Katherine of Aragon

The Queen of Earthly Queens

Katherine of Aragon was born a Spanish princess. For political reasons, a wedding was arranged between her and Arthur, the heir to the throne of England. Unfortunately, he died young. She was then married to his brother, Henry VIII.

Henry and Katherine were husband and wife for over twenty years. Katherine had many pregnancies but only her daughter Mary (later Mary I, or Bloody Mary) survived to adulthood. Katherine was a staunch Roman Catholic and a very decisive person. She was noted as having appealed to her husband for clemency for prisoners. When Henry was away in France, Katherine ruled England as Regent in his place.

As Katherine got older, Henry realised that she was unlikely to give him a son. Henry had already been unfaithful to her, notably with Mary Boleyn, a court lady. Henry then fell in love with Mary's sister, Anne Boleyn, but Anne refused to sleep with him.

Henry tried to rid himself of Katherine so he could marry Anne. He based his case for an annulment on the grounds that Katherine had previously been married to Arthur.

Katherine naturally did not want her daughter to be cast aside as illegitimate, and she did not want to be cast aside herself. She resisted Henry's attempts to have their marriage dissolved. Katherine pointed out that she and Arthur had never consummated their marriage, so even the main plank of his divorce case was in doubt. It is highly unlikely that such a devout woman as Katherine would lie. She was backed up in her resistance to Henry's attempts to cast her aside by her nephew, the King of Spain, who had the Pope under his thumb. But in the end, Henry succeeded in divorcing her and marrying Anne, although he had to bring the Reformation to England, reject the Pope's authority, and kill a lot of people to do so.

Henry refined his cruelty to Katherine by not permitting her to see her daughter Mary unless both Katherine and Mary admitted that Anne was the rightful queen. But neither of them would give in.

Katherine, still in love with the man she insisted was still her husband, went to her death alone.

Immortalised as "The Queen of Earthly Queens" by Shakespeare, Katherine is remembered for being a merciful and pious woman, a loving mother, and a strong person who defied a king.

Read more about Katherine of Aragon, or read about the second wife, Anne Boleyn.