Alternate History - what if Catherine of Aragon had died before Anne became Queen?
When Henry VIII decided he wanted to be rid of his first wife and take another, the impact was much larger than simply who sat on the throne beside him. The King’s “Great Matter” had ramifications that reverberated throughout history. But what if one key piece had happened differently?
Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and his second, Anne Boleyn, died only months apart in 1536. That meant that throughout the majority of Anne’s relationship with Henry and her queenship, Catherine was a constant presence.
But what if she had died in late 1532, before Anne and Henry were secretly married and before she became queen?
It surely would have made Henry’s life easier, but it likely would have also had an impact on many other pivotal aspects of the sixteenth century, such as the “Great Matter”, the break with Rome, the succession, and Anne’s longevity.
The Great Matter
While the exact timeline for when Anne and Henry’s relationship began is a bit murky, by 1527, it was clear that Henry VIII intended to end his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. However, Catherine was not prepared to go quietly and fought for her rightful position as Henry’s wife and queen.
While it wasn’t common in the sixteenth century, several earlier European monarchs had successfully annulled their marriages. France’s Louis XII’s marriage to Jeanne de France was annulled in 1498, and Louis VII received an annulment from Eleanor of Aquitaine (who would go on to marry England’s Henry II) in 1152. There was even an English precedent – King John, whose marriage to Isabella of Gloucester was annulled in 1199 due to consanguinity (being related by blood, or sharing a common ancestor).
However, Catherine of Aragon had a powerful ally in her corner when it came to defending her marriage and the legitimacy of her daughter, Mary Tudor – her nephew, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Just as Henry began pursuing an annulment in 1527, Charles's troops sacked Rome, leaving Pope Clement VII effectively at the emperor's mercy. Catherine also had other strong allies on her side, such as Bishop John Fisher and the court of public opinion.
While the “Great Matter” continued to be debated for years, the Pope ultimately declared in March 1534 that Henry’s marriage to Catherine was valid. But by that time, the break with Rome was already underway, and Anne was queen.
If Catherine had died before Anne was formally proclaimed queen in 1533, it’s possible that the Pope would have come to a different decision in an attempt to keep England in the Catholic fold, especially given that tensions between Charles V and Henry eased after Catherine’s passing in 1536. Alternatively, the Pope wouldn’t have needed to give a final verdict at all if Henry didn’t continue to pursue the case, as he would have been considered a widower and free to marry at that point.
However, Henry’s request to not just end his marriage, but to overturn the dispensation issued by Pope Julius II that made it valid in the first place, this put papal authority in question. He argued that Leviticus forbade the marriage under divine law, so no pope could dispense it. With that in mind, Clement still would have faced serious difficulties ruling in Henry’s favour, since doing so risked giving credence to the argument that Julius II had exceeded his papal power.
The Break with Rome
If the matter had been dropped after Catherine’s death or the Pope had been inclined to handle it differently, the Reformation in England may have looked very different.
Before Anne became queen in 1533, the break with Rome was already underway. The clergy’s recognition of Henry as 'singular protector, only supreme lord, and, as far as the law of Christ allows, even supreme head' of the English Church took place in 1531, and the Submission of the Clergy followed in 1532. While major steps had already been taken towards making the English Church independent from Rome, the point of no return hadn’t been reached yet. That came in the spring of 1533 with the Act in Restraint of Appeals and the First Act of Supremacy in November 1534.
While it’s unlikely that Catherine’s death would have prompted Henry to roll back the changes he made, it could have prevented them from going further. If Henry decided the annulment was no longer worth pursuing, it’s possible that England could have maintained ties to Rome while still having a degree of independence and implementing its own reforms. However, some later steps, such as the dissolution of the monasteries, were driven as much by money and the efforts of Thomas Cromwell as they were by Henry’s frustrations with Rome, so they might have gone ahead anyway.
If the First Act of Supremacy had not been put into place, the Treasons Act of 1534, which made it treason to deny the king’s title as Supreme Head, likely would not have been enacted in the same form. This would mean that Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher, who were initially imprisoned for refusing the Oath of Succession, would not have faced the same route to execution or may have avoided it entirely.
The Succession
With Catherine of Aragon’s death, the biggest obstacle preventing Henry from legally marrying Anne and making her his queen would disappear. However, unless the Pope posthumously nullified Henry’s first marriage, Catherine’s daughter, Princess Mary, would still be first in line for the throne until Anne produced a male heir.
The First Act of Succession, which declared Henry’s marriage to Catherine invalid, thus making Mary illegitimate and proclaiming the children of Henry and Anne to be the legitimate heirs, wasn’t passed until March 1534. If Catherine had died before Anne became queen in 1533, there wouldn’t have been a need for this legislation in the form it ultimately took. If the King had still wanted to exclude Mary from the succession, he could have sought to do so through separate parliamentary legislation.
But given that Henry and Anne were both optimistic that their union would produce sons, this may not have seemed like an immediate issue. Until a son came along, Henry was better off having one heir than none.
However, Henry could be vindictive, and after years of effort, he may have been unwilling to walk away. He might well have kept pursuing an annulment, especially if the issue truly weighed on his conscience.
Anne’s life
If Catherine had died before Anne became queen, it likely would have eased some of the tension around Anne’s queenship. After Catherine died in January 1536, there were signs of this within a month. Charles V had signalled that he was open to improving relations with England. The imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, even paid Anne a polite (albeit grudging) deference in April 1536, a gesture widely seen as tacitly acknowledging her as queen. These things likely would have taken place much earlier if Catherine had passed before Anne became queen, minimizing the years of tension and animosity Anne faced throughout her queenship.
Also, if Henry’s first marriage had remained valid and Mary had remained an heir, it might have helped mend fences between Mary and her stepmother. There likely still would have been some resentment, but its tone would have likely been different with Anne as Catherine’s successor rather than her replacement.
Ironically though, historians such as Elizabeth Norton and Claire Ridgway have argued that Catherine living well into Anne’s queenship may have protected Anne. Even prior to Catherine’s death, Henry’s eye had already started to wander from Anne. However, with Catherine still alive, it wouldn’t be easy to set aside his second marriage without dredging up the spectre of his first. By 1536, Henry had invested a lot in proclaiming that his first marriage had never been valid. Dissolving his marriage to Anne would have meant admitting that he was wrong, something Henry did not like to do. It also would have opened the question again of whether or not he was free to marry or if he was still legally married to Catherine of Aragon.
So, while an earlier death for Catherine would have meant an easier queenship for Anne, it also would have meant that she would have been easier to replace.
Conclusion
Catherine of Aragon dying before Anne Boleyn became queen would not necessarily have changed Henry VIII’s ultimate destination, but it could have dramatically altered the route he took to get there. By the early 1530s, Henry had already challenged the Pope’s authority over the English Church, damaged his relationship with Rome, and committed himself to Anne. Catherine’s death could not simply undo everything that had already happened.
But it would have removed one of the greatest obstacles shaping what happened next. Without a living Catherine defending her marriage, Charles V championing her cause, and two rival queens effectively existing at once, there may have been more room for compromise over religion, the succession, and Anne’s place on the throne. And in one of the stranger ironies of Tudor history, the event that might have made Anne Boleyn’s queenship more secure could also have made her marriage considerably easier for Henry to escape.
References:
1. d’Avray, D. L. (ed.), “King John of England and Isabella of Gloucester,” Dissolving Royal Marriages: A Documentary History, 860–1600 (2014), pp. 53–57.
2. History on the Net, “Catherine of Aragon Timeline: Her Life and Times.”
3. Historic Royal Palaces, “Katherine of Aragon.”
4. Thurston, H. (1908), “Pope Clement VII,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 4.
5. Pollen, J. H. (1911), “English Post-Reformation Oaths,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 11.
6. UK Parliament, “Act of Supremacy 1534.”
7. Gairdner, J. (ed.), Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Vol. X: January–June 1536 (1887).
8. Fletcher, C. (2012), “Henry versus Catherine: Who’s Who in the Diplomacy”, The Anne Boleyn Files.
9. Ridgway, C. (2025), “Jane Seymour – Pawn, Player, or Perfect Queen?”, The Anne Boleyn Files.
10. Ridgway, C. (2020), “18 April 1536 – Chapuys Bumps into Anne Boleyn”, The Anne Boleyn Files.
11. Norton, E. (2013), The Boleyn Women: The Tudor Femmes Fatales Who Changed English History, Chapter 11, “The Fall of the Boleyns.”
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