Why is it that back in the old days king's left their mistress once they got pregnant with the king's child?

Question

Take for instance Bessy Blount got pregnant with Henry Fizroy, Henry VIII's bastard son, why did he leave Bessy but yet give her land and her husband a title. Many King's aren't mean but they leave the women. Plus after sex the women get attached and the men don't, why is that?

Answer 1

First of all, the king was married. In centuries past - and even in more contemporary times - he had a wife chosen for him from other royal families, or he himself chose a suitable consort. This was a political move to strengthen the two houses, gain land and power, avert wars and add to the royal coffers. If he played around before marriage, he knew he would not marry his girlfriends.

The queen's role was to provide heirs to keep the dynasty going. If daughters were born, at least they could marry into other royal houses for political alliances. Many times, the queen proved to be infertile, or could only produce stillborn children or those who only lived a very short time, like Katherine of Aragon.

Therefore, for his pleasure, the king turned to his mistress. She may have been a noblewoman, or she could have been a commoner. Whatever, even if she bore him a son, the king couldn't leave his wife for her. Although Henry did take Anne Boleyn as a wife - she held out for marriage - when he realised Katherine wouldn't bear him sons.

Very often, the married couple did not get on. They did the duty expected of them, and were lucky if it resulted in the required heirs. So kings sought amusement and pleasure elsewhere (as usual in those times, it was all right for a man to have a mistress, but scandalous if a woman, particularly a queen, had a lover). Also, the heirs to the throne had to be legitimate, although Henry himself acknowledged his bastard by Bessie Blount. A bastard could not sit on a royal throne!

Charles II, for instance, did care about his barren little wife, Catherine of Braganza, but he had many mistresses; Nell Gwyn was one, and she produced many children who were given titles.

Edward IV married a fertile commoner, Elizabeth Woodville, but also played around. Their daughter, Elizabeth of York, married Henry Tudor and united the houses of York and Lancaster.

The Prince Regent took one look at the wife chosen for him, Caroline of Brunswick, and had to take a glass of brandy. He was paralytic on the wedding night, but managed to do - for the one and only time, we presume! - his duty, for a daughter, Charlotte, was born to them nine months later.

William the Conqueror was a bastard, yet was renowned for his fidelity to his wife, Matilda!

Most kings were not "mean", and provided generously for their mistresses - after all, they had given him a good time and sometimes another family! Lands, husbands, titles and money were probably quite a good reward for their time as a mistress; other loose women of a lower class were not treated nearly as well.

Here's an interesting article on mistresses and their roles:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4465399.stm

And this, specifically on Prince Charles' mistress Camilla:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article513487.ece

As for women becoming attached - well, that's human nature! I think royal mistresses were quite wily and accepted being discarded in return for great rewards.

Here's something else on mistresses:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Royal_mistresses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_mistress

Answer 2

Before women had access to effective birth control, kings and princes usually preferred that their mistresses were married and sexually experienced. That way it wouldn't be so obvious when they gave birth to a bastard child. Usually, the husband was willing to overlook his wife's extracurricular activities for a price.

As to why kings (or any other males for that matter) were not loyal to the women they impregnated, Ogden Nash said it best:

Hippogus, hoppogamus
Man is polygamous.
Hoppagus, higgamus,
Woman is monogamous.

Ordinarily, kings and princes felt themselves entitled to the favors of women of lower socio-economic rank. Similarly, many aristocrats seduced female servants.

Answer 3

When the King is just poking fun at a chick, it's just
natural that he leaves if she takes him seriously -- you know