1516 - The Birth of Mary I

Princess Mary Tudor was more at Greenwich Palace, on Monday 18th February, 1516. 

Katherine of Aragon’s Confinement

Before confinement, Katherine would have attended mass then entered the great chamber of the court, with members of the privy council, and given wine and spices. Eventually, any men would leave and she would be left with female midwives and servants. 

Once the birth of her child was deemed (reasonably) imminent, Katherine retired to a chamber where she was shut off from the world and could wait for up to 40 days after birth. The chamber would have been carpeted with its walls and ceiling hung with blue cloth. All the windows bar one would have also been covered. The only decoration present would have been a fleur de lys, symbolising the English on France and motherhood.  Katherine was so shielded from the outside world that when her father died on 23rd January, she was not told for fear it would affect the birth. 

Birth and Baptism

Named after the king’s sister, Mary Tudor was born on Monday 18 February at Greenwich. Despite any initial disappointment at her being a girl, her mere survival and health gave hope to her parents that more children would follow. She was baptised on 20 February in the Church of the Observant Friars, which adjoined Greenwich Palace, where her parents married five years prior. 

She was carried to the font by The Countess of Surrey assisted by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk. She had three godmothers: Catherine Courtney, the Countess of Devon and daughter of Edward IV,  Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury and daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, and Agnes Howard the Duchess of Norfolk. Thomas Wolsey was appointed as her Godfather