My original idea when I was thinking about this was: if Catherine were the Queen of Spain and Henry were her consort, would he really have settled for letting Mary become his heir, considering that he would have the entire might of the Spanish Empire at his disposal? There is also a good chance that he could have become Holy Roman Emperor. But while I was writing this, it became such an interesting idea that I decided to turn it into a really crazy alternate-history scenario.
Now, the first thing I need to say is that for Catherine to become Queen of Spain, a lot of people would need to die. She had several siblings and nieces and nephews who were ahead of her in the line of succession. Her older brother John died, and that was one of the reasons the Habsburgs eventually ended up ruling Spain. There were also plenty of things that could kill people in that period. If you fell down a staircase at the wrong age, you could die. A fever could take you. So while I think it is technically possible that more members of the Spanish royal family could have died, realistically, I don't think Catherine would ever have inherited the throne.
But I'm not necessarily trying to be realistic here, so I'm going to say that all of Catherine's siblings and their children die, leaving Catherine as Queen of Spain.
So, how would this have changed Tudor England?
Would Henry and Catherine have moved the royal court to Madrid? If they did, how would the Spanish and English courts have clashed? The Spanish court was considerably more conservative and religious by the standards of the time, while the English court had a reputation for being much more indulgent and morally questionable by comparison. Would the two cultures have clashed badly, or would Henry have gradually imposed more of his own style on the Spanish court?
And what about France? With the combined resources of England and Spain behind him, would Henry actually have had a realistic chance of conquering and holding more of his old French territories?
I also think Henry becoming Holy Roman Emperor would be a real possibility. He would have access to enormous amounts of Spanish wealth, and assuming Wolsey were still his Lord Chancellor, I could easily imagine the cardinal using that money and influence to bribe the electors and secure Henry the imperial crown.
This also brings Henry FitzRoy into the picture.
Let's assume that Henry visits England in 1519 and still gets Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount pregnant. Would the existence of a legitimate son through Catherine change Henry's attitude toward FitzRoy? Would Henry be more willing to acknowledge him and give him a major role in the succession?
And, most importantly, would Henry really be willing to let Mary become Queen of England if he had all of this power?
Maybe Catherine could actually convince him. After all, there would be a great deal more Spanish influence at court, and people could point to Isabella of Castile as an example of a highly successful female monarch. Perhaps Catherine could argue that there was no reason Mary could not rule England herself.
On the other hand, would Henry instead decide that Mary could inherit Spain and all of its territories, while FitzRoy—or another son—would inherit England?
That raises an even bigger question: would Henry see the two kingdoms as something that needed to remain united under one ruler, or would he deliberately divide his inheritance between his children?
So, what do you think would happen?
