Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond
Henry Fitzroy, the son of Henry VIII and Bessie Blount, was born near Ingatestone in about June 1519. Although illegitimate, as the king's only male son at the time of his birth he was a valuable asset.
His mother was maid of honour to Catherine of Aragon, the king's wife. Bessie was described at this time by John Barlow, the Dean of Worcester, as more beautiful than Anne Boleyn. "Renowned for her skill in music and dancing, she was a frequent player in court masques." (1)
He was given the Anglo-Norman surname "Fitzroy" meaning "son of the king" which had been used by several kings of England for their illegitimate children. As Kelly Hart has argued that he wanted it to be known he was the father of the child: "A healthy boy was a sign of the king's virility; it was clear now that the lack of a strong son could be blamed on his wife." (2)
Arrangements for his care were initially entrusted to his godfather, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. "On 18 June 1525 he was created earl of Nottingham and on the same day he received the unprecedented honour of a double dukedom. As duke of Richmond and Somerset he was endowed with lands whose revenues amounted to £4,845 in the first year. On 16 July 1525 he became lord admiral of England." (3) Such concentration of peerages and great offices had never before being held by a subject, let alone a six-year-old. It could mean one thing only: Henry VIII had decided that gender was more important than legitimacy. (4) Catherine of Aragon feared that he would recognize Richmond as his heir, and would exclude Mary from her rightful inheritance. Henry VIII "now insulted Catherine by grooming his bastard for the succession". (5) Henry did not forget, Bessie Blount, his mother. Her husband, Gilbert Tailboys, was knighted. (6) Henry Fitzroy was Henry VIII's only illegitimate child that he officially recognised. (7) According to his biographer, Beverley A Murphy. "From 28 August 1525 to 16 June 1529 he lived principally in Yorkshire, at Sheriff Hutton or at Pontefract, at the centre of a full-scale ducal household, in his capacity as head of the newly resurrected council of the north. Although well educated in Latin, Greek, French, and music, by tutors who included John Palsgrave, Richard Croke, and William Saunders, he was an active child who much preferred outdoor pursuits and had to be bribed to settle to his books." (8) Catherine of Aragon became concerned when Henry FitzRoy was brought to court in 1527. Rumours began circulating that Henry VIII was going to divorce Catherine and make his young son his heir. (9) People began to speculate that Henry had "decided that gender was more important than legitimacy". (10) However, it soon became clear that Henry intended to marry Anne Boleyn in an effort to obtain an legitimate male heir. (11) Henry VIII became disillusioned with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey who had been given orders to arrange the divorce from Catherine. He became convinced that Wolsey's loyalties lay with the Pope, not England, and on 17th October 1529 he was dismissed from office. (12) Jean du Bellay reported that "the worse of the evil is that Mlle de Boleyn has made (Henry) promise that he will never give him a hearing, for she thinks he could not help having pity on him." (13) After Wolsey's downfall, responsibility for the care of Henry FitzRoy passed to Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. At the same time negotiations began for his marriage to one of Norfolk's daughters. FitzRoy was often resident at Windsor Castle where Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was among his companions. In October 1532 he accompanied Henry VIII to Calais for his meeting with King François. As a result of negotiations between them he was sent to reside at the French court. (14) The fourteen-year-old Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond, married Mary Howard on 26th November 1533. It has been claimed by Alison Weir, the author of The Six Wives of Henry VIII (2007), that the marriage had been arranged by Anne Boleyn in an effort to gain the support of the Duke of Norfolk. (15) Their marriage was never consummated. It has been suggested by Antonia Fraser that " no doubt it was thought that the act would prove too taxing" for a young man in poor health. (16) Henry VIII continued to use his son for diplomatic mission and hosted various feasts in honour of important foreign visitors. Henry was also present at the execution of the Observant Friars of Richmond when two carts full of friars were hanged, drawn and quartered for denying the royal supremacy. (17) Anne Boleyn was arrested and was taken to the Tower of London on 2nd May, 1536. That evening Henry VIII went to see his son who told him that his half-sister Mary ought to thank God for escaping "that cursed and venomous whore, who tried to poison you both". There is no evidence of this but Henry FitzRoy attended Anne's execution on 19th May. This was taken as a sign of his approval of her punishment. Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond, enjoyed a good relationship with his father. According to his biographer, Beverley A Murphy: "The terms of the 1536 Succession Act renewed interest in the possibility of Richmond's succeeding his father. In many respects he was an ideal candidate. Widely reported to be as intelligent, articulate, and as athletic as his father, the danger of a minority was fast receding. His relationship with Henry VIII was consistently good. Numerous gifts and letters were indications of a genuine affection between them." (18) Henry died suddenly on 22nd July 1536. Some historians have argued that he had been in poor health for sometime and died of tuberculosis. (19) Others disagree with this interpretation and Philippa Jones has suggested "the secrecy and speed of his burial might be due to the fact that he died, or was suspected of having died of pneumonic plague". She adds that the "main symptoms of this are fever, headache, weakness and rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain and coughing, all symptoms that Richmond showed before his death". (20) Kelly Hart claims that Henry was inconsolable on his death and ordered the quick and private funeral because he wanted his "dead son's corpse taken far away from him". (21) Beverley A Murphy admits that it seems the intention was to attract as little notice as possible to the death. The wooden coffin was hidden in straw and taken in secret to be quietly laid to rest some distance from the capital and he was buried at Thetford Priory. (22) The author of The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards (2010) puts forward another possibility. Did Henry VIII discover that Henry FitzRoy was involved in a conspiracy against him. "It would not be the first time an heir decided not to wait for his inheritance, and the affair could have been triggered by Jane Seymour's pregnancy. A living, lawful male child would have put Richmond firmly out of contention for the throne." Further support for this theory comes from the Pilgrimage of Grace uprising that took place two months later. "Would he have supported this action, had he been alive? Did Henry believe his son had been actively involved in this disturbance? Certainly supporters of the revolt came from South Kyme, Tailboys lands, and the leaders included Bessie Blount's son-in-law, Robert Dymoke, and Richmond's servants, Sir John Russell and Sir William Parr." (23)Henry Fitzroy - Duke of Richmond
Marriage to Mary Howard
Death of Henry FitzRoy
Spartacus E-Books (Price £0.99 / $1.50) 
Primary Sources
(1) Marie Louise Bruce, Anne Boleyn (1972)
Elizabeth Blount, maid of honour to Queen Catherine, had, according to the chronicler Edward Hall, "won the King's heart", a "damsel" who "in singing, dancing and in all goodly pastimes exceeded all other". Her first revel with the King took place in the company of Thomas and George Boleyn, when she was aged at most thirteen, her last, four years later in October 1518. Shortly after this festive occasion Wolsey arranged for her to retire to the Priory of St Lawrence where a boy, Henry FitzRoy, was born about June 1519, and proudly acknowledged by the King to be his son; since when she had not returned to Court.
(2) Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (2007)
In 1519 she (Bessie Blount) gave birth to the King's bastard son in the house. Henry was delighted to have a boy at last: here was proof indeed that he himself was not responsible for the lack of a male heir, though it must have seemed to him ironical that his only son should be born out of wedlock. He named the child Henry, and bestowed upon him the old Norman-French surname FitzRoy, which means "son of the King". News of the birth soon leaked out at court, and in due course the Queen learned of it, to her sorrow and humiliation.
(3) John Guy, Tudor England (1986)
Henry VIII had no legitimate male heir: the Tudor dynasty was at risk. He and Catherine had a daughter, Princess Mary (born 1516), and he had by Elizabeth Blount an illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy, whom he created duke of Richmond in 1525.
(4) Jasper Ridley, Henry VIII (1984)
When Henry VIII realised that Catherine of Aragon would not produce a son... he considered the possibility of legitimising his legitimate son, Henry FitzRoy Having kept his affair with Elizabeth Blount very quiet, he suddenly publicised it, and made all his subjects aware of the existence of the child of the union.
(5) John Edward Bowle, Henry VIII (1964)
The problem of the succession had long haunted Henry's mind, for of Catherine's six children, Mary alone survived, and by 1525 it was clear that the queen was past bearing any more. Mary was the sole legitimate heir... Henry now insulted Catherine by grooming his bastard for the succession. This fine boy by Elizabeth Blount was six years old; he was now brought forward as a potential heir.
(6) David Starkey, Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII (2003)
It came as a brutal shock to Catherine when, in the summer of 1525, she heard that Henry's young bastard, Henry Fitzroy, was to be recognized as the King's son and showered with titles and honours. The boy was installed as Knight of the Garter, created Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Richmond and Somerset (all of them royal titles), and appointed Lord Admiral and Warden-General of the Marches against Scotland. At the same time, his education was put on a formal footing; he was given a great Household, with head officers and a Council, and sent off to Sheriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire to be nominal head of a regional government for the north. Such concentration of peerages and great offices had never before being held by a subject, let alone a six-year-old. It could mean one thing only: Henry VIII had decided that gender was more important than legitimacy. Catherine feared that he would recognize Richmond as his heir, and would exclude Mary from her rightful inheritance.
(7) Beverley A Murphy, Elizabeth Blount : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004-2014)
The terms of the 1536 Succession Act renewed interest in the possibility of Richmond's succeeding his father. In many respects he was an ideal candidate. Widely reported to be as intelligent, articulate, and as athletic as his father, the danger of a minority was fast receding. His relationship with Henry VIII was consistently good. Numerous gifts and letters were indications of a genuine affection between them. However, still confident in his ability to produce a legitimate son, Henry VIII never chose to recognize him as his heir. There is no sign that his premature death was anticipated: his only previous indisposition was a brief illness in January 1532.
(8) Kelly Hart, The Mistresses of Henry VIII (2009)
The king had spent a lot of time with his son throughout his childhood and was inconsolable on his death. Henry VIII had always been terrified of death and insisted that Richmond's father-in-law, the duke of Norfolk, organise a quick and private funeral. Henry may have wanted his dead son's corpse taken far away from him...
It is thought that he died of consumption, although it could have been another lung condition. A. S. McNalty, the author of Henry VIII: A Difficult Patient (1952), concludes that there was a history of pulmonary tuberculosis in the Tudors. It allegedly killed both of Henry's sons, Richmond and Edward VI, contributed to the deaths of Henry's father and brother, Henry VII and Prince Arthur, and his daughter Elizabeth may have suffered from tuberculous laryngitis.
(9) Philippa Jones, The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards (2010)
Richmond is believed to have died of tuberculosis, although the secrecy and speed of his burial might be due to the fact that he died, or was suspected of having died of pneumonic plague. The main symptoms of this are fever, headache, weakness and rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain and coughing, all symptoms that Richmond showed before his death. The pneumonia progresses for two to four days with death from respiratory failure and shock. Richmond was only 17... If the illness had been developing for some time, it was probably not plague, but his quick death may have convinced his attendants that it was.
When it came to the treatment of his corpse, the speed of his sickness and death may simply have overwhelmed the King. The death of his beloved son may have devastated his father. He had lost his only son who had died without heirs. Henry's instructions to Norfolk may have been misinterpreted or confused by the chain of instruction, so that the body was roughly coffined and transported by Norfolk's servants.
But why did his father ignore him so completely? This might support the theory that Henry believed that Richmond was part of a planned revolt against the Crown, rising from his powerbase in Lincolnshire. It would not be the first time an heir decided not to wait for his inheritance, and the affair could have been triggered by Jane Seymour's pregnancy.
A living, lawful male child would have put Richmond firmly out of contention for the throne. In fact, there was an uprising in Lincolnshire in September and October 1536, not long after Richmond's death. Would he have supported
this action, had he been alive? Did Henry believe his son had been actively involved in this disturbance? Certainly supporters of the revolt came from South Kyme, Tailboys lands, and the leaders included Bessie Blount's son-in-law, Robert Dymoke, and Richmond's servants, Sir John Russell and Sir William Parr.
Student Activities
Was Henry VIII's son, Henry FitzRoy, murdered?
Henry VIII (Answer Commentary)
Henry VII: A Wise or Wicked Ruler? (Answer Commentary)
Henry VIII: Catherine of Aragon or Anne Boleyn?
Hans Holbein and Henry VIII (Answer Commentary)
The Marriage of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon (Answer Commentary)
Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves (Answer Commentary)
Was Queen Catherine Howard guilty of treason? (Answer Commentary)
Anne Boleyn - Religious Reformer (Answer Commentary)
Did Anne Boleyn have six fingers on her right hand? A Study in Catholic Propaganda (Answer Commentary)
Why were women hostile to Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn? (Answer Commentary)
Catherine Parr and Women's Rights (Answer Commentary)
Women, Politics and Henry VIII (Answer Commentary)
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (Answer Commentary)
Historians and Novelists on Thomas Cromwell (Answer Commentary)
Martin Luther and Thomas Müntzer (Answer Commentary)
Martin Luther and Hitler's Anti-Semitism (Answer Commentary)
Martin Luther and the Reformation (Answer Commentary)
Mary Tudor and Heretics (Answer Commentary)
Joan Bocher - Anabaptist (Answer Commentary)
Anne Askew – Burnt at the Stake (Answer Commentary)
Elizabeth Barton and Henry VIII (Answer Commentary)
Execution of Margaret Cheyney (Answer Commentary)
Robert Aske (Answer Commentary)
Dissolution of the Monasteries (Answer Commentary)
Pilgrimage of Grace (Answer Commentary)
Poverty in Tudor England (Answer Commentary)
Why did Queen Elizabeth not get married? (Answer Commentary)
Francis Walsingham - Codes & Codebreaking (Answer Commentary)
Codes and Codebreaking (Answer Commentary)
Sir Thomas More: Saint or Sinner? (Answer Commentary)
Hans Holbein's Art and Religious Propaganda (Answer Commentary)
1517 May Day Riots: How do historians know what happened? (Answer Commentary)