- 1501 16-year-old Spanish princess stands on brink of destiny to become Queen of England
- Katherine of Aragon entered old St Paul’s Cathedral 14 November 1501 to marry the Prince of Wales
- Ally England to the most powerful royal house in Europe
- Future of upstart Tudor dynasty seemed secure
- Wedding a mixture of fairy tale and international relations – took place on a raised walkway with bride and groom dressed in white
- Future Henry VIII stole the show – escorted Katherine along the aisle
- Prince Arthur (Henry VIII’s elder brother) was the groom
- Katherine was the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile – one of the great military partnerships of Europe
- Conquered Granada and began conquest of Latin America
- 1491 Spanish royal family entered the Alhambra in Granada
- Katherine’s upbringing was founded on Catholicism, Inquisition and military conquest
- Faith underpinned her life
- Katherine’s role model was her mother, Isabella – monarch in her own right
- Ferdinand and Isabella had an unusually equal relationship
- Given an impressive education to prepare for queenship – betrothal to Prince Arthur aged 5 knowing she would leave for England aged 16
- December 1501 Katherine was at Ludlow Castle – Arthur’s seat as Prince of Wales
- Katherine didn’t find her life entirely strange at Ludlow, still a luxurious palace and a familiar pattern of life
- Only common language between Katherine and Arthur was Latin
- Katherine was allowed to keep her own Spanish attendants
- Couples as young as Katherine and Arthur didn’t necessarily live together straightaway – Katherine was 16 and Arthur aged 14
- The pair got on very well on their wedding night, so it was decided they would live together straightaway in the hope that Katherine would produce an heir quickly
- Weather was foul and disease broke out at Ludlow
- End of March 1502 both Arthur and Katherine were gravely ill
- 2 April 1502 Prince Arthur died, probably from TB aged 15, married less than 5 months
- The funeral procession struggled through mud and rain, abandoning horses and using oxen instead to make it
- Katheirne was left vulnerable by sudden death of Arthur, in strange country
- Two solutions – return to Spain or marry again in England
- Henry VII and Ferdinand of Aragon bargained – Katherine would marry Arthur’s younger brother, Henry
- Prince Henry aged 11 in 1503 – handsome, tall and well-built
- Church had to give a dispensation to allow Henry to marry his dead brother’s widow, but exact form depended on consummation of Katherine’s first marriage
- English assumed Arthur and Katherine had consummated their marriage, and Katherine’s confessor agreed
- Katherine’s principal lady said Katherine was still a virgin
- 2 dispensations issued – one assuming marriage was consummated, one leaving the question open
- Betrothal formalised in June 1503 – marriage intended to go ahead in 1505 when Henry was aged 14
- Seemed all would be well after a tragic start
- Happiness marred by news of her mother’s death in 1504
- 1505 Prince Henry reneged on his betrothal to Katherine, under instructions from his father
- Katherine was friendless and alone
- Katherine’s mother, Isabella of Castile, was buried in Granada
- Almost her last thoughts were for Katherine but her death devalued Katherine as a royal bride
- Power of Spain depended on union of Isabella and Ferdinand
- Ferdinand failed to pay Katherine’s dowry – Henry VII lost interest in Katherine
- She was in no man’s land – not Arthur’s widow or Henry’s wife
- Katherine wrote to her father that Henry VII wouldn’t give her money and that she was in debt, hoping that he would send her funds
- Aged 24 Katherine had spent 4 years in relative poverty but stuck to the certainty that it was her destiny to be Queen of England
- Spoke about returning to Spain and spending her remaining day serving god
- 22 April 1509 Henry VII died after a long illness
- Henry VIII was the new king with new ideas about the future – he chose to marry Katherine
- 11 June 1509 Henry and Katherine married in a private ceremony at Greenwich, Henry aged 18 and Katherine aged 24
- Katherine had been widowed for 7 years
- Henry VIII claimed it was his father’s dying wish that he marry Katherine
- Henry married Katherine because he wanted to – wanted her father as an ally against the French, wanted to show he was fully adult
- Katherine saw it as her duty and destiny to be Queen of England – also a pleasure
- Coronation took place on Midsummer’s Day at Westminster Abbey
- Katherine crowned alongside Henry
- Thomas More wrote that she would be the mother of kings as great as her ancestors
- Katherine was pregnant within 4 months of the wedding and every reason for optimism as her mother produced 5 surviving children and her sister Maria produced 9
- At the end of January 1510 Katherine miscarried but her stomach remained swollen
- Her physicians said she had been carrying twins and the remaining child was still alive
- May have been desperate optimism
- Early March 1510 Katherine withdrew from court for her lying in
- Attended only by ladies, and wouldn’t emerge until her pregnancy was over
- After a month’s confinement Katherine’s swollen stomach disappeared – probably caused by an infection
- Henry angry and Katherine humiliated
- Katherine wrote to her father in May 1510 saying she had recently miscarried and not telling him about the humiliation
- Katherine soon conceived again and would carry to term, producing a son
- New Year’s Day 1511 Katherine gave birth to a son
- The king ordered beacons lit and free wine distributed to the citizens
- The child was christened on 5 January 1510 as Prince Henry at Richmond
- The prince remained at Richmond with his own household including a lady mistress, 4 rockers and a wet nurse
- Separation from his parents was normal
- Katherine expected to play little role in his upbringing or education
- 22 February 1510 Prince Henry suddenly died, and Katherine grieved for him
- Henry VIII concealed his disappointment out of kindness
- For Katherine the queen it was a disaster, as a mother a disappointment
- June 1513 Henry VIII left Dover for Calais to invade France – Katherine accompanied him to Dover and Henry appointed her regent
- Council would report to Katherine, temporarily ruler, not consort
- She played the role to perfection, brought up to do so by her mother
- Henry VIII captured 2 French cities and won the Battle of the Spurs, because the French left so quickly
- Katherine wrote constantly and worried about the danger he was in
- First victory in continental Europe for almost 80 years
- Taking advantage of Henry’s absence James IV invaded England
- Katherine sent an army north and they clashed at Flodden, killing the king and the flower of the Scottish nobility
- Katherine sent a trophy of the victory to Henry in France – James’s blood-stained coat
- Katherine’s letter shows a kind of competition between victories in France and England against Scotland, similar to that of Katherine’s parents
- Katherine ends the letter saying she is going on pilgrimage to Walsingham – possible code that Katherine was pregnant
- October 1513 Henry returned to England
- 1514 Henry planned another invasion of France in alliance with Katherine’s father, Ferdinand, but he double-crossed Henry
- Henry signed a peace treaty with the French and married his sister, Mary, to the French king
- Mastermind behind this plan was Henry’s new minister, Thomas Wolsey
- Wolsey was son of an Ipswich butcher and rising star at court
- Wolsey’s rise eliminated Katherine as a possible influence over the king
- December 1514 Katherine suffered a boy who died within a few hours of birth
- By summer 1515 Katherine was again pregnant – she found conceiving easy but carrying to term was difficult
- Entered confinement at the beginning of 1516, as her father died
- Her father’s death was kept from Katherine to avoid another miscarriage
- At 4am on 18 February 1516 Katherine delivered a healthy daughter called Mary
- Henry was outwardly confident – a daughter this time but boys would follow as both of them were still young
- Katherine was aged 30, not young by contemporary standards
- 1517 miscarriage, 1518 pregnancy which went to term, but the girl died after just a few days
- Katherine wouldn’t conceive again – only a single living child and that a daughter
- Katherine’s hopes rested in her daughter – she was raising Mary to rule and gave her an impressive education, as she had
- 1525 Princess Mary was sent to Ludlow as Princess of Wales to hold court
- Katherine was delighted at the acknowledgment of Mary’s status but no woman had ruled in England before and Henry was full of doubts
- Henry read his Bible and came across a passage in Leviticus about a man taking his brother’s wife and them being childless (without a son)
- Perhaps the Pope was wrong to grant a dispensation for the marriage
- Was Henry free to marry again and produce a son?
- Henry confided in Wolsey that he doubted the validity of his marriage and required an annulment
- Wolsey urged caution
- Henry was convinced only a new wife would bring an heir
- Henry was already in love with someone else by 1527
- Anne Boleyn had joined Katherine’s household in 1523 and Henry had already had an affair with her sister, Mary
- Henry ordered Wolsey to convene an ecclesiastical court in May 1527
- It met in secrecy to discuss the legality of Henry’s marriage and whether it could be annulled
- The difficult issue was the question of the consummation of Katherine’s first marriage to Prince Arthur
- After 10 days Wolsey told the king they couldn’t reach a verdict, only the Pope could
- The Spanish ambassador wrote to Katherine revealing that her marriage was investigated
- Katherine believed it was Wolsey’s doing and not Henry’s
- 22 June 1527 Henry told Katherine that they would separate while their marriage was investigated and asked her to withdraw from court
- Katherine refused to leave or keep the matter secret
- She wrote to the Emperor Charles V asking for his support against Henry – he was her nephew and the most powerful ruler in Europe
- Charles had been betrothed to Princess Mary
- The appeal to Charles was a key moment and Katherine acted boldly
- There were murmurings of discontent against Henry, as Katherine was popular
- Only Henry’s strong personality prevented disorder
- Henry asked the pope to send a representative to England to resolve the issue
- When it became known that Henry planned to marry his mistress the murmurings became louder as the people loved Katherine and hated Anne
- Cardinal Campeggio arrived in September 1528 to a diplomatic nightmare
- Wolsey and Henry pressured Campeggio to try the case quickly in England
- Charles V pressured for the matter to be aborted to Rome
- The weakest point was thought to be Katherine – Campeggio offered Katherine a deal to enter a nunnery and allow the king to remarry
- Katherine was immovable – her calling was for matrimony
- She declared that she would remain married to Henry
- Katherine swore on the salvation of her soul that her marriage to Arthur was never consummated and was a virgin when she married Henry
- She gave Campeggio permission to repeat what she told him
- June 1529 Katherine was commanded to appear before the court at Blackfriars
- Wolsey and Campeggio would preside over Katherine’s fate
- On the 3rd day of the trial Henry and Katherine entered the court
- Henry explained his case then Katherine knelt at Henry’s feet and pled for her marriage, saying she was his true wife and queen
- Katherine said she had many children, but god had taken them which wasn’t her fault
- She also repeated her assertion that she had been a virgin
- Katherine presented herself as victim to protect her own position and that of her daughter
- Katherine was prepared to use almost any means, perhaps lying about the consummation, as it does seem likely that she and Arthur did sleep together
- Noble lie in a holy war?
- Court descended into chaos as Wolsey was desperate to get the result Henry wanted
- Campeggio was spinning things out until the start of the summer recess
- Henry sent Norfolk and Suffolk to demand an immediate verdict
- 31 July 1529 court was suspended for 2 months
- Norfolk thumped the table and said no cardinal had done any good in England
- Case was recalled to Rome
- Henry was determined not to lose the war, and he didn’t have years to wait, which is how long it could take
- He would seek other means to marry Anne and would change England forever
- Katherine would be deprived of everything that had given her life meaning
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