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| Portrait by Michael Sittow (c. 1502) |
- Arthur, Prince of Wales (m. 1501 - 1502)
- King Henry VIII of England and Ireland (m. 1509 - 1533)
- With King Henry VIII of England and Ireland
- *Unnamed Princess* (1510 - 1510)
- Prince Henry, Duke of Cornwall (1511 - 1511)
- *Unnamed Prince* (1513 - 1513)
- *Unnamed Prince* (1514 - 1514)
- Queen Mary I of England, Ireland and Spain (1516 - 1558)
- *Unnamed Princess* (1518 - 1518)
Appearance:
She is described as short in stature, eventually becoming more plump as she grew older and endured multiple pregnancies. Her hair was very long and auburn in colour, with large blue eyes. She was viewed as beautiful by most contemporaries. She had a pale complexion and her voice was described as low and commanding.
Character:
Katherine was a very devout Catholic, as well as determined, strong, and very intelligent. She was stubborn and loyal, always maintaining she was the rightful wife and queen of Henry VIII, and was very protective of her daughter, Mary.
She was popular and resourceful, able to use her family connections within Europe to defend herself against her enemies, and was politically astute.
Katherine was also fluent in many languages and was a patron of scholars, also ensuring her daughter's education. She was raised with the view that women were perfectly capable rulers, and did not shy away from showing off her strength, such as when she successfully led an army against the King of Scotland.
However, she was also known for her compassion for the less fortunate.
She suffered through many hardships in her life, and was able to maintain her dignity and grace throughout it all.
Biography:
Katherine was born just outside of Madrid, in the newly formed Kingdom of Spain in 1485. She was the youngest child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, and Queen Isabella I of Castile, both powerful monarchs in their own right who had conquered the majority of Iberia. She was named after her great-grandmother, Catherine of Lancaster, an English noblewoman, and was the third and fourth cousin of the current King and Queen of England respectively.
While growing up, Katherine received an excellent education, especially by the standards typical of a princess during this era. She grew up with the view that women could be just as powerful and capable rulers as men, mainly due to her mother's influence. Even at an early age, she was considered to be the most likely marriage candidate for Arthur, Prince of Wales, the son and heir of King Henry VII of England. The marriage agreement would serve to create a powerful alliance between England and Spain, especially against their common enemy, the Kingdom of France. It would also strengthen the Tudor dynasty's claim to the throne of England.
The two would eventually be married by proxy in 1499, and the two would exchange letters before Katherine left Spain to join her new husband in England. Despite being raised with the knowledge that she would marry into the English royal family, she was never taught English, and all communication originally had to be conducted in Latin, of which the two had also learned two different versions.
In 1501, Katherine finally arrived in England at the age of 15, and both she and her new husband, Prince Arthur (also 15), were reported to have been rather happy with each other. The two of them would officially marry a few days later. Upon their marriage, Katherine became the Princess of Wales, and both she and Arthur moved to the Welsh Marches where they could carry out their duties. But tragedy would strike just a few months later, as the two of them would contract the mysterious disease of Sweating Sickness. Katherine would recover, but Arthur would unfortunately die. At the age of just 16, Katherine had already become a widow.
Arthur's death placed Katherine in a difficult position, and it was not known whether she should stay in England or return to Spain. It would soon be decided that Katherine would marry the new heir to the throne, Arthur's younger brother, Prince Henry. However, there was the issue that in the eyes of the Catholic faith, Katherine's marriage to Arthur meant that both she and Henry were now related by affinity. Thus, such a marriage would not be approved in the eyes of God. Katherine maintained that her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated, and therefore had not been legally valid, leaving her free to marry Henry. Whether she was telling the truth or not is still debated today, and the issue would rise again several decades later. Yet during this time, no concrete plans for her marriage to Henry were put in motion, especially while he remained a minor at 12 years old.
During this period, Katherine was practically left to fend for herself in England, and she had little money or support. She became the first official female Spanish ambassador, and quickly proved her degree of intelligence and political astuteness.
In 1509, Henry VII finally died, and his son became King Henry VIII of England at the age of 17. Henry honoured the previously considered betrothal and married Katherine soon afterwards, with the Pope having granted permission for them to marry. Despite being politically arranged, it appears that both Henry and Katherine had fallen in love with each other, and the two of them would enjoy a close relationship. However, Henry would not remain completely loyal to her, as he was known to have various mistresses throughout the course of their marriage.
The two of them would also go on to have six children together, though only one of their daughters, Mary, would survive infancy. During this period, Katherine also demonstrated herself to be a capable consort, defending England against invading Scottish forces in 1513. She led troops into battle, wearing a full suit of armour, all while she was heavily pregnant. Her defence was successful, and she sent Henry the King of Scotland's blood stained shirt as a gift.
Due to the lack of a male heir, Henry became increasingly dissatisfied with their marriage, especially after the birth of his illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy, a product of his affair with one of Katherine's ladies-in-waiting, Elizabeth Blount. By 1525, Henry's infatuation with another of Katherine's ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn, had begun. Unlike his previous mistresses, Anne refused to sleep with him unless they were married, and so Henry began looking into the annulment of his and Katherine's marriage.
Katherine, however, would refuse such notions, especially when Henry began seeking the annulment on the grounds that she had been previously married to his brother. Once again, Katherine maintained that the marriage had never been consummated and that she was Henry's true, valid wife. The matter would end up having to be presented to the Pope. Yet here, Katherine had the advantage, as the Pope had been captured by her nephew, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, during the sack of Rome in 1527. The Pope even attempted to reach a compromise with Henry, offering the chance for Henry to have two wives, and to legitimise any children that he had with Anne, but Henry refused.
By 1530, Katherine had been banished from the English court and was forbidden to see her daughter. Public opinion within England very much remained on her side, and she received a great deal of support.
When the annulment still wasn't granted, Henry broke from Rome, and established himself as the Head of the Church of England, with both him and the new Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, granting the annulment at last. Meanwhile, he had married Anne Boleyn in secret during this time, even before the annulment had been granted. Katherine was stripped of her title as Queen of England, and instead given the title of Princess Dowager, a title she had held after the death of Prince Arthur.
However, Katherine would continue to maintain that she was the rightful queen and true wife of Henry. She continued to be forbidden to see her daughter, and was even no longer allowed to write to her. By this point, Mary was grown up, and both she and Katherine had not seen each other since Mary was around the age of 10. Both were offered better accommodation and access to each other if they accepted Anne Boleyn as queen, but both of them refused.
Unfortunately, by 1535, Katherine was growing increasingly ill, likely as the result of cancer, and one of her last acts was to beg the Holy Roman Emperor to protect her daughter.
Katherine then died in early 1536, having lost everything.
Rule:
Katherine was a very popular and capable English consort. She was able to act as regent while her husband was away on campaigns, and even oversaw the defeat of King James V of Scotland, sending Henry his blood covered shirt as proof of her victory.
She endorsed scholars and supported the Queens' College in Cambridge. She was also popular for her charitable works and her devotion to the Catholic Church.
She helped maintain England's powerful alliances with Spain and also the Holy Roman Empire. During her husband's attempts to annul their marriage, she was able to stall the matter for quite some time, retaining the sympathy of the people of England, and keeping her dignity despite the desperate circumstances.
To her dying day, Katherine maintained that she was the true Queen of England, and Henry's one true wife.
- To this day, it remains a mystery as to whether or not her first marriage to Arthur was consummated, though she always maintained that it wasn't.
- Technically speaking, Katherine had a stronger claim to the English throne than both her husbands and father-in-law did, through her Lancastrian bloodline.
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