Queen Catherine of Aragon
| Catherine of Aragon | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Lucas Hornebolte
|
|
| Queen consort of England | |
| Tenure | 11 June 1509 – 23 May 1533 |
| Coronation | 24 June 1509 |
| Born |
16 December 1485 Archbishop's Palace, Alcalá de Henares, Castile |
| Died | 7 January 1536 (aged 50) Kimbolton Castle, England |
| Burial | Peterborough Cathedral, Peterborough, England |
| Spouse |
Arthur, Prince of Wales (m. 1501; d. 1502) Henry VIII of England (m. 1509; annulled 1533) |
| Issue among others... |
Henry, Duke of Cornwall Mary I of England |
| House | Trastámara |
| Father | Ferdinand II of Aragon |
| Mother | Isabella I of Castile |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Signature |  |
Catherine of Aragon (Spanish: Catalina de Aragón), also spelled Katherine, (16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was the Queen of England from June 1509 until May 1533 as the first wife of King Henry VIII; she was previously Princess of Wales as the wife of Henry's elder brother Arthur.
The daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, Catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the English throne. They married in 1501, but Arthur died five months later on 2 April 1502. In 1507, she held the position of ambassador of the Aragonese Crown in England, the first female ambassador in European history. Catherine subsequently married Arthur's younger brother, the recently ascended Henry VIII, in 1509. For six months in 1513, she served as regent of England while Henry VIII was in France. During that time the English won the Battle of Flodden, an event in which Catherine played an important part with an emotional speech about English courage.
By 1525, Henry VIII was infatuated with Anne Boleyn and dissatisfied that his marriage to Catherine had produced no surviving sons, leaving their daughter, the future Mary I of England, as heir presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the throne. He sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events that led to England's schism with the Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters. In 1533 their marriage was consequently declared invalid and Henry married Anne on the judgement of clergy in England, without reference to the Pope. Catherine refused to accept Henry as Supreme Head of the Church in England and considered herself the King's rightful wife and queen, attracting much popular sympathy. Despite this, she was acknowledged only as Dowager Princess of Wales by Henry. After being banished from court, she lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, and died there on 7 January 1536. English people held Catherine in high esteem, and her death set off tremendous mourning.
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Wikipedia