atherine of Aragon (1485-1536), first wife of Henry VIII of England, the youngest child of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Consult Hume’s Wives of Henry VIII. [World Wide Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1935]
atherine of Aragon (1485-1536), first wife of Henry VIII of
England, the youngest child of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.
Consult Hume’s Wives of Henry VIII. [World Wide
Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1935]
Kept under house arrest at Kimbolton after her divorce from Henry, where she died. She had previously been married for several months to his older brother Arthur who died before he could inherit the throne. The marriage with Henry lasted for 24 years during which she was pregnant several times, their first child was born dead and a son born in 1511 died after ten days. Only Mary Tudor, later Queen, survived. When Catherine was in her forties and past child bearing Henry divorced her. [THELMA.GED]
Catherine of Aragón (1485-1536),
queen consort of England (1509-33), who, as the first wife of
King Henry VIII, occupies a prominent place in history because
the question of her marriage to Henry was a factor in the
Reformation in England. She was the daughter of Ferdinand V and
Isabella I, king and queen of Aragón and Castile. Catherine was
born in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Henry's father, King Henry VII,
hoped to form a binding alliance with Spain when he negotiated
the marriage of Catherine and his son Arthur, Prince of Wales.
She went to England in 1501 and was married in November, but
Arthur died in April 1502. A few months later Henry VII arranged
a second marriage for Catherine with his second son Henry, then
12 years old. A papal dispensation enabling Henry to marry the
widow of his brother was obtained in 1503. Henry succeeded to the
throne in April 1509 and in June he married Catherine.
Although the marriage was, on the whole, fairly successful, the pro-Spanish sympathies of Catherine brought some difficulties during the periods of French alliance. Catherine bore Henry six children, only one of whom, a daughter, later Queen Mary I, survived.
In 1527 Henry tried to annul his marriage to Catherine so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, who he hoped would give him a male heir to the throne. The pope refused to make a decision on the proposed annulment, and in 1533 Henry was married to Anne by the archbishop of Canterbury. In 1534 the pope finally declared that the first marriage was valid, thus bringing about the alienation of Henry VIII from the Roman Catholic church. Catherine did not quit the kingdom, but was thereafter closely guarded. During this time she displayed heroic courage and steadfastly refused to sign away her rights and those of Mary. [Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia]
