Catherine of Aragon was King Henry VIII’s first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England. King Henry VIII is famously known for his many marriages, this being the first of six. Being married to him was difficult and uncertain and the pressure of giving the crown a male heir was heavy on Catherine.
But who was Catherine? She was the daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, monarchs of Spain. They arranged her to marry the heir of King Henry VII of England when she was but a toddler. When both princes reached teenage years, they were officially married. But life had an unexpected turn of events.
She Was a Educated Girl
Catherine’s life was full of calamities, but her childhood experience was truly a charming one. Her mother and father were none other than King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of the Realm of Spain, a famous royal power couple of the time.
The parents gave their daughter a stellar education including cunning, courting and statecraft. This curriculum was well planned out, she would need all that knowledge to survive her husband King Henry VIII.
She Was Incredibly Beautiful
It quickly became clear from a young age that Catherine was going to be a beauty. She had long auburn hair, big bright blue eyes and an angelic face.
People around her would call her “the most beautiful creature in the world”, and one courtier expressed, “There were few women who could compete with the Queen in her prime.” Once that “prime” was considered to be over, it would be quite a different story.
She Was a Betrothed as a Child
Catherine’s life path to King Henry VIII was almost as dramatic as her actual marriage would turn out to be. Initially, she started out betrothed to Henry’s brother, not him.
Catherine`s ambitious parents arranged her to marry Prince Arthur, who was then the heir of England. She was only a 3 year old toddler when the arranged marriage was set up. But destiny had different plans for all of the characters of this story.
She Had a Long Engagement
Even in Medieval times, it was considered that three was too much of a young age to actually marry people. They patiently let time take its natural course until Arthur turned 15 years old, which is, of course, the exact age all boys turn into emotionally-responsible men.
When Catherine also became a blooming teenager, they sent her off to London to meet her soon-to-be groom. But unfortunately, things did not turn out as expected.
She Had a Pen-Pal
Ever since their childhood betrothal, the teenagers had become pen-pals. Over the long years, they wrote each other letters in Latin to get over their Spanish-English language barrier. Throughout this long correspondence, they built up hopes and dreams about each other and developed strong desperate teenage crushes.
Everything seemed to be leading up to a memorable romance and blissful wedding. However, their first in person impression couldn’t have gone any worse.
She Made an Awkward First Impression
Princess Catherine’s first meeting with Arthur at the court was a bit of a mess to be honest. The young lovers tried to converse in Latin, their own private language of love but when they started to talk, they found out that they had very different pronunciations.
In fact, it was so contrasting, that they couldn’t understand each other. Miscommunication at first sight was one of the many disadvantages the couple would experience together.
She Had a Fairy-Tale Wedding
The princes were officially married on November 14, 1501 in a stately luxurious ceremony at Old St. Paul’s Cathedral that fit their ranks as royals. Shortly before the nuptials, Arthur even pledged to his parents to be a “true and loving husband” to his young wife.
They settled in Ludlow Castle on the border of Wales since Arthur had to assume his royal duties. Unfortunately for the young couple, misfortune was just around the corner.
Her Honeymoon Turned Sour
Catherine of Aragon and Prince Arthur of Wales had a brief honeymoon, because just a couple of months later their celebrations turned to grief. The fatal epidemic of the “sweating sickness” was ravaging the area at the time making no exception for the young royals who fell incredibly ill.
The onset of symptoms of this illness of unknown origin was sudden, with death often occurring within hours. This was the first of many setbacks to come.
She Was a Teenage Widow
Bedridden and delirious due to high fevers, Catherine spent the next couple of days fighting for her dear life. Thankfully she managed to survive it, it was an absolute miracle – yet the young bride did not get out of this unscathed.
She awoke to find out that her husband had not survived the sickness. At 16 years old, Catherine became a teenage widow, and given her situation this was menacing in more than one way.
She Almost was married to her Father-in-Law
The moment she became Arthur’s widow, 16-year-old Catherine’s situation was incredibly precarious: all alone and very far away from home. King Henry VII, her father-in-law, was keen on keeping the fortune given to him as the dowry, sending her back to Spain, meant he had to do a full refund to her parents.
He then went ahead and suggested something quite disturbing. The 45-year-old english monarch wanted to marry his son’s widow himself.
Second Time’s the Charm
Catherine’s parents did not like this idea at all and protested so much that the king ended up relenting. They did not want this much older man marrying their young teenage daughter.
So they had to come up with an alternative that would favor both parties, The king’s replacement suitor was his younger son, the future King Henry VIII. With such a groom on the horizon, how could it get worse for Catherine?
She was Subject of Cruel Negotiations
Nevertheless, the spanish princess’ engagement to young Henry VIII was an absolute nightmarish event. Since she was five years older than Henry, the marriage had to be delayed for a while, but the main reason was that her Scrooge-like father was unrushed in handing over the rest of her dowry.
In the meanwhile, poor Catherine had now to stay put in the city of London – and the conditions of her living were brutal.
She Was a Royal Prisoner
Petty Henry the VII posted his once-again future daughter-in-law Spanish Princess Catherine up in Durham House in London. All alone in a foreign country, she was basically penniless, and she had to not only support herself but also pay for the expenses of her ladies-in-waiting.
She was a virtual prisoner in the time she spent there waiting to be married off. The English royal family was not welcoming and made her stay very challenging.
Henry VIII Tried to Dump Her
Years passed and new complications came up. The relationship between the realms of England and Spain rapidly deteriorated. Many started making their bets that the royal marriage would not go through.
Then Prince Henry dealt Catherine a crushing blow. In 1505, the moment he turned 14 and had a say in the matter, he vehemently refused to marry the Spanish princess. Catherine had to quickly come up with a good strategy to keep her crown.
She Broke Barriers
Catherine and her father manufactured a brilliant solution to stay in royal favor. Ferdinand of Aragon suggested that instead of remaining a royal bride on its own, Catherine take the responsibilities of “Spanish Ambassador” to the Kingdom of England.
She became the first female ambassador of Europe, an incredible accomplishment. It worked beautifully, and Catherine managed not only to stay in England but won Henry back, even though he wasn’t really worth it.
She Thrived Against all Odds
The entire time she lived in this Dantesque purgatory, Catherine’s father-in-law King Henry VII persistently tested and manipulated her. But the old monarch gravely underestimated this bright young woman.
Catherine was highly intelligent and driven, she wrote to her father back in Spain, “I choose what I believe, and say nothing. For I am not as simple as I may seem.” She was very well aware of her position in this chess match.
She Knew Her Worth
Throughout the entire odyssey, Catherine of Aragon remained astoundingly committed to the purpose of becoming the Queen of England.
She was of stubborn character but devout to the idea she felt it was her destiny to rule, and took everything her husband and her father-in-law threw at her- which was a whole lot- with a cold shrug. She knew she could do it. The steeliness of her attitude accompanied her for the rest of her life.
Her Marriage Was Against the Law
Catherine’s marriage to Henry was an incredibly scandalous event for that time in European history. Due to her having been previously married to her husband`s brother, they had to acquire a special dispensation from the Pope to validate the union.
The church was hesitant to give the go-ahead, and it did so reluctantly only after Catherine made an extremely controversial confession. Once again, the savvy princess managed to secure the crown.
She Swore She Was “Pure”
Henry and Catherine`s petition to the Pope was supported by a single claim: the princess` assurance that she and the late Arthur had never consummated their union.
They didn’t really get a chance to do so, since shortly after the wedding, they fell gravely ill. They were both too weak and put all their energy into survival, so the claim might very well have been true. Concessions were made and the marriage approved.
She Simultaneously Became a Wife and a Queen
After a seven long year engagement, Henry finally married Catherine. He picked the perfect time to do it.
When the now 23-year-old Catherine walked down the aisle on June 11 of 1509, Henry had just been crowned King of England. Queen Catherine had her own lavish coronation a couple of days later. The good times were to be cut short.
Her Husband Was Good Looking
Henry might have been horrid and bratty, but he was blessed in the looks department. In his best years with Catherine, he was a dashing auburn-haired athlete who loved hunting as much as he loved his humanist studies.
Nonetheless, King Henry VIII was still a 17-year-old teenager when he married the now Queen, and his immaturity really started to show.
She Went Through a Devastating Loss
Just two months after the royal wedding and crowning, the newly appointed Queen was overjoyed to find herself pregnant. But her happiness did not last long.
Five months later, she went into premature labor and gave birth to a stillborn baby girl. They young couple was struck with grief but sadly this was the first in a series of misfortunes.
She Had a Phantom Child
The painful miscarriage of her baby girl was sadly one of many to come. When this happened, her stomach remained bloated, most likely due to an infection.
The doctors told her she had in fact twins and that one of them was still alive in her belly, even though Catherine continued to have her period. What came next devastated her.
She Gave Birth to a Ghost
Medicine and prenatal care were experimental back in 1510. Catherine harbored false hope believing the professionals that assured another baby was on the way after the miscarriage.
She was sent into seclusion until the time to give birth arrived a couple of months later. Of course, no child was born and the young Queen’s heart was broken all over again.
Her Husband Committed the Ultimate Betrayal
Henry was never committed to the marriage as he promised to in his vows. He had been taking mistresses very early on into the marriage.
In 1510, right around the time Catherine was suffering the loss of her first stillborn baby girl, Henry started romantic affairs with Elizabeth and Anne Hastings, two beautiful nobles that belonged to his court.
She Gave Henry an Heir
Shortly after the loss of the “twins”, Catherine was pregnant again, but this time around things were different. She was able to give birth to a healthy baby boy, christened Henry, on the 1st of January 1511.
The welcoming of a living baby, a male heir, was a relief to the young royal couple and to the crown itself.
She “Failed” Her Husband
But in February of that same year, 52 days after the birth Henry passed away leaving Catherine is a state of shock. Contemporary sources indicate the child might have suffered from some kind of digestive issue.
Not only was this pain immense, but a shadow of worry slowly crept since her husband was getting anxious for a healthy male heir.
She Became a King
Despite the turmoil of their personal relationship, King Henry VIII gave Catherine almost unprecedented political power around this time, making her Regent Queen in 1513 when he traveled to France on a campaign.
Henry was far away fighting on one border and Catherine found herself alone defending England against a different enemy. Great power comes indeed with great responsibility.
She Was a Warrior Queen
While King Henry VIII was away fighting in France, Scotland took the chance and quickly invaded England, wrongly assuming Catherine of Aragon was a fragile woman and ruler. Did Catherine back down? No, she became a warrior Queen.
She helped raise armies, made banners and mashalled allies. It was at this very moment when Catherine pulled her biggest stunt yet.
She Was Legendary for her Strength
In September 1513, iconic Catherine rode north in complete armor and regalia and gave an incredibly inspirational speech to her army, showing her men the strength of their Queen.
But to most people’s surprise, at the moment Catherine engaged in battle with her enemies, she was actually seven months pregnant. Queen, mother, warrior, the great facets of Catherine of Aragon.
