Bastard Prince (3 page)

It is possible that Henry did engage in a degree of harmless flirtation with the Lady Anne in the tradition of courtly love. In 1513 her new year's gift from the king was a suspiciously extravagant thirty ounces of silver gilt. As the third most expensive present that year, it was ‘an unusually high amount to be given to one of the queen's ladies by Henry'.
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The elaborate game of courtly love, with its exchange of tokens and protestations of undying devotion, was a popular pastime at the Tudor court. Enthusiastically played by all of the queen's ladies and the king's courtiers, it was not in itself evidence of a serious attraction. Like any game it had rules, which were supposed to be observed. Those occasions when the heartfelt sighs overstepped the boundaries into genuine emotion were cause for anger and recrimination, as Henry Percy found to his cost when his romantic pursuit of Anne Boleyn exceeded accepted limits.

Although Katherine was exempt, since propriety required that the only man who romanced her was her husband, Henry was a keen player. Yet it is significant that none of Henry's known mistresses came from families above the rank of knighthood. It was one thing to pay homage to a duke's sister as an unreachable goddess, but quite another to seduce her. While Henry's conduct may have encouraged suspicion among the gossips, subsequent events indicate that Sir William Compton's attraction to Lady Anne Hastings was the genuine article. In 1527 Wolsey drew up a citation accusing Compton of adultery with Anne. Compton apparently took the sacrament in order to disprove his guilt. However, his will belies his protestations of innocence. Not only did he ask for daily service in praying for Anne's soul, but also the profits from certain of his lands in Leicestershire were earmarked for her use for the remainder of her life.
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On New Year's Day 1511 Katherine of Aragon was safely delivered of a son. At only her second attempt she had fulfilled her ultimate duty and provided England with a male heir. The child was ‘the most joy and comfort that might be to her and to the realm of England'. The baby was apparently healthy and there was no reason to suppose that the little prince would not be joined shortly by a host of brothers and sisters. Yet only fifty-two days later the child was dead. The grief and shock of both his parents at this bitter blow was echoed by the whole nation. It can have been of little comfort to Katherine that unlike a miscarriage or a stillbirth, which was universally looked on as the fault of the mother, infant mortality was seen as God's judgment on both parents for their sins. To make matters worse, this time Katherine did not conceive again for another two years.

The idea that Henry might have spurned his wife for the pleasures of other women seems an empty revenge for a man who was so desperate to secure a legitimate heir. If he did there is no evidence of it. In contrast to many of his contemporaries Henry was a model of restraint and discretion. Fidelity was not a prerequisite for a king, who generally married for financial and political advantage rather than for love. Nevertheless, Henry is only known to have had a handful of mistresses and never more than one at a time. Given Katherine's indisposition during successive pregnancies, few would have rebuked him for occasionally seeking solace elsewhere. Exactly how Etiennette la Baume, a young lady from the court of the Archduchess Margaret of Savoy, extracted the promise of a dower of 100,000 crowns from the King of England can only be imagined. Yet until the queen was known to be with child Henry had every incentive to concentrate his attentions on his wife.

Since Katherine was still only twenty-five, her age should not have been a bar to conception. Jane Seymour was twenty-eight and Anne Boleyn already in her thirties when they conceived. Unfortunately, his grief over the loss of his infant son may have proved too great a distraction. Henry's relationships all suggest that he was a slave to his emotions. If his antipathy to Anne of Cleves was enough to ensure he could not ‘do the deed', perhaps his shattered confidence after this devastating loss meant that, despite his best efforts, England still waited expectantly for the much-desired male heir.

It was in the wake of this latest disappointment that Elizabeth Blount made her formal début at the court of Henry VIII. That she secured an entrée into the queen's household as soon as she reached a suitable age was a testament to her more than average attributes. Although Henry had been King of England for just three years, his court was rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the most spectacular in Europe. It had long been established that it was the duty of a monarch to spend his money ‘not only wisely, but also lavishly'. Even the parsimonious Henry VII had realised the benefit of extravagant display to make a political point. It might take the young Henry VIII years to earn the kind of reputation enjoyed by seasoned monarchs like Ferdinand of Aragon, but in the meantime he would boast a court to rival the best in Christendom.

Life was a round of music, dancing and entertainments, with elaborately staged tournaments, spectacular pageants and fashionable Italian masques. The revels were accompanied by some of the finest singers and musicians from England and abroad. The gold and silver on display, the many lavish clothes and the numerous sparkling jewels, were designed to impress. The beauty of the queen's ladies was especially remarked upon. In June 1512 the ladies of the court, resplendent in red and white silk, danced in an elaborate pageant, featuring a fountain fashioned from russet silk to mark the jousts at Greenwich. At Christmas that year the festivities were capped by the appearance of a fabulous mountain from which six ladies, dressed in crimson satin and adorned with gold and pearls, emerged to dance. In the midst of such splendour it is perhaps no surprise that Elizabeth's arrival caused no great impact. She was, after all, still very young and engaged in a very junior position. It is unlikely that she would have progressed this far unless it was intended that she would be granted a regular place in the queen's service as soon as a suitable post fell vacant.

Her success was probably primarily due to the influence of William Blount, the 4th Lord Mountjoy. Sometimes described as Mountjoy's sister or his niece, Elizabeth's exact relationship with him was rather more distant, their last common ancestor having died in 1358.
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However, the two branches of the family had a long history of mutual support and assistance. In 1374 Elizabeth's ancestor, Sir John Blount, had conveyed a significant part of his inheritance to his half-brother, Walter Blount, the forbear of the Blounts, Lords Mountjoy. In 1456 Elizabeth's great-grandfather, Humphrey Blount, had fought alongside Walter Blount, later 1st Baron Mountjoy, against King Henry VI's forces at Ludlow. The present Lord Mountjoy was a trustee of Elizabeth's parents' marriage settlement and would be instrumental in ensuring that they were able to enjoy their rightful inheritance.

An established figure at the Tudor court, Mountjoy had served Henry VII before being appointed Master of the Mint by Henry VIII in 1509. Since he was also the husband of Agnes de Venegas, one of the few Spanish ladies-in-waiting who had remained in England with Katherine of Aragon, he was well placed to smooth Elizabeth's entry into the Queen's service. In any case, his appointment as Katherine of Aragon's chamberlain on 8 May 1512 must have been a significant factor in her continuing success. Since Mountjoy was now the chief officer of the queen's household it was perhaps no hardship to see that his attractive and accomplished young relative was granted the next vacancy. From Michaelmas 1512 Elizabeth joined the ranks of the queen's maids of honour, under the watchful eye of Mrs Stoner, ‘the mother of the maids', at the full wages of 200s per annum.
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In many respects Elizabeth was ideal mistress material: sufficiently well born to actually meet Henry, sufficiently accomplished and interesting to catch his eye, yet of a status where her prospects would be enhanced, rather than her reputation diminished, by a liaison with the king. Her family, the Blounts of Kinlet, were a cadet branch of an established and extensive family. Originally from Staffordshire, they still enjoyed estates in Balterley and other places in the county which they had held since the fourteenth century. Elizabeth's great-greatgrandfather, who died in 1442, was described as ‘Sir John Blount of Balterley'. The family had acquired the Lordship of Kinlet in Shropshire through a piece of fortunate misfortune, when all four of the male heirs died without issue. In a grant dated 2 February 1450 Elizabeth's great-grandfather, was described as ‘Humphrey Blount of Kinlet'.

The Blounts of Kinlet were county rather than court. They served their king as sheriffs, escheators and justices of the peace, occasionally representing Shropshire in parliament. However, the local nature of their offices did not make them immune from the tremors of wider concerns. Humphrey Blount earned his knighthood fighting to secure Edward IV's throne at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. Yet none of Elizabeth's immediate relatives ever rose above the rank of knight. Prosperous rather than wealthy, Sir Humphrey Blount's will included a gold collar for his eldest son, Thomas, a gold cross for his second son, John, a gold chain to be sold to pay for masses for his soul and there were a few pieces of plate and several gowns, both furred and velvet, as well as a doublet of red damask. Yet while his two eldest sons both received gilt swords, the youngest son, William, had to make do, not with a sword at all, but a gilt wood knife. Similarly, his daughter Mary was allowed 120 marks towards her marriage. However, this significant sum was not available in ready cash, but represented money owed to him by the Bishop of Durham.
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When Elizabeth made her début at the court of Henry VIII, the head of the family was her grandfather, Sir Thomas Blount. A man of some local eminence, he had first served as Sheriff of Shropshire in 1479 when he was twenty-three years old. He had earned his knighthood fighting to defend Henry VII's title to the throne at the Battle of Stoke on 16 June 1487. Never much of a courtier, his appearances were confined to great ceremonial occasions, like the coronation of Elizabeth of York on 25 November 1487; his own interests remained firmly centred on the shires. In 1491 his lands in Shropshire were considered to be worth a respectable £108 10
s
and he would remain a significant force in county politics until his death in 1524.
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However, in the winter of 1501, the Blounts must have felt that all the opportunities of the court in London had arrived on their doorstep. The heir apparent, Arthur, Prince of Wales and his new bride, Katherine of Aragon established their household at Ludlow in Shropshire. Sir Thomas Blount's marriage to Anne Croft, the eldest daughter of Sir Richard Croft, one of Arthur's principal officers, ensured the Blounts were welcome visitors. Regrettably, the chance was short-lived. On 2 April 1502 Prince Arthur died and Katherine was recalled to London. Yet many of Katherine of Aragon's enduring memories of her initial time in England would not have been of the London nobility, but of the gentry who flocked to salute her at Ludlow. The Blounts may well have utilised this connection to smooth Elizabeth's acceptance as a maid of honour in the queen's household.

Elizabeth was the second daughter of the eight surviving children of John and Katherine Blount.
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She cannot have been born until at least 1499, the year after her parents consummated their marriage, and since she had to be at least twelve to take up a court post, she must have been born before March 1500. She probably spent much of her childhood in Shropshire or Staffordshire, yet any concept of Elizabeth as a simple, rural girl plucked from the shires would be misleading. In the years prior to her formal appointment as a maid of honour to Katherine of Aragon, she had had several opportunities to come to court.

As an esquire of the body to Henry VII, her father was one of those granted livery from the crown at his funeral in 1509. At the coronation of Henry VIII, he was among the assembly of the King's Spears. Modelled on the corps formed by Louis XI, the Spears were a group of about fifty gentlemen and sons of noblemen under the captaincy of the Earl of Essex. It was both a military and a ceremonial appointment. The regulations were martial in tone and exercise in arms was a primary function. The Spears were to play a significant part in the French war of 1513. However, in their distinctive crimson uniforms, they also took an active part in the colourful pageantry of Henry VIII's court. When Leonard Spinelly, delivered to the king the cap and sword presented by Pope Leo X in 1514, he was met at Blackheath by a host of dignitaries escorted by all the Spears. Since the regulations required ‘their rooms and their board to be provided at the king's pleasure' and commanded them to lodge where the king decided,
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John Blount's duties were ample reason and excuse to bring him to court.

While there is no evidence that his family always accompanied him, it is unlikely that he would have missed the chance to show off such a promising young daughter. At the very least, Elizabeth might secure entry into some noble household, much as her uncle, Robert Blount, was accepted into the service of the Earl of Shrewsbury. Although S.J. Gunn has termed membership of the King's Spears as ‘belonging to only a very broad charmed circle'
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it did bring John Blount into the same orbit as men of influence, like Charles Brandon, later Duke of Suffolk. Since the exact nature of Brandon's relationship with Elizabeth has been the cause of some speculation, it should be borne in mind that he would have been sufficiently acquainted with her family to have more than a passing familiarity with the pretty, blonde child.

Elizabeth also had other kin and allies who could help smooth her path at court. Her relationship through the Crofts, her paternal grandmother's family, with the Master of the Revels, Sir Edward Guilford, would have helped to ensure that she did not remain a wallflower for very long. Her great-uncle, Sir Edward Darrell of Littlecote in Wiltshire, later Katherine of Aragon's vice-chamberlain, was already well known to the queen, having been one of those appointed to escort her on her arrival in England in 1501. Elizabeth could also claim kinship with the Stanleys, the Earls of Derby, through her maternal grandmother, Isabel Stanley, and while her relationship to the Suttons, the Lords Dudley, was rather more distant, being rooted in her great-grandfather's wardship to John Sutton, Lord Dudley in 1443, such things mattered little if presuming on the acquaintance might produce a favourable result.