Biography
Katharine was born on 16 December 1485 at Alcala de Henares, in the
archbishop of Toledo's palace. Her early life promised a future of
splendor and success, if not personal happiness. Her parents, Ferdinand
of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, were legends throughout Europe.
Their marriage had united the kingdom of Spain and together they had driven
the Moors from Granada. Katharine's mother was deeply pious and very
intelligent. Her children, even the daughters, received excellent
educations. Katharine's brother Juan and sister Joanna were married
off into the powerful Hapsburg family and two other sisters, Isabella and
Maria, would each marry the king of Portugal. Katharine was promised
to England; the betrothal contract was finalized before her fourth birthday.
The island nation, so long torn between Plantagenet cousins vying for the
throne, was now ruled by Henry Tudor. He had married the daughter
of the former Plantagenet king, Edward IV, and in 1486 had a male heir
and a desire to establish the stability and validity of his new dynasty.
A match with a Spanish princess would give him both. And so Katharine,
proud and solemn and accompanied by a vast dowry, came to England in 1501.
She wed Prince Arthur within a few weeks of her arrival. It was
a grand celebration; all of London rejoiced and there was every expectation
of a glorious future for both husband and wife. They left for Ludlow
Castle, the government seat of the Prince of Wales, and within six months
Arthur was dead. It was the dreaded sweating sickness. The
news devastated his parents. Katharine returned to London but was
not sent home. Henry VII was already writing to her parents about
another marriage.
Katharine was now promised to Arthur's younger brother, Henry.
Born 28 June 1491, he was almost six years younger than Katharine.
But he was robust and healthy, and already regarded as a precocious intellect.
Before his brother's death, he had been destined for the church and educated
accordingly. But now he was the future king and as such he needed
a future wife. Henry VII betrothed young Henry to his brother's widow,
a plan which required a papal dispensation. Ferdinand, at odds with
France, was anxious to please his English ally; Isabella's piety may have
ruined the plan but she was dying and did not protest. Katharine
and her duenna, Dona Elvira, both wrote that her marriage to Arthur had
never been consummated. Pope Julius II granted the dispensation.
The new betrothal may have been spurred by Henry VII's legendary avarice.
Katharine had brought half of her dowry with her upon marriage to Arthur;
if she returned home, her marriage contract required that the dowry be
returned. Also, her inheritance as dowager Princess of Wales was
substantial. If she left England, so would that steady income.
Katharine herself wrote
to her father that she had no wish to remain in England but she would
obey his decision. Perhaps she had already learned enough of Henry
VII's character to know she would be shabbily treated. Despite her
royal position, she lived in poverty. The Spanish ambassador was
forced to buy her necessities and she was unable to pay her attendants.
And soon enough Henry VII was implying that he would break the Spanish
betrothal. Katharine spent the next seven years in a state of political
limbo. And when he turned fourteen, Henry VII had his son publicly
repudiate the betrothal, claiming that the marriage contract was made without
his knowledge or consent. Yet Katharine remained in England.
In 1509, the situation was resolved with startling speed. Henry
VII died and his eighteen year old son became king. Handsome, proud,
and imbued with the romantic spirit of chivalry, he promptly married Katharine.
Did he marry her out of a sense of obligation? Was it because, as
he later claimed, he wished to respect his father's last wish? Were
political councilors encouraging the Spanish alliance? Or did he
love the dignified and lovely young princess? It is impossible to
know. But they certainly acted like a loving and affectionate couple,
far beyond typical royal marriages. There were public displays of
affection, declarations of love and respect, and for a long while she was
also a close political adviser.
Henry VIII's court was full of gaiety and celebration. It was
a welcome change from the austerity of his father's rule. Katharine
proved herself to be the perfect consort, even when politics led her father
to humiliate and betray Henry. Katharine recognized that she must
choose between unwavering support of her father and loyalty to her husband.
She chose Henry, though his Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, never trusted
her and instead favored an Anglo-French alliance. His influence,
and Henry's own suspicions, led the king to disregard her political advice.
Katharine's primary duty was both personal and political - to bear children,
as many as possible and preferably sons. This was especially important
in England since Henry VIII was the sole surviving son of his father.
Katharine was far from barren and did her best; in the first nine years
of their marriage, she conceived at least six times. She miscarried
twice, once delivered a stillborn daughter, and two sons died within weeks.
The only surviving child was a daughter, Princess Mary, born in 1516.
Katharine's last recorded pregnancy was in 1518, when she was thirty-three
years old.
Henry was not unhappy with the birth of Mary; he assured ambassadors
that if it were a daughter this time, a son would surely follow.
But it was soon clear there would be no sons. The age difference
between he and Katharine was now more noticeable. The queen, struggling
with frequent pregnancies and constant stress, looked older than her years.
Henry was a far more prudent king than most; he had just two serious affairs
during his marriage to Katharine. But one of his mistresses, Elizabeth
Blount, bore him a son. It was clear he could have sons, but the
queen could not.
By 1527, the question of the succession was the most pressing issue
facing the king. Two years before, he had titled his illegitimate
son the duke of Richmond and granted him vast estates. Many, Katharine
included, believed this was a preliminary step to naming him heir to the
throne. This never occurred and Richmond would die in 1536, but -
until then - it was a possibility. Henry sent Princess Mary to Ludlow
Castle as Princess of Wales and his official heir, but even that did not
stop the rumors or her mother's concerns. Katharine confronted Henry;
he responded angrily and dismissed several of her beloved Spanish attendants.
The king by now had hopes of a legitimate heir. He had fallen
in love the year previously with a young Englishwoman, Anne
Boleyn. She was the sister of a former mistress and refused to
take that position herself. Henry, who was also deeply pious and
a student of theology, now took a closer look at his marriage to Katharine.
In particular, he looked at the text in Leviticus which seemed to directly
reference his own life - 'If a man shall take his brother's wife it is
an unclean thing..... they shall be childless.'(Leviticus, XX, 21)
Of course, they were not childless but a daughter was not the heir he
needed. No woman had attempted to rule England since the disastrous
Matilda centuries before. Henry now firmly believed that his incestuous
marriage had been doomed from the start.
But how could he annul the marriage? He needed to convince the
current pope, Clement VII, that the dispensation of his predecessor was
inadequate. It directly contradicted the Bible and had no merit.
This should have been a simple enough matter. Royal marriages had
been annulled for far less. But Katharine's nephew, Charles V, was
the Holy Roman Emperor and he had no intention of allowing his aunt to
be cast off. This was not out of personal love or loyalty, but a
purely political stance. And after the 1527 'sack of Rome', Charles
controlled the pope.
Henry was soon thwarted, despite extensive work by Wolsey and other
advisers. For her part, Katharine was kept in the dark for as long
as the king could manage it. But she was no fool. She knew
of the romance between her husband and Mistress Boleyn; she knew Henry
avoided her company, though he was scrupulous about attending official
functions with her. He had always respected her unassailable dignity
and eloquence. He did not wish to fight Katharine; he wanted an amicable
end to their union and he was prepared to be generous.
When news of his intentions became official, she was given counsel but
only that chosen by the king. She turned to the Spanish ambassador
and close friends at court for support. Anne Boleyn was not popular
and Katharine was a respected and beloved queen. The king soon came
under popular scorn for his plans.
But Henry was as firmly convinced of the righteousness of his cause
as Katharine was of hers. He had read the Bible; he had debated the
issue with prominent theologians; he even sponsored hearings of the case
at European universities. Both king and pope knew there was a valid
basis for the annulment, and a pressing national need for it. Clement
could have granted it without troubling his conscience. And with
the spread of Lutheranism in the German states, Clement had no wish to
antagonize the loyal and devoted king of England.
But the English king could not be helped at the Holy Roman Emperor's
expense. This was soon made abundantly clear.
The pope prevaricated; he could do little else. And for several
years, the 'King's Great Matter' consumed England and fascinated Europe.
Henry inevitably tired of the endless parade of papal legates and repetitious
hearings. He was growing older and Anne was growing impatient.
Her youth was being wasted to no purpose, she told the king. Meanwhile,
Katharine encouraged Mary to be obstinate in protecting her rights as princess.
Mary lost her father's favor and was forbidden to visit her mother.
Finally, in 1533, Henry did the only thing he could to end the marriage
- he rejected the authority of the Holy See and declared himself Supreme
Head of a new Church of England. His archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas
Cranmer, issued the long-awaited decree of nullity. Katharine was
no longer queen of England but 'Princess dowager of Wales'. Princess
Mary was now illegitimate, and rumors spread that Anne Boleyn had finally
succumbed to the king and was pregnant.
Katharine was exiled from court and to a succession of damp and unpleasant
castles. She had but a handful of servants for few would call her
queen and she refused to be called princess. It was a mark of her
early education that she was meek, deeply pious and believed in obedience
to her husband - but she was also a proud and intelligent princess of Spain.
She would never allow her dignity, or that of her daughter, to be destroyed.
In the end, this stubborn spirit did both her and Mary far more harm than
good. Katharine was undoubtedly truthful when she declared her marriage
to Arthur unconsummated but the truth was cold comfort in the last years
of her life.
Her final years were lonely and sad; the Spanish ambassador kept her
informed of outside events and smuggled letters to her daughter, but she
was often ill and at prayer. The wrongs she had suffered from Henry
filled her with sadness rather than anger. Perhaps she was inspired
by her motto, Humble and Loyal, for that is how she remained.
She died at Kimbolton Castle on 7 January 1536, three weeks after her
fiftieth birthday. There were rumors that she had been poisoned.
But if Henry had been so inclined, he would have attempted it years before
and spared himself much trouble. A lingering illness and the psychological
effects of her exile were the obvious causes. She was buried at Peterborough
Abbey with all the ceremony befitting the widow of the prince of Wales.
Henry did not attend the funeral; we do not know if he read Katharine's
last
letter to him. It was a love letter and she signed it 'Katherine
the Queen'.
The tragedy of their annulment was that both he and Katharine were equally
convinced of their causes. For the modern reader, both arguments
are persuasive. It is an ironic footnote to her life story that Katharine,
such a devoted and pious Catholic, unintentionally brought the Reformation
to England.