Mary Tudor and Lord Montague's Political Alliance

Mary Tudor and Lord Montague’s political alliance is a partnership of counsel and dynastic loyalty formed amid the king’s conflict with the Church. Montague brings Mary news, recognizes her as capable of understanding and responding to political danger, and proposes action to defend her mother and her place in the succession. Their alliance rests on the belief that the Pope can still restrain the king, but it also exposes the risks of opposing royal policy.

Counsel at a Moment of Crisis

At Richmond Palace, Montague comes to speak with Mary and her guardian, Margaret Pole. He initially says that he has come to tell Margaret the bad news, and drops to one knee before Mary almost without thinking. Mary does not accept being excluded from the conversation: she insists that she is neither a child nor a fool, and asks him to advise her and explain what has happened. The exchange makes their political relationship plain. Montague treats her presence as consequential, and Mary claims the right to receive counsel directly.

His news is that the Church has surrendered to the king. The Pope is to be disregarded in England, and the king will rule the Church himself. Montague also reports that Thomas More has resigned as Lord Chancellor. Mary understands the change as more than a dispute over an office or a religious authority: she asks whether the king has made the Church his own, including its wealth, laws, and courts, and sees the transfer as an attempt to take England into his possession. Montague’s report gives her a trusted account of an upheaval that affects both her mother and the political order in which her claim rests.

From Loyalty to a Plan of Action

Montague’s alliance with Mary becomes more active when he tells Margaret that the time has come to act. He believes the king’s promotion of Henry FitzRoy as an heir means Mary will be set aside, and proposes taking Geoffrey Pole with him to Calais. From there, Geoffrey could meet Reginald Pole, report on friends and kinsmen in England, carry a message to the Pope, and convey a letter for Katherine of Aragon to her nephew, the king of Spain. Montague’s hope is that a forceful papal ruling against the king would compel him to take Katherine back.

The plan is framed as a defense of the queen and the princess, not merely as a private family maneuver. Montague argues that the king is advancing without bringing his advisers or subjects with him, while those who might have challenged him have been silenced, removed, or compromised by their connections at court. He says that he and his allies must be willing to defy the king. In his appeal to Margaret, he invokes the white rose: the Plantagenets, he says, are England’s natural rulers, and the king is their cousin whom they must bring back to his proper course. Mary is not described as directing every part of the plan, but she is its intended beneficiary and a central reason for acting.

Kinship, Risk, and Public Allegiance

The political world around the alliance is shaped by interwoven families. Margaret describes a network of cousins and kinsmen joined by marriage and blood, with connections reaching across England. Such bonds could preserve wealth, unite lands, and create mutual obligations; under a suspicious king, the same closeness could be read as evidence of faction or conspiracy. Arrests of relatives and rumors of surveillance intensify the danger. Against this background, Montague’s proposal to defend Mary through family and religious channels is both a practical strategy and a hazardous declaration of loyalty.

Later scenes give the alliance’s dynastic language a public echo, though they do not establish that the crowds are acting on Mary’s behalf. In Peterborough in January 1536, people recognize Montague’s banner and call blessings on the white rose, Katherine of Aragon, the princess, and his house. During the northern pilgrimage, a man recognizes Margaret as a friend and describes the movement as a pilgrimage rather than a rebellion. These moments show that the white rose and allegiance to the queen and princess could resonate beyond the circle of courtly allies. They do not, by themselves, prove a formal popular alliance with Mary.

Papal Intervention and Its Limits

In August 1533, Montague brings Mary news that the Pope has ruled in her mother’s favor and commanded the king to put aside others and take Katherine back to court. Mary responds with relief and gratitude, interpreting the decision as the Holy Father finally speaking with the courage required. The news confirms the central hope behind Montague’s earlier strategy: that papal authority might defend Katherine’s position and, with it, Mary’s.

The report does not resolve the conflict in the scenes provided. Katherine is still separated from court, and the woman who has displaced her is pregnant and has undergone a form of marriage with the king. Mary’s relief therefore marks a moment of renewed hope rather than a demonstrated restoration. Montague’s alliance gives her a trusted adviser and a channel to resistance beyond the king’s immediate control, while its uncertain result reveals how much depends on whether religious authority can still alter royal action.