Even_Ambassador8827 t1_it75i5b wrote on October 21, 2022 at 12:50 PM

Reading Wolf hall atm, just wondering if Henry VIII had an illegitimate son who was one of the most powerful lords in the country, why not legitimise him and sort out your male heir problem? Seems more convenient than the route he eventually took.

jezreelite t1_it8195o wrote on October 21, 2022 at 4:34 PM

Henry VIII had one bastard son, Henry FitzRoy, who was born in 1519. Not only was the question of legitimizing him raised, but the Pope at the time also agreed to grant a dispensation that would allow for the future Mary I to marry her half-brother, so they could become joint rulers.

The possibility of legitimizing Henry FitzRoy after the break with the Catholic Church remained open for a long time, but it ended when he died abruptly of tuberculosis at the age of 17.