[Henry VIII] Tudor Crown

"What method do you plan to use to meet them?" Facing Joan's proposal, William III asked back: "One is the grandson of the crown prince, and the other is the king. Do you want me to summon them like an envoy? Besides Regarding marriage, even if the man actively invites you, you cannot easily agree to meet him."

William III said here, and satirized his old relative Henry II: "I don't want you to be treated as a cheap bargain by a group of politicians like Henry II's princess, to be mentioned in the agreement, or to be a diplomatic ambassador. face, being pulled back and forth.”

"I understand your concerns." Joan agreed: "The things that are rushed to deliver often lose their original value."

"So what method do you want to use to meet them?" William III said that Joan's request was really difficult to achieve: "If you want to use this to delay time, then it seems that you are more likely to be married than Alexander and Guillaume , for the sake of the weaker side, I would like to give you some more time."

Speaking of this, William III changed his voice: "But this does not mean that I will make a special case for you. As a royal princess, after enjoying so many privileges, you should also understand your responsibilities."

"Besides, if you can choose your own marriage as you like, then what is fair to Alexander and Guillaume? Alexander is the crown prince, and he can say that this is the responsibility of the heir to the throne. But what about Guillaume? He also For peace between Britain and France, choose to shoulder the responsibility of the friendship between the two countries with Princess Margot, who is about your age."

William III looked directly into Joan's eyes, decided to open up the conversation with her, and made it clear: "Of course, you can also choose to resist, but after that, you will not enjoy the privileges of the princess of England, and you can only become a princess of England." The most ordinary members of the royal family."

"So is this an ultimatum?" Joan was still extremely calm, but William III noticed that the skirt on her knees had been pinched and crumpled.

"My tutor said that children who disobey discipline should be punished by their parents." After a long silence, Joan said stiffly, "So you want to punish me?"

"Do you want me to do this?" Under Joan's nervous gaze, William III expressed his views on parenting: "Whips and scolding are used to train dogs, not to educate children."

"Besides, children are not the private property of their parents." William III glanced at Joan, whose shoulders were relaxed, and said slowly: "In history, is it rare to see children who resist their parents and parents who suppress their children? I will not do such a stupid thing." things."

"But you have to face the doubts of Alexander and Guillaume yourself." William III remembered that the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa in the [-]th century loved her daughter Maria Christina too much, and even made an exception for her to choose her husband. This caused the Habsburg princess to get along very poorly with other brothers and sisters, to the point of the Cold War for several years.

"Jealousy is applicable to anyone." William III looked at Joan, and asked back: "You will never let me make a special case for you, and let me deal with the aftermath for you!"

Joan lowered her eyes, not daring to look at William III's expression.

"Besides, the dead can't control the affairs of the living. I can't guarantee that I can die after Alexander and Guillaume." William III shrugged at an angle that Joan could not see, expressing that he really didn't want to talk to his daughter about these things : "You can't never see them all your life, or never set foot on the land of England in the future."

"I understand." When Joan raised her eyes again, she had already made up her mind and said, "I choose Sebastiao from Portugal."

"why?"

"Because their family is simple." Joan said bluntly: "Rudolph in Austria has more than a dozen brothers and sisters, and his mother is the daughter of Charles V, a very devout Catholic."

"You don't want to convert?"

"I don't want to be scolded for being ungrateful or duplicity after converting." Joan, like her father, is a very realistic person, so she doesn't have a particularly clear religious preference, because she was in the Countess of Nottingham and She was brought up by Anne of Cleves, so she was not quite a devout Calvinist like Queen Juana.

"If I marry to Austria, my mother-in-law will definitely not believe that I will change my beliefs, and will definitely find my fault to the death." For the not-so-good future, Joan also analyzed the pros and cons as much as possible: " How can I be happy to be subordinate to others? When I marry to Portugal, I am a legitimate queen, and basically no one can control me except the king. But marrying to Austria is different."

When Joan thought that she would have to deal with her husband's more than a dozen brothers and sisters, plus her father-in-law's more than a dozen brothers and sisters, she couldn't help but coldly said: "The current Archduke of Austria is Rudolph's grandfather, how many years will I have to endure this?" To come and go freely at the court of Austria?"

William III does not remember how long Maximilian II lived, but all of Charles V's children, with the exception of the youngest Juana, lived a long time.

"Then Sebastião of Portugal." William III decided: "Let me talk to Bishop Enrique of Portugal about your marriage, and by the way, ask Sebastião's wishes and his physical condition? "

"Physical condition?" Joan asked very sharply, "Is he in poor health?"

"How healthy do you expect a child born to so many generations of close relatives?" William III thought about the marriage status of the Portuguese royal family: "Sebastiao's grandparents had nine children, but only two survived. , and they all died in their prime.”

"... Then you chose such a husband for me?" Joan couldn't believe it: "Isn't this hurting me?"

"That's why I have to talk to the Portuguese regent about King Sebastiao's physical condition." William III seemed to think of something, and casually mentioned a special European atmosphere: "Otherwise, why do you think those big nobles are looking for mistresses?" ?”

Before the more liberal Middle Ages, childbearing was generally considered the fault of men.

After all, God made women bear the pain of childbirth in order to pay off their original sin, and if women have been unable to conceive and cannot repay their sins, whose fault is it?

That is to say, after the church took the lead in spreading the wind of extravagance, some aristocratic men would prove this by raising mistresses and illegitimate children in order to prove that childbearing is really not their fault.

In the late Middle Ages, this became a special way for the great nobles to prove their wealth and charm.

"If you really can't continue living with him after you marry Portugal, I will consider letting you divorce." William III would not really watch his daughter getting deeper and deeper in a bad marriage: "After all, you can't afford , the withered Portuguese royal family can’t afford it either.”

"That's good." Joan, who was relieved, still hoped to get a promise from his father: "If my marriage fails this time, or if my husband dies in my prime, please don't force me to do something for the country again." Great sacrifice."

"Of course." William III agreed very readily: "Not only you, but also Alexander and Guillaume, will not be forced to sacrifice twice by me."

"It's just Joan... Even if your marriage fails, I will not agree to let you marry someone whose social class is far lower than yours." While making the promise, William III did not forget the ugly words: " Your family can't afford a mistake like that. Unless you're really willing to give up everything, it's hard to do whatever you want in love."

Facing his father's warning, Joan nodded with a half understanding.

In France thousands of miles away, another princess also faced a difficult choice.

"Why...you want to teach me how to do things without the king's shackles?" Even if she was trapped by the Duke of Guise again, Princess Renee still did not give up her arrogant posture, and sneered at the Duke of Guise who threatened her. Said: "Don't dream, even if you wait another 100 years, I will not act as you wish."

After all, Princess Renee raised her chin, revealing her slender neck.

"If you have any guts, just give me a happy one." After a few years, the old princess is still as fearless as when she was sent to the Bastille by the Duke of Guise: "Otherwise I will sign a contract to condemn Hu The agreement of the Guenos will also stand with them when they get out."

"We will have flown to the invisible world, where we will be blessed and forever in heaven." Princess Renee uttered a famous quote from Plato, and when the sharp sword cut her, the veins on her neck burst out Qi said: "Even if I return to the embrace of God, no one can stop my belief, everything I firmly believe in."

"I am Renee of the Valois family."

"Until death, a noble Huguenot."

The moment the knife light disappeared, Princess Renee, who was not tall, fell softly to the ground.

The Duchess of Guise, who had been blocked by her attendants all this time, finally burst into tears. She didn't know where she got the strength to push away those who stood in front of her, and then knelt down in front of her mother's corpse, helpless Asked: "What did you do..."

"What the hell did you do..."

Looking at his wife who was crying bitterly, the Duke of Guise's face flashed a trace of unbearable, but he still said firmly: "This is a necessary process to set things right, and you don't have to cry bitterly for a mother who betrayed God."

After all, the Duke of Guise ordered to the maid at home: "Take her away, take her away..."

The maids, who were so shocked by the Duke of Guise, trotted to the Duchess of Guise, then picked up the weak Duchess of Guise, and took her away from the scene.

"Francois...I curse you, I curse you..." The powerless Duchess of Guise could only yell at her husband when she left the scene: "I curse the entire Guise family..."

"You all deserve hell."

"Go to hell."