By the 16th century, Salic Law was not enforced in England, but there had not been a queen on the throne, in her own right, except for Empress Matilda, the heir of Henry I, who was toppled from the throne. Four hundred years later, Henry feared civil war again, the War of the Roses having ended forty years before, and he would not accept his only daughter from Katherine, Mary, as Queen of England.
The King’s “Great Matter”
By 1520, two years after her last pregnancy, it was clear that Katherine was too old to have children, although Henry still held some hopes and remained devoted to her, in spite of his many mistresses. Mary, titled Princess of Wales, was still an only child, but trained to inherit the throne. An heir presumptive to the throne made Henry nervous, but he had a plan to have what he wanted.
Anne Boleyn, Katherine’s maid-of-honor, was the sister of Mary Boleyn, another mistress of Henry. She was educated in overseas, but returned to England in 1522. A few years later, after her sister was said to have an illegitimate child with the king, Anne caught the king’s attention. Not allowing him to take her to bed, Anne led Henry for many years before finally becoming Queen of England.
Katherine thought that Anne was harmless at first, but when it became clear that Henry was thinking of divorcing her and marrying Anne, Katherine was devastated. Even if her marriage to Arthur had not been consummated, Henry would have asked the current pope to have the dispensation overruled. He talked of annulling his marriage to Katherine earlier, because he had no son and the Bible said that marrying the brother’s widow was unclean, but with the growing power of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, Katherine’s nephew, Henry did nothing. However, with his growing need of an heir, Henry ignored the threats of war from the Emperor.
Because of her defiance and his Chancellor’s (Cardinal Wolsey, who died in 1530) inability to grant Henry his divorce, Henry grew impatient. Charles V had sacked Rome in 1527, so the king had little access to the pope, but was granted a court in his own country. At Blackfriars Hall, both the king and queen put in a good defense, but it was Katherine who took the spotlight. Kneeling before Henry, Katherine begged him to consider her plight, a woman in a foreign country. Stating that she had no sexual relation with his older brother, Katherine reminded Henry of their happy years of marriage and their lost children. Lastly, she put herself in Henry’s mercy and left the courtroom, ignoring the calls for her to come back to court.
Katherine’s Later Years
By 1531 – despite all of the support – Katherine was banished from court. Ordered to go from one desolate castle to the next, Katherine obeyed Henry, but refused to title herself the Dowager Princess of Wales, as widow to Arthur. Because of this, Katherine was not allowed to see her daughter, Mary, again, or to write letters to her. Although supporters would help the two, both would not acknowledge Anne as Queen of England.
In May of 1533, Thomas Cranmer, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, announced that the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon was null and void and that the marriage to the former to Anne Boleyn was valid. Anne, pregnant with Henry’s child, was crowned Queen of England that month and was later to give birth to another future queen, Elizabeth.
Mary, serving as a servant for Elizabeth, would be threatened with execution along with her mother, but would survive Henry’s reign. However, Katherine would not. Traveling from one crumbling castle to the next for the remaining years left to her, Katherine finally settled in Kimbolton Castle in 1535. Because of her worsening illness, Katherine was confined to one room, where she slept, wrote and heard Mass.
In December of 1535, Katherine knew that her end was near and wrote her will and a last letter to her husband. In it, she begged Henry to reconsider what he has done and to be careful with his soul. In the end, pleading for him to be a good father to Mary, Katherine adds that she always loved her husband, despite everything done to her.
On January 7, 1536, Katherine died. At her autopsy, it was said that her heart had a black growth on it, making her supporters whisper about poison (recent medical science report that Katherine had died from heart cancer). Afterward, she was buried at Peterborough Cathedral, where her body still lays, always covered in flowers and other decorations.
Katherine’s daughter, Mary, would spend many more unhappy years, but finally became Queen of England in 1553. During this reign, the marriage of both of Mary’s parents was declared valid and honor was paid to her at last.
See also: Katherine of Aragon: Tudor Princess and Queen
Sources:
- Weir, Alison. King Henry: The King and His Court. Ballatine Books: New York, 2002.
- Weir, Alison. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York: Grove Printing, Inc., 2000.
Emily Swearingen - I don't consider anything special about me. I'm just a regular college student writer. However, because of reading, I got into writing. ...
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