- María de Salinas
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María de Salinas, Lady Willoughby (ca 1490 - 1539[1]) was a noblewoman from Spain, she served as confidante and lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England.
Contents
Family background
Maria was the daughter of Martín de Salinas[2] (d. 1503), and Josefa González de Salas, who were employees of the royal household in Castile, and probably related to the royal family.[2]
As a lady-in-waiting
The exact date that Maria became a maid-of-honour to Catherine of Aragon is unknown, but is thought to have been in 1501[2] Maria remained unmarried until 5 June 1516, when she married the English nobleman, William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, and they had one child, Catherine Willoughby, who became the 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby and Duchess of Suffolk, (1519-1580). She was probably the goddaughter of Catherine of Aragon.[3] Grimsthorpe Castle was granted by Henry VIII to the de Eresby family on the occasion of Maria's marriage. Henry esteemed Maria so much, that in 1522 he named a ship 'HMS Mary Willoughby' in her honour.[4]
In 1511, Maria became the godmother to Mary Brandon, the daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and his second wife Anne Browne. The Duke of Suffolk would make Maria's daughter, Catherine, his ward and then his fourth wife. In October 1526, Lord Willoughby died. Maria then spent several years fighting for control of the Willoughby estates on behalf of her daughter, against her brother-in-law, Sir Christopher Willoughby.
The death of Catherine of Aragon
Maria was a devoted friend to Catherine of Aragon. In August 1532, shortly before Catherine's marriage to Henry was annulled, she was ordered to leave Catherine's household and not to make any attempt to communicate with her. In September 1534 when Catherine's health deteriorated, Maria begged permission to visit her but was denied. On 5 January 1536 she forced her way into Kimbolton Castle to see Catherine, having again been refused permission to visit. Catherine died in her arms two days later.
Maria lived for another three years, spending much of the time in her London residence at the Barbican. Her daughter, Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, became a close friend of Henry VIII's sixth wife, Catherine Parr, who was also the goddaughter of Catherine of Aragon.[5] In 1546, there were rumours that Henry was planning to have his marriage to Catherine Parr annulled and make Catherine Willoughby, by then a widow, his seventh wife.[6]
Descendants
Maria had four grandchildren, Henry and Charles Brandon, who died in their teens, and Peregrine Bertie and Susan Bertie, countess of Kent, who both survived to continue the family line.
Maria has numerous descendants in the British peerage and gentry, including Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, her direct descendant and present Baroness Willoughby de Ereseby, and Diana, Princess of Wales[7]
In popular culture
She is a character in the "My Story" book "My Tudor Queen".
She is mentioned in the "My Story" book "Anne Boleyn and Me," in which the main character names her first born daughter after her.
Catherine Willoughby has been the subject of several historical works, including Evelyn Read's Lady Suffolk.
In the 1971 BBC series The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Maria de Salinas was played by Margaret Ford. She appeared in the episode on Catherine of Aragon.
Maria appears in the Jean Plaidy books Kathryn the Virgin Widow and The King's Secret Matter as Catherine of Aragon's most trusted friend.
In the book, The Stolen One, she appears (incorrectly) as Lady Ludmore, originally introducing herself as Mrs. Salinas.
References
Categories:- 1490 births
- 1539 deaths
- Spanish nobility
- Women of the Tudor period
- English ladies-in-waiting
- 15th-century women
- 16th-century women
- 16th-century English people
- 16th-century Spanish people
- Willoughby family
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