Shuffling the pack of Henry VII's children: A timeline from September 1486

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It took eleven months for all the preparations to be made for the expedition across the Atlantic to establish the colony of Albion, and for a suitable time to sail. Meanwhile Prince Arthur stayed imprisoned in the Tower of London, though in fairly comfortable conditions. Sir Thomas More visited him most days. They prayed, read the Bible, and attended Mass together. Thomas told his wife, Alice, that he believed that Arthur had sincerely repented of his sins and was truly sorry for them. Alice hoped that he had.

The expedition fleet of four ships left Plymouth on Wednesday 16 April 1533. The flag ship was called the Discovery There were 138 colonists on board, 95 men and 43 women, in addition to the crew. The captain was an experienced sailor from Devon. Among the colonists were Prince Arthur, who would be its governor, and Thomas Cranmer, who was appointed Bishop of Albion by Pope Clement VII on the advice of Henry VIII. The ships were well stocked with provisions of food for the colony, and barley and wheat seeds, and apple pips for planting there.

The fleet sailed south-west and after seven weeks reached the entrance of OTL Chesapeake Bay on 4 June 1533. (1) It made landfall at OTL Norfolk, Virginia. (2) The colonists founded a settlement there which Arthur named Henrytown after King Henry.

(1) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay.

(2) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk,_Virginia.

 

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The expedition fleet left Henrytown on 9 June 1533 to return to England, without the colonists. They gave the captain letters for people back home. Governor Arthur gave him a letter for King Henry in which he told him that he had named the settlement Henrytown and described the country and its native people.

Before he left London for Plymouth and the expedition to North America, Arthur gave Thomas More a letter for his wife, Elizabeth. In it he told that he was banished from England for life and the King had appointed him governor of the English colony of Albion to be established in America. He said that that loved her and their two young children, Edward and Margaret, and was deeply and truly sorry for the way he had treated her. He accepted that he would never see her and their children again, and wished them well in the future. More took the letter, but told Arthur that did not know where Elizabeth was living, and it would be very difficult to find her.

Elizabeth and her children were still living with her sister and brother-in-law, Anne and Harold Taylor, at their farm near Wheldrake, seven miles south-east of York. However she and Edmund Stanton, the blacksmith in Wheldrake, had become friends and fallen in love. He was 28 years old (born 6 April 1505) and a gentle, kind, quiet bear of a man. Although church courts could grant divorce on grounds of adultery and divorce, both parties could not marry again while the other lived. Common law courts could not dissolve the marriage bond. So Elizabeth and Edmund could not get married, while Arthur was still alive. But they agreed to live together and on 12 August 1533, she and her children moved into his house. They now slept together and made love.

 

[aoifeloveskhoward]

The expedition fleet left Henrytown on 9 June 1533 to return to England, without the colonists. They gave the captain letters for people back home. Governor Arthur gave him a letter for King Henry in which he told him that he had named the settlement Henrytown and described the country and its native people.

Before he left London for Plymouth and the expedition to North America, Arthur gave Thomas More a letter for his wife, Elizabeth. In it he told that he was banished from England for life and the King had appointed him governor of the English colony of Albion to be established in America. He said that that loved her and their two young children, Edward and Margaret, and was deeply and truly sorry for the way he had treated her. He accepted that he would never see her and their children again, and wished them well in the future. More took the letter, but told Arthur that did not know where Elizabeth was living, and it would be very difficult to find her.

Elizabeth and her children were still living with her sister and brother-in-law, Anne and Harold Taylor, at their farm near Wheldrake, seven miles south-east of York. However she and Edmund Stanton, the blacksmith in Wheldrake, had become friends and fallen in love. He was 28 years old (born 6 April 1505) and a gentle, kind, quiet bear of a man. Although church courts could grant divorce on grounds of adultery and divorce, both parties could not marry again while the other lived. Common law courts could not dissolve the marriage bond. So Elizabeth and Edmund could not get married, while Arthur was still alive. But they agreed to live together and on 12 August 1533, she and her children moved into his house. They now slept together and made love.

GO ON ARTHUR DIE COME ON *manically cheers on Arthur to die*

 

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The climate in Henrytown (OTL Norfolk, Virginia) is humid subtropical with warm summers and mild winters. Rainfall is heaviest in July and August with frequent thunderstorms. (1) The summers are hotter than the colonists were used to. They built wooden houses, a church and a fort. They bought barley and winter wheat seeds with them, but Virginia is too far south for barley and winter wheat is planted from September to November, and harvested in late spring/early summer. (2) Until then they used the food they bought with them, hunted and fished.

They needed to make contact with the Native American tribe, the Powhatan. (3) Governor Arthur refused to have anything to do with the Powhatan. He called them "ignorant savages" and claimed that he was king of their territory. The deputy governor, Sir Thomas Boleyn, Thomas Cranmer, the Bishop of Albion, made contact with the Powhatan and their paramount chief, or mamanatowick. They communicated in sign language. Cranmer wrote positively about the Powhatan and their culture, and how their help was essential for the colony's survival.

Arthur died from malaria on 4 August 1533. In his will he left all his money and possessions to his wife, Elizabeth. Sir Thomas Boleyn now became governor of Albion.

(1) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk,_Virginia, section headed climate.

(2) See http://virginiaplaces.org/agriculture/wheat.html.

(3) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powhatan.

 

[aoifeloveskhoward]

Arthur died from malaria on 4 August 1533. In his will he left all his money and possessions to his wife, Elizabeth.

YAY!!!🥳

 

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By spring 1534, the English colony of Henrytown had managed to with help from the Powhatan people. Though some colonists died. Bishop Thomas Cranmer was teaching the Powhatan English, and learning the Powhatan language from them, which is closely related to other Eastern Algonquian languages. (1) He was working on his project of writing down the language, using the Roman alphabet to express sounds of Powhatan.

On 20 May 1534, the second fleet arrived from England with 107 colonists on board. The Governor, Sir Thomas Boleyn, gave the captain a full written report of events and conditions in the colony, to give to Henry VIII and the Privy Council in London. He wrote that Prince Arthur died from malaria on 14 August in the previous year. He was given a Christian burial. He was little mourned. Another twenty-two colonists had died. Of the babies who were born, five boys and two girls were still living.

(1) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powhatan_language.

 

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Sir Thomas Boleyn wrote in his written report that the crops they planted were doing well. The Indians were friendly and although savages had the potential of becoming like civilised Englishmen. They grow tobacco and smoke the leaves in pipes. He smoked it and found that it had a bitter taste. He enclosed tobacco leaves and a pipe for King Henry to sample. He hoped the King would enjoy it. He recommended that tobacco be shipped from Albion to England, and exported to Europe where it would compete with Spanish exports. (1)

He wrote that parties of men from the colony had explored the river at the mouth of which Henrytown is situated, and which he named the Henry River. They travelled north-west and reached a Powhatan village. (2) Another expedition had gone north up the long estuary which the natives call Chesapiook. (3) The coast from Henrytown south to OTL Albemarle Sound was also explored. (4) There had been land expeditions north, south and west from Henrytown. He claimed all the territory discovered for the colony of Albion and King Henry. He enclosed a map which a colonist had made.

(1) 'The Spanish introduced tobacco to Europeans in about 1528.' See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tobacco.

(2) It was OTL Richmond. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond,_Virginia.

(3) It was Chesapeake Bay. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay.

(4) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albemarle_Sound.

 

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Sir Thomas Boleyn concluded his report by writing that America was a huge land, the extent of which we had no idea. It is a land of great opportunity and potential. Albion could be bigger and wealthier than New Spain. Gold or silver had not been discovered so far, but might be. The land is fertile and good for farming, and there is plentiful fishing in the Atlantic Ocean. Albion needs adventurous young men and women who want to make a new life for themselves.

 

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Elizabeth gave birth to a healthy baby boy on 3 June 1534. She and her husband, Edmund, named him Thomas. He was baptised in Wheldrake Church on 7 June.

The second fleet to Henrytown and the English colony of Albion arrived back in London on 17 July 1534. The captain had a letter from Sir Thomas Boleyn for Elizabeth, in which he told her the news about the death of Prince Arthur. He wrote that when he was dying, Arthur said that he was deeply sorry for the way he had treated Elizabeth. Arthur received the last sacraments of the Catholic Church. Boleyn gave the letter to Sir Thomas More, who sent it by messenger to Elizabeth in Wheldrake. She received it on 25 July. After she read it, she said a prayer for the repose of Arthur's soul. She told Edmund that they were now free to get married. They wanted that very much.

Their wedding was at Wheldrake Church on Saturday 22 August 1534. Baby Thomas was there, and Elizabeth's two older children, Edward and Margaret, and Elizabeth's sister, Anne Taylor and her husband, Harold Taylor and their children. Elizabeth took her husband's surname of Stanton. It had previously been Tudor and before that Sanders.

 

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Thomas Cranmer, Bishop of Albion, wrote a report for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Gardiner. He gave it to the captain of the fleet which was returning to England, who gave it to Langton. Cranmer wrote that the colonists regularly attended Mass and received the sacraments. There were some, but not many conversions, by the Powhatan, but those that did convert were devout and faithful.

However he wrote in a book his religious beliefs. After reading books by Martin Luther and other religious reformers, and much prayer and thought, he was now a convinced Lutheran. He believed in salvation by faith, not works. He celebrated Communion Services, not the Mass, in English and in the Powhatan language for the Powhatan converts. He gave Holy Communion under both bread and wine. He no longer accepted the authority of the Pope as the head of the Church. He had written a book of prayers in Powhatan.

He wrote that he married a 43 year old widow, Catherine Lee, on 5 March 1534. Clerical marriage was illegal in England. His assistant, Thomas Bilney, officiated at the wedding. Bilney was a fervent Lutheran. Catherine was now expecting a baby. His first wife, Joan, died in childbirth in the 1510s, before Cranmer was ordained a priest. He did not tell Gardiner in his report about his conversion to Lutheranism and his marriage.

 

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When the English fleet returned from Henrytown to London on 17 July 1534, the captain went to Greenwich Palace. He gave Henry VIII the letter from Sir Thomas Boleyn, with a sample of tobacco leaves for him to try, and a pipe. After the King had spluttered and coughed, he declared that smoking tobacco was pleasant. Thomas Cromwell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, suggested that tobacco be imported from Albion, sold in England and taxed. Henry agreed with him.

Henry VIII was Lord of Ireland, but English rule only comprised the Pale, which was the counties of Dublin, Kildare, Louth, and Meath. It extended 50 miles north and 30 miles inland from Dublin.

 

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Ireland outside the Pale was ruled by Gaelic lords. Con Barach O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone (born c. 1484) and Thomas Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare (born 1513), rose in rebellion in July 1534. They were supported by other Irish lords and by French and Spanish troops and arms. They won a decisive victory over the English army at the battle of Ardrass (in County Kildare, west of Dublin) on 5 September 1534. They captured Dublin on 20 September 1534.

Con Baruch O'Neill was crowned King of Ireland in St.Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, on Saturday 3 October 1534. Con said that those English settlers in Ireland who wanted to stay were welcome to do so. They would have equality with the Irish. English and Irish would be the languages of Ireland. Most stayed, but some left.

 

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There was widespread agreement on the need for reform of the monasteries and other religious houses in England and Wales. This would involve the concentration of monks and nuns into larger houses, and potentially make much monastic income available for productive religious, educational and social purposes. Henry VIII supported John Fisher, Richard Foxe, and Thomas Wolsey in their programme of monastic reform. He was greatly influenced in his opinions by Thomas More. 'In his correspondence with the king he condemned the idleness and vice in much monastic life.' (1)

In May 1535, Henry appointed Thomas Cromwell his secretary. In October 1535, Cromwell appointed commissioners to visit the monasteries to draw up an inventory of the income and liabilities. This formed the basis of the Reform of Religious Houses Act 1536, which dissolved convents and monasteries with an annual income of less than £200. (2) The monks and nuns were given the choice of leaving the religious life with a cash payment and a pension, or transfer to a larger house of the same order. The majority chose to stay in the religious life.

Part of the property of the dissolved religious houses reverted to the Crown, and part was used for educational purposes. The University of Bristol, in the Redcliffe area south-east of the city centre, was founded in 1539. (3) It was the third in England after Oxford and Cambridge.

(1) Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_monasteries.

(2) These were the monasteries dissolved in 1536 listed in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List__of_monasteries_dissolved_by_Henry_VIII_of_England.

(3) For Redcliffe see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcliffe,_Bristol.

 

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Elizabeth Stanton (nee Sanders) gave birth to a boy on 30 July 1535; to a girl on 22 February 1537; and to a second girl on 1 December 1538. She and her husband, Edmund, named them Henry, after her father, Kate, after her mother, and Anne after her sister. She had another son, Thomas (born 3 June 1534), by Edmund Stanton, and two children, Thomas and Margaret (born 23 April 1529 and 11 June 1530 respectively) by Prince Arthur, the step brother of Henry VIII. She and Edmund were living happily in Wheldrake, where he was the local blacksmith.

 

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Elizabeth had to decide whether or not to tell Edward and Margaret, their children by Prince Arthur, that they were of royal descent. Their paternal grandfather was Henry VII. She discussed the matter with her husband, Edmund. They decided not to tell them while Henry VIII was still living. They feared that if they did, Edward and Margaret would tell their friends. Elizabeth and wanted to keep secret the identity of the elder children.

Henry VIII died as a result of illness on 7 April 1555, Palm Sunday, after a reign of 47 years. He was 59 years old. He was succeeded by his 39 year old son, Henry, Prince of Wales, who became King Henry IX.