The Sinking Ship, the Grand Applause - A Mary I of England TL

Who should Mary wed

  • James V of Scotland

    Votes: 64 55.7%
  • Francois III of Brittany, Dauphin of France

    Votes: 18 15.7%
  • Hans, Prince of Denmark

    Votes: 8 7.0%
  • Luis, Duke of Beja, Infante of Portugal

    Votes: 25 21.7%
  • English nobleman

    Votes: 10 8.7%
  • Philip, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg

    Votes: 6 5.2%
  • Other man

    Votes: 4 3.5%
  • Henri of Valois, Duke of Orléans

    Votes: 6 5.2%

  • Total voters
    115
  • Poll closed .
YES! British Catholic Monarchs For the win!

Mary and James would most certainly frame the Conquest of Ireland in the same light as the Conquest of Granada: two monarchs working together to finally bring their realm to unification
 
Vox Populi, Vox Dei.
The voice of the people is the voice of God.

It seems like the people intended for a Mary I and James V marriage. And so shall it be.
 
Mary and James would most certainly frame the Conquest of Ireland in the same light as the Conquest of Granada: two monarchs working together to finally bring their realm to unification
I feel so bad for the Irish here. (Although IOTL they were pretty Catholic even when England was all gung-ho Protestant, so....they should be slightly more fine here)
 
Hi everyone. First of all, I like to say that I'm really grateful for all the delightful comments and support for this TL that began with the title of an episode of Gotham and a old copy of Giles Tremlett's book about my beloved Catherine of Aragon. Your participation has been invaluable and has made me so very happy.

Sadly, I have to announce that this TL will be discontinued. I no longer have any interest or energy to continue writing this story. If anyone wants to adopt this story and make it their own, feel free to let me know. I'm really sorry, guys, but this is the last update that will happen. Not the one you're waiting for, I'm sure.

All my love
/BlueFlowwer
we understand girl. Take all the time you need to bring out the stories you do have a concrete plan with to live.
 
Chapter 4 - A tale of two Thomases
Chapter 4 – A tale of two Thomases


Thomas Cranmer smiled at the letter in his hand. The king was recalling him to England to make him Archbishop of Canterbury as William Warham had passed away. His relationship with the lady Anne Boleyn and her family had paid off! As archbishop he would have both power and the king’s ear and the power to fulfil his ambitions and to annul the false marriage with that lying and scheming Spaniard they called Queen Catherine. Mistress Boleyn would becoming the rightful consort and England would have an heir raised in the right faith, not mislead by the catholic heretics that poisoned the kingdom. And Cranmer would be the ultimate architect of that utopia, with his name being praised for generations. He would have to speak to the Emperor, to inform him that he could no longer attend his court and would be making preparation to return to England. Tucking the letter in his robe, he set off to find the emperor to share the good news with him and to begin his journey to the destiny that awaited him.



The fisherman had just thrown his net out in the chilly waters when a figure caught his eye. The dark blob bobbed up and down in the churning sea, being barely visible in the emerging lights in the morning. Was it a seal? A large fish?

Soon shouts went up as the small company of men on the boat scrambled for ropes and more nets as the shape revealed itself to be a man in the water. With effort, as the man could almost not move his fingers to grasp the lifelines the sailors threw him, they hauled him up from the sea and up to deck. The men crossed themselves and whispered prayers to the Virgin and the saints, as their newfound guest seemed more ready to pass into the embrace of Christ then he was to remain amongst the living.

Fortune prevailed for the nearly drowned man, helped by thick fabrics being wrapped around his freezing frame and hot broth spooned down his throat. As they made land later, their charge had been moved to a nearby monastery, where the monks treated him with the same care hey extended to all coming to seek relief to their agonies. Over a week later, the man finally opened his eyes. For several days he remained too weak to speak and move, but a fortnight after arriving he finally rasped out that he was an Englishman in the service of the King of England and that he had been lost in the storm that had fallen upon the royal ship in the channel. Where was he? Had they news of the king and had he made it safely out of the storm? He must return to England as swiftly as possible.



What Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell did not know at this time was that their sovereign had been lost in the hungry maw of the icy waters of the English Channel, along with the Queen who never was and that the throne now belonged to the Lady Mary Tudor, now Queen Mary I of England.



Author's Note: Guess what, I'm back bitches! I decided to continue this tl and I wrote this chapter to get back in the swing. Short, but I wanted to explore the alternative futures of Cranmer and Cromwell in this tl. Cromwell gets a hail Mary as he survives the storm unlike his king and gets the news that Mary Tudor is now the ruling monarch. Cranmer can go fuck himself and he will soon find out that the girl who's mother's marriage he tried hard to annul is now queen and his alliance with the Boleyns are dead in the water. Literally in this case. He can kiss the Archbishopric goodbye as well as any ambitions he has in England. Mwahaha!
 
Chapter 4 – A tale of two Thomases


Thomas Cranmer smiled at the letter in his hand. The king was recalling him to England to make him Archbishop of Canterbury as William Warham had passed away. His relationship with the lady Anne Boleyn and her family had paid off! As archbishop he would have both power and the king’s ear and the power to fulfil his ambitions and to annul the false marriage with that lying and scheming Spaniard they called Queen Catherine. Mistress Boleyn would becoming the rightful consort and England would have an heir raised in the right faith, not mislead by the catholic heretics that poisoned the kingdom. And Cranmer would be the ultimate architect of that utopia, with his name being praised for generations. He would have to speak to the Emperor, to inform him that he could no longer attend his court and would be making preparation to return to England. Tucking the letter in his robe, he set off to find the emperor to share the good news with him and to begin his journey to the destiny that awaited him.



The fisherman had just thrown his net out in the chilly waters when a figure caught his eye. The dark blob bobbed up and down in the churning sea, being barely visible in the emerging lights in the morning. Was it a seal? A large fish?

Soon shouts went up as the small company of men on the boat scrambled for ropes and more nets as the shape revealed itself to be a man in the water. With effort, as the man could almost not move his fingers to grasp the lifelines the sailors threw him, they hauled him up from the sea and up to deck. The men crossed themselves and whispered prayers to the Virgin and the saints, as their newfound guest seemed more ready to pass into the embrace of Christ then he was to remain amongst the living.

Fortune prevailed for the nearly drowned man, helped by thick fabrics being wrapped around his freezing frame and hot broth spooned down his throat. As they made land later, their charge had been moved to a nearby monastery, where the monks treated him with the same care hey extended to all coming to seek relief to their agonies. Over a week later, the man finally opened his eyes. For several days he remained too weak to speak and move, but a fortnight after arriving he finally rasped out that he was an Englishman in the service of the King of England and that he had been lost in the storm that had fallen upon the royal ship in the channel. Where was he? Had they news of the king and had he made it safely out of the storm? He must return to England as swiftly as possible.



What Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell did not know at this time was that their sovereign had been lost in the hungry maw of the icy waters of the English Channel, along with the Queen who never was and that the throne now belonged to the Lady Mary Tudor, now Queen Mary I of England.



Author's Note: Guess what, I'm back bitches! I decided to continue this tl and I wrote this chapter to get back in the swing. Short, but I wanted to explore the alternative futures of Cranmer and Cromwell in this tl. Cromwell gets a hail Mary as he survives the storm unlike his king and gets the news that Mary Tudor is now the ruling monarch. Cranmer can go fuck himself and he will soon find out that the girl who's mother's marriage he tried hard to annul is now queen and his alliance with the Boleyns are dead in the water. Literally in this case. He can kiss the Archbishopric goodbye as well as any ambitions he has in England. Mwahaha!




how nice to see you again, fantastic chapter, Cranmer will have a very bad surprise once he sets foot in England, but at least we hope that a Maria free from her father's and stepmother's abuses, who will be happily married, and who will take revenge for what she has suffered (because yes, I still see Maria taking revenge on the Protestant faction, but this time targeting only the prominent exponents, so hello Cranmer ) we will see a previous union well in advance it is simplified by the common religion (which is a good thing, in addition to the fact that the english Catholic hierarchy was not decimated by Henry VIII ), now I ask myself question, where will the English Protestants go?, of course they are a small minority, but an important one (similar to the French Huguenots), I predict that they will move to Northern Germany, which will become even more of a bastion of Protestantism than OTL (especially if Charles defeats the League of Schmalkand and therefore intimidated by this, those present in central Germany move towards Saxony), there are all the conditions for a sort of pre-Prussia ante litteram which ironically is initially supported by Vienna, because it was one of Otl's Habsburg projects, especially after both Charles and Ferdinand became very aware that it was not possible to come to terms with Luther and co to bring them back to the Catholic Church, so it was originally thought to confine them to a certain area of the Reich, obviously as far away as possible from the possessions of the Catholic Church and those of the Habsburgs in the empire, so I believe that we will see Wurttemberg return to the hands of Ferdinand while for the rest we will see the Protestant movement immediately focus on Luther's vision, leaving aside for the moment the Melanchthon's compromise ideas
 
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how nice to see you again, fantastic chapter, Cranmer will have a very bad surprise once he sets foot in England, but at least we hope that a Maria free from her father's and stepmother's abuses, who will be happily married, and who will take revenge for what she has suffered (because yes, I still see Maria taking revenge on the Protestant faction, but this time targeting only the prominent exponents, so hello Cranmer ) we will see a previous union well in advance it is simplified by the common religion (which is a good thing, in addition to the fact that the english Catholic hierarchy was not decimated by Henry VIII ), now I ask myself question, where will the English Protestants go?, of course they are a small minority, but an important one (similar to the French Huguenots), I predict that they will move to Northern Germany, which will become even more of a bastion of Protestantism than OTL (especially if Charles defeats the League of Schmalkand and therefore intimidated by this, those present in central Germany move towards Saxony), there are all the conditions for a sort of pre-Prussia ante litteram which ironically is initially supported by Vienna
I think Cranmer will find out about the regime change in england before he sets foot there and I think he's to smart to risk Mary and Catherine coming down on him like the wrath of god. I think that since we're in 1532, the main movement of protestantism had dropped. They are very much a minority right now and their main backers are gone.
 
I think Cranmer will find out about the regime change in england before he sets foot there and I think he's to smart to risk Mary and Catherine coming down on him like the wrath of god. I think that since we're in 1532, the main movement of protestantism had dropped. They are very much a minority right now and their main backers are gone.

very true, now I would really like to see Cranmer meet Luther and decide to work with him, to create a more solid union of the League of Smalkand ( or at least a good part of it ) both from a theological and proto-state point of view, it would be a really interesting thing, especially because it could lead to a different idea of what makes a person a German in this ATL, given that what separates them ( a Viennese from a Saxon for example ) would be two languages that can diverge over time, obviously religion, and different regional ties / interests



mhm it will be interesting how this will also influence the Italian wars, given that the next one took place in 1536 - 38 Otl ( with the death of Francesco II Sforza ), and that it ended with a stalemate for the imperials, who obtained Milan, but France allied itself more with the Lutherans and the Ottomans in an anti-Charles V function, as well as hindering any attempt by the Pope to convene a council, perhaps Rome manages to convince Mary and Catherine ( but also the husband of the new queen ) to assist Charles in the conflict, in exchange for his support in the reform of the English monasteries ( aka the dissolution of some of them, found non-compliant ) and the preparation of the clergy ( perhaps with an expansion of the English representatives in the Roman curia ) with the imperial party promising gains in France ( Boulogne and other nearby locations ) and perhaps in the Reich ( after all, to convince Henry not to assist Francis I and the Lutherans, it was thought to give him Bremen and its surroundings as a fiefdom Otl )


considering that Henry Otl's huge military expenses do not occur here ( since I see it difficult for Scotland and England to fight for more than 8 uninterrupted years with each other ( at least if you look at the survey ), and at the same time at the same time the monarch declares war on France ) so eventually the resources are there
 
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