History Lessons

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon was Henry's first wife but Henry was not her first husband; they were married 24 years

Father: Ferdinand II of Aragon
Mother: Isabella I of Castile

Before becoming the Queen of England

She was the Princess of Wales; she was previously married to Henry's older brother Arthur
•They were married only 5 months and a day before he died
•She was only a child when she was betrothed to Arthur (set to marry)
•They married when she was 16, he was 15

After her husbands death

Catherine was widowed at 16 due to the Sweating Sickness

Henry vii (Henry vii and Arthur's father) considered marrying Catherine himself but many things ended that idea

She was then betrothed to Henry vii, who was 5 years younger than her

The Marriage was delayed until Henry was of age but due to her mothers death her "value" In the marriage market was decreased

Her mothers kingdom was inherited by Catherine's older sister Joanna

Catherine and Henry were almost not married because Catherine was Arthur's widow, it is forbade by canon law to marry your brothers widow

Married life to Henry

Catherine was 23 when she married newly throned Henry viii, it had been seven years since her husbands death that she married Henry

She was welcomed and respected by the people of England as their Queen

Pregnancy and births

In August 1509 two months after being wedded Catherine announced her first pregnancy; it was a miscarriage if it had been born the child would have been a girl

May of 1510 four months after she announced she was once again pregnant, she gave birth to a son, in his honor guns were fired from the Tower of London and the city bells were rung, beacons were lit and free wine was distributed to all the population, 5 days after his birth he was christened; the young prince suddenly died when he was only 52 days old

In 1513 she announced she was once again pregnant, she gave birth to a premature baby boy, who was either stillborn or died shortly after death

In June of 1514 she announced she was pregnant once more she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl in January 1515

In the summer of 1515 she announced she was pregnant, but didn't have much faith that she would give birth to an heir because of her previous births and pregnancys, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl on February 18th 1516, she named the baby Mary; Mary did survive

In 1517 Catherine suffered another miscarriage

In February of 1518 she announced her seventh and final pregnancy, she gave birth to another baby girl who died a few hours after birth

Mary was the only child to survive the seven pregnancies

During Mary's life

Academics in women became widely popular because of Catherine, Catherine did teach her daughter but Henry still wanted a male heir

Mary was later betrothed to Catherine's nephew, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

The marriage never did happen

The beginning of an affair

Henry traveled to France and stayed with the Boleyns

When Henry came back Catherine had new ladies in waiting, Anne Boleyn, and her sister Mary Boleyn (a mistress to the king)

Catherine was no longer able to conceive children and Henry believed his marriage to be cursed

Henry then began pursuing Anne Boleyn who was eleven years younger than Henry

Banishing and Death

Henry soon started trying to divorce Catherine but the Pope would not allow it due to laws

But Henry then found a way to get Catherine out

He banished her, and gave her old room to Anne Boleyn

He later annulled his marriage

Catherine would refer to herself as Henry's only lawful wedded wife and England's only rightful queen, and her servants continued to address her by that title until her dying days

Henry refused to let Mary and Catherine see each other or write each, or have any kind of communication unless they called Anne Boleyn the new queen, both refused

Catherine died in 1536 due to heart cancer but back then it was widely believed she was poisoned by Henry or Anne (possibly both)

Henry did not attend the Funeral

He also forbade Mary from attending her mothers funeral