Mary Tudor

Since Mary Tudor was the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England and stunningly beautiful to boot at a time when women were meant to do as they were told and above all else, marry well, she was more or less forced to become the wife of King Louis XII of France. The problem, as far as Tudor was concerned, was that Louis, at fifty-two, was thirty-four years older than his blushing bride. Unfortunately for Louis (and fortunately for Tudor), he was dead three months later from...well...too much "activity" for a man of his age. Which left Tudor a wealthy widow and free once more.

When her brother sent a young duke to escort Tudor back to England, she promptly married him before His Highness could trap her in another "good match" with another older man she didn't like. Henry was furious, of course, but it was too late. And the heavy fine they had to pay as punishment for Tudor doing what she wanted to do rather than doing her brother's will seemed inconsequential beside her triumph at having her own way and her happiness.

Later, when King Henry wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn, Tudor further angered the ruler by publicly opposing what he wanted to do. Choosing what she wants for herself? Questioning what a man chooses? "What kind of woman is this anyway?" some at court must surely have asked. "An in-your-face woman," Mary Tudor might well have answered if she had ever heard the term.