Catherine of Aragon and the Iconography of the Pomegranate
Throughout her life Catherine of Aragon was heavily associated with her personal emblem: the pomegranate. As a symbol, the pomegranate was closely linked to Catherine’s Spanish heritage, while also having ancient connections to fertility, new life, and good health, relevant to her role as Queen Consort of England. Remaining closely associated with Catherine today, the persistence of the pomegranate serves as a counter to Henry VIII’s vindictive arguments against her during the divorce crisis and highlights her often overlooked political role during many successful years of queenship.
The symbolism of the pomegranate:
The pomegranate has long been a symbol of fertility and regeneration. In Greek mythology, it is associated with the story of Hades and Persephone which explains the changing of the seasons. In the myth, the lord of the underworld, Hades, kidnaps Persephone, the daughter of the goddess, Demeter. Persephone is tied to the underworld after eating pomegranate seeds until a compromise is reached with Demeter, who has prevented the growth of fruit or crops in her daughter’s absence. It is agreed Persephone will spend half of the year in the underworld and the other on earth, with spring and the new life it brings marking her return. The pomegranate has also been associated with fertility in major religions including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. In medieval and Renaissance Christian art, the pomegranate would often feature in depictions of the Madonna and Child or the Unicorn tapestries which symbolised the resurrection of Christ. Additionally, the pomegranate’s medical properties have been recognised since Ancient Rome, leading it to be associated with good health.
All these associations were incredibly relevant to Catherine’s queenship, particularly as Henry VIII’s father, Henry VII, had assumed the throne through battle following a 30-year dynastic dispute known as the ‘Wars of the Roses’. As a result, his position had been threatened and, so, ensuring the Tudors appeared strong and healthy, as well as securing the future of the dynasty through a male heir was vital. However, there is also a very clear and personal association with the pomegranate for Catherine. In 1492, when she was a child, her parents, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, successfully conquered Granada, taking the last Muslim stronghold for the Catholics following a centuries long fight for control of Spain known as the ‘Reconquista’. As ‘Granada’ was the Spanish word for pomegranate, the fruit was incorporated into Ferdinand and Isabella’s coat of arms to celebrate their victory. In using the pomegranate as her personal emblem, Catherine was not only cementing her image as an ideal English queen, but also highlighting the dynastic strength of her parents.
Catherine’s queenship and the pomegranate:
Catherine of Aragon’s queenship is often overshadowed by the divorce crisis which ended it, but Catherine enjoyed almost two decades as a successful, respected monarch. Catherine had initially arrived in England in 1501 as the intended bride of Henry VIII’s older brother, Arthur, a marriage her parents had been negotiating since she was two years old to create an Anglo-Spanish alliance. However, sadly, Arthur became ill and died after just months of marriage, leaving Catherine vulnerable. Her mother-in-law, Elizabeth of York, continued to take an interest in her wellbeing, but her position became even more precarious when Elizabeth died in childbirth in 1503. Catherine’s widowhood saw her face poverty and isolation as her father, Ferdinand, and father-in-law, Henry VII, argued over who should support her. However, in 1507 Ferdinand named her Spanish ambassador in England, a position she held in an official capacity, becoming the only woman in the 16th-century to do so.
The death of Henry VII in 1509 saw his second son assume the throne as King Henry VIII. Henry brought Catherine out of isolation through marrying her. A papal dispensation was granted for the marriage as Catherine had been previously married to Henry’s brother, although, importantly, she claimed this had never been consummated. Despite how it would eventually end, Henry and Catherine appear to have initially had a positive and harmonious relationship. As a young king, Henry VIII was known for his confidence and charisma and as queen, Catherine was very popular, presenting an image of a gentle, pious mother-like figure to the English people. This was supported by public actions such as washing the feet of poor women on Maundy Thursday. Throughout Catherine’s successful partnership and marriage to Henry, the pomegranate appeared frequently in manuscript books, as highlighted by historians Hope Johnston and James Carley. This is exemplified in a manuscript presented by Sir Thomas More in honour of Henry and Catherine’s joint coronation which featured a pomegranate and Henry’s symbol, the Tudor rose, entwined under a crown. The pomegranate and Tudor rose were also used to decorate official documents, such as a charter granted to Chichester in November 1526.
Additionally, the pomegranate featured in woodcut illustrations, including in a set of books printed by Wynken de Worde which shows Catherine and Henry seated under their respective symbols of the pomegranate and rose. It was also used in stained glass windows and architecture from the period, as well as Catherine’s personal objects, such as clothing, jewellery and household items, such as candlesticks and cutlery. One of the most significant examples is a heart-shaped locket discovered in 2019 engraved with Henry and Catherine’s initials which features pomegranates in its design. Henry adopted his wife’s symbol himself, having it incorporated into his suits of armour. The pomegranate also became part of the royal ceremony. In 1516, Henry’s sister, Margaret Queen of Scots, returned to London which was marked by days of celebrations joined by Henry’s other sister, Mary Tudor, the former Queen of France. A musical manuscript was made in honour of this, depicting Margaret, Mary, and Catherine’s symbols of daisies, marigolds, and pomegranates respectively, surrounding a Tudor rose.
As Hope Johnston points out, symbols and imagery were one of the primary modes of communication in the 16th-century and the pomegranate became a shorthand for referring to Catherine herself. The symbolism of the pomegranate would therefore have been easily understood. The association with fertility, for example, was highlighted in one design of a tree with eleven ripening pomegranates following the successful birth of Catherine’s daughter, Princess Mary. The pomegranate also represented the accepted patriarchal hierarchy between King and Queen, with illustrations often featuring the Tudor rose prominently, while the pomegranate was within detail or decoration, or placed below the rose. While this highlighted that Catherine was expected to be subservient to Henry, it also demonstrates that she had successfully cultivated an image as an ideal, non-threatening Queen consort while maintaining political influence.
Following on from her role as ambassador, Catherine’s position was strengthened by her international family connections, most notably her nephew, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1513, Henry made Catherine co-regent while he oversaw a military campaign in France. During this time, Catherine oversaw a war against Scotland, including a major victory for England at the Battle of Flodden Field. In 1520, when Henry sought a French alliance through the Field of the Cloth of Gold, Catherine worked to oppose this without undermining Henry’s authority through ensuring her nephew, Charles V, visited England before the French meeting. She also wore both Spanish and English symbols to emphasise her loyalty both to her husband and the Spanish alliance.
The King’s Great Matter:
By the mid-1520s, the relationship between Henry and Catherine had begun to break down. Despite Catherine having a number of pregnancies between 1509 and 1518, all except one had ended in a miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death. Only their daughter, Princess Mary, survived past infancy. This did not satisfy Henry’s desire for a male heir. Whether a female monarch would be accepted was unknown, when it had previously been attempted in the 12th-century with the heir of Henry I, Empress Matilda, she was usurped by her cousin, Stephen of Blois, leading to a civil war. Given that Henry’s own father had taken the throne via battle, this does not appear to have been a risk he was willing to take. With these concerns in mind, Henry began to acknowledge Henry Fitzroy, his son with his mistress, Bessie Blount, giving him a residence in London and raising him to the nobility. This created uncertainty around the succession and the security of Catherine and Mary’s position.
Although Catherine’s position was threatened, the pomegranate continued to be used as a prominent symbol and one which emphasised not just Catherine’s legitimacy, but also Mary’s. In his manuscript poem, William Newman expressed his support for Mary at a time Henry was taking considerable interest in Fitzroy, frequently repeating that Mary was “Of rose and pomegarnet”. As Stephen Hamrick argues, through referring to both Henry and Catherine’s personal symbols, Newman was arguing that Mary’s legitimacy and strength as the future Queen came from both Henry and the royal Spanish heritage of her mother which Fitzroy did not share. Additionally, in contrast to the anxieties surrounding Mary being the couple’s only child, Newman counters this through using Catherine’s pomegranate and its associations to present Mary as a powerful, singular heir.
Ultimately, Fitzroy died before Henry in 1536, but by 1527, the lack of a male heir, alongside Henry’s infatuation with Anne Boleyn, led him to attempt to annul his marriage to Catherine. Catherine, however, was not going to take this lying down and was determined to protect her marriage and her daughter’s inheritance. She used the popularity she had cultivated as Queen, as well as her international alliances, to oppose Henry. Although she was ultimately unsuccessful, she forced him to wait years for the annulment, with the drawn out divorce crisis becoming known as the ‘King’s Great Matter’. One of Henry’s primary arguments against Catherine was her marriage to his brother, Arthur, pointing to the bible passage, Leviticus 20:21, which states that a man who married his brother’s wife “shall be without children”, to argue the lack of a male heir was a divine punishment. This was countered by a papal dispensation having been granted for Catherine and Henry’s marriage, which the Pope refused to rescind. Catherine also maintained that her marriage to Arthur was never consummated, with concerns around Arthur’s health at the time strongly suggesting she was telling the truth. Ultimately, Henry chose to break from the Pope and the Catholic religion to establish himself as the head of the Protestant Church of England, allowing him to divorce Catherine. Henry treated Catherine incredibly cruelly and punished her for her refusal to concede to his wishes. In 1531, she was banished from court and unable to see her daughter, Mary, something that was painful for them both. Two years later, Henry married Anne Boleyn and Catherine’s estates were stripped from her, leaving her isolated.
Despite the enmity between Henry and Catherine, Jessica Carey-Bunning points to a number of household records which show the pomegranate’s continued use during the divorce crisis, referencing items such as “a gold cup graven with roses and pomegranates, with a red and white rose on the cover” from 1532 and “11 gilt layers with strawberry leaves, “perchering” work, roses, and pomegranates” from 1533. While I could not see reference to Catherine explicitly using the pomegranate imagery to resist Henry, its symbolism aligns well with her defence. While Henry claimed they were destined to be childless, Catherine’s pomegranate represented fertility, serving as a reminder of the couple’s healthy child, Princess Mary. While Henry argued their marriage had never been valid and Catherine was an illegitimate consort, the pomegranate symbolised her family’s dynastic strength and the advantages the Anglo-Spanish alliance brought to England.
The legacy of the pomegranate:
In a similar fashion to how Henry treated symbols related to Anne Boleyn and Cardinal Worsley after their respective downfalls, those related to Catherine, including the pomegranate, were removed or replaced following the divorce. However, even after Catherine’s death in January 1536, they did not disappear entirely and there is evidence of the pomegranate remaining a feature of manuscript books and household items used by the royal family. Hope Johnston suggests potential reasons for this could be the pomegranate being a small enough detail to be overlooked or its association with Catherine becoming less divisive once the immediate controversy had passed. During the reigns of Catherine’s daughter, Mary I, and Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Elizabeth I, the pomegranate’s association with good health meant it became part of the coat of arms of the Royal College of Physicians in 1546 and was included in the arms of Elizabeth’s physician. While this meant other meanings became prevalent, the pomegranate’s connection to Catherine was never lost and persists to this day, with pomegranates being regularly left at her burial site at Peterborough Cathedral.
In the centuries following Catherine’s death, her image has become that of a tragic wronged woman, the divorce crisis overshadowing her many successful years as queen. While the sympathy Catherine has garnered demonstrates that her popularity prevailed over Henry’s smear campaign, historians Maria Teresa Micaela Prendergast and Michelle Beer both highlight that it has also led to her image becoming depoliticised. Catherine’s Catholic and Spanish identities are often neglected in narratives portraying her simply as Henry’s abandoned first wife. In this context, the endurance of the pomegranate is all the more interesting. Through its association with her Spanish heritage, the pomegranate serves as a reminder of Catherine’s personal identity and role in international politics, highlighting a much more complex and much more interesting story of her queenship.
References:
Michelle Beer, ‘“A queenly affinity? Catherine of Aragon’s estates and Henry VIII’s Great Matter’, Institute of Historical Research, 2018, 91:253
Michelle L. Beer, Queenship at the Renaissance Courts of Britain: Catherine of Aragon and Margaret Tudor, 1503-1533, (Boydell & Brewer, 2019)
https://bibliotecanatalie.com/home/f/queen-catherines-arab-andalusian-influence-on-the-tudor-court
https://tudortreasures.net/katherine-of-aragons-pomegranate-emblem/
Stephen Hamrick, ‘’Of rose and pomegranate the redolent pryncesse’: Fashioning Princess Mary in 1525’, Renaissance Reformation, 2017, 40:2
Hope Johnston, ‘Catherine of Aragon’s Pomegranate, Revisited’, Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 2005, 13:2
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/blog/the-queen-and-the-pomegranate/
Patricia Langley, ‘Why a pomegranate?’, BMJ, 2000, 321:7269
Maria Teresa Micaela Prendergast, ‘Catherine of Aragon’s Letters, English Popular Memory, and Male Authorial Fantasies’, Studies in Philology, 118:2
Maria Teresa Micaela Prendergast, ‘For the Debt of Blood: From Rhetoric and Performance in Catherine of Aragon’s Letters to Ferdinand of Aragon and Charles V, 1502-1536, Renaissance Quarterly, 1997, 50:1
Maria Teresa Micaela Prendergast, ‘“Inventions Invented against Me”: The Five Catherines of Aragon at the Blackfriars Trial’, Renaissance Quarterly, 77(2)
Betty S. Travitsky, ‘Reprinting Tudor History: The Case of Catherine of Aragon’, Renaissance Quarterly, 1997, 50:1
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