(Cover image – © Unknown Artist – Reddit)
The 16th December is a notable date in the Tudor calendar as it marks the birth of on the most famous Queen Consorts in English history – Catherine of Aragon. For many, Catherine’s story begins on 11th June 1509 following her long-awaited marriage to the new King Henry VIII, with information of Catherine’s childhood being somewhat neglected by historians. However, Catherine’s fruitful upbringing and the relationships she forged in her early life, particularly with her mother, played a significant role in the creation of the formidable and altruistic Tudor Queen we know and love today.
Catherine’s story begins in the early hours of the morning some 537 years ago when the Kingdom of Spain rejoiced over the arrival of a healthy baby girl. Not a boy that many had anticipated and hoped for, but a princess no less who would serve well in forging new dynastic alliances between Spain and the rest of Europe. The infanta, also known as Catalina, was the youngest surviving child of two of the most powerful Catholic monarchs at the time - Isabela I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon- whose marriage was triumphant in establishing the Kingdom of Spain in 1469.
Isabela’s pregnancy with Catalina was certainly no ordinary one. The warrior queen disregarded the long-established sacred rituals of confinement and instead took an active role in the military campaign against the Moors in the summer of 1485. Catalina clearly inherited her mother’s gallantry and military vigor, as 30 years after her mother’s infamous campaign, during the Battle of Flodden in 1513, Catherine, now Regent of England played a central role in claiming victory against the Scots. Portrayals in media such as The Spanish Princess depict the young Queen valiantly leading her army into the battlefield, donned in a mental armor, hugging her heavily pregnant figure. Sadly, much of this portrayal is a fabrication of the truth as Queen Catherine certainly did not go into battle. She did, however, participate in the military logistics, strategy, and management of the campaign. Furthermore, some reports say she gave a speech to the soldiers which emulated the courageous fire of her mother Queen Isabela I.
Now, back to 1485 where following her military crusade, Isabela made her way to Alcala in the winter in preparation for the royal birth. The family settled at court for a short while to celebrate both the Christmas festivities and Catalina’s birth through banquets and elaborate gift giving. The princess was swaddled in the finest Breton linen and slept on a brand-new cot filled with two pounds of fresh cotton. The entourage of women in charge of baby Catalina’s care included a maid called Elena de Carmona, who cradled the infant princess as she slept and bathed her in a brass basin lightly dusted with perfume and adorned her in scarlet cloth.
One tradition Isabela did stick to following the birth of Catalina was wet nursing, as monarchs were expected to hastily return to royal duties once they had recovered from childbirth. On the occasion of Catalina’s baptism, which commenced just a short few days after her arrival into the world, the princess was dressed in a green and white velvet gown embellished with gold lace. Such hues complimented her fair skin and auburn hair which she inherited from her mother.
Shortly after the baptism, the monarchs returned to the road, with Ferdinand returning to wage war against Granada, whilst Isabela and her children, including baby Catalina returned to the Queen’s birthplace in Madrigal where they stayed for the rest of the winter.
This was Catalina’s first journey across Spanish land, but certainly wouldn’t be her last. In fact, the young princess spent the first 15 years of her life travelling with her parents and siblings.
With each new city the royal family entered came a pompous public procession. Such grandiose spectacles put both Ferdinand, Isabela and all five of their children on display to their subjects. It served as a physical symbol of the immense power the royal family had not only in Spain, but to the rest of the world too. From the very beginning these ostentatious exhibitions informed the young Catalina of her importance and the role she would play in maintaining dynastic security across Europe. With each new procession, the family or “travelling city” as chroniclers called it, attracted a wealth of influential people including diplomats, lawyers, lords, and bureaucrats as well as the family’s primary household staff such as cooks, cleaners, governesses and tutors. It is fair to say, that uprooting the household for each new campaign was an extremely meticulous and complex process, which was no doubt exhausting for the young princess.
Isabela’s decision have Catalina alongside her during the majority of her travels proved monumental in forging the princesses’ highly enriched and educated character. Each new landscape immersed the young infanta in an array of complex and multifaceted customs, cultures, languages, social practices, arts, perspectives and even fashion. Wherever the family went, they made sure to employ high ranking women to inform them on what type of fabric, style of headdresses and clothing to wear when entering each new region. No expense was spared as statistics from the royal treasury at the time noted a substantial amount spent on lengths of velvet, silk, rabbit pelts, precious gemstones and grosgrain hair ribbons.
Even on occasions when Catalina was away from her mother, Isabela still maintained substantial influence over the infanta, further cementing their relationship. Isabela achieved this primarily through the education she bestowed upon all of her children. Contrast to her own upbringing, Queen Isabela I of Castile insisted on all of her children having a thorough and holistic education. Far from rudimentary, Catalina, alongside her sisters and brother were taught an array of humanistic teachings by their tutor Beatriz Galindo. Catalina was also academically versed in history, geology, mathematics, philosophy, and law. In addition, the princess also studied poetry and classical literature, reading the works Juvencus and Prudentius and multiple church fathers. The young infanta also studied a myriad of languages including Castilian, Catalan, Leonese, and galician Portuguese in addition to being fluent in both French and Latin. Of course, Isabela also encouraged her daughters to participate in more traditional ‘feminine’ pastimes such as needlework, embroidery, stitching, hunting, and riding – all skills expected of future Queen Consorts.
Perhaps the most important, and arguably historically defining teachings Isabela provided her children were those on religion. Given Isabela notorious religious devotion (take the Spanish Inquisition as one example) it is no surprise that her children were also subject to strict religious teachings by Dominican priest Andrés de Miranda. Catalina certainly inherited her mother’s feverous piety, more than her other siblings, which not only nurtured the bond between both mother and daughter but also considerably influenced Catalina’s actions later on in life.
From Infanta Catalina to Queen Catherine of Aragon, wife of King Henry VIII, every decision that Catherine made throughout her life was routed in faith. Her admirable stoicism throughout Henry VIII “Great Matter” is just one of the most famous examples of this. And as the Queen aged and uncertainty plagued her later life, Catherine’s faith only became stronger. It is something, even after her mother’s death in 1504 that Catherine held dearly to her and even something she taught her own daughter Mary. Whilst such religious devotion was not an unusual concept at the time, it is certainly commendable given the ruthless measures King Henry VIII took to erase Catholic teachings, make himself head of the supreme church and claim his marriage to Catherine as invalid.
Both Catherine and Mary were willing to endure Henry’s cruel attempts at ostracising the pair from court and from each other in defiance of his demands. Even nearing the end of her life, the ailing Catherine still referred to herself as Queen of England, ardently believing that her marriage to Henry was divinely ordained and by refusing intervention her soul had been saved.
It is hardly surprising, that upon her accession to the throne in 1553, Mary I made it her life’s mission to re-establish Catholicism during her reign. No doubt witnessing her father’s nefarious endeavors in dismantling Catholicism instilled the fury to restore it, but to what extent did her mother’s religious strength and teachings also play a factor?
It is no doubt that Isabela and Catherine’s relationship was a unique and dynamic one, even after Isabela’s death, Catherine continued to possess traits characteristic of her mother which her daughter Mary also ensued.
Therefore, is it fair to ask the question that without Isabela of Castille and her formidable relationship with Catherine, would the trajectory of Tudor history be any different?
- Have a ‘Tudor-fic’ week!
Written by Lucy Palmer-Cooper
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