Prince Arthur - Son of Elizabeth of York
Brother of Henry VIII And Husband Of Queen Catherine Of Aragon
Apr 19, 2009
Born in November 20th 1486, his birth cemented the union of Lancaster and York which had been formed at the marriage of his parents on January 18th 1486. His father was Henry VII, the victor of Bosworth Field in August 1485 and his mother was Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and sister of the infamous princes in the Tower. Their marriage unified the country in peace and the birth of their son cemented this unity.
Marriage Of Prince Arthur
Arthur was soon followed by several siblings, but only three were to survive: Margaret, born in 1489, Henry, born in 1491 and Mary, born in 1496. From the time Arthur was two years of age, his parents planned the great alliance of England and Spain, in which Arthur was to play a key part. The marriage of Prince Arthur and Princess Catherine of Aragon, youngest daughter of King Ferdinand of Aragon, was to take place when the bride was fifteen. Little did Henry VII know, but this marriage would lead to the Reformation and the break with Rome.
The marriage was to take place on November 14th 1501. The bride could speak barely any English, but the groom and more importantly the groom’s father, approved of her beauty. Whether or not this marriage was consummated would become a question that nobody could have comprehended being brought up some thirty years later. Prince Arthur was claimed to have said to an attendant, ‘last night, I was in Spain.’ This was taken to mean that the marriage had indeed been consummated. Whether it was a teenage boy bragging about his recent conquest or not though, people thought little of it at the time.
Death Of Prince Arthur
In early April 1502 both Catherine and Arthur fell dangerously ill at Ludlow Castle, in Wales. Here, Arthur was to die on April 6th, aged only fifteen years old. Catherine soon recovered though. To prove how much people believed their marriage had been consummated, Arthur’s brother Henry was delayed in being announced Prince of Wales, because of the possibility that Catherine may be pregnant. Henry VII proposed that Catherine marry his younger son, once he was of age, so as to continue the alliance between England and Spain. However, this union was to be delayed for years. Some seven years later her father in law died in April 1509 and his youngest son Henry, not quite eighteen, succeeded as Henry VIII. Catherine had almost given up hope on the marriage, until suddenly the union was confirmed and they married on June 24th 1509.
Eighteen years later, in 1527, Catherine’s lack of male issue would lead the King to file for a divorce. The grounds he gave were that the lack of his male issue was due to his brother having first ‘known’ his wife. Henry found a text in the Bible, in Leviticus, which stated that ‘if a man shall know his brother’s wife, they shall be childless.’ Despite having a daughter, a King without a son meant the same thing to Henry. For the divorce to be concluded, the marriage of Catherine and Arthur would have to be examined. Former attendants were called upon to confirm that the marriage had indeed been consummated. However, Catherine was to adamantly claim that when she married the King, she had been ‘a virgin, without touch of man.’ Catherine went on to tell Henry, ‘that whether this is true or no, I put it to your conscience.’ The divorce battle was to continue for years, until in January 1533 the marriage was formally annulled. Catherine was told that she must now call herself Princess Dowager and that her daughter, Mary, was a bastard.
Death Of Queen Catherine Of Aragon
Catherine was forced to retreat from court and lived in dismal conditions at Kimbolton Castle, Huntingtonshire, suffering numerous humiliations, including not being allowed to visit her own daughter until she confirmed the invalidity of her marriage. Catherine, of course, refused and she was to suffer for it until her death on January 6th 1536, aged fifty. Whether or not Catherine’s marriage was consummated can never be answered, as only Catherine and Arthur knew the truth. If Catherine did lie, then it was a white lie, which was done to save her reputation and her daughter’s claim to the throne. However, the divorce was to lead to the Reformation of England, which would change the Kingdom forever.
Sources:
Hilliam, David., Kings, Queen, Bones and Bastards, Sutton Publishing, 1998.
Hilliam, David., Monarchs, Murders & Mistresses: A Book of Royal Days, Sutton Publishing, 2000.
Williamson, David., Kings & Queens of Great Britain, The Promotional Reprint Company, 1991.
