The first of six queen consorts to King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon was a Spanish princess.

She was born on December 16th, 1485, at Alcala de Henares, the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile.

MARRIAGE TO PRINCE ARTHUR (1486-1502)
Betrothed to Henry's older brother, Arthur, by the treaty of Medina del Campo (1489), and came to England in the autumn of 1501 with a huge dowery, after the contract had been renewed several times, to marry Arthur on November 14th. The royal couple lived at Ludlow Castle during the winter, but Arthur too ill and died there on April 2nd, 1502.

MARRIAGE TO HENRY
Catherine was betrothed to Prince Henry in June 1503, but politics held the marriage up until he married her as King Henry VIII on June 11th, 1509 (see betrothal to Henry).

Their daughter, Mary, would later become Queen Mary I, sometimes known as "Bloody Mary".

Catherine failed to produce a son to succeed to the throne and Henry attempted to divorce her - this he achieved by declaring himself Head of the Church of England and breaking with the Roman Catholic Church (see; The English Reformation).

CATHERINE'S BETROTHAL TO PRINCE HENRY A papal dispensation was obtained for this alliance which was within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity. After the death of her husband and Prince Henry's elder brother, Arthur, on April 2nd, 1502, Catherine of Aragon was betrothed to Henry in June 1503. The marriage plans were interrupted on the death of Catherine's mother, Queen Isabella of Castile in 1504 as a struggle developed between her father, Ferdinand II of Aragon and her Habsburg brother-in-law, Philip of Burgundy for control of Castile. The struggle caused Ferdinand II to ally with France and Prince Henry's father Henry VII to ally with Burgundy and the Habsburgs; with the marriage negotiations delayed, Catherine became severely straitened for money. The sudden death of Henry VII on April 21st or 22nd, 1509, led to the reversal of his policy by the young King Henry VIII and his marriage to Catherine on June 11th, 1509.

Bibliography Discuss this Page Hits on this Page Legals Links Locally

Time-Line

This time-line has been generated for this page from our general time-line which you can view by clicking here or on the dates in the left-hand column. To view links to related pages, click here

1485.Dec.16		Birth of Katherine of Aragon, youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile (Spain), the wife of King Henry VIII
	BAAAGBXA BAAAGEFL BAAAGEFM BAAAGEIB
1489		Treaty of Medina del Campo; Katherine of Aragon betrothed to Prince Arthur of England
	BAAAGBXA BAAAGBRG BAAAGEFL BAAAGEIB
1501.Sep.27		Arrival of Catherine of Aragon in England
	BAAAGEIB
1501.Nov.14		Arthur, Prince of Wales married to Catherine of Aragon
	BAAAGBKA BAAAGCCK BAAAGBXA BAAAGBRG BAAAGEFL BAAAGEHI BAAAGEIB
1502.Apr.02		Death of Arthur, Prince of Wales, at Ludlow Castle. His brother Henry becomes heir to the throne Reluctant to return the widowed Katherine of Aragon\'s dowery, Henry VII started negotiations with Aragon and Castile for her marriage to Henry
	BAAAGBKA BAAAGCCK BAAAGBXA BAAAGEFL BAAAGEFM BAAAGBRG BAAAGEHI BAAAGEIB
1503.Jun		Betrothal of Katherine of Aragon to Prince Henry (VIII)
	BAAAGBXA BAAAGEFL BAAAGEIB
1504		Death of Isabella I of Castile. The crown passes to her daughter, Juana the Mad, her father Ferdinand II of Aragon ruling as regent
	BAAAGEFL BAAAGEFM
1506.Nov.26		Death of Queen Isabella of Spain
	BAAAGEFL
1509.Apr.22		Death of Henry VII, his son succeeds to the Crown as Henry VIII, aged 17
	BAAAGBXA BAAAGBRG BAAAGEFL BAAAGBRH BAAAGCLM BAAAGEKW
1509.Jun.11		Marriage of King Henry VIII to Katherine of Aragon
	BAAAGBXA BAAAGEFL
1509.Jun.11+		Cricklade, Highworth and Sevenhampton pass to Catherine of Aragon on her marriage to King Henry VIII
	BAAAGDAF BAAAGEED BAAAGEEL
1509.Jun.24		Catherine of Aragon crowned Queen
	BAAAGEIB BAAAGBXA
1516.Feb.18		Birth of the future Mary I to Henry VIII by Catherine of Aragon at Greenwich Palace
	BAAAGCAB BAAAGBXA BAAAGEFL
1529.Jun.18		Court to hear the case of the King\'s divorce from Katharine by Cardinal Campeggio and Wolseysits at Blackfriars
	BAAAGBXA BAAAGEKW
1531.Jul		Henry VIII exiles his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, fromcourt - she moves to Kimbolton castle
	BAAAGBXA
1533		Marriage of Henry VIII to Katherine of Aragon declared null
	BAAAGBXA BAAAGEFL
1534.Mar.30		King Henry VIII divorces his first wife, Katherine of Aragon
	BAAAGBXA BAAAGEFL
1536.Jan.07		Death Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII, at Kimbolton in Huntingdon She was buried in Peterborough Cathedral
	BAAAGBXA BAAAGCAB

Year   Word/Phrase  BY SUBJECTArts & LiteratureBiographyDisastersEconomicsPoliticsReligionScienceSportsTechnology  

Thomas Cromwell
ELIZABETH BARTON, 'The Holy Maid of Kent '