Christina of Denmark - Marriage Proposal

Marriage Proposal

After Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, died in 1537, Christina was considered as a possible bride for the English king. The German painter Hans Holbein was commissioned to paint portraits of noblewomen eligible to become the English queen. On 10 March 1538, Holbein arrived in Brussels with the diplomat Philip Hoby to meet Christina. Hoby arranged with Benedict, the Master of Christina's household, for a sitting the next day. Christina sat for the portrait for three hours wearing mourning clothes. Her rooms in Brussels were hung with black velvet, black damask and a black cloth-of-estate. Christina, then only sixteen years old, made no secret of her opposition to marrying the English king, who by this time had a reputation around Europe for his mistreatment of wives. She supposedly told an English ambassador that "If I had two heads, one should be at the King of England's disposal." It was also obvious that Mary of Hungary was less than enthused with the match, being no admirer of Henry VIII. Henry pursued the match until January 1539, when the attitude of Mary made it obvious that the match would never take place. Thomas Wriothesley, the English diplomat in Brussels, advised Thomas Cromwell that Henry should; "fyxe his most noble stomacke in some such other place."