Henry, Duke of Cornwall, was the first son and heir of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. He was born on January 1, 1511, amid great celebrations and hopes for the future of the Tudor dynasty. However, his life was tragically cut short when he died on February 22, 1511, at the age of only 52 days. What caused his death and how did it affect the course of English history?
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The Birth and Christening of Prince Henry
Henry was the second child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, who had married in 1509 and were crowned together in 1510. Their first child, a daughter, was stillborn in January 1510. Therefore, the birth of a healthy son was a cause for great joy and relief for the royal couple and the whole nation. Henry was born at Richmond Palace and was immediately recognized as Duke of Cornwall and heir apparent to the throne. He was expected to become Prince of Wales, King of England, and the third king of the House of Tudor.
Henry was christened on January 5, 1511, in a lavish ceremony at the Church of the Observant Friars in Richmond. His godparents were Louis XII of France, his father’s ally, and Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy, his aunt by marriage. The christening gifts included a gold salt holder and cup weighing 99 ounces, given by the French king. Henry was taken to his mother’s lying-in chamber, where he was nursed by Elizabeth Poyntz, a gentlewoman of the queen’s household.
The Celebrations and the Great Tournament
Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon planned extravagant celebrations to mark the birth of their son, who was seen as a guarantee of the succession and the stability of the realm. The celebrations included pageants, masques, banquets, dances, and fireworks. The royal initials, H and K, were displayed everywhere, along with the motto “Dieu et mon Droit” (God and my Right).
The most lavish event was the Great Tournament, held at Westminster Palace on February 12 and 13, 1511. The tournament was a display of chivalry and martial prowess, featuring jousting, wrestling, archery, and sword fighting. The king himself participated in the jousting, wearing a suit of armor decorated with diamonds and pearls. The theme of the tournament was a fictional challenge issued by the Queen of Coeur Noble, who had heard of the birth of the English prince and invited the best knights of the realm to prove their worth. The tournament was recorded in a long illuminated vellum roll, known as the Westminster Tournament Roll, which is now preserved in the College of Arms. The roll depicts the procession to the lists, the king tilting with a grandstand of spectators, and the exit procession. The chronicle writer Edward Hall described the pageants and masques that accompanied the tournament. According to Wikipedia, the tournament cost around £4,400, a huge sum for the time.
The Death and the Funeral of Prince Henry
The Duke of Cornwall died on February 22, 1511, at Richmond Palace, less than two months after his birth. His death was unexpected and shocking, as he had seemed to be a healthy and vigorous child. We do not know what caused his death, but some historians have suggested that it was due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), also known as cot death, which is the unexplained death of a baby during sleep. According to Historic Cornwall, some people at the time believed that he was poisoned by his wife, Queen Catherine, who was jealous of his attention to other women. However, there is no evidence to support this accusation, and it is more likely that the cause of death was natural and unknown.
Henry was buried in Westminster Abbey on February 27, 1511, in a solemn and mournful ceremony. His parents did not attend the funeral, as it was customary for them to remain in seclusion after the death of a child. Instead, they sent courtiers to represent them and to mourn for their lost son. The coffin was transported by barges up the river from Richmond Palace to the Thames. During the journey, a few wax candles lit up the route, and prayers were said as the entourage approached the abbey. The coffin was placed in a vault near the shrine of Edward the Confessor, the founder of the abbey and the patron saint of the kings of England.
The Consequences and the What-Ifs of Prince Henry’s Death
The death of Henry, Duke of Cornwall, was a devastating blow for his parents and the nation. It marked the beginning of a series of miscarriages, stillbirths, and infant deaths that plagued the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. The couple had only one surviving child, a daughter named Mary, who was born in 1516. Henry VIII became increasingly desperate for a male heir, as he feared that his dynasty would end with him and that his daughter would not be able to secure the throne. He also became infatuated with Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, who promised to give him a son. He sought to annul his marriage to Catherine, claiming that it was invalid because she had been previously married to his elder brother, Arthur, who had died in 1502. However, Catherine refused to accept the annulment, and the pope, who was under the influence of her nephew, Emperor Charles V, refused to grant it. This led to a long and bitter conflict between Henry VIII and the Catholic Church, which resulted in the break with Rome and the establishment of the Church of England, with the king as its supreme head. The English Reformation, as this process is known, had profound religious, political, and social consequences for England and the rest of Europe.
The death of Henry, Duke of Cornwall, also raises some intriguing what-if scenarios. What if he had survived and become king? How would his reign have been different from that of his father and his half-siblings? Would he have been a good or a bad ruler? Would he have married well and produced heirs? Would he have maintained the alliance with France and the friendship with the Holy Roman Empire? Would he have kept the Catholic faith or embraced the Protestant Reformation? Would he have avoided the wars and rebellions that plagued his father’s and sister’s reigns? Would he have been more or less popular than his father and his sister Elizabeth I? These are some of the questions that historians and fiction writers have explored and speculated about, but we will never know the answers for sure. All we know is that Henry, Duke of Cornwall, was a prince who died too soon and whose death changed the course of history.
