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| Sherriff Hutton Castle |
Sherriff Hutton
Fitzroy was
given a great Household with head officers and a council. Henry sent his son to
Sherriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire as nominal head of the regional government for the north[i].
Meanwhile Mary was given her own household and made Warden of the Welsh Marches. She too left court to live at Thornbury Castle[ii].
Fitzroy was
sent north, in part to wrest the area from the control of the feudal magnates,
in particular Henry Percy[iii], the Earl of Northumberland. The arrangement was probably
conceived and organised by Wolsey; he was the dominant cleric in the north
being Archbishop of York and Bishop of Durham and into the bargain had care of the young duke.
Fitzroy’s
council was headed by Brian Higdon, Dean of York, one of Wolsey’s men. The treasurer, Sir Godfrey Foljambe, his
Chamberlain was Sir William Parr, the vice-Chamberlain Richard Page and the Cofferer Sir George Lawson[iv]
were all the king’s men. Many of the more minor posts were filled with men
dependent on Wolsey who controlled who was to serve the young duke. Wolsey was
very offhand when Norfolk tried to place one of his men in Fitzroy’s household.
Wolsey was
intent on keeping some measure of control of the council and regularly sent
commissions and instructions to them. He kept most control of the decision making
to himself. The council, eager to make a good impression, set up court sessions
at Newcastle, made enquiries into the state of Northumberland and took recognizances
from the local gentry.
Fitzroy had
four gentlemen ushers to control his visitors whom he received sitting on a
cloth of gold chair of estate with a matching canopy overhead. His rooms were
furnished with chairs of crimson velvet embroidered with Fitzroy’s arms. Other
chairs, in black velvet, were embroidered with the king’s arms.
‘All the noble men and other
worshipful men of all these north counties daily resorted to his lordship in
great numbers….and he [is] as highly esteemed in honour as ever any young
Prince in these parts.’[v]
The council
was not only responsible for Yorkshire and the borders but for the running of
Fitzroy’s lands. In 1527 the surveyor and receiver general of his estates Thomas Magnus surveyed Fitzroy’s lands in Northamptonshire and
Cambridgeshire while William Franklyn, Archdeacon of Durham, surveyed his properties in the
north.
A Noble Upbringing
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| Sir Thomas More |
Bessie
Tailboys had some input to her son’s life and education as John Palsgrave, who was made Fitzroy’s tutor in 1525,
acknowledged. Palsgrave, formerly one of Henry’s secretaries, enlisted the
assistance of his patron, Sir Thomas More the Lord Chancellor, to ensure that Fitzroy was inculcated with
moral values by means of a classical education.
Fitzroy’s
education was now put on a formal footing; his programme
of studies was ambitious[vi]
and included music, taught by William Saunders, another of Wolsey’s protogées, and Latin [vii]
and Greek, studying Virgil and other classical writers. Palsgrave was concerned about Fitzroy’s lisp, which it was
hoped would be lost once the boy lost his milk teeth. After he fell into
financial difficulties in 1526 Palsgrave was succeeded in the post by Richard Croke.
Fitzroy had
the company of his 12 year old uncle George Blount and his younger brother
Henry and William Parr[viii] . The boys all studied together and
along with studying the schoolroom were taught dancing, archery and basic
skills for jousting. No scholar, Fitzroy developed a love of hunting, keeping
hawks, greyhounds and bloodhounds.
Bad Influences
Both
Palsgrave and Croke complained that Fitzroy’s servants interrupted Fitzroy’s
studies. One, Sir George Cotton[ix],
was spending time with Fitzroy, time that Fitzroy should have been spending on
his studies; a timetable devised by Wolsey. Cotton clearly hoped to influence
the child and obtain some of the patronage that he was able to provide. Cotton
had Fitzroy write to the local nobles to obtain hawks and favours for Cotton
and his cronies.
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| 15th century copy of Caesar's Commentaries |
Croke
alleged that Cotton brought in minstrels to sing bawdy songs to Fitzroy,
although what the child made of that is not known. As a result of Cotton’s
machinations Croke found that Fitzroy was often too tired to study. Sir William
Parr was also interfering with Fitzroy’s studies by insisting that he hear
daily matins and vespers in company with young William Parr.
Fitzroy took
advantage of the disunity of the adults around him and refused to mind his
ushers and nurse. Croke claimed that
‘A disposition of the best
promise….may at last be ruined under such masters, who measure everything for
their own pleasure and profit and nothing for the advantage of their lord.’[x]
Nothing
could make Fitzroy to his studies until he was overcome by a desire for a suit
of armour to enable him to exceed in the exploits of war, such as those he had
read about in Caesar’s commentaries. Fitzroy was tempted back to his
books by texts of warlike exploits designed to appeal to an active child.
Fitzroy wrote to both Henry and Wolsey assuring them of his new-found
diligence. He lost Croke as a tutor in October 1527 when Henry recalled him.
Croke’s replacement may have been one of Croke’s contemporaries at Cambridge, George Folbury.
Marriage Plans
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| Henry VIII circa 1530 |
A year later
in 1526, Henry and Wolsey were bemoaning the cost of the two princely
households. That New Year Henry gave Fitzroy sets of gold cups, a gold salt
(purportedly made from a unicorn’s horn) set with pearls and turquoises, and
cups ‘graven with antiques’[xi].
Not to do be outdone Wolsey gave him a gold and enamelled garter.
There was
talk of making Fitzroy King of Ireland and marrying him off to a foreign princess. Ambassadors were
to explain that;
‘[Fitzroy] is near of the King’s
blood and of excellent qualities, and is already furnished to the state of a
great prince.’[xii]
Catherine
objected to these plans which would diminish her daughter’s standing. The
proposal also interfered with the search for a husband for Mary. The Spanish
ambassador in England claimed that the idea was very unpopular in the country
and that;
The Queen is very
dissatisfied with these proceedings.’[xiii]
But to all
this, the queen outwardly acquiesced.
Among those
mentioned as prospective brides for Fitzroy was Catherine de’Medici[xiv], a young lady with plenty of suitors
including James V of Scotland, with whom Fitzroy had exchanged
gifts and letters. The lady’s marital potential was brought to Henry’s
attention by the ambassadors to the court of Spain, Sir Gregory Casale and John Russell.
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| Henri, Duc d'Orleans |
The plans
came to nothing and Fitzroy stayed in the north. Wolsey had his eye on Charles
V’s niece the Infanta Maria of Portugal for Fitzroy, but she was affianced
to the French Dauphin and that idea too fell by the wayside. Wolsey was
determined to strengthen ties with the imperial court and dangled both Fitzroy
and Mary before Charles V.
Wolsey’s fall-back
position was an alliance with the French, trying to detach one power from the
other. On 30th April 1527 the two ancient enemies came to an
agreement; Mary was to marry the Duc d’Orléans[xv], but Fitzroy was left without a
prospective bride.
Towards the
end of the summer the marriage with the Portuguese Infanta was back on the
table, following events in Italy. Henry was wishful for Fitzroy to marry a
Hapsburg princess while Wolsey believed that the overtures from Charles V, offering
Maria as a bait, were an attempt to overset the alliance with France. He was
right, but Henry was never a man to admit he was wrong.
Bibliography
The Ebbs and
Flows of Fortune – David M Head, University of Georgia Press 2009
House of
Treason – Robert Hutchinson, Phoenix 2009
Henry VIII –
Robert Lacey, Weidenfeld & Nicholson & Book Club Associates 1972
The Earlier
Tudors – J D Mackie, Oxford University Press 1992
Cardinal
Wolsey – Mandell Creighton, MacMillan & Co 1891
Bastard
Prince – Beverley A Murphy, Sutton Publishing 2001
Six Wives –
David Starkey, Chatto & Windus 2003
Henry VIII –
David Starkey (ed), Collins & Brown 1991
The Six
Wives of Henry VIII – Alison Weir, Pimlico 1992
The Lost
Tudor Princess – Alison Weir, Vintage 2015
www.wikipedia.en
[i]
The cost to Henry was to be £4,845 per annum; in 2014 the relative: historic standard of
living
value of that income or wealth is £3,226,000.00 labour earnings of that income or wealth is
£32,250,000.00 economic status value of that income or wealth is £97,740,000.00 economic power value of that income or
wealth is £1,436,000,000.00 www.measuringwealth.com
[iii]
The Percys had long held sway in the north
[iv]
Later MP for York and Mayor of the city
[v]
Bastard Prince - Murphy
[vii]
Palsgrave claimed that he had devised a new and easier way for Fitzroy to learn
Latin
[viii]
Nephew of Fitzroy’s Chamberlain, Sir William Parr
[x]
Bastard Prince - Murphy
[xi]
In 1532 Henry gave Fitzroy 95 ounces of gold; in 1534 the king’s standing cup,
given by his father for New Year, was given by Fitzroy to his mother-in-law,
the Duchess of Norfolk
[xii]
Henry VIII - Lacey
[xiii]
Six Wives - Starkey
[xiv]
Later to marry Henry II of France
[xv]
Later Henry II of France
would have liked to have known what date he was dispatched to Sheriff Hutton, and a reminder of his age at this point [and Mary's when packed off to Wales]. Poor brats, the matches suggested included no consideration for any of those involved.
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