The recently-widowed young Catherine of Aragon, by Henry VII's court painter, Michael Sittow, c. 1502

Catherine of Aragon (December 16, 1485 – January 7, 1536; Spanish: Catalina de Aragón) was queen consort of England as Henry VIII of England's first wife. Henry annulled his twenty-four year marriage to her after she produced only one female heir, Mary I. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Henry VII (January 28, 1457 – April 21, 1509), King of England, Lord of Ireland (August 22, 1485 – April 21, 1509), was the founder of the Tudor dynasty and is generally acknowledged as one of Englands most successful kings. ... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events August 22 - Battle of Bosworth Field is fought between the armies of King Richard III of England and rival claimant to the throne of England Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. ... January 7 is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events February 2 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina. ... King George V of the United Kingdom and his consort, Queen Mary A queen consort is the wife and consort of a reigning king. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... Catherine of Aragon The wives of Henry VIII, of England were: 1. ... Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. ... Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 6 July 1553 (de jure) or 19 July 1553 (de facto) until her death. ...

Princess of Aragon and Castile

Born in Alcalá de Henares, Catherine was the youngest surviving child of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile and, as a third-great-granddaughter of Edward III of England, a fourth cousin of both Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York. Alcalá de Henares is a Spanish city. ... Ferdinand and his wife Isabella of Castile Ferdinand II (Fernando de Aragón in Spanish and Ferran dAragó in Catalan), nicknamed the Catholic (March 10, 1452 – June 23, 1516) was king of Aragon, Castile, Sicily, Naples, Valencia, Sardinia and Navarre and Count of Barcelona. ... Isabella of Castile (Spanish: Ysabel, Isabel or Isabela) (22 April 1451 - 26 November 1504) was queen of Castile. ... Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377) was one of the most successful English kings of medieval times. ... Henry VII (January 28, 1457 – April 21, 1509), King of England, Lord of Ireland (August 22, 1485 – April 21, 1509), was the founder of the Tudor dynasty and is generally acknowledged as one of Englands most successful kings. ... Elizabeth of York (February 11, 1466–February 11, 1503) was the Queen consort of King Henry VII of England, who she married in 1486, and the mother of King Henry VIII. She was born at Westminster, the eldest child of King Edward IV and his own Queen consort Elizabeth Woodville...

Princess of Wales

Catherine first married Prince Arthur, the oldest son of Henry VII of England, in 1501. As Prince of Wales, Arthur was sent to Ludlow Castle on the borders of Wales, to preside over the Council of Wales, and Catherine accompanied him. A few months later, both of them fell prey to an infection which was sweeping the area. Catherine herself nearly died; she recovered to find herself a widow. Catherine testified that, because of the couple's youth, the marriage had not been consummated; Pope Julius II then issued a dispensation, so that Catherine could become betrothed to Arthur's younger brother, the future Henry VIII. Arthur Tudor (20 September 1486 – 2 April 1502) was the eldest son of Henry VII of England. ... Henry VII (January 28, 1457 – April 21, 1509), King of England, Lord of Ireland (August 22, 1485 – April 21, 1509), was the founder of the Tudor dynasty and is generally acknowledged as one of Englands most successful kings. ... Events Alexander becomes King of Poland. ... The eldest son of the reigning monarch ofEngland/Great Britain is traditionally invested with the title of Prince of Wales. ... Ludlow Castle is a large, now ruined castle which dominates the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England. ... National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Waless location within the UK Official languages English(100%), Welsh(20. ... Alternate uses: see widow (typesetting). ... As a verb, consummate means to bring something to its completion, such as a transaction, concept, plan or action. ... Pope Julius II Julius II, né Giuliano della Rovere (December 5, 1443 - February 21, 1513), was pope from 1503 to 1513. ... Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ...

Queen consort of England

The marriage did not take place until after Henry VIII ascended the throne in 1509, the marriage on June 11, followed by the coronation on June 24, 1509. Both as Princess of Wales and as Queen, Catherine was extremely popular with the people. She governed the nation as Regent while Henry invaded France in 1513. Events February 2 - Battle of Diu took place near Diu, India. ... June 11 is the 162nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (163rd in leap years), with 203 days remaining. ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... Events February 2 - Battle of Diu took place near Diu, India. ... A regent is an acting governor. ... Events January 20 - Christian II becomes King of Denmark and Norway. ...

Henry VIII supposedly married Catherine of Aragon at his father's dying wish and was happily-enough married to her, although not faithful, for 18 years, until he became seriously worried about getting a male heir to his throne as she approached menopause. Her first child was stillborn in 1510. Prince Henry, Duke of Cornwall was born in 1511 but died after 52 days. Catherine then had a miscarriage, followed by another short-lived son. On February 18, 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London, she gave birth to a daughter named Mary (later Queen Mary I of England). There was another miscarriage in 1518. A male heir was essential to Henry. The Tudor dynasty was new, and its legitimacy might still be tested. No queen had ever ruled England successfully in her own right. The disasters of civil war were still fresh in living memory from the Wars of the Roses (1455 - 1487). Menopause (also known as the Change of life or climacteric) is a stage of the human female reproductive cycle that occurs as the ovaries stop producing estrogen, causing the reproductive system to gradually shut down. ... The expected result of pregnancy is the birth of a living child. ... Events Conquest of Pskov by Grand Prince Vasili III of Muscovy. ... Henry, Duke of Cornwall was the name of two sons of King Henry VIII of England and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. ... Events Diego Velázquez and Hernán Cortés conquer Cuba; Velázquez appointed Governor. ... Miscarriage is the lay term for the natural or accidental termination of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or the fetus is incapable of surviving. ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events March - With the death of Ferdinand II of Aragon, his grandson Charles of Ghent becomes King of Spain as Carlos I. July - Selim I of the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Mameluks and invades Syria. ... The Palace of Placentia was an English Royal Palace built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1428, in Greenwich, London on the banks of the River Thames. ... This page is about Greenwich in England. ... Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 6 July 1553 (de jure) or 19 July 1553 (de facto) until her death. ... Events A plague of tropical fire ants devastates crops on Hispaniola. ... For other uses, see inheritance (disambiguation). ... The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor (Welsh Twdwr) is a series of five monarchs of Welsh origin who ruled England from 1485 until 1603. ... A civil war is a war in which the competing parties are segments of the same country or empire. ... The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) is the name generally given to the intermittent civil war fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York. ... Events February 9 - Wars of the Roses: Richard, Duke of York dismissed as Protector February 23 - Johannes Gutenberg prints the first Bible on a printing press May 22 - Wars of the Roses: First Battle of St Albans - Richard, Duke of York and his ally, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick defeat... Events Richard Fox becomes Bishop of Exeter. ...

Catherine at the time Henry began his affair with Anne Boleyn

In 1520, Catherine's nephew Charles V paid a state visit to England, and the Queen urged the policy of gaining his alliance rather than that of France. Immediately after his departure, May 31, 1520, she accompanied the king to France on the celebrated visit to Francis I, remembered (from the splendors of the occasion) as the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Within two years, however, war was declared against France and the Emperor once again made welcome in England, where plans were afoot to betroth him to Henry and Catherine's daughter Princess Mary. old catherine of aragon This is an official portrait of the queen painted from life around 1530. ... Events January 18 - King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde. ... Charles V Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V (Spanish: Carlos V) (24 February 1500–21 September 1558) was effectively (the first) King of Spain from 1516 to 1556 (in principle, he was from 1516 king of Aragon and from 1516 guardian of his insane mother, queen of... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining, as the last day of May. ... Events January 18 - King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde. ... Francis I (French: François Ier) (September 12, 1494 – July 31, 1547), called the Father and Restorer of Letters (French: le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres), was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547. ... The Field of Cloth of Gold was a spectacular meeting in June 1520, near Guisnes in France, between Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France. ...

Henry was keeping a succession of mistresses. Catherine was not in physical condition to undergo further pregnancies. The marriage was further soured by trouble made by Catherine's father, Ferdinand, over payments of her dowry and by a shift of allegiance on the part of Ferdinand, who signed a treaty with the French, to Henry's fury. Because of the lack of heirs, Henry began to believe that his marriage was cursed and sought confirmation from two verses of the biblical Book of Leviticus, which said that, if a man marries his brother's wife, the couple will be childless. He chose to believe that Catherine had lied when she said her marriage to Arthur had not been consummated, therefore making their marriage wrong in the eyes of God. He therefore asked Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage in 1527. Mistress is the feminine form of the word master. ... A pregnant woman, or gravida Human pregnancy refers to the process by which a human female carries a live offspring from conception until childbirth. ... A dowry (also known as trousseau) is a gift of money or valuables given by the brides family to that of the groom to permit their marriage. ... Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, also the third book in the Torah (five books of Moses). ... For the antipope (1378-1394) see Antipope Clement VII. Clement VII, né Giulio di Giuliano de Medici (May 26, 1478 – September 25, 1534) was pope from 1523 to 1534. ... Events January 5 - Felix Manz, co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptists, was drowned in the Limmat River in Zürich by the Zürich Reformed state church. ...

The Pope stalled on the issue for seven years without making a final judgement, partially because allowing an annulment would be admitting that the Church had been in error for allowing a special dispensation for marriage in the first place, and partially because he was a virtual prisoner of Catherine's nephew Charles V, who had conquered Rome. Henry separated from Catherine in July 1531, and secretly married one of Catherine's former ladies-in-waiting (and sister of his former mistress Lady Mary Boleyn), Anne Boleyn in January 1533, a bigamous marriage. Henry finally had Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, annul the marriage himself on May 23, 1533. To forestall an appeal to Rome, which Catherine would have almost certainly won, he had Parliament pass the Act of Supremacy, repudiating Papal jurisdiction in England, making the king the head of the English church, and beginning the English Reformation. Rome - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... Events January 26 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake-- thousands die October 1 - Battle of Kappel - The forces of Zürich are defeated by the Catholic cantons. ... Lady in Waiting is an album by American southern rock band The Outlaws, released in 1976. ... The Lady Mary Boleyn (c. ... Anne Boleyn, a 19th-century painting based on a disputed sketch by Hans Holbein the Younger. ... January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... Events January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. ... Polygamy, literally many marriages in ancient Greek, is a marital practice in which a person has more than one spouse simultaneously (as opposed to monogamy where each person has a maximum of one spouse at any one time). ... Thomas Cranmer (July 2, 1489 - March 21, 1556) was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of the English kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. Born in 1489 at Nottingham, Cranmer was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge and became a priest following the death of his first wife. ... Arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop of the state Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion, outranking the other English archbishop, the Archbishop of York. ... May 23 is the 143rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (144th in leap years). ... Saint Peters Basilica in Rome. ... First Act of Supremacy 1534 The Act of Supremacy, 1534 (26 Hen. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ...

Later years

Catherine refused to acknowledge the divorce and took the issue to the law, but she lost and was forced to leave Court. She was separated from her daughter (who was declared illegitimate) and was sent to live in remote castles and in humble conditions, in the hope that she would surrender to the inevitable; but she never accepted the divorce and signed her last letter, "Catherine the Queen". By this time, she was aware that Henry's marriage to Anne was turning sour, and she had not ceased to hope that he might one day return to her. A royal or noble court as an instrument of government broader than a monarchical court of justice comprises an extended household centered on a patron who may hold imperial, royal, grand ducal, electoral or other rank. ... Illegitimacy was a term in common usage for the condition of being born of parents who are not validly married to one another; the legal term is bastardy. ...

Catherine died of a form of cancer, at Kimbolton Castle, on January 7, 1536 and was buried in Peterborough Cathedral with the ceremony due to a Princess Dowager of Wales, not a Queen. Henry did not attend the funeral, nor did he allow Princess Mary to do so. Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell division and the ability of these cells to invade other tissues, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue (invasion) or by migration of cells to distant sites (metastasis). ... Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, is best known as the final home (or prison) of King Henry VIIIs first queen, Catherine of Aragon. ... // Events February 2 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina. ... Peterborough Cathedral from the south east, circa 1898 Peterborough Cathedral - west prospect in the seventeenth century Peterborough Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, and is very unusual amongst medieval cathedrals in Great Britain because of its triple front (dominated by the statues of the three... Princess of Wales is a courtesy title possessed automatically by the wife of the Prince of Wales since the first English Prince of Wales in 1282. ...

Film, TV and fiction

Catherine was first portrayed on the silver screen in 1911 by Violet Vanburgh in a production of William Shakespeare's play Henry VIII. Nine years later, the German actress Hedwig Pauly-Winterstein played Catherine in the film Anna Boleyn. Later, actress Rosalie Crutchley played Catherine in The Sword and the Rose an acount of Mary Tudor's romance with the duke of Suffolk in 1515. Crutchley later played Henry's sixth queen Catherine Parr in The Six Wives of Henry VIII. This article is about Mary Tudor, queen consort of France. ... Catherine Parr (about 1512 - September 7, 1548), also spelled Katharine, was the Queen Consort of Henry VIII of England 1543-1547; the last wife of his six. ... The Six Wives of Henry VIII was a series of six plays produced by the BBC in 1971. ...

It was not until 1969, in Hal B. Wallis's acclaimed movie Anne of the Thousand Days that Catherine appeared again. This time she was played by the Greek actress Irene Papas. A year later, in a 90-minute television drama produced by the BBC, British actress Annette Crosbie played the most historically-accurate version of Catherine in a piece simply entitled Catherine of Aragon as part one in the channel's series The Six Wives of Henry VIII. The drama began on the night Catherine arrived in England and followed through until her early marriage to Henry VIII. It re-commenced almost a decade later, with Henry's manoeuvres to get a divorce in order to marry Anne Boleyn. The play, which co-starred the Australian actor Keith Michell as Henry VIII, Dame Dorothy Tutin as Anne Boleyn and Patrick Troughton as the duke of Norfolk, then chronicled Catherine's life until her death in January 1536. Two years later Claire Bloom played Catherine in another adaptation of Shakespeare's play. Hal B. Wallis (September 14, 1898 – October 5, 1986) was an American motion picture producer. ... Anne of the Thousand Days is an Academy Award-winning 1969 costume drama, directed by Charles Jarrot. ... Irene Papas (born September 3, 1929) is a Greek-born actress who has starred in over 70 films with a career spanning over 50 years. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was formed in 1927 by means of a royal charter. ... Annette Crosbie (born February 12, 1934) is a British character actress, best known for her many television appearances. ... The Six Wives of Henry VIII was a series of six plays produced by the BBC in 1971. ... Dorothy Tutin (1930-2001) was a highly-regarded British actress of stage, film, and television. ... Patrick George Troughton (March 25, 1920–March 28, 1987) was a versatile and prolific British actor. ... Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is a British actress. ...

In 1973, in the movie Henry VIII and his Six Wives, Frances Cuka played Catherine and Keith Michell reprised his role as Henry VIII. A scene was incorporated between Ms. Cuka and Charlotte Rampling (playing Anne Boleyn) to show their quiet, glacial enmity. Charlotte Rampling Charlotte Rampling OBE, (born February 5, 1945 in Sturmer, Essex, England, United Kingdom) is a British actress and former model (her height is 5 7). She attended Jeanne dArc Academie pour Jeunes Filles in Versailles and St. ...

It was not until 2001 that Catherine again appeared on the screen. This time it was in Dr. David Starkey's documentary series on Henry's queens. She was portrayed by Annabelle Dowler, with Julia Marsen as Anne Boleyn. Dr David Starkey (born January 3, 1945) is one of the UKs best-known historians, and a specialist in the Tudor period. ...

In 2003 Catherine appeared twice on British television. In January, Spanish actress Yolanda Vasquez made a brief appearance in the wildly-inaccurate The Other Boleyn Girl, opposite Jared Harris as Henry VIII and Natascha McElhone as Mary Boleyn. In October, the ITV 2-part television drama, Henry VIII starred Ray Winstone in the title role and Asumpta Serna as Queen Catherine. Part 1 chronicled the king's life from the birth of his bastard son, Henry Fitzroy until the execution of Anne Boleyn (played by Helena Bonham-Carter) in 1536. David Suchet co-starred as Cardinal Wolsey. Jared Harris (born August 24, 1961) is an British actor. ... Natascha Taylor (born March 23, 1971 in Hampstead, London, England) is a British television and movie actress. ... The Lady Mary Boleyn (c. ... Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales the channel was recently rebranded ITV1 by ITVplc who own the regional broadcasting lisences for the regions. ... Raymond Andrew Winstone (born February 19, 1957 in Hackney, London), better known as Ray Winstone, is a British actor. ... Illegitimacy was a term in common usage for the condition of being born of parents who are not validly married to one another; the legal term is bastardy. ... Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset (June 15, 1519 – June 18, 1536) was the son of Henry VIII and his teenaged mistress, Elizabeth Blount, the only bastard that Henry acknowledged. ... Helena Bonham Carter (born May 26, 1966; surname: Bonham Carter) is a British actress renowned for her portrayal of pre- and early 20th century female characters, particularly in Merchant Ivory films. ... David Suchet (born May 2, 1946) is a British actor best known for his television portrayal of Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot. ... Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (c. ...

Catherine's story appears in fiction: Katharine of Aragon by Jean Plaidy, a trilogy recently published under one volume. Also, for younger readers, Catherine's story is told in Patience, Princess Catherine by Carolyn Meyer.

Historiography

For centuries, Catherine had been revered by many as a saint-like figure. She became a symbolic representation of the wronged woman and was presented in an extremely favourable light.

This view was first challenged in 1860 by historian G. A. Bergenroth. He had seen the Spanish royal archives, and believed that the universal praise of Catherine of Aragon needed "to be more or less lowered." Bergenroth's research formed the basis of the work of modern British historian, Dr. David Starkey, whose recent book, Six Wives gives a full account of Catherine's talent for intrigue and less-than-perfect cultural awareness. Joanna Denny also takes a firmer line with Catherine than historians of previous generations, and criticised her savagely in her 2004 biography of Anne Boleyn. Catherine is described by Denny as "arrogant, stubborn, even bloody-minded". Nevertheless, Catherine still has her ardent admirers; chief amongst them is the historian Alison Weir, author of The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Henry VIII: King and Court. Weir makes no mention of Bergenroth's findings. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alison Weir (born 1951) is a popular British writer of history books for the general public, mostly in the form of biographies about British kings and queens. ...

These revisionists were greeted with derision by Catherine's admirers. Starkey insisted that he had meant no disrespect and he argued that Catherine would have been both naïve and foolish to try and survive in the 1500s without employing espionage and political subterfuge. He believed that these tactics, which he highlighted in his book Six Wives, are a tribute to Catherine's intelligence. Even so, those who insist upon seeing Catherine as some kind of saint were outraged. The blame for Catherine's maltreatment has always been attributed to her successor, Anne Boleyn. Now a new generation of historians seem to be suggesting that neither Catherine nor Anne can be blamed; they both simply reacted to circumstances, and Catherine would have done the same to Anne if she had the opportunity. Another assessment, which was put forward by several authors, including the American feminist Karen Lindsey, is that neither woman should be blamed, and that instead the true culprit for Catherine's misery in her final years was her husband, Henry. It was convenient for his contemporaries to blame Catherine's exile upon Anne instead. Historians today are trying to construct a more balanced portrait of all six of Henry's queens, including Catherine. It is also interesting to note that, after Catherine, there was not a princess of Wales until the the 18th century.

Despite being the first in a series of six wives of Henry VIII, she was married to him the longest and reigned as queen consort the longest of all six, having been married to Henry and been Queen of England for 24 years until Henry married Anne Boelyn . Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... King George V of the United Kingdom and his consort, Queen Mary A queen consort is the wife and consort of a reigning king. ...

Anne Neville (June 11, 1456 - March 16, 1485) was queen consort of King Richard III of England 1483-1485. ... Princess of Wales is a courtesy title possessed automatically by the wife of the Prince of Wales since the first English Prince of Wales in 1282. ... Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 6 July 1553 (de jure) or 19 July 1553 (de facto) until her death. ...

Catherine of Aragon The wives of Henry VIII, of England were: 1. ... Anne Boleyn, a 19th-century painting based on a disputed sketch by Hans Holbein the Younger. ...

External links

• tudorhistory.org - A good overview of Catherine's life, accompanied by an excellent portrait gallery
• englishhistory.net - An in-depth look at Catherine's life and times
• tudorhistory.org - Tales from the Tudor Rose Bar: a humourous look at the Tudor Royal Family