On This Day: January 7

Queen Catherine

 
     In 1536, Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII of England, died at at Kimbolton Castle in Cambridgeshire.

     Catherine was originally the wife of Henry's older brother - Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, who died in 1502, possibly from sweating sickness. Seven years later, she married Henry to become his Queen consort, and this marriage produced one healthy child who would live to maturity named Mary (who would eventually reign as Queen of England and Ireland). Yet Henry wanted a male heir, and with Catherine being five years older than Henry, it became increasingly difficult for her to become pregnant and produce the male heir that Henry desired. 

     He eventually decided to divorce Catherine and have their marriage annulled on the basis that it was illegal from the start because she had been his brother's widow. Ironically, a papal dispensation was needed to make the marriage lawful and now Henry wanted the church to believe that it had committed an error in 1509. The church refused to do so (in part because Rome was then controlled by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Catherine's nephew), and this resulted in Henry's infamous break from the Catholic Church and the proclamation of himself as head of the Church of England. In this role, he had his marriage to Catherine declared null and void, which paved the way for him to marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn. 

     Catherine refused to recognize the marriage and was banished from court life. She was also forbidden from having contact with her daughter Mary and was officially only known as the Dowager Princess of Wales (not Queen) in recognition of her being the widow of Henry's brother.