Katherine of Aragon died on this day in 1536, the longest-serving of Henry VIII’s six wives. Far from the stereotype of Henry’s unexciting older wife, Katherine was a hugely popular queen, married by Henry for love, as a desirable young princess as soon as he became king. A pioneer defying the English notion of queenly behaviour, she was Europe’s first female ambassador and defeated a Scottish invasion as Regent of England, killing James IV, while Henry was campaigning in France. Throughout the nine years from the beginning of divorce proceedings against her to her death, she maintained that she was Henry’s only wife and the only Queen of England, despite the cost to her and her daughter Mary. She died at Kimbolton Castle in Huntingdonshire after a long decline, probably from cancer, abandoned by her husband and prevented from seeing Mary despite the fact that she too was seriously ill. A thorn in Henry’s side to the end, Katherine wrote a will as though she were a royal widow and able to leave her possessions where she wished. She left her remaining property to her servants and daughter, ignoring Henry entirely. He was able to seize the inheritance nevertheless, but this was not easy to achieve without admitting that he had been her husband, and so Katherine stood in his way a final time. I wrote about Katherine for the first time in The Other Boleyn Girl, and was so impressed by the woman behind the stereotype image that I wrote a book entirely about her: The Constant Princess. My most recent novel, The King’s Curse, shows her great achievements and cruel treatment from the perspective of her life-long friend Margaret Pole, who she met when she was the teenaged wife of Prince Arthur. Katherine was a determined and dignified woman, and it has been a pleasure to research her life. Heres a link to her bio on my website. philippagregory/family-tree/katherine-of-aragon
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 16:07:00 +0000
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