The heir and the spare. This is what a good Queen should be able to produce, in order for the line of succession to pass along smoothly. If, God forbid, something were to happen to that all important first-born male heir, then there would be second male to take their place. Even if there were a host of daughters available, in Tudor England this was not the daughter’s purpose; they are to be married off to form alliances. The throne was for sons, and their own sons after that.
When a Prince was born to King Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth, England rejoiced. Not only was it a Prince as they had prayed for, but this finally sealed the alliance between the houses of Lancaster and York. A child born from the two families of the War of the Roses would ensure that England would be at peace, as the succession of the Tudor dynasty was secured. He was even named Arthur, after the old English King of legend. It was hoped by all that he would live up to his namesake, and rule over a prosperous and safe England. This is an awful lot to have put upon a tiny babe, who’s life had been mapped out for him before he was even out of his cradle.
(Cover image © Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021)
When Arthur had a sibling, in his little brother Henry, the King and Queen must have felt an incredible sense of achievement; they had their Prince of Wales, and a secondary brother to go and work for the church. More sons after that would obviously have been ideal, but the essential ‘heir and the spare’ had been completed.
What then seemed a perfectly secure dynasty was thrown into absolute chaos with the news that the beloved Prince, the future of the Tudor line, was ill. It all happened so quickly that the King and Queen were only informed of his death, rather than being told Arthur was even sick.
It is known that Arthur had a delicate constitution, most likely as he was a premature baby. Living in the damp castle of Ludlow to fulfil his Prince of Wales duties mustn’t have aided in his health either. When the marriage between himself and Catherine of Aragon finally took place when he was fifteen years old, her physician noted he had ‘never seen a man whose legs and other bits of his body were so thin’ (1). He was in quite stark contrast to his younger brother Henry, who was extremely vivacious, strapping, and absolutely full of life. One can’t help but wonder if Arthur himself had noticed this, and compared himself with his baby brother. Or, was it simply that Arthur was tall and gangly, and hadn’t quite filled out yet as he was still so young?
(Image © Pinterest)
In 1502 they had been in Ludlow for only a short while, ruling as joint Prince and Princess of Wales. In April of that year, there seems to be a sickness that came upon the castle. It’s been argued that it was the sweating sickness, which was a mysterious disease in Tudor England. The effects were rapid; you could be having breakfast in great health, and be dead by dinner. It manifested as a headache, followed by violent shivers, which would then break out into an inexplicable sweat. You would either recover after a day, or be dead by the end of it. Both Catherine and Arthur became sick, but Catherine was the only one to survive the ordeal. It’s thought that Catherine survived due to her constitution being stronger than Arthurs; if he was truly a sickly man prior to marrying Catherine, it wouldn’t have taken a lot to end him.
When told of his death, the Tudor court went into deep mourning, though his parents didn’t attend his funeral. This is likely due to the fact that if indeed it was a the sweat he died of, it couldn’t be risked to have any further members of the family die from it. Catherine herself was still too weak and in recovery; she wasn’t told of her husband's death until a little later. Arthur’s body had the usual Tudor practices placed upon it; internal organs removed, his body embalmed, and laid out in state at Ludlow. His heart is traditionally known to be buried in the chapel there. Again, this happened with great speed, for as he died from this sweating sickness they didn’t know how contagious it was. To have his body dealt with and sealed up in lead quickly was for the betterment of the entire castle.
When his body was laid out in state, it allowed time for the King to make arrangements for his funeral, as befitting a Tudor Prince. There was nothing in place for this; no provisions, no funeral cortege, no elaborate tomb design….truly showing that this came as a complete shock for everyone. After all, why on earth would you have prepped for the death of a fifteen year old? From Ludlow, on the 25th April, his body was taken in a great funeral procession to Worcester Cathedral, to be buried in a vault near the high alter. Acting as chief mourner was Thomas Howard, and other roles were filled by Arthur’s companions from Royal court in training at Ludlow, including Sir Richard Pole. Even though it wasn’t far from Ludlow, the journey to Worcester Cathedral was hellish; being Wales, the rain there didn’t hold off, even for a Prince! It was arduous to trapse through the wind and the rain, and with so many in the funeral procession, the ground became replete with mud, making it harder and harder to move. Eventually they arrived at the Cathedral, and the City was at a complete standstill in order for their Prince to be laid to rest in peace. The emotions ran high for the mourners, and it was said ‘he had a hard heart that wept not’. (2) After the service, as with any monarch or person of high rank, came the time to break the staff of office. This would be people of note from their household, and they would quite literally break their oath to serve the deceased by shattering their wand of office, and throwing it into the vault with the body. They would also throw in things like banners etc, signally their oath to serve was over. The Prince was laid to rest in the vault, and his household at Ludlow was broken up. Over the next few years, King Henry erected an incredible tomb near the vault, to commemorate his lost son.
As they had been living as man and wife at Ludlow, attention turned to Catherine, and the hope that she was carrying his heir. When she was ordered back to London, the train was told to travel extremely slowly, in case it caused a miscarriage. This would ensure the relationship between England and Spain remain intact, as it would be a final link to hold them all together. Famously, we know the story of Catherine after her fateful marriage, and the endless did she or didn’t she sleep with Arthur debate. As Katherine and Arthur were both so young, we can only assume that it was just blind hope from all that a piece of Arthur could have survived this tragedy. Catherine was extremely saddened by the loss of her young husband, and even more at a loss as to where she should now go, as she was no longer the Princess of Wales.
The end of Arthur’s life was a devastating blow to King Henry and Queen Elizabeth; the son whom they both loved was not only gone, but the future of the Tudor dynasty with him. Arthur had been trained, and was still training, in the ways of Kingship. His whole education, his companions, ruling of the Welsh Marches, marriage to a Princess of Spain, had all been engineered to ensure England had a secure and powerful future. This went up in flames with their heir passed away. Prince Henry automatically took over this role, but he was not prepared in the way that Arthur was. The King and Queen tried to beget another heir to revert back to the ‘heir and a spare’ motto, but sadly this was ill advised, as Elizabeth died giving birth to a girl.
There is a bit of a conspiracy with regards to Arthur’s death, and if it was engineered to get him out of the way. This would be so that his younger, and seemingly healthier brother, could take over the role as Prince of Wales. It’s difficult to give much credence to this, as having healthy male heirs was so vital; the fact of murdering one, either by poison or some other means, comes over as more than a little illogical. The argument is that why would the King and Queen send their Prince ( with dubious health ), over to Ludlow where it was endlessly rainy and damp. This is traditionally where a Prince would learn Kingship; it’s where the Princes in the Tower were living prior to their move to London. This is just how it was done, and perhaps it was thought that it may be good for Arthur to be over there?
Arthur’s death was the catalyst of so much change, and he is the endless ‘what if’ question of the Tudor world. If he had lived, would Catherine of Aragon had given him sons, to then take over the dynasty? Would they have struggled to get sons, just as Prince Henry did when he became Henry VIII? Indeed, would Prince Henry have made a good man of God, whether he became an Archbishop or some other godly role? Queen Elizabeth wouldn’t have felt the need to embark on a dangerous final pregnancy to replace her beloved Arthur, and may have lived longer than her husband, to see her son become King. There are so many questions that we can never know the answer to, but it’s fascinating to think what might be different today, if it weren’t for that one fateful Spring day at Ludlow.
‘Heere lyeth buried Prince Arthur the first betotten sonne of the right renowed King Henry the seaventh which noble prince departed oute of this transitory lyfe att the castle of Ludlowe in the seaventeenth yeare of this fathers rayne and in the yeers of our Lorde God one thousand fyre hundred and two’ (1)
References:
Hanson, Marilee. "The Death Of Prince Arthur, Prince Of Wales, 1502" <a href="https://englishhistory.net/tudor/the-death-of-prince-arthur/">https://englishhistory.net/tudor/the-death-of-prince-arthur/</a>, February 9, 2015
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