It is widely known that when King Henry VII ascended the English throne in 1485, there were many people with a greater claim to the throne than he. He won the crown in battle against King Richard III and kept hold of it partly because of his marriage to the Yorkist Princess Elizabeth of York, but he was not there due to his birthright alone.
What is less well known is that King Henry VII’s future daughter-in-law, the Spanish Princess Catherine of Aragon, actually had a claim to the English throne that surpassed his own. While Catherine was never really a contender for the throne, it is interesting to have a look at it.
Today, we are going to delve a bit further back in Catherine’s lineage to find out where this theoretical claim to the English throne came from. How was a Trastámara Princess wrapped up in the English line of succession at all?
Catherine’s claim to the English throne actually came from her great-grandmother, Catherine of Lancaster, who was born in March 1373 in Hertfordshire to parents John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his second wife, Constance of Castile. John of Gaunt was the third surviving son of King Edward III of England, and yet he far exceeded what was expected of him as a third son. John of Gaunt was one of the most powerful and wealthy people in England during his lifetime, and his children and grandchildren filled the royal houses of Europe for centuries to come.
Many of John’s children went on to become rulers and entered into prestigious marriages. Three of his children even became kings or queens; these were King Henry IV of England, Queen Philippa of Portugal, and Queen Catherine of Castile, who was born Catherine of Lancaster.
Catherine of Lancaster grew up in England but became Queen of Castile through her marriage to Henry, the Prince of Castile, who became King Henry III of Castile just two years after their wedding. This marriage match had been part of a treaty that saw Catherine’s mother, Constance of Castile, renounce her claims to the Castilian throne.
Catherine and Henry went on to have three children: Maria of Castile, Catherine of Castile, and King John II of Castile. John of Castile’s youngest daughter was Queen Isabella I of Castile, the formidable ruler of Castile, famed for unifying Spain with her husband, King Ferdinand II of Aragon.
This leads us back to Catherine Aragon, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand. As we have found out, Catherine of Aragon was the great-great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt. You may be thinking, how does this give her a stronger claim to the English throne than King Henry VII?
King Henry VII was also, unsurprisingly, descended from John of Gaunt and therefore King Edward III. However, Henry VII descended from John of Gaunt’s third marriage to his mistress, Katherine Swynford. These children, the Beauforts, were born out of wedlock. Although their parents married and the children were legitimised, they were barred from inheriting the English throne.
It is through John Beaufort’s granddaughter, Margaret Beaufort, that we get to King Henry VII of England. Henry, therefore, was a great-great-great-grandchild of John of Gaunt and a four-times great-grandchild of Henry III of England. This gives him a lesser claim to the throne than his daughter-in-law, Catherine of Aragon, though the claims were later united in blood with the birth of Queen Mary I of England through the marriage of Catherine of Aragon and King Henry VIII.1
Be the first to comment