Spanish History

Catherine of Aragon was the first of Henry VIII's six wives. She was Queen of England from 1509 until 1533, this was the year Henry divorced her to marry Anne Boleyn.

Catherine was born a Princess of Spain, the beloved daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Catherine first came to England in 1501; she was just fifteen years of age, to marry the heir to the English throne. This was not Henry, but Henry's older brother Arthur Tudor.

The young Catherine was extremely pretty and diminutive, with red-gold hair and a pale complexion. She was intelligent, educated, artistic, and dignified yet fun-loving. Like Henry, she enjoyed physical activity such as riding and hunting. She was also very religious.

Catherine was extremely popular with the English people. Her in-laws and future husband Arthur were delighted with her as well. It was a great honour for a powerful country such as Spain to send one of its princesses to England. It was an even greater bonus that Catherine was attractive and intelligent, especially given the amount of inbreeding within the royal houses of Europe.

Shortly after his marriage to Catherine, Prince Arthur died. Catherine's father-in-law, Henry VII, sought to keep her dowry, and did not let her return to Spain. Catherine stayed in England for six years, living in poverty because Henry VII would not pay for her support.

Finally, in 1509, Catherine's early troubles ended when Henry VII died, and his son Henry VIII inherited the English throne. Henry, who had been besotted with Catherine for years, and took no time in asking her to marry him. He was almost 18, and she was 23. Catherine was thrilled to marry Henry and be Queen of England after all these years.

Henry and Catherine had much in common, especially during the early years of their marriage. Both loved learning, music, pageantry, dancing, hunting, entertaining, literature and religion. There was also a great deal of physical magnetism between them.

The main sadness in their marriage stemmed from their incapability to have a son. Over a course of several years, Catherine had a series of failed pregnancies that left the couple saddened and frustrated. Particularly tragic was the death of a baby son just two months after his birth. Catherine and Henry were ecstatic to have a healthy daughter, the Princess Mary, who thrived and showed much promise. Henry, however, was fanatical about having a son and heir to the throne. This need was to consume Henry for almost his entire life.

Catherine was a strong Catholic, and spent much of her time in religious activities. This intensified with each failed pregnancy, which left her with less time for the lively activities Henry enjoyed. Over the years her figure expanded, and her face showed increased signs of age. She was nearly six years older than Henry, and the age difference became more noticeable with time.

For the most part, Catherine was a loving, open-minded wife, who looked the other way on the few occasions when Henry took a mistress. In turn, Henry was generally discreet; he did not flaunt his affairs. The first noticeable rift in their marriage took place when one of Henry’s mistresses, Bessie Blount, gave birth to a boy.

Henry was ecstatic to produce a son, and had many plans for the child. He acknowledged Bessie's boy as his own, and named him Henry FitzRoy. Without showing any regard for Catherine’s feelings, King Henry insisted that she attend the various ceremonies honouring young Henry. There was even talk of Henry FitzRoy being named as Henry’s heir. Catherine was patient to a point, but complained when the King made Henry FitzRoy one of the highest-ranking nobles in the land.

The marriage was also strained by the political situation in Europe. Catherine’s nephew Charles was the influential emperor of the Austrian Empire, and threatened war with England. Although totally loyal to King Henry’s security, Catherine was caught in the political crossfire between the two countries, and Henry was not pleased.

Catherine and Henry had been married for 16 years when the main crisis in their marriage occurred. By this time, Catherine was past her principal childbearing years, and her many unsuccessful pregnancies had taken their toll. It was then Henry met Anne Boleyn.

Anne Boleyn was an English noblewoman in her early twenties, with long black hair and magnificent dark eyes. She was slim, elegant, talented and amusing, and totally captivated the King. Anne had been a lady-in-waiting to Henry’s sister Mary, and was later a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine.

When Catherine first heard about Henry’s attraction to Anne, she wasn’t particularly worried. Henry had been interested in other women before, including Anne’s older sister Mary. He tended to be light-hearted about his affairs, and usually lost interest in them after a short time.

As time went on, however, it became clear that Anne did not intend to be Henry’s mistress. For a variety of reasons, Anne was not content to play the same role as her sister. She wanted to either be Henry’s wife, or be left alone to live her life. This meant that the only way Henry could have Anne would be to make her his Queen. This would mean a divorce from Queen Catherine.

The ending of a royal marriage like this was almost unheard-of in those times, especially over a commoner like Anne Boleyn. Royalty was expected to marry royalty in arranged marriages, and to make the best of the condition. Marriages were made for reasons of state, and to produce heirs, not for love or sexual attraction. In addition, Kings did not generally marry commoners. Henry’s grandfather King Edward IV was one of the first to take a non-royal wife (Elisabeth Woodville). This marriage was very unpopular, and caused much jealousy and infighting among the nobles.

Until the death of his brother Arthur, Prince Henry had been raised to be a leading member of the English clergy. He saw himself as devout, a strong defender of his religion. Henry’s personality was an fascinating combination of religious devotion, energy, intelligence, artistry, athleticism, conscience, and ego, with ego playing a great part. He liked pageantry, and wanted to present a grand, magnificent image to his country. He worried about what others thought of him, and didn’t like to be questioned. He was not, however, predominantly control-oriented when it came to statecraft and the governing of his country. He preferred to have others such as Cardinal Wolsey to do the actual governing of England for him, while he pursued more enjoyable activities.

About the time he met Anne Boleyn, Henry had begun to question the validity of his marriage to Catherine. Henry discovered a passage in the Bible that damned the marriage of a man to his brother’s widow, and stated that such a marriage would be childless. Since Henry already had a legitimate daughter and an illegitimate son, he interpreted this to mean that his coming together with Catherine would never produce a living legitimate male heir to the throne.

Back to the List

Page 1: Prev Next