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Writer's picture Emma Holbrook

Catherine of Aragon – Doomed to a marriage full of infidelity and misery


(Cover image – © Unknown Artist – The National Portrait Gallery)


Our poor dear Catherine’s dream of enjoying a harmonious, loving marriage to her faithful, charming King and to successfully bear him the male heir that he wished for appears to have gone up in smoke, doesn’t it?


One can only imagine the endless suffering she must have silently endured over not just the fact that her husband was cheating on her with numerous women and even choosing some of her own women to slip ‘secretly’ into his bed but the horror of the realisation that, whilst she, a Queen of royal and sophisticated blood, was suffering miscarriages and still-births with each passing pregnancy, one of her husband’s mistresses, a woman of lesser standing and not nearly as half the woman she was, had managed to successfully produce the living male heir that her husband was craving more and more with each passing day.

Nothing can be more tormenting than having to live with the knowledge that your husband had a living son with another woman, can there?


Well… it appears that there can be, in fact.


. . .


To give you the whole story, Catherine and Henry tried relentlessly for a child, despite the lack of love on Henry’s side and the lingering feeling of betrayal on Catherine’s side.

Over the course of their nearly twenty-four-year marriage, Catherine was believed to have conceived six times:


The first pregnancy (as we explored in the previous post) took place in 1510, just shortly after the royal couple were married and officially coronated and resulted in Catherine prematurely delivering a stillborn daughter just seven months into her pregnancy. Of course, Catherine and Henry naturally believed that more pregnancies would occur, and an heir would eventually be born considering their youth.


Not long after, Catherine fell with child with her second child and happily delivered a baby born whom they named Henry, Duke of Cornwall—this son, tragically, would die just fifty-two days after his birth. This child’s death is believed to have been the most devastating and most difficult to accept by the King and Queen.

Her third pregnancy would prove to have the same fatal end for Catherine as on the 17th of September 1513, Katherine delivered another son whose death is still unknown as it is believed that this child might have been born alive but died seconds after birth or might have been delivered a still born. This is the very pregnancy in which Catherine rode out to Scotland during the war, heavily pregnant, to encourage the English armies to defeat the ones of Scotland and it is believed Catherine delivered well before her due date and well before her husband returned to England after being away for the war with France. And the same would happen with the delivery of another stillborn son in 1514.


Thankfully, Catherine’s fifth pregnancy would not result in her having to say ‘goodbye’ and bury yet another child as the couple’s sole surviving heir was born on 18th February 1516 but there was just one problem—it was not the son they were desperate for; it was a girl. And we will discuss this pregnancy further on in this post along with her sixth and final pregnancy in 1518.


. . .


Before we discuss the Queen of England’s fifth pregnancy and how this would affect the course of events that followed, you might be asking yourself the question ‘how on earth did Catherine put up with such disrespectful behaviour on her cheating husband’s behalf?’


And the answer might just shock you.

Whilst the notion of Kings straying from the marital bed and taking mistresses was not necessarily uncommon during this times—in fact it was more common than not with the exception of Henry’s own father, Henry VII, proving one of the few medieval English Kings who loved their wife and Queen enough to remain loyal and not allow their eyes to wander upon the lovely women that filled their court—but this did not mean most Queens willingly accepted it.


Then again, most royal brides were brought up with the knowledge that men are known to wander and enjoy the pleasures of other women whilst women were not permitted the same pleasure as it would ruin them for life so you can understand why Catherine chose to follow in the footsteps of the cheated-on Queens before her and just bite her tongue in public and probably scorn her husband when the doors were closed.


However, Catherine might have learned how to ‘deal’, for lack of a better word, with her husband’s constantly infidelity through observing the marriage of her parents; King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella—whose marriage was also riddled with infidelity and conflict, although Isabella’s pregnancies ended a little more blissfully than her ill-fated daughter’s did.


. . .


Catherine’s parents had a marriage quite similar to her own in the way that it had been an arranged marriage based on political advances and strategy, however, it was not arranged by their parents or their governments but by themselves!


They willingly allowed the marriage to take place for the good of their kingdoms, not for love. And this is where the problems started.

Not that we are saying the entire marriage was horrible from the beginning or that Ferdinand and Isabella did not have feelings for each other but the argument over whether or not they loved each other is still an intriguing yet unanswered question explored in depth by historians today.


Though the couple shared similar visions for the future of their united kingdoms, respected one another (as it is believed Ferdinand demanded respect from everyone towards his wife) as well one another’s counsel (to the point where they held counsel together and, in the rarest of cases, would hold trial together under the union of both crowns as Ferdinand was King of Aragon and Isabella was Queen of Castile) and the fact that after Isabella’s passing, Ferdinand is said to have been quite distressed and lonely afterwards, there are many aspects of their marriage that hint that their marriage was a loveless one.


From Ferdinand initially disrespecting Isabella as she was not the ‘rightful’ heir to the throne of Castile to trying to take Isabella’s power as ruler of Castile away to him even scheming to take control of Castile and their daughter Juana not long after Isabella’s death, the list of the ‘evidence’ for their marriage being a loveless one is endless.


But one of the most important aspects that hints towards their marriage being a loveless one is that Ferdinand had no shame nor regret in constantly cheating on his wife, from the very second their marriage begun and until their marriage ended with Isabella’s death. His cheating was so often that it infuriated Isabella and she held nothing back in terms of hurling her fury towards her husband in public and in private (which some historians believe proves that she at least loved him in some regard)—and it is from her father’s cheating and her mother’s quite unladylike reaction that Catherine might have learnt how to respond to her husband’s cheating in a more refined and ladylike manner.

If you look throughout history, never once does she publicly tell her husband off for his infidelity, it is only through witness accounts or private responses being shared with the English court that we learn she did not approve of her husband sharing his body with another.


And so, she was nothing but respectful and dignified in her manner of dealing with a husband who clearly couldn’t keep it in his pants or realise that he was causing distress in his wife.


. . .


The reason why this is important to mention is because a reason for why Catherine’s pregnancies might have ended so catastrophically is because of her husband’s infidelity.


No, this is not a reference to sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) as your thoughts might have immediately raced to.


No.


We are talking about the impact that Henry’s affairs being public knowledge to not just the Queen, but the English court might have had on the Spanish Queen.


It is a well-known fact that stress can be quite dangerous for a pregnant woman, especially a heavily pregnant one, as it can distress the baby and, in the worst of cases, cause the woman to have a miscarriage or not take proper care of herself whilst pregnant, therefore leading to complications during delivery and post-birth.


In my humble opinion, I do believe that Henry’s constant cheating might have heavily distressed Catherine during her pregnancies, especially with the knowledge that he had fathered an illegitimate child shortly after she herself suffered another loss, so this might have been a reason for why Catherine might not have been able to deliver healthy children as her physical and mental health had been negatively impacted at the fault of her husband. Also, there is a theory that it might have indeed been Henry’s fault behind why his wife was unable to give him the heir he wanted but with him having a son with Bessie Blount, many do not take this theory consideration, but we will explore this theory at a later date.

Having to suffer through numerous child losses as well as your husband making a mockery of you and your marriage by parading his mistresses through court is something no woman should deal with and thankfully, the women of today have taken a lesson from their female ancestors and now decide to cast away their unfaithful lover and find true love with someone who respects them enough not to cheat.


Shame Henry can’t take a page out of modern people’s books on ‘how to not cheat on your wife/partner’, isn’t it?


. . .


So, what changed during Catherine’s fifth and only ‘successful’ pregnancy to result in her finally being able to deliver a healthy child?


The answer?


Henry stopped sleeping around so much?


Ha! As if!


God took pity on them?


Catherine took better care of herself?


Pure luck?


Maybe.


All that we know is that on 18th February 1516 at around 4am, Queen Catherine of Aragon safely delivered a healthy baby at Greenwich Palace, Kent. Despite everyone’s shock at the Queen finally delivering a healthy, living baby, everyone present at the birth would have been praising the Queen for her delivery of the long-awaited heir—


But wait, there was something wrong.


Something horribly, horribly wrong with the baby that the Queen had just delivered.


What could it be?


It was healthy, practically fully formed and seemed to be crying like a normal new-born baby would so what was the problem?


You see, the Queen still did not perform the task assigned to her by her husband and King correctly, as the child she brought forth into the world was not the healthy male heir she prayed hopefully for, no—it was a girl.


Christened Princess Mary Tudor on or about the 21st of February of the same year in the Chapel of Observant Friars at Greenwich, the birth of Princess Mary was naturally still celebrated by the King and Queen and their people as the Queen had still delivered a royal child.


But the King could not completely hide his disappointment, nor could the Queen hide her sorrows that the healthy child she had delivered was not a boy, however, this does not mean to say that Mary was not instantly beloved by her parents.


No, far from it.


Her christening was a grand affair, and her parents celebrated the arrival of their beautiful daughter wholeheartedly.


Henry VIII is famously quoted for stating that ‘we are both young, if it was a daughter this time, by the grace of God, the sons will follow’.


At least he said they can continue trying?


Hope for the ‘true’ heir to the throne of England still lived on.


But this hope would all come crashing down with the failing of Catherine’s sixth and final pregnancy and could possibly have been the trigger point for Henry’s later decision to divorce his wife and take a second.


. . .


Nearly two years later and following a suspected ‘phantom’ pregnancy, the Queen would conceive and deliver for the last time as her age worked harshly against her (she was in her thirties which was considered a difficult age for a woman to conceive or deliver a healthy child, obviously nowadays it’s much different) and her husband growing impatient for the arrival of a son, her final pregnancy would work against her as in November 1518, at just eight months into her pregnancy, Catherine delivered a weak baby girl who died within mere days, leaving Catherine heartbroken once more.


Her heartbreak wasn’t just for the daughter she had lost but the realisation that this would be her final chance to provide her husband with the heir he desired and that her daughter’s chance of sitting upon the English throne might be swept out from under her feet and the crown given to Henry’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy who would be born the following year through Henry’s long-term mistress Bessie Blount, as Henry was considering legitimizing him shortly before the end of his marriage to Catherine (and he wouldn’t have been the first English King to do so in such desperate times).


. . .


There was no safety net for her now, all Catherine could do was play the dutiful wife and pray that the birth of her daughter could lead to she and her husband arranging an advantageous marriage so that Mary could be Queen but only if she married another royal, perhaps someone from Catherine’s own country who could come to England just like she had, all those years ago.


Therefore, Catherine resigned herself to being a respected Queen and an excellent mother to her sole surviving child, Mary. And this meant that she began, alongside her husband, searching for suitable marriage arrangements for her daughter in countries such as France, Spain (her homeland), Italy and even Germany, as these countries were deemed the most powerful at the time.


As for the King and Queen, they maintained their public appearances together which can be seen with Catherine’s accompaniment of her husband to France for an arranged meeting with Francis I, the King of France, at the famous ‘field of the cloth of gold’ in 1520, an event that is well known to history and is considered a critical part in Henry VIII’s reign.


‘The Field of the cloth of gold’ acted as a meeting in which the engagement of Princess Mary, who was four years old at this point, and Francis III, who was two years old at this point, as their marriage would act as a means of securing the Anglo-French alliance since England and France had long been at war and this alliance would secure both parties some power within their neighbouring kingdom. However, this alliance would be one of the many marriage arrangements for both Mary and Francis III that would come to an end for ‘better options’ as Mary would later be arranged to marry Charles V in 1521 as he was one of Catherine’s countrymen and Henry thought it best to keep the alliance between England and Spain alive.


Catherine believed that her daughter would act as a way of showing that in producing just a female heir, you could still change the course of history and keep the kingdom great.


And whilst Catherine would be right in knowing that her daughter would change the course as history as she would become Queen of England in her own right as Mary I or as she has been very rudely nicknamed as ‘Bloody Mary’, sadly Mary would not help her keep her husband’s desire for a male heir under wraps.


In fact, it is from 1520 onwards that new threats and lasting problems would arise for the disgraced Spanish Queen and one—or should we say two—of them would be the arrival of Henry’s new mistresses, Mary and Anne Boleyn…



- Have a ‘Tudor-fic’ week!

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