Page "Margaret Tudor" Paragraph 40

Margaret attempted to resist but was forced to bend to the new political realities.

Besides, by this time her desire for a divorce had become obsessive, taking precedence over all other matters.

She was prepared to use all arguments, including the widespread myth that James IV had not been killed at Flodden.

Despite the coup of 1524 she corresponded warmly with Albany, who continued his efforts on her behalf in Rome.

In March 1527, Pope Clement VII granted her petition.

Because of the political situation in Europe at the time it was not until December that she learned of her good fortune.

She married Henry Stewart on 3 March 1528, ignoring the pious warnings of her brother that marriage was ' divinely ordained ' and his protests against the ' shameless sentence sent from Rome.

' Not many years later, Henry himself would break with Rome precisely because he could not get the same ' shameless sentence '.