married Katherine, eldest daughter of Henry Pole, Lord Montacute, and niece of Cardinal Pole, and hence granddaughter and representative of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, daughter and heir of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV. Francis attached himself to the fortunes of Warwick, afterwards Duke of Northumberland, and thereby obtained advantages in lands and appointments. To consolidate this alliance he married his heir Henry to his leader's daughter, on the same day that Lady Jane Grey married Lord Guilford Dudley. Huntingdon was fortunate enough, however, not to be involved in Northumberland's fall, and to escape after a short imprisonment; he was doubtless protected by his fortunate marriage, by which he gained the interest of Cardinal Pole, nor is it improbable that he was shielded from harm by the influence of his brother who was a strong partisan of Queen Mary; he was able to conceal his religious opinions in those troublous times, but in his heart he appears to have inclined to Protestantism.
His daughter Mary received the doubtful compliment of an offer of marriage from Ivan IV (the Terrible) of Muscovy, 1583, which, strange to say, seems to have been favourably entertained by Elizabeth, though it was known that the Tsar had a wife living whom he proposed to repudiate; it is needless to say that the offer was rejected by the lady[1].
- ↑ Those who are interested in this curious portion of Anglo-Russian History should consult Karamsin, Histoire de l'Empire de Russie, traduite par M. St. Thomas, Paris, 1820, vol. ix. chap. 7.
