Marriage of Catherine of Aragon (1501/9)

Catherine of Aragon was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella or Spain, and at 16-years-old arrived in England to wed the Prince Arthur, one year her junior. Arthur had always been somewhat frail, and died within months of their marriage. But in the years, decades to come, Catherine would learn that their brief marriage mattered little: it was the night of their wedding that meant everything. She was given the title of Princess-Dowager, and remained in England living a humble and secluded life until 1509.

At Henry VII's 1409 death, his only living son and heir, the seventeen-year-old Henry VIII came to power. He received a dispensation from the Pope Julius II to wed his brother's widow and married Catherine, who became instantly beloved by him and the English people. Catherine took with child almost instantly, but like almost all pregnancies to come, the child was miscarried. Babies continued to be miscarried, born dead, or die within weeks until 1516, when Mary Tudor was born.

Catherine took with child again, but no son was born and she continued to age. It soon became clear that from her Henry would never receive the male heir he and England needed. There were others with claims to the throne as or more solid than his, and the Tudor dynasty would fail without princes; by 1525/6 Henry alas concluded that his marriage was accursed and if he wished for a male heir, he had to cast Catherine and their daughter aside and seek annulment: not simply for himself, but for England.

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