Editing Mary Tudor, Queen of France (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Mary and Louis.png|thumb|left|Mary and [[Louis XII]] of France, from a contemporary manuscript]]

Mary was the fifth child of [[Henry VII of England]] and [[Elizabeth of York]],{{sfn|Richardson|1970|p=3}} and the youngest of those who survived infancy.{{sfn|Perry|2000|p=xiv}}{{sfn|Richardson|1970|p=12}} She was born at [[Sheen Palace]], on 18 March 1496.{{sfn|Perry|2000|p=xiv}}{{sfn|Richardson|1970|p=12}} Mary was likely named after either the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]], or her maternal aunt, [[Mary of York]], who died at the age of 14 in 1482. A privy seal bill dated from [[midsummer]] 1496 authorizes a payment of 50 shillings to her nurse, Anne Skeron.<ref name=Stephen>Stephen, Leslie. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-yUJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA397 ''Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 36'' pp. 397–400] MacMillan: London, 1893</ref>{{sfn|Green|1854|p=2}} Also, [[Desiderius Erasmus|Erasmus]] stated that she was four years old when he visited the royal nursery in 1499–1500.{{sfn|Green|1854|p=2}}{{sfn|Richardson|1970|p=16}} At age six, she was given her own household, complete with "a staff of gentlewomen assigned to wait upon her", a schoolmaster, and a physician.<ref name=Stephen/> She was given instruction in French, Latin, music, dancing, and embroidery.<ref name=Stephen/>{{sfn|Green|1854|p=3}} Her Governess was [[Joan Vaux (lady-in-waiting)|Joan Vaux]], who she called Mother Guildford; the two shared a close relationship and Mary was furious when Joan was sent back to England upon her arrival in France.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Levin|first1=Carole|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kDglDwAAQBAJ&q=joan+vaux+governess+o+mary+tudor&pg=PA471|title=A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen: Exemplary Lives and Memorable Acts, 1500–1650|last2=Bertolet|first2=Anna Riehl|last3=Carney|first3=Jo Eldridge|date=3 November 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-44071-2}}</ref>{{sfn|Richardson|1970|p=108}}{{sfn|Perry|2000|p=101}}

As children, Mary and her brother, the future King [[Henry VIII]], shared a close friendship.{{sfn|Richardson|1970|p=12}} He named his first surviving child, the future [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary I]], in her honour.{{sfn|Richardson|1970|page=198}} They lost their mother when Mary was just six{{sfn|Perry|2000|p=31}} and, given the number of bills paid to her [[apothecary]] from 1504 to 1509, it would appear that Mary's own health was fragile.<ref name=Stephen/>{{sfn|Green|1854|p=3}}

She was known in her youth as one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe;<ref name=Stephen/>{{sfn|Green|1854|p=26}} [[Erasmus]] said of her that "Nature never formed anything more beautiful."<ref>Sadlack, Erin A. ''The French Queen's Letters: Mary Tudor Brandon and the Politics of Marriage in Sixteenth-Century Europe'' Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 44.</ref>

In 1506, during a visit from [[Philip I of Castile]], Mary was called to entertain the guests, dancing and playing the [[lute]] and [[clavichord]].{{sfn|Green|1854|p=4}} In September 1506, Philip died, and on 21 December 1507, Mary was [[Betrothal|betrothed]] to his son [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]],{{sfn|Green|1854|p=6}}{{sfn|Brown|1911|p=17}}{{sfn|Perry|2000|p=42}} later [[Holy Roman Emperor]].{{sfn|Richardson|1970|p=7}} The betrothal was called off in 1514.<ref name=Stephen/>{{sfn|Brown|1911|p=2}}{{sfn|Green|1854|p=27}}