Catherine of Aragón

Catherine of Aragón (1485-1536), queen of England (1509-1533), who, as the first wife of King Henry VIII, occupies a prominent place in history because the question of her marriage to Henry sparked off the Reformation in England. She was the daughter of Ferdinand V and Isabella I, king and queen of Aragón and Castile. Catherine was born in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Henry's father, King Henry VII, hoped to form a binding alliance with Spain when he negotiated the marriage of Catherine and his son Arthur, Prince of Wales. She went to England in 1501 and was married in November, but Arthur died in April of the following year. A few months later Henry VII arranged a second marriage for Catherine with his second son Henry, then 12 years old. A papal dispensation enabling Henry to marry the widow of his brother was obtained in 1503. Henry succeeded to the throne in April 1509 and in June he married Catherine.

Although the marriage was, on the whole, fairly successful, the pro-Spanish sympathies of Catherine brought some difficulties during the periods of French alliance. Catherine bore Henry six children, only one of whom, a daughter, later Queen Mary I, survived.

In 1527 Henry tried to annul his marriage to Catherine so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, who he hoped would give him a male heir to the throne. The pope refused to make a decision on the proposed annulment, and in 1533 Henry was married to Anne by the archbishop of Canterbury. In 1534 the pope finally declared that the first marriage was valid, thus bringing about the alienation of Henry VIII from the Catholic Church. Catherine did not quit the kingdom, but was thereafter closely guarded. During this time she displayed heroic courage and steadfastly refused to sign away her rights and those of Mary.