The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Part 1 Catherine of Aragon

Welcome back to Probably a History lesson. Today we go back in time to the Tudor court. This will be a six-part series where we discuss the six wives of Henry VIII. Today we will explore the life of Catherine of Aragon, the first and longest-serving wife of Henry VIII. Catherine was born on the 16th of December 1485. She was born in the palace of in Spain. The youngest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, a marriage to Catherine was highly desired by the royal families of Europe. By the age of four, a marriage agreement had been made with England and Catherine was to wed Prince Arthur. Catherine was to come to England when Arthur was 14. A dowry of 200,000 crowns was to paid in installments upon their marriage. Catherine arrived in England on the 2nd of October 1501. On the 14th of November 1501 Arthur and Catherine are wed at St. Paul's Cathedral. Catherine is escorted down the aisle by Prince Henry. Celebrations lasted two weeks and on the 28th of November 1501 the first part of the dowry is given to the English crown. 100,000 crowns. Catherine and Arthur left for Wales to live in Ludlow Castle as the new Prince and Princess of Wales. Little is known of the five months of their marriage at Ludlow. There was a language difficulty between Catherine and Arthur and Catherine later insisted that Arthur came to her room on only seven occasions whilst a member of his own household suggested that the pair were frequently together. On the 2nd of April 1502 after six months of marriage both Catherine and Arthur were struck down with the sweating sickness. Prince Arthur did not survive and Catherine found herself a widow. Wishing to keep the alliance between Spain and England, Catherine's parents strongly supported her The dispensation needed for a man to marry his brother's widow was granted by the Catholic Church but the marriage was delayed due to Henry's young age as well as clashes between England and Spain about the payment of Catherine's dowry. Catherine spent seven years in uncertainty. She lived in London and received an allowance from the King Henry VII. Henry VII died in 1509 and Catherine finally married Henry after he had taken to the throne to become Henry VIII. In August of 1509 Catherine would announce her first pregnancy. Sadly it would end with a stillborn daughter. Catherine was a devout Christian. She would often fast as it was seen as a way to restore or strengthen intimacy with God. Many accounts from Tudor court describe Catherine's fasting as extreme and possibly the reason for her fertility problems. With her second pregnancy Catherine would give birth to a son. Her was named after his father Henry. Guns were fired from the tower and the city bells were rung. Beacons were lit and free wine was distributed to all Londoners. The new prince was immediately created Prince of Wales. Sadly the prince would only live just over a month. He died on the 22nd of February 1511. With her fifth pregnancy Catherine delivered a girl. She was named Mary. Although celebrations to mark the birth were genuine there was still disappointment that she had not been a boy. Henry tried to hide his disappointment by saying that if it were a girl this time then surely boys would follow. Catherine would go on to become pregnant for a sixth and final time. This pregnancy also resulted in a birth of a daughter but she would only survive for a few days. By 1524 Henry had stopped having sexual relations with Catherine. Henry stated that he no longer felt desire towards Catherine and he believed God was punishing him for marrying his brother's wife. By 1527 Henry's infatuation with Anne Boleyn had him questioning the validity of his marriage. He reasoned that his lack of male issue was God's punishment for having married his brother's wife. Henry told Catherine that they must separate because they had been living in sin. He asked her to cooperate and to choose a house to retire to until the matter was resolved. With support from Spain the Pope and the people of England Catherine still resided in the palace but mainly in isolation. Catherine strongly urged that the court be moved to Rome and placed in front of the Pope as she questioned the validity of Wolsey and Campagio. During the court proceedings Catherine announced that she had in her possession a copy of the dispensation issued by Julius II in 1504 allowing her to marry Henry regardless of whether her marriage to Arthur was consummated or not. Catherine stated that she would not accept the findings of Wolsey and Campagio's court she would only accept the decision of the Pope himself. Catherine received a letter telling her that by riding out and attracting the cheers of the people she was inciting rebellion. The council also told her that if she continued to work against the king in this way she would be Henry told Catherine that even if the Pope declared their marriage to be lawful he would still have his divorce. He told her that the church of Canterbury was more important than that of Rome and that if the Pope found against him then he would declare the Pope a heretic and marry wherever he chose. On the 31st of May 1531 a deputation of privy councillors were sent to try to persuade Catherine to agree to an annulment of her marriage. She refused and went on to deny Henry's supremacy of the church and stated that she would only abide by a decision made by the Pope. During the Christmas festivities of 1531 Catherine was not invited to court. Henry returned her gift saying that they were no longer man and wife it was not proper for them to exchange gifts. Catherine was moved to the palace of bishops Hatfield as Henry wished to keep Catherine away from her daughter Mary. He believed they would conspire against him and thought it was best to keep them apart. The act in absolute restraint of appeals put into effect the terms of the act of 1532 and transferred all payments from the Pope to the king. Henry was declared to be next to Christ the only supreme head on earth of the church of England. It also laid down that all future abbots and bishops were to be chosen for election by the king. This act was followed by the act of succession. The act of succession was introduced to exclude Mary from the succession and settle it instead on the children born from his marriage to Anne. It registered the invalidity of Henry's first marriage and proclaimed his second to be legal. Catherine refused to swear the oath of succession. She now feared for both her own and her daughter's life. She only had food prepared by trusted servants and kept a constant watch on all strangers. Over the next few years Catherine's health would begin to deteriorate. She would be In 1534 Henry made a great show to the court that he was to visit Catherine. However, five miles from the castle he was met by one of Catherine's messengers who said that she had been forbidden to meet him. With failing health, the former queen wrote one last letter to King Henry whom she had not seen for five years. The tender love I owe you forceth me to commend myself to you and to put you in remembrance of the health and safeguard of your soul, which you ought to prefer to all worldly matters, for which you have cast me into many calamities and yourself into many troubles. For my part, I pardon you everything and I wish devoutly to pray God that he will pardon you also. For the rest, I commend unto you our daughter Mary, beseeching you to be a good father to her. Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things. Farewell. Catherine, Queen of England. The use of her original title to close the letter was one final defiance towards her former husband. Catherine, wasting away from not eating and racked with cancer, died aged 50 on 9 January 1536. Catherine of Aragon is buried in Peterborough Cathedral, Cambridgeshire. Thank you for watching. Please remember to subscribe.