[Henry VIII] Tudor Crown

At the end of January 1537, Princess Mary of England met her fiancé in Calais, Franz de Lorraine of Lorraine, the third heir of the Wadmont dynasty, the nephew of the Duke of Guise and the Holy Roman Empire the Elector.

Along with him, Princess Mary's prospective father-in-law, Antoine de Lorraine, Duke of Lorraine, although the latter is two years older than Henry VIII, his eldest son is half younger than Princess Mary Years old, and he himself looks more energetic and thinner than Henry VIII, who is broad-minded and fat.

It is estimated that his Bourbon wife from France and his younger brother who became a Frenchman gave him a lot of pressure.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, dear Mary, the noble Princess of England. And my everlasting friend, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and the admirable Mr. Cromwell - long before I came I just heard about your deeds, and I am very happy that the King of England has a capable minister like you." The good old Antoine has a gentle face comparable to that of Edward the Confessor, and he talked to Mary in unfamiliar English at the first meeting. The princess greeted, and then greeted Henry VIII's emissaries with the same kind gesture.

The Duke of Suffolk couldn't help but have a different opinion of the Duke of Lorraine.

Even though when people mention the Duke of Lorraine, they always involuntarily compare him with René II or the Duke of Guise, and then secretly satirize the Duke of Lorraine as far inferior to his father and younger brother, but in the Duke of Suffolk's opinion Come on, Henry VIII may have a lot in common with the Duke of Lorraine in this aspect. After all, the king of England has not escaped the shadow of his father and his first wife (Catherine of Aragon won a game for Henry VIII after her marriage. War against Scotland, and successfully killed Henry VIII's political opponent, James V's father and Mary Stuart's grandfather).

But for the courtiers, the Duke of Lorraine ruled more moderately than the King of England.

At least after a brief contact, Thomas Cromwell discovered that the skills of Lorraine and his son seemed to be focused on interpersonal communication and talking about poetry and painting, so much so that politics...

Thomas Cromwell subconsciously glanced at Princess Mary, who also made a gesture of prayer in a tacit understanding.

All right!At least Thomas Cromwell can now be sure that Princess Mary will not have problems with mother-in-law or daughter-in-law after she gets married, and she may even become the actual ruler of Lorraine after her husband succeeds to the throne like Margaret of Anjou.

From the private point of view of Princess Mary, Franz de Lorraine is very suitable for the Tudor family's appetite for color control. He has neither the shoehorn face of Habsburg nor the sick blue blood of Italy. He looks tall, thin, and handsome, with golden-brown hair similar to Princess Mary, and eyes as blue as lakes.

During their stay in Calais, the Duke of Lorraine's modesty and courtesy left a good impression on Princess Mary and her maids, and Princess Mary's rich knowledge also surprised the Duke of Lorraine. Both are devout Catholics, so they quickly discussed religious classics and poetry astronomy. The two always avoided the huge entourage and walked and chatted quietly in the small garden.

And when Mary had a happy conversation with the little Duke of Lorraine, the Duke of Suffolk and Thomas Cromwell were also confirming various matters with the Duke of Lorraine after the marriage of the two countries.

The dowry was second to none. After all, Henry VIII and the Duke of Lorraine were not poor in money, and they both had sons and selfish intentions, so they couldn't do things like snatching the dowry from their daughter-in-law or using land as a dowry.

Since there is no problem with money, the point of contention between Thomas Cromwell and the Duke of Lorraine is in terms of belief and position.

It is said that the son is like his father. The Duke of Lorraine, who has been living in the shadow of his father and younger brother, is most worried about his younger brother Guise, who will one day completely annex the Duchy of Lorraine with the support of the King of France.

After all, the French are as familiar with beating their own brothers as the Germans are with assassination.

And what worries the Duke of Lorraine even more is that none of his three passer-by sons are the masters who support the family. In addition, his wife is the daughter of the earl of the Bourbon family, who belongs to the sloppy and muddy school. Defending Lorraine didn't do much, but because of the belief issue between husband and wife, the Lutherans in the German Federation sharpened their knives and turned to Lorraine. .

The bitter Duke of Lorraine: Why are you targeting me?Wouldn't it be better to target those elector states in Germany?For example, the Elector of Saxony who protected Martin Luther to carry out the religious reform, to target him?Why are you holding on to me?

German Confederation: Is there a contradiction between us being an electorate and our Lutheranism?The beliefs of the subjects are not equal to the beliefs of the rulers.And even if I believe in Lutheranism, I can change it in the future!This does not prevent us from offering sacrifices to the Lord of Lorraine!

The more bitter Duke of Lorraine: I...

"His Royal Highness, regarding the issue of faith, England has no intention of interfering in the family affairs of the Principality of Lorraine, so my king's request is only to hope that you can help us a little when there is a conflict between England and France." Thomas Cromway Although Er is a staunch Protestant, his rationality tells him not to get involved with beliefs outside of England, otherwise England's position in Europe is not as simple as everyone hates, and it will definitely be isolated by most countries or even The point of the attack.

"By the way, congratulations on your qualification as an elector." The Duke of Suffolk knew that the Spanish emperor wanted to disgust King Francois, so he forced the Church of Rome to make an exception to grant the Duke of Lorraine the qualifications to be an elector, so as to prevent the Church of Rome and Francois. King Wa ganged up on him.

Regardless of the fact that Charles V was a staunch Catholic, he once resisted the invasion of the Ottoman Empire in the name of the Roman Church.But in private, the Pope and the true rulers of Italy, the Medici family, have not forgotten the humiliation of Rome, especially the then Pope Clement VII, in order to consolidate his alliance with France. The grand-niece, the most famous queen regent in French history, Catherine de' Medici, married Francois' second son to ensure that France could stand on the first line of resistance against Spain.

Of course, on the surface, Clement VII was still extremely obedient to Charles V, and even presided over the talks between Portugal and Spain under the hint of Charles V, prompting the two countries to sign the "Treaty of Zaragoza".

"Don't make fun of me. The Spanish emperor gave me this title just to teach France a lesson. How could he allow me to get involved in the throne of the Holy Roman Empire." The Duke of Lorraine also smiled wryly when he heard the words: "If It’s not because the Roman Church is under the control of the Spanish emperor, and one of the four secular electors is the emperor’s younger brother, he wouldn’t use me to silence the crowd.”

After all, on the surface, the Duke of Lorraine is the brother of the Duke of Guise, the son-in-law of the Bourbon family, and it is perfect to silence the dissatisfied.

As for brothers, who cares about the real relationship between husband and wife?

I am afraid that Charles V is also out of this consideration, and will work hard to match the marriage of Princess Mary and the Duke of Lorraine, so as to truly control the vote belonging to the Duchy of Lorraine.

However, Charles V forgot that Princess Mary was an English princess, not a Spanish princess.

Besides, rather than letting the Habsburg family completely monopolize the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, William Tudor didn't mind stepping in and letting his brother-in-law become the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.