Mary had a little child

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

Mary had a little child,

His face was white as snow,

And everywhere that Spain went,

That child was bound to go….

(Popular Doggerel)

Between Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, England was ruled by three people, Edward VI, who died young, Jane Grey (who was swiftly deposed) and ‘Bloody Mary’. Mary ruled for five years and was possibly the worst queen in English history. She purged Protestants, married the prince of Spain (who, as king, would launch the Armada) and generally made herself unpopular.

Mary wanted children for several reasons, mainly because it would ensure a catholic England (the first in line to the throne, Elizabeth, was protestant) and because she saw it as her duty. Consequently, she married the prince of Spain in 1554 and, in early 1555, appeared to be pregnant.

Just what happened then is uncertain. Mary may, on account of her advanced age, have miscarried the child, or she might have convinced herself that she was pregnant, an act that would have forced her body into contortions that would have made her ill eventually. Be that as it may, what is known is that Mary never had a living child. Philip became King of Spain in 1556 and spent less time with his wife, who died in 1559. Elizabeth became Queen of England and the rest is history.

Reading round ‘Ruled Britannia’, however, gave me some ideas. What if Mary had managed to bring a child to term and that child had become king? Lets begin on the assumption that Mary was indeed pregnant in 1555 and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, the future king of England.

This seriously weakens Elizabeth’s position. Quite why Mary, a vindictive and cruel catholic, spared her in unknown, here, she’s got better incentive to get rid of her or marry her off. Let’s say that Elizabeth is betrothed to a Spanish nobleman or a French Prince. Either would be catholic and suit Mary.

Would Mary live longer in this timeline? I suspect that she would have an extra few years as her health would improve if she had the child she so desperately wanted. Let’s assume she lives an extra ten years, until 1566. That would allow her time to make the boy catholic and to allow him a chance to discover the Spanish empire, over which his father rules.

This might provoke problems with the English people. It is arguable how many were prepared to die for Protestantism, it is clear that many were prepared to die to escape Spanish domination. Let’s have Philip declare the new prince (I’ll call him Edward) the heir to the Spanish throne and her empires. This is in defiance of the treaty of marriage, but if the Spanish handle it right, that won’t matter.

Bit of background here. The marriage treaty between England and Spain was unusual. Philip had no authority in England on his own merits, although he could influence the queen, and if she died without a child he would have no claim on England. If she did have a child, that child would have no claim on Spain, although, when it appeared that Mary was pregnant, he did try to have that redone. Further, if he had died as king of Spain, he could have nominated the child as his heir, therefore uniting the kingdoms.

Therefore, there will be some discontent in England against Spain, but it’s hard to see whom it could revolve around. Elizabeth is married and in Spain in this timeline, making some poor Spaniard miserable, but is believed to have sold out to Spain. Most of the nobles don’t trust each other and few people care about the opinions of the common people. Let’s say that when Mary dies Philip appoints a smart viceroy to rule until Edward becomes King and he makes a compromise.

England gets to trade and settle in the Americas, avoiding the Pope’s edict and is considered to be a Spanish land for this purpose. In exchange, the English won’t object to the Spanish attacking the Dutch rebels or the Irish being independent, although some English lords get to try and ‘civilise’ Ireland. Further, Edward will be allowed to be king of Spain when Philip dies.

There are some interesting long-term implications from this start point. France may not flit with Protestantism as in OTL, but remain catholic. Further, England may take the role of the Dutch in OTL and start a trading empire that is closely allied to the Spanish instead of being in competition to it. As the Spanish empire decays, England will be in a position to take much of it for themselves, although I suspect the power centre of the empire will slide towards London as Spain runs out of natural resources. It would be a very interesting world to write about, but I would not want to live there.

Without the need to attack England, the Spanish might manage to defeat the Muslims in Algeria and Morocco. There were numerous attempts to do that in OTL, but they failed because of lack of resources. In ATL, the Spanish might manage to make their presence stick.

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