Elizabeth Blount

Elizabeth Blount (// – 1540), commonly known during her lifetime as Bessie Blount, was a mistress of Henry VIII of England. Early life Blount was the daughter of Sir John Blount and Catherine Peshall, of Kinlet, Bridgnorth, Shropshire. Sir John Blount was a loyal, if unremarkable, servant to the English Royal family, who accompanied King Henry to France in 1513 when he waged war against Louis XII of France. The Blount family was of gentry status but had no real national input until Blount gave birth to Henry Fitzroy, the only acknowledged illegitimate child of Henry VIII. Little is known of Elizabeth Blount's early years, except for her reputation as a beauty, and for her famous affair with King Henry VIII (born 1491; he was about seven years older than Bessie). There is no known portrait of her in existence but there is a stylized brass with her likeness. As a young girl, she came to the King's Court as a maid-of-honour to the King's wife, Catherine of Aragon. Bessie was a talented dancer and singer, excelling everybody 'in all goodly pastimes', high spirits and energy. In her twenties and thirties, she is described as having had 'very good cheer' and became the King's preferred dancing partner. It was there at court that the young woman caught the eye of the King and became his mistress during 1514 or 1515, a relationship which continued for about eight years, after the suggestion of an affair was brought to light.