Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 36.djvu/351

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Mary I
345
Mary I

of his relationship to her. She was solely moved by regard for the honour of her crown and the tranquillity of her kingdom. Before Egmont left, she sent verbally affectionate commendations to Philip, but deferred writing until he wrote to her. Philip soon afterwards despatched Antonio More [q. v.] to England to paint her portrait.

It only remained for Mary to submit the marriage treaty to parliament, which met for the second time in her reign on 2 April, and sat till 5 May. Reference was at once made to the current objections to the marriage, but Gardiner argued that every security had been taken to render Spanish domination over England impossible. The members were satisfied, and formally accepted the marriage contract. But to prevent any confusion respecting Philip's position in England, they passed an act vesting the regal power in the queen as fully as it had ever been vested in a king. On 22 April Mary announced to Philip the confirmation of the contract by her parliament. It was her first letter to him, and was in French. Bills making heresy a penal offence were proposed by the government in the same session, but the lay peers opposed the measures and they were withdrawn. Doubts were still entertained in the council respecting the prince's exact status in England, and Mary was anxious that all uncertain points should be so determined as to increase Philip's dignity. The imperial ambassador demanded precedence for him and his titles in documents of state. Mary and the council yielded. But when Renard suggested that Philip should be honoured with a ceremony of coronation Gardiner and the council firmly resisted. Mary pleaded in vain that the diadem of the queen-consorts of England might be formally placed on his head. In June she removed to Gardiner's palace, Farnham Castle, near Winchester, in anticipation of the wedding, which was fixed to take place at Winchester in the next month. In the interval she showed a feverish anxiety respecting the arrangements made for Philip's personal safety in England; but her attention was for a while diverted by her sister's affairs. She had allowed Elizabeth a copy of the Bible in English, and had given her permission to write to her. On 13 June Elizabeth forwarded a denial of all complicity with Wyatt. Mary replied in a letter to Bedingfield throwing doubts on Elizabeth's good faith. She emphasised her own clemency, and declined to be further molested by such colourable professions (25 June).

Philip embarked at Corunna for England on 18 July 1554, and landed at Southampton on Friday, 20 July, escorted by English, Dutch, and Spanish ships (cf. Viaje de Felipe Segundo à Inglaterra, ed. Gayangos, Sociedad de Bibliofilos Españoles, 1877, and English Hist. Rev. April 1892, pp. 253 sq.) The Earl of Arundel met him m a barge off the coast, and offered him the order of the Garter. On reaching the shore he accepted as a gift from the queen a Spanish gelding, richly caparisoned. His retinue included Ruy Gomez, Alva, Medina-Celi, the bishop of Cuença, and many other great noblemen of Spain (Tytler, ii. 433). He at once went to Holyrood church, and in the evening received a deputation of the council. Addressing them in Latin (he knew no English), he declared that he had come to live among them as an Englishman. He promised that his own attendants should while in England conform to English law, and finally showed an amiable desire to adopt native customs by drinking the healths of all present in a tankard of English ale. He remained at Southampton till Monday, when he travelled to Winchester, and straightway attended a special service in the cathedral. Earlier in the day the queen had left Farnham, and had, during a severe thunderstorm, made a public entry into the city on her way to the bishop's palace. The Winchester scholars offered her many copies of congratulatory Latin verse (cf. 'MS. Royal, 12 A. xx), in which the descent, both of herself and Philip, was traced to John of Gaunt. Other panegyrists, including Hadrianus Junius in his 'Philippeis' (London, 1554), dwelt effusively on the same genealogical fact. In the evening Philip privately paid the queen a visit. It was their first meeting. They conversed in Spanish (Fabyan, Chron. p. 140). Next day Philip proceeded in state on a second visit to Mary. On Wednesday, 25 July, the marriage was celebrated in the cathedral. Before the ceremony the emperor's envoy, Figueroa, announced that Charles had presented his son with the kingdom of Naples. Bishop Gardiner officiated. The falding-stool on which the queen knelt is still shown in the cathedral. At the wedding banquet, in accordance with Spanish etiquette, the king and queen were alone seated (Tytler, ii. 433). On its conclusion a herald proclaimed the titles of bride and bridegroom thus: 'Philip and Mary, by the grace of God King and Queen of England, France, Naples, Jerusalem, and Ireland, defenders of the faith, Princes of Spain and Sicily, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy, and Brabant, Counts of Hapsburg, Flanders, and Tyrol' (Chron. p. 142; Stow, p. 625). The morning after the marriage Philip and Mary went to Basinghouse, where the Marquis of