Catherine of Aragon

Read part five here. Following this argument, Catherine was sent away from court for a few weeks, although she returned to court to preside over the Christmas festivities. In February 1530, the Spanish ambassador reported, “The Queen is treated as badly and even worse than ever. The King avoids her company as much as he [read more]

Read part four here. The fact that Catherine and Henry had no son would haunt Catherine in the years to come. The birth of Henry Fitzroy made Henry realise that he could have a son with another woman. In 1520, Catherine’s nephew Charles visited England. He had just been elected as Holy Roman Emperor, and [read more]

Read part three here. The following years were difficult for Catherine. Prince Henry formally renounced his betrothal to her, but it is unclear how much she knew about that. She was certainly aware that no wedding was being planned. Her household was disbanded in 1505, and she was moved from Durham House to a corner [read more]

Read part two here. On 14 November 1501, Catherine and Arthur finally married in person at St Paul’s Cathedral. She chose to marry in white. She wore a long white satin skirt over a farthingale (which created a hoop shape), pleated in folds. Her face was covered with a white veil with gold edges and [read more]

Read part one here. However, she was still very malnourished from all the fasting she had done, and she died within an hour of giving birth. A historian at court wrote to the Archbishop of Braga, “The mother [Queen Isabella] was large, while the daughter [Isabella] was so consumed by her thinness that she did [read more]

On 16 December 1485, Queen Isabella I of Castile gave birth to her final child – Catherine – at the Palace of Alcalá de Henares. At the time of her birth, she had four living siblings: Isabella, John, Joanna and Maria. Catherine was received with “great delight”, and a banquet was hosted in her honour. [read more]