Henry VIII and his wives: Catherine of Aragon

 

There is no king spoken about I think more than the lech that is Henry viii . So, for today I am focusing on Catherine of Aragon. Why not the Spanish princess finished up and people are still going on about the Tudor show. So let’s talk about Catherine of  Aragon , also if you are interested in what I am wearing I will link to it at the bottom!

Catherine of Aragon was born December 16th of 1485 to Isabelle I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon near Madrid. She was a bit on the short side with bright red hair and wide blue eyes. She had a round face and pale white complexion.She had tutors and was a devout Catholic.she spoke many languages; Spanish, Latin, English , French.  At the age of 3 she was betrothed to Arthur the Prince of Wales .Nowhe was the heir apparent to the English throne and they would eventually marry in 1501. Sadly though, this wouldn’t last as he would die 5 months later.

Now Catherine, was a smart woman.And even though women during this time were mostly pawns to use for political gains and marriages and having kids, she was more than that. She became the first female ambassador of the Argonese crown to England in 1507. Two years later in 1509 she would marry Arthur’s younger brother Henry VIII. Even though Henry the VII considered marrying her himself. Yikes. And they lived happily ever after.

Just kidding we all kind of know how this all ended! So they were married in 1509  in June.it was a private ceremony held in Greenwich Palace. She was 23 years of age. She was allowed to marry Henry viii because she had not “consummated” her marriage with Arthur. So, here we go, she would be celebrated with Henry at a pre-coronated party June 23rd, 1509 .  Then June 24th they would be anointed and crowned together and would be done by the archbishop of Cantebury. This was done at Westminster Abbey . And then they celebrated at Westminster Hall. Many new knights of Bath were created in honor of the coronation . For 6 months in 1513 Catherine once again held  a sort of political position. She was made regent of England while Henry was away in France. It was at this time that the English defeated the Scottish at the battle of Flodden, where she gave an emotional speech about bravery and courage. Henry and his court thought that she would be easily controlled and manipulated. They were very very wrong. 

As far as having children, yes we all know about Queen Mary. But she was pregnant  6 times.in August of 1509her first pregnancy was announced . Sadly it was not to be. She gave birth to a stillborn baby girl. Then may 1510 she announced her second pregnancy. A son, Henry, duke of Cornwall. He was born in 1511 and in his honor guns were fired off in the Tower of London. City bells rang,beacons were lit and wine served! Sadly in February 1511 the prince suddenly died. She lost 2 more after that, then in 1515 she announced another pregnancy. She delivered a healthy girl, Mary. After Mary she was pregnant again with her final pregnancy. A baby girl born 8 months but did not survive. Mary was her only child that survived.

Catherine continues her studies and implemented them with Mary. She would also later convince Henry to align himself with Spain rather than France, as her nephewHoly Roman Emperor Charles V was on the throne.Sadly the relationship between Catherine and Henry would start to go downhill because of him taking interest in Anne Boleyn. In 1525 he was perusing her and Catherine could have no more children. As Anne was younger and Henry wanted that coveted male heir due to the Tudors being a relatively young monarchy.Henry started to believe his marriage to Catherine was cursed.And sought out confirmation from the Bible.He blamed it on marrying his brother’s  widow and that is why they were childless. Even though they had in fact Mary! Ass!Henry would soon move to have an annulment of their marriage due to this  and so he could marry Anne. This whole thing would lead to him declaring he,Henry viii was above all religious matters.The pope at the time kept denying him the annulment so it pushed Henry to leave the church. Such would lead to Catherine to denying that he was head of  Church of England.She believed they were the true king and queen. Henry turned to Thomas Wolsey the Holy See to help him, but since the actual pope was a prisoner of the Emperor of The Holy Roman Empire, it started to seem unlikely the pop would agree to it all. With all that, their marriage was declared invalid in 1533 in a special court in  Dunsbury priory May 23 1533. Then he married Anne Boleyn in a secret ceremony. She, Catherine, was recognized as a dowager princess due to her previous marriage to Arthur and banished from court.she was not allowed to see Mary.Although some close confidants would deliver letters, so they say. She was moved around a lot until she ended up at Kimbolton castle until her death on January 7th 1536 .cause of death may have been more than likely cancer. But some, including Mary suspected poison as during an autopsy they found a black mass on her heart. Science today would lean towards cancer. Now to note Henry said he would have allowed the mother and daughter to see each otherif they would accept that the queen was Anne. Both refused.Catherine had many supporters in the kingdom and in court. Including Henry VIII ‘s sister Mary .On the day of her funeral, both Anne and Henry wore yellow. Many felt it was in distaste, even though there was rumors saying that they wore yellow because in Spain it was a color of mourning. However,neither Anne nor Henry attended the funeral. Sadly Mary was not allowed to attend.she was put to rest  at Peterborough cathedral. And that is the abridged version of Catherine of Aragon. Thoughts? 

now i recycled the pictures for this blogpost. i figured the dress kind of fit with the topic. or maybe not.hmm...anywho. I remted it from Rent The Runway. who says you can not wear ball gowns at home.