June 5 – Maria de Salinas, a good friend to Queen Catherine of Aragon

Maria de Salinas must have known Katherine a long time as she was said to be related to the house of Castile, therefore making them blood kin, she was very close to her mistress and Katherine must have been grateful she accompanied her to England when she became the bride of Arthur, she was only about 17 and it must have been daunting leaving her home behind, that she listened to and took Maria’s advice is perfectly natural, here was a lady she could trust was close to but, it did worry the Spanish ambassador whom Ferdinand instructed to keep an eye on his daughter, and expected her to heed his counsel, maybe his nose was put out of joint a bit, Maria stayed behind when some of her other ladies left and married an English nobleman, and settled down to life at the English court and life as a Tudor gentlewoman, Henry V111 regarded her quite highly and named a ship after her, The Lady Willoughby de Eresby, she was with Katherine through her highs and lows must have wept with her when she lost her babies, and when she was cast out when Henry V111 wished to replace her with Anne Boleyn, she was fiercely loyal to the queen and I love the story of how she rode through the stormy weather to be with her dear friend on her deathbed, she declared that she had lost the pass that allowed her to visit the ailing queen which shows how determined she was to be with her, a courageous woman indeed, and a true friend, her daughter Katherine inherited her fortitude and loyalty, and grew up to be a most remarkable woman, and interesting Tudor lady, Maria survived her mistress by three years only, and her resting place is unknown, her daughter made quite a name for herself during Catherine Parr’s tenure as Queen consort, coming close to death but surviving, sadly Maria’s two grandchildren died of the sweat within an hour of each other, and she would most likely have been dismayed to learn that Katherine had embraced the reform, Maria was staunchly Catholic she came from a Catholic country, and yet being born in England Katherines eyes and mind were opened to this new religion that was sweeping the continent, she was great friends with the kings sixth wife, just as Maria had been friends with his first wife, I should imagine Maria is buried at her husbands country estate, but this is mere speculation, just another important Tudor personage whose resting place is sadly unknown.