But what if they don't look like their father very much, and instead, they look very much like another M.F.O.M. (Male Friend of Mom?)
In Tudor England the stakes could be high when it came to how a kid was treated if there was a tacit, on-the-d-l understanding that the kid was one of the king's unacknowledged little bastards.
In many ways, unacknowledged bastards ate from the same silver spoon as their siblings, the acknowledged bastards; the pattern on the spoon was just a little bit different.
The well-treated, and so, loyal, unacknowledged bastard was a valuable asset to their royal family.
They could be eyes and ears around the court.
They could be trusted to report what they'd seen and heard.
They could easily be mistaken by the newly-come-to-court-ambitious as a safe set of pitchers in which to pour all their secrets.
 |
| "No, I hadn't heard that. Do you know more about it? How interesting!" |
That was the best part.
Because the love of family and the loyalty that comes with it trumps all.
The end, amen.
Without love there can be no bullet-proof trust.
| Yeah, that. |
And so, without ever saying on the record anything at all about the paternity of Henry Carey, Baron Hunsdon, let's take a look at the progress this kid made. . .
Henry Carey:
 |
| Henry Carey |
son of Mary Boleyn Carey and William Carey:
 |
| William Carey |
And at the time, his mother was at the regular getting some from this:
 |
| Henry VIII |
Born: 1526 - but go here
http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/noteondates.html
to make sure you understand the automatic plus-minus a year that could get you a pass by your history teacher with potential to own that teacher in a grade debate.
| Nothing better. |
Male Friends of Mom:
Henry VIII
When:
Some portion of the years from 1518-1525.
Mom married "dad" William Carey:
4 February, 1520
Hmm.
William Carey was gifted most years of his marriage to Mary Boleyn with goodies that could only have come directly from the hand of Henry VIII.
They could have been a thank you for accepting the king's sloppy seconds in the marital bed.
But they were also the kind of gifts that a lot of up-and-coming courtiers received; sort of a trial balloon to see how they handled responsibility.
In 1528 when William Carey slipped away in a pool of the English sweating sickness, his widow
 |
| No, not merry, MARY! |
found some of the really important components for the advancement of her two children in the royal court just fell in their laps.
 |
| Gifts out of nowhere, all the time! AWESOME! |
Mary's personal finances were oftentimes a mess and she had to deal with that by using her social connections to press her dad to please not cut off her allowance any longer.
Yet her son, Henry (??!! lol it was a common name) Carey and his older sis, Catherine Carey, were advanced through the court system of Henry VIII - educated, taught the ropes of the social structure, and how to stay low and move fast - or not, depending on who sat on the English throne.
In the king's household by 1545, Henry Carey served Henry VIII as Officer of Horse.
In the same year he fell into a nice marriage with a bit of suitable girl at age 19, out of nowhere, didn't know her at all, yet there she was, ready, beautiful and his alone.
 |
| "I love you, too, uh . . . Pretty New Wife?" |
Lucky guy.
Neither Catherine Carey or Henry Carey fell from favor, though, even when Prince Edward replaced Henry VIII; Carey was in the privy chamber by 1553 until at least 1558, possibly longer.
The 'hap' (fortunes, luck, kismet) of the brother and sister went into a holding pattern when Mary I reigned with Henry Carey serving as gentleman of the household for Elizabeth.
Elizabeth 'conveniently' sent Carey out of the country when Mary I first settled in to her new position as queen - Carey went off to look over a possible candidate to marry Elizabeth, which conveniently removed him, a Protestant, from the firestorm
 |
| Such a shameful stain on the reign of Mary I . . . really, burning people at the stake? C'mon, Mary. |
hitting the non-Roman Catholics in the country at that time.
And then . . . the Lady Elizabeth survived circumstances beyond all imagining to climb right up on the throne at age twenty-five with the heartfelt love of most of England.
 |
| YES! |
Catherine and Henry Carey, meet Dreams Come True.
Catherine Carey was immediately included in the innermost circle of Elizabeth I's trusted women of the bed chamber.
Henry Carey . . . well, I'll let
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/carey-henry-1526-96
do the talking:
Carey’s status was greatly enhanced at the accession of Elizabeth, who was his cousin if not his half-sister.
After receiving a knighthood in November 1558, early in the following year he was created Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon, a title probably deriving from his childhood connexion with the royal residence there.
He was also given a large grant of land, including the manor of Hunsdon, with £4,000 to maintain his rank.
Thereafter his career was one of service to the Queen, chiefly in military or judicial posts.
More soldier than courtier, he is said to have been rough in speech, hasty in temper but free from malice.
He died on 23 July 1596 at Somerset House, two days after making a nuncupative will, and was buried in Westminster abbey.
You caught that first sentence, right?
Henry Carey was also master of the hawks -
master of horse had been given to Robert
Dudley, but master of the hawks was
a nice second-place title.
Let's face it; most of us girls would want the
boy they loved helping them onto their
valiant steed
rather than their older brother
cousin.
Throughout the glorious reign of Elizabeth I,
Henry Carey and Catherine Carey had her back
in a way that appears more sibling than cousin.
She had their backs in a way that spoke in a
whisper to the courtiers who knew the depth
of their family ties.
Here is a picture, taken last week at the National
Portrait Gallery.
If you go there, you'll find it within the Tudor and
Stuart gallery, tucked away with the display of
miniatures paintings.
 |
| Henry Carey, Knights of the Garter. |
So, you tell me - does he look more like Henry VIII's son, or like William Carey's son?
No comments:
Post a Comment