tiny-librarian: Catherine took to her Chamber before the Christmas festivities and, on New Year&rsqu
tiny-librarian: Catherine took to her Chamber before the Christmas festivities and, on New Year’s Eve, went into labour. The Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal sang prayers for her safe delivery and, at 1:30 in the morning of New Year’s Day, her child was born. It was a boy.The King and England went mad with joy. Two hundred and seven pounds of gun powder was spent firing salute after salute in the Tower. Bonfires burned; fountains ran with wine and processions of thanksgiving wound through the streets of London. For greater ceremony, the christening was ‘deferred’ until Sunday the 5th. It took place in the church of the Observant Friars (Catherine’s favourite Order) at Richmond Palace. Rails and posts were erected from the Great Hall to the church to make a processional way, twenty-four feet wide. This was gravelled and hung with tapestry. Inside the church, the great silver font stood on a high, stepped platform. The boy’s godfather was King Louis XII of France and his godmother the Archduchess Margaret. And he was christened Henry. The heralds cried out his name and titles - “Prince Henry, first son of our sovereign lord King Henry VIII” - and the proud father rewarded them with the extravagantly large sum of £20.Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII - David Starkey -- source link