens in detestation of the Spanish affair.”5 Pensions were distributed by the imperial ambassador to “render his Highness’s coming secure,” and the sum of 5,000 crowns was distributed among a number of gentlemen and officers who had served the queen in the last rebellion, “in order to keep them well disposed.” In the hope that all would go smoothly, Simon Renard drew up guidelines for Philip, suggesting how he might ingratiate himself with the English people:
NOTES FOR PRINCE PHILIP’S GUIDANCE IN ENGLAND
Item: when his Highness enters the kingdom, he will be well-advised to caress the nobility and be affable, show himself often to the people, prove that he wishes to take no share in the administration, but leave it all to the Council and urge them to be diligent in the exercise of justice, caress the nobles, talk with them on occasion, take them out to hunt with them. If he does so, there is no doubt whatever that they will not only love his Highness, but will adore him.
Item: it will be well to show a benign countenance to the people and lead them to look for kindness, justice and liberty.
Item: as his Highness knows no English it will be well to select an interpreter and have him among his attendants so that he may converse with the English. And let his Highness endeavour to learn a few words in order to be able to salute them. Then, as time goes on, he will be able to decide what he had better do in order to achieve his purposes.
Item: no soldiers from the ships must be allowed to land here, in order not to confirm the suspicion inculcated by the French, that his Highness wishes to conquer the realm by force.6
At three in the afternoon of Thursday, July 19, Philip finally landed at Southampton. A great throng of nobles and gentry met his ship, and the earl of Arundel presented him with the Order of the Garter, which was buckled just below his knee, and a mantle of blue velvet fringed with gold and pearl. The prince was rowed ashore the following day in a magnificent state barge covered with white and black cloth, furnished with fine carpets and a chair of brocade, and manned by twenty men dressed in the queen’s livery of green and white.7 An English household of 350, headed by the earl of Arundel, had been made ready for the prince, but Philip had brought his own, immediately causing tension between the English and the Spaniards.
In London the populace marked the Spanish prince’s safe arrival with officially organized bonfires and feasting, as well as “ringing and playing.” Two days later, processions, Te Deums, and more ringing of bells were ordered in every parish of London.8 Philip sent the count of Egmont to Winchester to “inform the Queen of his arrival, visit her, tell her of his health and assure her of his affection.” The next day Gardiner arrived with a large diamond as a gift from Mary. Philip reciprocated with a diamond of his own, though unfortunately it was noted to have been “considerably smaller.” Mary also sent “a very richly wrought poignard, studded with gems, and two robes, one of them as rich and beautiful as could be imagined.”9 Mary issued a proclamation summoning all those who were to attend the wedding:
Forasmuch as (God be thanked) the Prince of Spain is now safely arrived and come unto this the Queen’s highness’ realm of England, her grace’s pleasure therefore is that all noblemen and gentlemen, ladies and others appointed by her Majesty to attend upon her grace against the time of her marriage, do with all convenient speed make their repair to her grace’s city of Winchester, there to give their attendance upon her highness.10
At the Church of the Holy Rood in Southampton, which had been lavishly adorned for his visit with brocade, gold fabrics, and embroidered canopies, Philip heard Mass and gave thanks for his safe voyage. Later, at the house that had been prepared for him, he addressed the English councillors who had gathered there. He had come to live among them, he said, not as a foreigner but as a native Englishman, not for want of men or money but because God had called him to marry their virtuous sovereign. He thanked them for their expressions of faith and loyalty and promised that they would find him a grateful and loving prince. Then, turning to the Spanish nobles in his entourage, he expressed his hope that, as they remained in England, they would follow his example and conform to the customs of the country. As he finished speaking, he raised to his lips a flagon of English ale and drank farewell to the men who were gathered before him.11
Having spent the weekend resting in Southampton, Philip set out on the twelve-mile ride to Winchester, through pouring rain, escorted by a guard of a hundred men wearing his livery. About six in the evening, Philip entered Winchester, mounted on a white horse and wearing a rich coat of cloth of gold, a feather in his hat and dressed in a suit embroidered with gold, “the English and Spanish nobles, one with another, riding before him.”12 At the cathedral, amid a fanfare of trumpets and bell ringing, the bishop of Winchester, the lord chancellor, and five other bishops greeted him. After praying in front of the sacrament Philip was taken by torchlight to his lodging in the dean’s house to prepare for his first meeting with the queen.
At about ten in the evening, Philip walked through the gardens to the Bishop’s Palace, where he and Mary were to meet. Surrounded by three or four councillors and her ladies-in-waiting, Mary came out to the door of her chamber and “very lovingly, yea, and most joyfully received him.” She was dressed in a gown of black velvet over an underskirt of frosted silver adorned with magnificent jewels. Hand in hand they sat down and for about half an hour remained in pleasant conversation. Philip spoke in Spanish, Mary replied in French. Philip then rose and kissed the other ladies present, and his attendants kissed the queen’s hand. As he departed, he said, “Good night, my lords all,” in English, as Mary had just taught him to do.13
At three the following afternoon, the prince made his first public visit to the queen. Accompanied by a number of English nobles, he walked on his own behind them, “in a cloak of black cloth embroidered with silver, and a pair of silver hose.” Entering the courtyard of the Bishop’s Palace to the sound of music, he passed into the Great Hall, where Mary received him in the presence of the people. Taking him by the hand, she led him into the Presence Chamber, and there they talked for a quarter of an hour under the cloth of estate, “to the great comfort and rejoicing of the beholders.” Philip took his leave and went to Evensong at the cathedral, returning afterward to his lodging alone.
According to the Scotsman John Elder, who was present at court, Philip struck observers in England as the image of a true king:
Of visage he is well favoured … with a broad forehead, and grey eyes, straight-nosed and manly countenance. From the forehead to the point of his chin, his face groweth small. His pace is princely, and gate [gait] so straight and upright, as he los-eth no inch of his height; with a yellow head and yellow beard. And thus to conclude, he is so well proportioned as nature cannot work a more perfect pattern; and, as I have learned, of the age of 28 years; whose majesty I judge to be of a stout stomach, pregnant-witted and of most gentle nature.14
It was a marriage that promised much, though it remained to be seen whether Mary’s hopes for both a political partnership and a personal union could be realized.