Catherine of Aragon

Catherine first set foot on English soil at the age of 15 when she was betrothed to Henry VIII's brother Arthur, Prince of Wales.  Their marriage had been arranged for some time by Arthur's father Henry VII, and Catherine's parents King Ferdinand V of Aragon, and Isabel I of Castile.  It's hard to imagine what thoughts must have gone through Catherine's mind, being mearly 15, separated from her family, and sent off to marry.  With that said, from what I understand the marriage was a happy one, despite it being so short.  

Following Arthur's unexpected death, Catherine remained in England under the care of Henry VII for eight years.  This must have been a very worrying time for Catherine, widowed and uncertain of her future.  There was speculation that after Henry VII's queen Elizabeth of York's death, that Henry VII was considering marrying Catherine himself.  However, Catherine and Henry VIII were engaged when Henry was just 12, but not married until Henry was almost 18.

Upon Henry VII's death on 21st April 1509, Henry and Catherine had a joint coronation on 24th June 1509 at Westminster Abbey.  This was unusual at the time, as it would have been expected for Henry to have had his own coronation, with Catherine's following at a later date.

Catherine and Henry were a popular couple, the King being young, athletic and handsome, Catherine was beloved by the people of England and excelled in her queenly duties.  She was made for her role.

On new years day 1511, Catherine gave birth to a baby boy, Henry, Duke of Cornwall.  There were huge celebrations and both Henry and Catherine were overjoyed.  Sadly, their joy was short lived.  Henry, Duke of Cornwall died on 23rd February 1511.  This would have been devastating for both Catherine and Henry.  Catherine had already given birth the previous year to a still born daughter.  Catherine had a further three stillborn babies, boys in 1513 and 15145 and a girl in 1518.  However, she did give birth to a healthy baby girl, Mary born on 18th February 1516.  

As I understand it, Catherine and Henry had a happy marriage, Henry named Catherine as Regent of England while he was on a military campaign in France, which to me shows a great deal of trust.  Catherine was able to maintain her dignity while Henry had several mistresses (one being Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister), and an illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy.  It was accepted at the time that the King could take mistresses, which is why I say Catherine maintained her dignity, nowadays I doubt anyone would be so accepting.

By 1526, Henry had turned his affections towards Catherine's lady-in-waiting Anne Boleyn.  I would assume that Catherine no doubt thought that Anne would be yet another misstress and thought no more of it. Sadly for Catherine this was not the case, and BY 1528 Henry had decided that he wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine.  She must have been heartbroken.  Henry's reason for the annulment was that he believed that he had committed a sin by marrying his brother's wife, and that Catherine and Arthur had consummated their marriage, something Catherine strongly (and i mean strongly) denied until her death.  

It took Henry six years to get what he wanted, but in order to get it he had to break with the Roman Catholic church.  That is another chapter altogether.

Catherine was put through a tiresome ordeal and had to publicly plea her case, maintaining that she and Arthur had never consummated their marriage, so in fact herself and Henry had committed no sin.  The people of England were very much on Catherine's side.  After the annulment was finalised, Catherine was sent away and eventually settled in Kimbolton Castle from 1535 until her death in 1536.  Catherine was unable to see her beloved daughter Mary.  This must have been very painful for both Catherine and Mary, who was around 17 years of age when her parents marriage was annulled.

Catherine died on 7th January 1536 of what is believed to have been cancer.  Her funeral was held at Peterborough Cathedral and Henry forbade Mary to attend.  

Catherine did not live to hear of Anne Boleyn's downfall and execution and I have always wondered what she would have thought of it all.  Would Henry have allowed Catherine and Mary to be reunited following Anne's execution?  

What i admire most about Catherine is how strong and determined she was.  She praised Henry until the end, and did not let him go without a fight.  To me it shows enormous strength to only say nice things about someone who has humiliated you and separated you from your daughter.  Did Henry ever feel regret having treated Catherine this way, and also illegitamising Mary and separating mother and daughter?