The daughter of the monarch couple, uniting Spain, turning it into a powerful European power, and the Queen of England - Katerina of Aragon was loved both in her small homeland and in Albion for modesty, honesty and kindness.
Genealogy
Catherine of Aragon came from the influential Spanish dynasty of Trastamar. She received her name in honor of the great-grandmother on the maternal side of Catherine of Lancaster. Infanta was a distant relative of John Gaunt, from whose illegitimate son the Tudor dynasty originated. In fact, Catherine of Aragon was related to her husband.
Catherine was also the sister of Juan of Asturias, heir to the throne of Spain, but who died of a fever at the age of 19. The infanta's older sisters were Queen of Portugal Isabella of Asturias, Queen Consort of Portugal Maria of Aragon and Queen of Castile Juan I the Mad.
Catherine of Aragon: biography
Catherine of Aragon was born on December 16, 1485 and was the youngest daughter of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. Since childhood, the girl was preparing to become Queen of England, since Ferdinand signed a contract with King of England Henry VII - the first ruler of the Tudor dynasty.
At the age of 15, Katerina married the 11-year-old sickly prince of Wales, Arthur, heir to the throne. Just six months later, he died without fulfilling his conjugal duty. Catherine of Aragon remained a widow princess with a modest allowance and an uncertain future.
At the age of 23, the Spanish infante married Henry VIII who ascended the throne. Catherine was 6 years older than her husband, but this did not prevent her from living with Henry for a long time in harmony. For the people, she became the beloved queen, won the respect of most of the courtiers and was a faithful companion and ally of her king and husband.
Of the six children born by the queen, only one girl survived to adulthood. The daughter of Catherine of Aragon - Maria in the future will be the first female monarch to officially accede to the throne. However, Henry VIII longed for the male heir, realizing that after the sixth birth his wife was unlikely to become pregnant again, the king began the divorce process.
Catherine did not admit the divorce from Henry until the end of her days, remaining faithful to her husband, she admitted that she still loved him and wrote to the Pope asking him not to forget about her and Henry and pray for the sinful soul of the king of England. Catherine of Aragon died on January 7, 1536.
Life in Spain
In childhood, Catherine often moved from place to place, because Queen Isabella did not want to part with children, especially girls, and strictly monitored their education. All the daughters of the Spanish royal couple were engaged from an early age with the heirs to the thrones and therefore prepared for government.
The childhood and youth of Catherine of Aragon passed in the heyday of the humanities and ideals of the Renaissance. Mentor of the infant and Prince Juan was Alessandro Geraldini. Queen Isabella insisted that the education of her daughters be at the level of what the heir to the throne received, so the girls were extremely smart, educated, well-read and knew ancient languages, including Latin and ancient Greek. On the recommendation of the English king Henry VII, the court, Catherine of Aragon began to learn French. Infanta was trained in court manners, ballroom dancing, as well as sewing and embroidery. According to contemporaries, even being a queen, she darned her husband’s shirts herself.
Catherine had an unusual appearance for the Spanish woman: blond hair with a reddish tint, gray eyes and pale skin with a slight blush. Her image was captured by eminent Renaissance artists. Many of them were struck by the unique appearance possessed by Catherine of Aragon. Photos of her portraits (see above) prove that the infante was more like an Englishwoman than a Spanish woman.
Engagement and marriage with Prince of Wales - Arthur
As soon as Catherine was 15 years old, an agreement entered into force that her father concluded with Henry VII when the infante was only three years old. The young bride went with a small retinue and half a dowry to England, where she was met by the royal family.
In 1501, Catherine married the 11-year-old heir to the English throne, Prince Arthur, but this marriage was not destined to last long. Immediately after the wedding, Catherine went for her husband to Wales, where Arthur controlled the entrusted territories, justifying the title of Prince of Wales.
Six months later, the newlyweds fell ill with prickly heat. Catherine soon recovered, but Prince Arthur died seven months after the wedding, leaving behind a young widow. The fate of Catherine of Aragon after the death of her husband was extremely uncertain, since the girl remained a pawn in the political game of her parents and the king of England.
Marriage to Henry VIII
In 1509, Henry VIII, who almost immediately married Catherine, ascended the throne. Information on the reasons for the marriage varies, some claim that Henry loved Catherine, others that the young king did not dare to resist the decree of his dying father. Whatever the true reasons for the marriage were, Catherine of Aragon and Henry 8 lived in peace and harmony for almost 20 years.
The first years of the marriage, Queen Catherine of Aragon, played the role of the Ambassador of Spain assigned to her by Ferdinand in 1507, but Henry insisted that Catherine’s mission was to give birth to an heir. The Queen’s first pregnancy ended in premature birth, and the second gave birth to a healthy boy, Henry, Duke of Cornwall. The boy died two months later.
During the French-English war of 1513, Henry left England, leaving for the continent. He appointed Catherine of Aragon as regent, temporarily transferring the reins of government to her. During the absence of the king, Catherine successfully suppressed the revolt of the Scottish Lords, sentencing their leader to death.
Prerequisites for Divorce
Over the years of married life with Henry VIII, Catherine was pregnant six times, but of all her children, only one daughter survived, named in honor of Henry's sister Mary. After the sixth and again unsuccessful childbirth, the king despaired of receiving an heir from Catherine and began to make plans for the divorce proceedings.
Since 1525, the king became interested in Anna Boleyn, the youngest daughter of one of their court lords. From this moment, attempts began to dissolve the marriage on the basis that Catherine could no longer give birth to the king an heir. This reason, however, was not legitimate and canonical under the rules of the Catholic Church, to which England at that time belonged. Pope Clement VII refused Henry permission to divorce, and the king decided to inform Catherine about his plans.
Divorce
In a conversation with the Queen, Henry called their union sinful, since Catherine was the wife of his brother and asked her to annul the marriage and go to the monastery, which Catherine reacted with indignant refusal. The king was forced to start an official church trial, which lasted five years.
In 1534, Henry VIII put pressure on parliament and declared himself the head of the new Anglican Church, which allowed him to dissolve the marriage with Catherine of Aragon, depriving her of the title of queen, and their daughter Mary the right to inherit the throne.
Life after a divorce from the king
After the divorce, Catherine was sent away from the yard with a small retinue. She was forbidden to communicate with her daughter, and all visits to her had to be approved by the king. Despite the court’s decision on divorce, Catherine until the very last days considered herself the Queen of England and the only legal wife of Henry VIII. In addition to Catherine, Henry had five more wives, two of whom (Anna Boleyn and Kate Howard) were sentenced to death by the king.
Since 1535, Catherine of Aragon, officially called the Dowager Princess of Wales, lived in the county of Cambridgeshire, enjoying relative freedom and respect for a few retinues and servants. A year after moving to Cambridgeshire, Catherine died. Around the rather unexpected death of the former queen there were persistent rumors of poisoning. The current Queen Anne Boleyn, as well as Henry VIII himself, were suspected of murder.