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Queen Katherine of Aragon - Historical profile
 Click EasyEdit to update this page! |  Parts of this building can still be seen, behind a glass panel in the wall of the Red Room and especially in the corridor near the Chapel (picture on the right) |  |
| Annulment: It is doubtful Henry ever blamed Katherine for the failure to produce a male heir after witnessing the endless cycle of pregnancies and prayer. Yet why had he and Katherine been unable to produce a living son between them? Naturally enough and ironically for Katherine who was so religious, the king's mind turned to God. It must be God's will that they had no male heir. But what had he done to offend God? Henry searched for an answer and soon found it quite easily. In the Bible, Leviticus XVIII, 16 clearly stated 'Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness'. And, later, in chapter XX, 'If a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless'. What could be more clear? The Bible itself condemned his marriage to Katherine. And by childless of course, it meant male children. |  Queen Katherine c.1525 by Lucas Horenbout / Horenbolte. This is the largest miniature of Henry VIII's first wife. Three other miniatures exist, but two are circular copies of this original; the third is believed to be a companion piece to a miniature of the king. A unique feature of this work is that it includes Katherine's hands |
| LITERATURE Non-Fiction: Luke, Mary M. Catherine the Queen, 1971 Mattingly, Garrett, Catherine of Aragon 1941 Weir, Alison, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, 1991 Williams, Neville, Henry VIII and His Court, 1971 Fiction: Isabella's Daughter by Charity Bishop Katherine of Aragon, by Jean Plaidy The King's Pleasure, by Nora Lofts In the Shadow of the Crown, a Novel of Mary Tudor, Queen of England and Lady of Ireland, by Jean Plaidy. Patience, Princess Katherine, by Carolyn Meyer Mary, Bloody Mary, by Carolyn Meyer. The Constant Princess, by Philippa Gregory. The Spanish Bride, by Laurien Gardner. The Spanish Tudor a novel and close study biography of Mary Tudor, Katherine of Aragon's daughter, by Presscott. Aragon's last Letter to King Henry VIII to which Henry never replied. The hour of my death now drawing on, the tender love I owe you forceth me, my case being such, to commend myself to you, and to put you in remembrance with a few words of the health and safeguard of your soul which you ought to prefer before all worldly matters, and before the care and pampering of your body, for the which you have cast me into many calamities and yourself into many troubles. For my part, I pardon you everything, and I wish to devoutly pray God that He will pardon you also. For the rest, I commend unto you our daughter Mary, beseeching you to be a good father unto her, as I have heretofore desired. I entreat you also, on behalf of my maids, to give them marriage portions, which is not much, they being but three. For all my other servants I solicit the wages due them, and a year more, lest they be unprovided for. Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things. Katharine the Queene.  Queen Katherine of Aragon's Burial place in Peterborough Cathedral Queen Mary, grandmother of the present Queen, ordered that the symbols of Queenship, which included the royal banners of England and Spain be hung above Katherine's grave. Source: Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, pg 301 |  Kimbolton Castle The Castle changed hands several times, and in the mid-15th century extensive building work on the inner courtyard was carried out for Ann Stafford, widow of the Duke of Buckingham. By the 1520s the Castle belonged to the Wingfield family, who had it rebuilt as a Tudor manor house.  Kimbolton Castle in 1880 Death and burial: Katherine who had been in ill health since shortly after Henry banished her from court died January 7, 1536. She was attended by her best friend Maria de Salinas, who had come with her from Spain as a young woman, and her physician, Dr. de la Sa. Henry did not permit their daughter, Mary, to leave Hatfield where she was confined, to attend her mother in her last illness. Before her death, Katherine wrote to Henry a letter expressing her love and care for the future of his soul, imploring his protection for their daughter and asking payment for her attendants. She signed it with a title that she had never relinquished, 'Katherine, Queen of England'. She was accorded only the rites due to the Princess Dowager, relict of Prince Arthur and Infanta of Spain, but she remained Queen in the hearts of her subjects. The route of her funeral cortege was lined with her people who came to pay last respects to their Queen. By contrast, the beheaded body of her rival, the hated Anne Boleyn, would be crammed into an old arrow chest and buried hastily in the floor of the small chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London. Katherine is buried in Peterborough Cathedral. Above her grave in the north aisle is spelled in golden letters, her true title, "Katherine, the Queen" . Katherine is the example that in life there can be worse things than a quick death by 2 seconds of death by a weapon. In life we can not judge those two women, Katherine and Anne but let only to assume by our wild and sometimes "educated" and best "assumed known" guesses. A framed verse by William Shakespeare stands nearby:
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 Henry jousting while Katherine watches, c. 1510 |
 The Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain where Katherine spent most of her childhood |  Katherine's parents: Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille "The most Christan king and queen in all of Christendom" |
  Katherine's first betrothed, Prince Arthur (left) and second King Henry (right) |  Woodcut of the coronation of Henry VIII and Katherine June 24, 1509 |
 Royal Desk with Henry and Katherine's arms |  A portrait believed to be of Katherine's sister, Juana of Castile, mother of the Emperor Charles V, later known as Juana la Loca (Juana the Mad), some believe it's a portrait of Katherine herself. by Juan de Flandes (c.1500) |
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| Katherine's Siblings  Isabella of Portugal (1470-1498) Eldest child of Isabel and Ferdinand. Isabella was wedded to Manuel I of Portugal making her Queen Consort of Portugal. She had child, a son, Miguel de Paz.  Juan of Austerias (1478-1497) Only surviving son of Isabel and Ferdinand. Juan was wedded to Margaret of Austria in April of 1497, he would die six months later from consumption. No surviving children | Katherine's Siblings  Juana the Mad (1479-1555) Second daughter of Isabel and Ferdinand. Juana was married to Phillip the Handsome, they had six children, including Charles V and Eleanor of Hapsburg. When her mother died Juana was to become queen regent of Castile, her father would not accept this but many considered Juana queen none-the-less. When her son Charles turned 20, power was turned over to him. Juana would then spend the rest of her days under house arrest by children due to her mental instability. Maria of Aragon (1482-1517) Third daughter of Isabel and Ferdinand. Maria was the second wife of Manual I of Portugal, making her Queen Consort after her sister Isabella's death. She and Manuel would have 9 children. Her son John III suceeded his father as King of Portugal |
 The arms or coat of Arms of Henry and Katherine of Aragon appear on the Christ Church Gate where Katherine married Henry's brother Arthur in 1501. |   18th Century Engravings Katherine of Aragon many Portraits were done after her death, like many of other wives, ie. Anne Boleyn, Catherine Parr and Katherine Howard. |
 Stained Glass Window of Katherine of Aragon from the beginning of her Reign. |   Wax Figures of Katherine of Aragon, to the left is Katherine of Aragon when she was more young, probably c.1502-1509 by the time she suffered the death of Prince Arthur or the time she was married to Henry, on the right is a copy of Katherine's Portrait by the time she and Henry drew apart from each other, c.1525-26? |
 Statue of a young Katherine. It was erected in 2007 and is located in the Plaza de las Bernardas, Salamanca, Spain. (her homeland) | |
Latest page update: made by LNor19
, Aug 25 2008, 7:51 PM EDT
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