Henry VIII: Catherine of Aragon

I know that a lot of people are aware of King Henry and his penchant for disposing of his wives.  You know: Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.  This is an incredibly simplistic overview.  If you are looking for something a little more detailed and accurate, look no further! Fortunately for you, I happen to be a sort of expert on the subject.

Wife #1: Catherine of Aragon

 

Early Life

 

Catherine of Aragon was the daughter of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella.  You might know them as the patrons of a certain Christopher Columbus.  They were also fairly militant Catholics.  They are pretty much the reason that the Spanish Inquisition was as horrible as it was.  Catherine was pretty much born on the battlefield and had a very interesting role model in her mother.  Isabella went into battle with Ferdinand and their relationship was much more of a partnership than it was master and servant.  This example set by her strong mother would guide her for the rest of her life.

First Marriage

When Catherine turned 16, she became married to the son of Henry VII and heir to the throne of England.  Arthur.  What a plot twist. Arthur was Henry's brother and was the oldest son.  Their marriage ensured the legitimacy of the Tudor dynasty's right to the English throne.  Catherine of Aragon and Arthur were married by proxy in 1499, and wrote letters to each other until Arthur turned 15.  Because neither of them spoke the others language the letters that they wrote to each other were written in Latin.  They were only married for about a year before they both became ill.  Catherine recovered, but Arthur did not.  Catherine was now alone in England with no family, no friends, and no prospects.

 

Marriage to Henry

Basically, Catherine was going to be married to Henry, so that his father, Henry VII, didn't have to return her considerable dowry.   After many complications, they eventually got married in 1509.  Catherine became pregnant almost immediately after they got married, but miscarried a daughter on January 31st, 1510.  She got pregnant again almost exactly a year later and carried the child to term on January 1st 1511.  The child was a boy and they named him Henry.  Unfortunately, he was a sickly baby and he only lived for 52 days.  After this, she lost 2 more sons, one in 1513, and another in 1514 who was also named Henry.  They only lived for a few hours each.  Fortunately for Catherine, on February 18th, 1516 her only surviving child, Mary was born.  However, Mary was not the son that Henry had been looking for, so one Catherine of Aragon became pregnant one more time in 1518 and gave birth to a daughter who only lived for 6 days.  At this point in their marriage, she was 33 and Henry was 27.  This meant that Catherine was past the point where she was considered young enough to bear any more children.  Henry had, at this point,  already become interested in Anne Boleyn and had a certain verse from the Bible floating around in his head for quite some time, now.  The verse was from Leviticus 18:16.  It read:

 

"`You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness."

 

Basically, it was a verse claiming that his marriage was incestuous.  This was a piece of scripture that Henry would use to terminate his marriage to Catherine.

 

Catherine's Divorce

Henry believed that Catherine's inability to have a healthy baby boy was due to the fact that their marriage was a sin against God.  Henry wanted the pope to annul their marriage.  He argued that Catherine had consummated her marriage to Arthur, which had been one of the things that almost held them back from getting married in the first place.  Catherine, for a second time in her life, swore hat they had not.  She was unwilling to simply give up the crown that was rightfully hers.  She was not the only one who felt this way.  Catherine of Aragon had become ruler for a short time while Henry was away on a campaign in France.  She had successfully defeated the Scots, who had attacked when he was away and won the hearts of the people.  However, Henry had already become seduced by one of Catherine of Aragon's ladies in waiting.