I’ve posted about Maria de Salinas before, on more sites than this one, but she DESERVES multiple posts because she was awesome.
On this day in history Maria Willoughby, nee de Salinas, defied a king and arrived at Kimbolton manor house to comfort Katherina of Aragon on her deathbed.
Maria de Salinas is one of my favorite people of the Tudor era because few people of any time period have ever shown the unswerving and selfless friendship she was capable of. Maria was Katherina of Aragon’s loyal friend until the last moments of the queen’s life. When Katherina lay dying, abandoned by the husband she loved and isolated in a de facto prison, Maria thumbed her nose at Henry VIII and braved his wrath to rush to the queen’s side so that her friend would not pass away uncomforted.
Maria stood by Katherina of Aragon even during her time of penury after the princesses widowhood and before her marriage to Henry VIII. Once Katherina was the queen, Maria married William Willoughby, the 11th Baron of Willoughby de Eresby, but remained a at court as a lady in waiting. When Henry cast Katherina from court and sent her to the Kimbolton manor house, Maria was forbidden to see her friend by royal command. To ignore such an edict could be considered treasonous, and carry the penalty of death.
Nevertheless, when Christmastime of 1535 brought Maria news that her oldest and dearest friend was dying, she desperately petitioned the king to be allowed to go Katherina’s side. He absolutely forbade Maria to see Katherina. As far as Henry was concerned, his former wife and the mother of his oldest daughter could die alone as suitable punishment for thwarting his will.
Notwithstanding the risk of imprisonment or worse, when Maria received word the first week of 1536 that Katherina was on death’s doorstep, Maria bit her thumb at the king and rode hell-for-leather for Katherina’s gilded cage at Kimbolton. Although Maria was in her mid-to-late 40s, and thus would have been considered an elderly woman in the Tudor era, she rode sixty miles through the dark of night in freezing weather on to reach her friend. At some point in her journey she was thrown from her horse, but having a stainless-steel (and thus unbreakable) backbone, Maria was undeterred by her tumble and rode onwards. She arrived at Kimbolton on January 6, cold, muddy, tired, and determined. Maria, as smart as she was dependable, turned her riding accident to her advantage and used the stains on her dress to convince Katherina’s steward and jailer, Sir Edward Bedingfield, that she had “lost” the papers giving her permission from the king to see the former queen. Her ploy worked, and Bedingfield let her inside the house. Once Maria had breached the manor, she went to Katherina’s room, locked the door, and then refused to come out again. There is no record of it, but I will bet you money that Maria also called Bedingfield names in Spanish, and advised him to kiss her Iberian butt. Bedingfield was unwilling to break down the door physically drag out a peeress (and was probably a little afraid she would tear out his heart and eat it in front of him), so could only wring his hands and moan. Maria couldn’t be winkled out of Katherina’s room with a big pin.
Therefore, Maria was there to hold Katherina in her arms as the queen breathed her last on the following day. Despite the king’s attempts to keep Katherina from any personal comfort, Maria’s courage and physical daring secured the bereft former princess of Spain some solace. It should be noted that Maria actually risked her life to reach her best friend in Katherina’s darkest hour. She could have easily gotten killed on the journey, and there was no guarantee Henry wouldn’t throw her in the Tower and then behead her for treason. The possibilities of death or imprisonment were trivial to Maria when compared to friendship.
Maria got away with her defiance and lived another three years, dying in May of 1539. Legend has it that she was interred at Peterborough Cathedral with Katherine, staying by her queen’s side in death as she did in life.
Maria De Salinas also got cosmic revenge against Henry VIII for her friend’s betrayal and death. Maria’s daughter Catherine married a man named Robert Bertie after her first husband’s death, and her son from this relationship, Peregrine Bertie, was an ancestor of Lady Diana Spencer, who is the deceased mother the royal princes William and Harry. William, currently the Duke of Cambridge, will one day inherit the throne of England. Thus, it is Maria’s direct descendants, not Henry’s, who will wear the crown.
It is a fitting legacy for a woman of such high courage and unshakable friendship.
This is so much awesomeness I can’t contain it!!