Catherine of Aragon

Queen of England from 1509 to 1533

Catherine of Aragon

Portrait by Lucas Horenbout, c. 1525

Queen consort of England
Tenure| 11 June 1509 – 23 May 1533
Coronation| 24 June 1509

Born| 16 December 1485 (1485-12-16)
Archiepiscopal Palace, Alcalá de Henares, Castile, Spain
Died| 7 January 1536(1536-01-07) (aged 50)
Kimbolton Castle, Huntingdonshire, England
Burial| 29 January 1536

Peterborough Cathedral, England

Spouses|

Arthur, Prince of Wales

(m. 1501; died 1502)​

Henry VIII of England

(m. 1509; ann. 1533)​

Issue
more...|

* Mary I of England

House| Trastámara
Father| Ferdinand II of Aragon
Mother| Isabella I of Castile
Religion| Catholic Church
Signature|

Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: Catharina,[1] now: Catalina; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until its annulment on 23 May 1533. She was Princess of Wales while married to Henry's elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, for a short period before his death.

Catherine was born at the Archbishop's Palace of Alcalá de Henares, and was the youngest child of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. She was three years old when she was betrothed to Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII of England. They married in 1501, but Arthur died five months later. Catherine spent years in limbo, and during this time, she held the position of ambassador of the Aragonese crown to England in 1507, the first known female ambassador in European history.[2] She married Henry VIII shortly after his accession in 1509. For six months in 1513, she served as regent of England while Henry was in France. During that time the English defeated a Scottish invasion at the Battle of Flodden, an event in which Catherine played an important part with an emotional speech about courage and patriotism.[3]

By 1526, Henry was infatuated with Anne Boleyn and dissatisfied that his marriage to Catherine had produced no surviving sons, leaving their daughter Mary as heir presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the throne. He sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events that led to England's schism with the Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters in England. In 1533, their marriage was consequently declared invalid and Henry married Anne on the judgement of clergy in England, without reference to the pope. Catherine refused to accept Henry as supreme head of the Church in England and considered herself the King's rightful wife and queen, attracting much popular sympathy.[4] Despite this, Henry acknowledged her only as dowager princess of Wales. After being banished from court by Henry, Catherine lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, dying there in January 1536 of cancer. The English people held Catherine in high esteem, and her death set off tremendous mourning.[5] Her daughter Mary became the first undisputed English queen regnant in 1553.

Catherine commissioned The Education of a Christian Woman by Juan Luis Vives, who dedicated the book, controversial at the time, to the Queen in 1523. Such was Catherine's impression on people that even her adversary Thomas Cromwell said of her, "If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History."[6] She successfully appealed for the lives of the rebels involved in the Evil May Day, for the sake of their families,[7] and also won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor.[7][8] Catherine was a patron of Renaissance humanism and a friend of the great scholars Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More.[8]

## Early life

[edit]

Portrait by Juan de Flandes thought to be of 11-year-old Catherine. She resembles her sister Joanna.

Catherine was born at the Archbishop's Palace of Alcalá de Henares near Madrid, in the early hours of 16 December 1485. She was the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.[9] Her siblings were Joanna, Queen of Castile and of Aragon, Isabella, Queen of Portugal, John, Prince of Asturias, and Maria, Queen of Portugal.

Catherine was quite short in stature[10] with long red hair, wide blue eyes, a round face, and a fair complexion.[11] She was descended, on her maternal side, from the House of Lancaster, an English royal house; her great-grandmother Catherine of Lancaster, after whom she was named, and her great-great-grandmother Philippa of Lancaster were both daughters of John of Gaunt and granddaughters of Edward III of England. Consequently, she was third cousin of her father-in-law, Henry VII of England,[12] and fourth cousin of her mother-in-law Elizabeth of York.

Catherine was educated by a tutor, Alessandro Geraldini, who was a clerk in Holy Orders. She studied arithmetic, canon and civil law, classical literature, genealogy and heraldry, history, philosophy, religion, and theology. She had a strong religious upbringing and developed her Roman Catholic faith that would play a major role in later life.[13] She learned to speak, read and write in Castilian Spanish and Latin, and spoke French and Greek. Erasmus later said that Catherine "loved good literature which she had studied with success since childhood".[14] She had been given lessons in domestic skills, such as cooking, embroidery, lace-making, needlepoint, sewing, spinning, and weaving and was also taught music, dancing, drawing, as well as being carefully educated in good manners and court etiquette.[15]

At an early age, Catherine was considered a suitable wife for Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the English throne, due to the English ancestry she inherited from her mother. Theoretically, by means of her mother, Catherine had a stronger legitimate claim to the English throne than King Henry VII himself through the first two wives of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster: Blanche of Lancaster and Constance of Castile. In contrast, Henry VII was the descendant of Gaunt's third marriage to Katherine Swynford, whose children were born out of wedlock and only legitimised after the death of Constance and the marriage of John to Katherine. The children of John and Katherine, while legitimised, were barred from inheriting the English throne, a stricture that was ignored in later generations. Because of Henry's descent through illegitimate children barred from succession to the English throne, the Tudor monarchy was not accepted by all European kingdoms. At the time, the House of Trastámara was the most prestigious in Europe,[12] due to the rule of the Catholic Monarchs, so the alliance of Catherine and Arthur validated the House of Tudor in the eyes of European royalty and strengthened the Tudor claim to the English throne via Catherine of Aragon's ancestry. It would have given a male heir an indisputable claim to the throne. The two were married by proxy on 19 May 1499 and corresponded in Latin until Arthur turned fifteen, when it was decided that they were old enough to begin their conjugal life.[16]

Catherine was accompanied to England by the following ambassadors: Diego Fernández de Córdoba y Mendoza, 3rd Count of Cabra; Alonso de Fonseca y Acevedo, Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela; and Antonio de Rojas Manrique, Bishop of Mallorca.[17] Her Spanish retinue, including Francisco Felipe, was supervised by her duenna, Elvira Manuel.[citation needed]

At first it was thought Catherine's ship would arrive at Gravesend. A number of English gentlewomen were appointed to be ready to welcome her on arrival in October 1501. They were to escort Catherine in a flotilla of barges on the Thames to the Tower of London.[18]

## As wife and widow of Arthur

[edit]

Portrait of a noblewoman, possibly Catherine of Aragon c. 1502, or Mary Tudor, Queen of France c. 1514 Michael Sittow[19]

Then-15-year-old Catherine departed from A Coruña on 17 August 1501 and met Arthur on 4 November at Dogmersfield in Hampshire.[20][21][22] Little is known about their first impressions of each other, but Arthur did write to his parents-in-law that he would be "a true and loving husband" and told his parents that he was immensely happy to "behold the face of his lovely bride". The couple had corresponded in Latin, but found that they could not understand each other's spoken conversation, because they had learned different Latin pronunciations.[23] Ten days later, on 14 November 1501, they were married at Old St. Paul's Cathedral, both 15 years old.[12] A dowry of 200,000 ducats had been agreed, and half was paid shortly after the marriage.[24] It was noted that Catherine and her Spanish ladies in waiting were dressed in Spanish style at her arrival and at the wedding.[25]

Once married, Arthur was sent to Ludlow Castle on the borders of Wales to preside over the Council of Wales and the Marches, as was his duty as Prince of Wales, and his bride accompanied him. A few months later, they both became ill, possibly with the sweating sickness, which was sweeping the area. Arthur died on 2 April 1502; 16-year-old Catherine recovered to find herself a widow.[26]

At this point, Henry VII faced the challenge of avoiding the obligation to return her 200,000-ducat dowry, half of which he had not yet received, to her father, as required by her marriage contract should she return home.[27] Following the death of Queen Elizabeth in February 1503, there were rumours of a potential marriage between Catherine and King Henry; such rumours were, however, unsubstantiated.[28][29] It was agreed that Catherine would marry Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York, who was five years younger than she was. The death of Catherine's mother, however, meant that her "value" in the marriage market decreased. Castile was a much larger kingdom than Aragon, and it was inherited by Catherine's elder sister, Joanna. Ostensibly, the marriage was delayed until Henry was old enough, but Ferdinand II procrastinated so much over payment of the remainder of Catherine's dowry that it became doubtful that the marriage would take place. She lived as a virtual prisoner at Durham House in London.[30] Some of the letters she wrote to her father complaining of her treatment have survived. In one of these letters she tells him that "I choose what I believe, and say nothing. For I am not as simple as I may seem." She had little money and struggled to cope, as she had to support her ladies-in-waiting as well as herself. In 1507 she served as the Spanish ambassador to England, the first female ambassador in European history.[2] While Henry VII and his counsellors expected her to be easily manipulated, Catherine went on to prove them wrong.[2]

Marriage to Arthur's brother depended on the Pope granting a dispensation because canon law forbade a man to marry his brother's widow. Catherine testified that her marriage to Arthur was never consummated as, also according to canon law, a marriage could be dissolved if it was not consummated.[31][32]

## Queen of England

[edit]

16th-century woodcut of the coronation of Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon showing their heraldic badges, the Tudor rose and the Pomegranate of Granada

### Wedding

[edit]

Catherine's second wedding took place on 11 June 1509,[33] seven years after Prince Arthur's death. She married Henry VIII, who had only just acceded to the throne, in a private ceremony in the church of the Observant Friars outside Greenwich Palace. She was 23 years of age.[34][35]

### Coronation

[edit]

Main article: Coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

On Saturday 23 June 1509, the traditional eve-of-coronation procession to Westminster Abbey was greeted by a large and enthusiastic crowd. As was the custom, the couple spent the night before their coronation at the Tower of London. On Midsummer's Day, Sunday, 24 June 1509, Henry VIII and Catherine were anointed and crowned together by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The coronation was followed by a banquet in Westminster Hall. Many new Knights of the Bath were created in honour of the coronation.[34] In that month that followed, many social occasions presented the new Queen to the English public. She made a fine impression and was well received by the people of England.[26]

### Influence

[edit]

Henry VIII at the time of their marriage, by Meynnart Wewyck, c. 1509

On 11 June 1513, Henry appointed Catherine Regent in England with the titles "Governor of the Realm and Captain General", while he went to France on a military campaign.[36] When Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville, was captured at Thérouanne, Henry sent him to stay in Catherine's household. She wrote to Wolsey that she and her council would prefer the Duke to stay in the Tower of London as the Scots were "so busy as they now be" and she added her prayers for "God to sende us as good lukke against the Scotts, as the King hath ther."[37] The war with Scotland occupied her subjects, and she was "horrible busy with making standards, banners, and badges" at Richmond Palace. Catherine wrote to towns, including Gloucester, asking them to send muster lists of men able to serve as soldiers.[38] The Scots invaded and on 3 September 1513, she ordered Thomas Lovell to raise an army in the midland counties.[39][40]

Catherine was issued with banners at Richmond on 8 September,[41] and rode north in full armour to address the troops, despite being heavily pregnant at the time.[42] Her fine speech was reported to the historian Peter Martyr d'Anghiera in Valladolid within a fortnight.[43] Although an Italian newsletter said she was 100 miles (160 km) north of London when news of the victory at Battle of Flodden Field reached her, she was near Buckingham.[44] From Woburn Abbey, she sent a letter to Henry along with a piece of the bloodied coat of King James IV of Scotland, who died in the battle, for Henry to use as a banner at the siege of Tournai.[45]

Catherine's religious dedication increased as she became older, as did her interest in academics. She continued to broaden her knowledge and provide training for her daughter, Mary. Education among women became fashionable, partly because of Catherine's influence, and she donated large sums of money to several colleges. Henry, however, still considered a male heir essential. The Tudor dynasty was new, and its legitimacy might still be tested.[46]

In 1520, Catherine's nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V,[47] paid a state visit to England, and she urged Henry to enter an alliance with Charles rather than with France. Immediately after his departure, she accompanied Henry to France on the celebrated visit to Francis I, the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Within two years, war was declared against France and the Emperor was once again welcome in England, where plans were afoot to betroth him to Catherine's daughter Mary.

### Pregnancies and children

[edit]

Catherine watching Henry jousting in her honour after giving birth to a son, by Thomas Wriothesley, 1511. Henry's horse mantle is emblazoned with Catherine's initial letter, 'K'. Name  | Birth  | Death  | Details

|
|
|

Daughter  | 31 January 1510  | Miscarried at approximately six months gestation.[48] Catherine was told she was carrying twins and that the other still lived, so the loss was kept secret as she prepared for the birth. No child came.[49]
Henry | 1 January 1511  | 22 February 1511  | Died suddenly, with no recorded cause of death.
Son  | c.17 September 1513  | Either miscarried, stillborn or lived for a few hours.[50]
Son  | November/December 1514  | Stillborn. Wolsey wrote in a letter on 15 November that Catherine was "to lie in shortly."[51] Two letters in December mention Catherine lost a child.[52][53]
Mary | 18 February 1516  | 17 November 1558  | Became Queen Mary I of England.
Daughter  | 10 November 1518  | Stillborn.[54]

## The King's great matter

[edit]

The Trial of Queen Catherine of Aragon, by Henry Nelson O'Neil (1846–1848)

In 1525, Henry VIII became enamoured of Anne Boleyn, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine; Anne was between ten and seventeen years younger than Henry, being born between 1501 and 1507. Henry began pursuing her;[55] Catherine was no longer able to bear children by this time. Henry began to believe that his marriage was cursed and sought confirmation from the Bible, which he interpreted to say that if a man marries his brother's wife, the couple will be childless.[8][56] Even if her marriage to Arthur had not been consummated (and Catherine would insist to her dying day that she had come to Henry's bed a virgin), Henry's interpretation of that biblical passage meant that their marriage had been wrong in the eyes of God.[32] Whether the pope at the time of Henry and Catherine's marriage had the right to overrule Henry's claimed scriptural impediment would become a hot topic in Henry's campaign to wrest an annulment from the present Pope.[32] It is possible that the idea of annulment had been suggested to Henry much earlier than this, and is highly probable that it was motivated by his desire for a son. Before Henry's father ascended the throne, England was beset by civil warfare over rival claims to the English crown, and Henry may have wanted to avoid a similar uncertainty over the succession.[57]

It soon became the one absorbing object of Henry's desires to secure an annulment.[58] Catherine was defiant when it was suggested that she quietly retire to a nunnery, saying: "God never called me to a nunnery. I am the King's true and legitimate wife."[59] He set his hopes upon an appeal to the Holy See, acting independently of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, whom he told nothing of his plans. William Knight, the King's secretary, was sent to Pope Clement VII to sue for an annulment, on the grounds that the dispensing bull of Pope Julius II was obtained by false pretenses.

As the pope was, at that time, the prisoner of Catherine's nephew Emperor Charles V following the Sack of Rome in May 1527, Knight had difficulty in obtaining access to him. In the end, Henry's envoy had to return without accomplishing much. Henry now had no choice but to put this great matter into the hands of Wolsey, who did all he could to secure a decision in Henry's favour.[60]

Both the Pope and Martin Luther raised the possibility that Henry have two wives,[61] not to re-introduce polygamy generally, but "to preserve the royal dignity of Catherine and Mary".[62]: 54

Miniature of Princess Mary at the time of her engagement to Emperor Charles V, by Lucas Horenbout, c. 1521–1525. She is wearing a rectangular brooch inscribed with "The Emperour".

Wolsey went so far as to convene an ecclesiastical court in England with a representative of the Pope presiding, and Henry and Catherine herself in attendance. The Pope had no intention of allowing a decision to be reached in England, and his legate was recalled. (How far the Pope was influenced by Charles V is difficult to say, but it is clear Henry saw that the Pope was unlikely to annul his marriage to the Emperor's aunt.[63]) The Pope forbade Henry to marry again before a decision was given in Rome. Wolsey had failed and was dismissed from public office in 1529. Wolsey then began a secret plot to have Anne Boleyn forced into exile and began communicating with the Pope to that end. When this was discovered, Henry ordered Wolsey's arrest and, had he not been terminally ill and died in 1530, he might have been executed for treason.[64]

A year later, Catherine was banished from court, and her old rooms were given to Anne Boleyn. Catherine wrote in a letter to Charles V in 1531:

> My tribulations are so great, my life so disturbed by the plans daily invented to further the King's wicked intention, the surprises which the King gives me, with certain persons of his council, are so mortal, and my treatment is what God knows, that it is enough to shorten ten lives, much more mine.[65][66]

When Archbishop of Canterbury William Warham died, the Boleyn family's chaplain, Thomas Cranmer, was appointed to the vacant position.[67]

When Henry decided to annul his marriage to Catherine, John Fisher became her most trusted counsellor and one of her chief supporters. He appeared in the legates' court on her behalf, where he shocked people with the directness of his language, and by declaring that, like John the Baptist, he was ready to die on behalf of the indissolubility of marriage. Henry was so enraged by this that he wrote a long Latin address to the legates in answer to Fisher's speech. Fisher's copy of this still exists, with his manuscript annotations in the margin which show how little he feared Henry's anger. The removal of the cause to Rome ended Fisher's role in the matter, but Henry never forgave him.[68][69] Other people who supported Catherine's case included Thomas More; Henry's own sister Mary Tudor, Queen of France; María de Salinas; Holy Roman Emperor Charles V; Pope Paul III; and Protestant Reformers Martin Luther[70] and William Tyndale.[71]

* v
* t
* e

Family tree of the wives of Henry VIII

King Henry VIII and all six of his wives were related through a common ancestor, King Edward I of England.[72]

| | | | | | | | | | | | | 1239–1307
Edward I
King of England
r. 1272–1307

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
b. 1275
Margaret
Duchess of Brabant| | | | c. 1282–1316
Elizabeth
Countess of Hereford| | | | | | | | 1284–1327
Edward II
King of England
r. 1307–1327
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
1300–1355
John III
Duke of Brabant| | | | 1312–1360
William de Bohun
Earl of Northampton| | | | | | | | 1312–1377
Edward III
King of England
r. 1327–1377
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
1323–1380
Margaret of Brabant
Countess of Flanders| | | | | | | | | | | 1338–1368
Lionel of Antwerp
Duke of Clarence| | | | | | 1341–1402
Edmund of Langley
Duke of York| | 1340–1399
John of Gaunt
Duke of Lancaster
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
1350–1405
Margaret III
Countess of Flanders[73]| | | | c. 1350–1385
Elizabeth Fitzalan
Countess of Arundel| | | | 1355–1382
Philippa
Countess of Ulster| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | |
1371–1419
John
Duke of Burgundy| | | | 1366–1425
Elizabeth Fitzalan
Duchess of Norfolk| | | | 1371–1417
Elizabeth Mortimer| | 1374–1398
Roger Mortimer
Earl of March| | | | | | | c. 1371–1410
John Beaufort
Earl of Somerset| | 1373–1418
Catherine
Queen of Castile| | c. 1379–1440
Joan Beaufort
Countess of Westmorland
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
1393–1466
Mary
Duchess of Cleves| | | | b. 1388
Margaret de Mowbray| | | | c. 1395–1436
Elizabeth
Baroness de Clifford| | 1388–c. 1411
Anne de Mortimer| | 1385–1415
Richard of Conisburgh
Earl of Cambridge| | 1404–1444
John Beaufort
Duke of Somerset| | 1405–1454
John II
King of Castile| | 1400–1460
Richard Neville
Earl of Salisbury

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
1419–1481
John I
Duke of Cleves| | | | c. 1425–1485
John Howard
Duke of Norfolk| | | | Mary Clifford| | | | 1411–1460
Richard
Duke of York| | | | | | | | | | | | | | b. c. 1430
Alice Neville
Baroness FitzHugh
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
1458–1521
John II
Duke of Cleves| | | | 1443–1524
Thomas Howard
Duke of Norfolk| | | | c. 1448–1499/1501
Henry Wentworth| | | | 1442–1483
Edward IV
King of England
r. 1461–1470
r. 1470–1483| | | | 1441/43–1509
Margaret Beaufort| | 1451–1504
Isabella I
Queen of Castile| | c. 1455/1465–bef. 1507
Elizabeth FitzHugh
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | |
1490–1538/1539
John III
Duke of Cleves[74]| | c. 1478–1539
Edmund Howard| | c. 1480–1538
Elizabeth Boleyn
Countess of Wiltshire| | c. 1478–1550
Margery Wentworth| | | | 1466–1503
Elizabeth of York| | | | 1457–1509
Henry VII
King of England
r. 1485–1509| | | | | | | c. 1483–1517
Thomas Parr
| | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
1515–1557
Anne of Cleves
4th wife:
1540| | c. 1524–1542
Catherine Howard
5th wife:
1540–1542| | c. 1507–1536
Anne Boleyn
2nd wife:
1533–1536| | c. 1508–1537
Jane Seymour
3rd wife:
1536–1537| | | | | | | 1491–1547
Henry VIII
King of England
r. 1509–1547| | | | | 1485–1536
Catherine of Aragon
1st wife:
1509–1533| | 1512–1548
Catherine Parr
6th wife:
1543–1547
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | 1533–1603
Elizabeth I
Queen of England
r. 1558–1603| | 1537–1553
Edward VI
King of England
r. 1547–1553| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1516–1558
Mary I
Queen of England
r. 1553–1558

## Banishment and death

[edit]

Six wives of Henry VIII
and years of marriage

* v
* t
* e

Catherine of Aragon
m. 1509–1533

Anne Boleyn
m. 1533–1536

Jane Seymour
m. 1536–1537

Anne of Cleves
m. 1540

Catherine Howard
m. 1540–1542

Catherine Parr
m. 1543–1547

Catherine of Aragon, attributed to Joannes Corvus

Upon returning to Dover from a meeting with King Francis I of France in Calais, Henry married Anne Boleyn in a secret ceremony.[75] Some sources speculate that Anne was already pregnant at the time (and Henry did not want to risk a son being born illegitimate) but others testify that Anne (who had seen her sister Mary Boleyn taken up as the King's mistress and summarily cast aside) refused to sleep with Henry until they were married. Henry defended the lawfulness of their union by pointing out that Catherine had previously been married. If she and Arthur had consummated their marriage, Henry by canon law had the right to remarry.[76] On 23 May 1533, Cranmer, sitting in judgement at a special court convened at Dunstable Priory to rule on the validity of Henry's marriage to Catherine, declared the marriage unlawful, even though Catherine had testified that she and Arthur had never had physical relations. Five days later, on 28 May 1533, Cranmer ruled that Henry and Anne's marriage was valid.[77]

Until the end of her life, Catherine would refer to herself as Henry's only lawful wedded wife and England's only rightful queen, and her servants continued to address her as such. Henry refused her the right to any title but "Dowager Princess of Wales" in recognition of her position as his brother's widow.[75]

Catherine went to live at The More Castle, Hertfordshire, late in 1531.[78] After that, she was successively moved to the Royal Palace of Hatfield, Hertfordshire (May to September 1532), Elsyng Palace, Enfield (September 1532 to February 1533), Ampthill Castle, Bedfordshire (February to July 1533) and Buckden Towers, Cambridgeshire (July 1533 to May 1534). She was then finally transferred to Kimbolton Castle, Cambridgeshire where she confined herself to one room, which she left only to attend Mass, dressed only in the hair shirt of the Franciscans, and fasted continuously.[79] While she was permitted to receive occasional visitors, she was forbidden to see her daughter Mary. They were also forbidden to communicate in writing, but sympathisers discreetly conveyed letters between the two. Henry offered both mother and daughter better quarters and permission to see each other if they would acknowledge Anne Boleyn as the new queen; both refused.[78]

In late December 1535, sensing her death was near, Catherine made her will, and wrote to her nephew, the Emperor Charles V, asking him to protect her daughter. It has been claimed that she then penned one final letter to Henry:[80]

> My most dear lord, king and husband,

> The hour of my death now drawing on, the tender love I owe you forceth me, my case being such, to commend myself to you, and to put you in remembrance with a few words of the health and safeguard of your soul which you ought to prefer before all worldly matters, and before the care and pampering of your body, for the which you have cast me into many calamities and yourself into many troubles. For my part, I pardon you everything, and I wish to devoutly pray God that He will pardon you also. For the rest, I commend unto you our daughter Mary, beseeching you to be a good father unto her, as I have heretofore desired. I entreat you also, on behalf of my maids, to give them marriage portions, which is not much, they being but three. For all my other servants I solicit the wages due them, and a year more, lest they be unprovided for. Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things.
>  Katharine the Quene.

The authenticity of the letter itself has been questioned, but not Catherine's attitude in its wording, which has been reported with variations in different sources.[81]

Catherine died at Kimbolton Castle on 7 January 1536.[82] The following day, news of her death reached the King. At the time there were rumours that she was poisoned,[83][84][85] possibly by Gregory di Casale.[86] According to the chronicler Edward Hall, Anne Boleyn wore yellow for the mourning, which has been interpreted in various ways; Polydore Vergil interpreted this to mean that Anne did not mourn.[87] Chapuys reported that it was King Henry who decked himself in yellow, celebrating the news and making a great show of his and Anne's daughter, Elizabeth, to his courtiers.[88] This was seen as distasteful and vulgar by many. Another theory is that the dressing in yellow was out of respect for Catherine as yellow was said to be the Spanish colour of mourning. Certainly, later in the day it is reported that Henry and Anne both individually and privately wept for her death. On the day of Catherine's funeral, Anne Boleyn miscarried a male child. Rumours then circulated that Catherine had been poisoned by Anne or Henry, or both. The rumours were born after the apparent discovery during her embalming that there was a black growth on her heart that might have been caused by poisoning.[89] Modern medical experts are in agreement that her heart's discolouration was due not to poisoning, but to cancer, something which was not understood at the time.[90]

Catherine was buried in Peterborough Cathedral with the ceremony due to her position as a Dowager Princess of Wales, and not a queen.[91] Henry did not attend the funeral and forbade Mary to attend.[90]

## Faith

[edit]

Catherine was a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis and she was punctilious in her religious obligations in the Order, integrating without demur her necessary duties as queen with her personal piety. After the annulment, she was quoted "I would rather be a poor beggar's wife and be sure of heaven, than queen of all the world and stand in doubt thereof by reason of my own consent."[92]

The outward celebration of saints and holy relics formed no major part of her personal devotions,[93] which she rather expressed in the Mass, prayer, confession and penance. Privately, however, she was aware of what she identified as the shortcomings of the papacy and church officialdom.[93] Her doubts about church improprieties certainly did not extend so far as to support the allegations of corruption made public by Martin Luther in Wittenberg in 1517, which were soon to have such far-reaching consequences in initiating the Protestant Reformation.

In 1523 Alfonso de Villa Sancta, a learned friar of the Observant (reform) branch of the Friars Minor and friend of the King's old advisor Erasmus, dedicated to the queen his book De Liberio Arbitrio adversus Melanchthonem. The book denounced Philip Melanchthon, a supporter of Luther. Acting as her confessor, he was able to nominate her for the title of "Defender of the Faith" for denying Luther's arguments.[94]

## Appearance

[edit]

In her youth, Catherine was described as "the most beautiful creature in the world"[95] and that there was "nothing lacking in her that the most beautiful girl should have".[10] Thomas More and Lord Herbert would reflect later in her lifetime that in regard to her appearance "there were few women who could compete with the Queen [Catherine] in her prime."[96][97]

## Legacy, memory and historiography

[edit]

Statue of Catherine at Alcalá de Henares

The controversial book The Education of a Christian Woman by Juan Luis Vives, which claimed women have the right to an education, was dedicated to and commissioned by her. Such was Catherine's impression on people, that even her enemy, Thomas Cromwell, said of her "If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History."[6] She successfully appealed for the lives of the rebels involved in the Evil May Day for the sake of their families.[7] Furthermore, Catherine won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor.[7] She was also a patron of Renaissance humanism, and a friend of the great scholars Erasmus of Rotterdam and Saint Thomas More. Some saw her as a martyr.[98][99]

In the reign of her daughter Mary I of England, her marriage to Henry VIII was declared "good and valid". Her daughter Queen Mary also had several portraits commissioned of Catherine, and it would not by any means be the last time she was painted. After her death, numerous portraits were painted of her, particularly of her speech at the Legatine Trial, a moment accurately rendered in Shakespeare's play about Henry VIII.

Her tomb in Peterborough Cathedral[100] can be seen and there is hardly ever a time when it is not decorated with flowers or pomegranates, her heraldic symbol. It bears the title Katharine Queen of England.

In the 20th century, George V's wife, Mary of Teck, had her grave upgraded and added banners there denoting Catherine as a queen of England. Every year at Peterborough Cathedral a service is held in her memory. There are processions, prayers and various events in the Cathedral including processions to Catherine's grave in which candles, pomegranates, flowers and other offerings are placed on her grave. The Spanish Ambassador to the United Kingdom attended the commemoration of the 470th anniversary of her death.During the 2010 service a rendition of Catherine of Aragon's speech before the Legatine court was read by Jane Lapotaire. There is a statue of her in her birthplace of Alcalá de Henares, as a young woman holding a book and a rose.[101]

Catherine has remained a popular biographical subject to the present day. The American historian Garrett Mattingly was the author of a popular biography Katherine of Aragon in 1942. In 1966, Catherine and her many supporters at court were the subjects of Catherine of Aragon and her Friends, a biography by John E. Paul. In 1967, Mary M. Luke wrote the first book of her Tudor trilogy, Catherine the Queen which portrayed her and the tumultuous era of English history through which she lived.

Grave of Catherine of Aragon in Peterborough Cathedral

In recent years, the historian Alison Weir covered her life extensively in her biography The Six Wives of Henry VIII, first published in 1991. Antonia Fraser did the same in her own 1992 biography of the same title; as did the British historian David Starkey in his 2003 book Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII.[102][103][104] Giles Tremlett's biography, Catherine of Aragon: The Spanish Queen of Henry VIII, came out in 2010, and Julia Fox's dual biography, Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile, came out in 2011.

### Places and statues

[edit]

* In Alcalá de Henares, the place of Catherine's birth, a statue of Catherine as a young woman holding a rose and a book can be seen in the Archbishop's Palace.
* Peterborough is twinned with the Spanish city of Alcalá de Henares, located in the wider Community of Madrid. Children from schools in the two places have learned about each other as part of the twinning venture, and artists have even come over from Alcalá de Henares to paint Catherine's tombstone.
* Many places in Ampthill are named after Catherine. Also in Ampthill there is a cross in Ampthill Great Park named "Queen Catherine's Cross" in her honour. It is on the site of the castle where she was sent during her divorce from the King.
* Kimbolton School's science and mathematics block is called the QKB, or Queen Katherine Building.

### Spelling of her name

[edit]

Catherine of Aragon's arms while queen[105]

Her baptismal name was "Catalina", but "Katherine" was soon the accepted form in England after her marriage to Arthur.[93] Catherine herself signed her name "Katherine", "Katherina", "Katharine" and sometimes "Katharina". In a letter to her, Arthur, her husband, addressed her as "Princess Katerine". Her daughter Queen Mary I called her "Quene Kateryn", in her will. Rarely were names, particularly first names, written in an exact manner during the sixteenth century and it is evident from Catherine's own letters that different variations were used. Loveknots built into his various palaces by her husband, Henry VIII, display the initials "H & K",[a] as do other items belonging to Henry and Catherine, including gold goblets, a gold salt cellar, basins of gold, and candlesticks. Her tomb in Peterborough Cathedral is marked "Katharine Queen of England".[106][citation needed]

## Ancestry

[edit]

Ancestors of Catherine of Aragon

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 8\. Ferdinand I of Aragon[110]

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

| 4\. John II of Aragon[107]|

|  |  |
| 9\. Eleanor of Alburquerque[111]

| 2\. Ferdinand II of Aragon|

|  |  |  |  |
| 10\. Fadrique Enríquez[112]

| 5\. Juana Enríquez[107]|

|  |  |
| 11\. Mariana Fernández de Córdoba[113]

| 1\. Catherine of Aragon|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 12\. Henry III of Castile[110]

| 6\. John II of Castile[108]|

|  |  |
| 13\. Catherine of Lancaster[108]

| 3\. Isabella I of Castile|

|  |  |  |  |
| 14\. John, Constable of Portugal[114]

| 7\. Isabella of Portugal[109]|

|  |  |
| 15\. Isabel of Barcelos[115]

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## See also

[edit]

* Catholicism portal
* Politics portal

* Cultural depictions of Catherine of Aragon
* Descendants of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile
* List of English royal consorts
* Empress Matilda
* Wars of the Roses

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ As Latin inscriptions were used in structures, a "C" represented the numeral 100, so a "K" was used instead. The same was applied during the time of Henry II of France and his wife Catherine de' Medici during her state entry in Paris on 18 June 1549.

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

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2. ^ a b c Weir 1991, p. 59.
3. ^ Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England.
4. ^ Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536).
5. ^ Lehman 2011, p. 295.
6. ^ a b Chapuys 1533, p. 737.
7. ^ a b c d Deutscher & Bietenholz 1987, p. 283.
8. ^ a b c Catherine of Aragon Biography.
9. ^ Lehman 2011, p. 283.
10. ^ a b Fraser 1992, p. 24.
11. ^ Weir 1991, p. 15.
12. ^ a b c Lehman 2011, p. 284.
13. ^ Fraser 1992, p. 12.
14. ^ Dowling 1986, p. 17.
15. ^ Weir 1991, p. 20.
16. ^ Sanders & Low 1910, p. 235.
17. ^ Molina Recio, Raúl (2018), Diego Fernández de Córdoba y Mendoza (in Spanish), Real Academia de la Historia, retrieved 11 August 2019
18. ^ Philip Yorke, Miscellaneous State Papers, vol. 1 (London, 1778), p. 1-20.
19. ^ "Mary Rose Tudor". www.khm.at. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
20. ^ Starkey 2003, pp. 45–46.
21. ^ Tremlett 2010, p. 73.
22. ^ Cahill Marrón 2012.
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25. ^ Jemma Field, 'Female dress', Erin Griffey, Early Modern Court Culture (Routledge, 2022), p. 395.
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27. ^ Maria Elizabeth Budden (1841). True Stories from English History. Chronologically Arranged from the Invasion of the Romans to the Present Time. By a Mother, Author of "True Stories from Ancient History", "Modern History", Etc. 5th Ed ... John Harris. p. 202.
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35. ^ Eagles 2002, p. 194.
36. ^ Thomas Rymer, Foedera, vol. 13 (London, 1712), p. 370 Catherine was appointed "Rectrix" and "Gubernatrix" of England.
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47. ^ Lehman 2011, p. 291.
48. ^ Catherine, having been told she was carrying twins, made her pregnancy official in March 1510 by going into confinement at what would have been eight months gestation, for her delivery in April. No child came since she probably had an infection which finally passed.
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77. ^ Williams 1971, p. 124.
78. ^ a b Lehman 2011, p. 293.
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82. ^ Eagles 2002, p. 202.
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87. ^ Warnicke 1991, p. 187.
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89. ^ Lofts 1979, p. 139.
90. ^ a b Lehman 2011, p. 294.
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96. ^ Weir 1991, p. 104.
97. ^ Strickland, p. 493.
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### Sources

[edit]

* "Historical research on Catherine of Aragon". Academia.edu. December 2016.
* "Historical research on Catherine and Arthur's marriage in 1501" (PDF). Unican. September 2012.
* "Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536)". BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
* "Catherine of Aragon Biography". Biography Channel. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
* "Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England". King's College, Pennsylvania. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
* Bietenholz, P. G.; Deutscher, Thomas B. (2003). Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation. University of Toronto Press.
* Brecht, Martin (1994). Martin Luther: shaping and defining the Reformation, 1521–1532. Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-8006-2814-7.
* Brigden, Susan (2000). New Worlds, Lost Worlds The Rule of the Tudors, 1485–1603. Penguin (Non-Classics). ISBN 0-14-200125-2.
* Cahill Marrón, Emma Luisa (2012). Arte y poder: negociaciones matrimoniales y festejos nupciales para el enlace entre Catalina Trastámara y Arturo Tudor (in Spanish). UCrea.
* Chapuys, Eustace (Imperial Ambassador) (1533). Calendar of State Papers, Spanish IV.
* Deutscher, Peter G. Bietenholz (1987). Contemporaries of Erasmus. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-2575-3.
* Dowling, Maria (1986). Humanism in the Age of Henry VIII. Other. ISBN 978-0-7099-0864-7.
* Eagles, Robin (2002). The Rough Guide History of England. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-799-7.
* Earenfight, Theresa (2021). Catherine of Aragon: Infanta of Spain, Queen of England. Penn State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-09164-8.
* Ellis, Henry, ed. (1846). Original Letters Illustrative of English History, 3rd Series, vol.1. Richard Bentley.
* Farquhar, Michael (2001). A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-028024-1.
* Fraser, Antonia (1992). The Wives of Henry VIII. Vintage. ISBN 0-679-73001-X.
* Froude, James Anthony (1891). The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon: The Story as Told by the Imperial Ambassadors Resident at the Court of Henry VIII. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
* Haigh, Christopher (1993). English Reformations. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-822162-3.
* Jestice, Phyllis G. (2004). Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-355-1.
* Lacey, Robert (1972). The Life and Times of Henry VIII. Book Club Associates.
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* Maclagan, Michael (1999). Line of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe. Little, Brown & Co.
* Morris, T. A (1998). Europe and England in the Sixteenth Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-15041-5.
* Rees, Fran (2006). William Tyndale: Bible Translator And Martyr. Compass Point Books. ISBN 978-0-7565-1599-7.
* Rex, Richard (2003). The Theology of John Fisher. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-54115-2.
* Rymer, Thomas, ed. (1741). Foedera, vol. 6 part 1, Hague, letter to the treasurer John Heron.
* Sanders, Sir Sidney Low (1910). The dictionary of English history.
* Scarisbrick, J. J. (1997). Yale English Monarchs—Henry VIII. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-07158-0.
* Sigman, Mitchell (2011). Steal This Sound. Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-1-4234-9281-8.
* Starkey, David (2003). Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-000550-5.
* Strickland, Agnes. Lives of the queens of England: from the Norman conquest, Volume 2.
* Tremlett, Giles (2010). Catherine of Aragon: Henry's Spanish Queen. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-23511-7.
* Warnicke, Retha (1991). The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-40677-3.
* Weir, Alison (1991). The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Grove press. ISBN 0-8021-3683-4.
* Williams, Neville (1971). Henry VIII and His Court. Macmillan Pub Co. ISBN 978-0-02-629100-2.

## Further reading

[edit]

* De rebus Britannicis collectanea, cum Thomae Hearnii praesatione notis et indice ad editionem primam. Ed. altera. White. 1774.
* Ashley, Mike (2002). British Kings & Queens (Revised and abridged ed.). New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7867-1104-8.
* Bernard, G. W. (2005). The King's Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12271-8.
* Cahill Marrón, Emma Luisa (2014). Medieval or Modern Queen? Catherine of Aragon's role in the Anglo-Spanish alliance and her contribution to the introduction of New Learning in England.[permanent dead link‍]
* Coates, Tim (2001). Letters of Henry VIII 1526–29. Tim Coates Books. ISBN 978-0-11-702453-3.
* Hand, John Oliver; Wolff, Martha (1986). Early Netherlandish Painting. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art. ISBN 978-0-521-34016-8.
* Hardwicke, Philip Yorke of, ed. (1778). Miscellaneous State Papers: From 1501 to 1726. In Two Volumes. Strahan and Cadell., https://books.google.com/books?id=Rcs_AAAAcAAJ Miscellaneous State Papers, vol. 1 (1778) pp. 1–20, instructions for her wedding to Arthur.
* Lindsey, Karen (1995). Divorced Beheaded Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII. Reading, Massachusetts: Perseus Books. ISBN 978-0-201-40823-2.
* Luke, Mary M. (1967). Catherine, The Queen, a biography of Catherine of Aragon, first wife to Henry VIII. Coward-McCann. OCLC 12029254.
* Mattingly, Garrett (2005) [1942]. Catherine of Aragon. Ams Pr Inc. ISBN 978-0-404-20169-2.
* Morton, Henry Vollam (1965) [1955]. A stranger in Spain. Methuen. OCLC 633801083.
* Paul, John E. (1966). Catherine of Aragon and Her Friends. Fordham University Press. OCLC 399189.
* Strickland, Agnes (1860). Lives of the Queens of England, from the Norman Conquest: With Anecdotes of Their Courts. Brown & Taggard. OCLC 3494942.
* Williams, Patrick (2012). Catherine of Aragon. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84868-325-9.

## External links

[edit]

Catherine of Aragon at Wikipedia's sister projects

* Media from Commons
* News from Wikinews
* Quotations from Wikiquote
* Texts from Wikisource
* Textbooks from Wikibooks

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon

* Yorke, Philip Chesney (1911). "Catherine of Aragon" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). pp. 529–531.
* Catherine of Aragon from the online Encyclopædia Britannica.
* Catherine of Aragon's divorce papers and other Tudor treasures online to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession
* tudorhistory.org – An overview of her life, accompanied by a portrait gallery
* englishhistory.net – An in-depth look at her life and times
* A geo-biography Archived 21 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine of the Six Wives of Henry the VIII on Google Earth
* How Henry's first wife tried to save marriage, letter from her to Pope Clement VII
* Project Continua: Biography of Catherine of Aragon
* Portraits of Katherine of Aragon at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Catherine of Aragon

House of Trastámara

Born: 16 December 1485 Died: 7 January 1536

English royalty
Vacant

Title last held by

Elizabeth of York |  Queen consort of England
Lady of Ireland
1509–1533  | Vacant

Title next held by

Anne Boleyn
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by

Rodrigo González de la Puebla

|  Ambassador of Aragon to England
1507–1509
with Rodrigo González de la Puebla (1507–1508)
Gutierre Gómez de Fuensalida (1508–1509) | Succeeded by

* v
* t
* e

English, Scottish and British royal consorts

| Royal consorts in England until 1603| Royal consorts in Scotland until 1603

|

* Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury
* Æthelflæd of Damerham
* Ælfgifu
* Ælfthryth
* Ælfgifu of York
* Sigrid the Haughty/Świętosława
* Ealdgyth
* Emma of Normandy
* Edith of Wessex
* Edith of Mercia
* Matilda of Flanders
* Matilda of Scotland
* Adeliza of Louvain
* Matilda of Boulogne
* Geoffrey Plantagenet
* Eleanor of Aquitaine
* Margaret of France
* Berengaria of Navarre
* Isabella of Angoulême
* Blanche of Castile
* Eleanor of Provence
* Eleanor of Castile
* Margaret of France
* Isabella of France
* Philippa of Hainault
* Anne of Bohemia
* Isabella of Valois
* Joan of Navarre
* Catherine of Valois
* Margaret of Anjou
* Elizabeth Woodville
* Anne Neville
* Elizabeth of York
* Catherine of Aragon
* Anne Boleyn
* Jane Seymour
* Anne of Cleves
* Catherine Howard
* Catherine Parr
* Guildford Dudley

* Gruoch
* Ingibiorg Finnsdottir
* Margaret of Wessex
* Ethelreda of Northumbria
* Sybilla of Normandy
* Maud of Northumbria
* Ermengarde de Beaumont
* Joan of England
* Marie de Coucy
* Margaret of England
* Yolande de Dreux
* Elizabeth de Burgh
* Joan of the Tower
* Margaret Drummond
* Euphemia de Ross
* Anabella Drummond
* Joan Beaufort
* Mary of Guelders
* Margaret of Denmark
* Margaret Tudor
* Madeleine of Valois
* Mary of Guise
* Francis II of France
* Henry Stuart
* James Hepburn
* Anne of Denmark

* Royal consorts in England and Scotland after the Union of the Crowns from 1603

* Anne of Denmark
* Henrietta Maria of France
* Catherine of Braganza
* Mary of Modena
* George of Denmark and Norway

* British royal consorts after the Acts of Union 1707

* George of Denmark and Norway
* Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach
* Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
* Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
* Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
* Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
* Alexandra of Denmark
* Mary of Teck
* Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
* Philip of Greece and Denmark
* Camilla Shand

Spouses of debatable or disputed rulers are in italics

* v
* t
* e

Infantas of Aragon

1st generation|

* Sancha, Countess of Urgell

2nd generation|

* none

3rd generation|

* Petronilla, Queen of Aragon

4th generation|

* Dulce, Queen of Portugal

5th generation|

* Constance, Holy Roman Empress
* Eleanor, Countess of Toulouse
* Sancha

7th generation|

* Violant, Queen of Castile
* Constance, Lady of Villena
* Isabella, Queen of France

8th generation|

* Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal
* Yolanda, Duchess of Calabria
* Sancha, Queen of Naples*

9th generation|

* Maria, Lady of Cameros
* Isabella, Duchess of Austria
* Constance, Queen of Cyprus**
* Elisabeth, Duchess of Bavaria**
* Margaret, Countess Palatine of the Rhine**

10th generation|

* Constance, Queen of Majorca
* Eleanor, Queen of Cyprus
* Eleanor, Queen of Aragon**
* Beatrice, Countess Palatine of the Rhine**
* Eleonor, Countess of Caltabellotta**
* Isabella, Marchioness of Montferrat*
* Alice, Countess of Ibelin*

11th generation|

* Constance, Queen of Sicily
* Joanna, Countess of Ampurias
* Eleanor, Queen of Castile
* Isabella, Countess of Urgell
* Maria of Sicily**

12th generation|

* Joanna, Countess of Foix
* Yolande, Duchess of Anjou
* Margarida, Queen of Aragon

13th generation|

* Isabella of Urgell, Duchess of Coimbra

14th generation|

* Maria, Queen of Castile
* Eleanor, Queen of Portugal

15th generation|

* Blanche II of Navarre
* Eleanor of Navarre
* Joanna, Queen of Naples

16th generation|

* Isabella, Queen of Portugal
* Joanna, Queen of Castile and Aragon
* Maria, Queen of Portugal
* Catherine, Queen of England

17th generation|

* Eleanor, Queen of Portugal and France
* Isabella, Queen of Denmark-Norway
* Mary, Queen of Hungary
* Catherine, Queen of Portugal

* *also a princess of Majorca
* **also a princess of Sicily

* v
* t
* e

Infantas of Castile

1st generation|

* Urraca, Lady of Zamora
* Elvira, Lady of Toro

2nd generation|

* Urraca I of Castile and León
* Elvira, Queen of Sicily

3rd generation|

* Sancha

4th generation|

* Constance, Queen of France
* Sancha, Queen of Navarre
* Sancha, Queen of Aragon

5th generation|

* none

6th generation|

* Berengaria I of Castile
* Urraca, Queen of Portugal
* Blanche, Queen of France
* Eleanor, Queen of Aragon

7th generation|

* Berengaria, Latin Empress of Constantinople

8th generation|

* Eleanor, Queen of England
* Maria, Queen of Castile

9th generation|

* Berengaria, Lady of Guadalajara
* Beatrice, Marchioness of Montferrat
* Violant, Lady of Biscay
* Violant, Lady of Elche

10th generation|

* Isabella, Queen of Aragon and Duchess of Brittany
* Beatrice, Queen of Portugal
* Constance, Queen of Castile
* Joanna, Queen of Castile

11th generation|

* Eleanor, Queen of Aragon
* Blanche
* Blanche, Princess of Villena
* Maria

12th generation|

* Isabella

13th generation|

* Constance, Duchess of Lancaster
* Isabella, Duchess of York
* Eleanor, Queen of Navarre

15th generation|

* Maria, Queen of Aragon
* Catherine, Duchess of Villena

16th generation|

* Catherine, Princess of Asturias
* Eleanor, Princess of Asturias
* Isabella I of Castile

17th generation|

* Joanna, Queen of Portugal
* Isabella, Queen of Portugal
* Joanna I of Castile and Aragon
* Maria, Queen of Portugal
* Catherine, Queen of England

18th generation|

* Eleanor, Queen of Portugal and France
* Isabella, Queen of Denmark-Norway
* Maria, Queen of Hungary
* Catherine, Queen of Portugal

* v
* t
* e

Princesses of Wales and Duchesses of Cornwall

* Joan, Countess of Kent (1361–1376)
* Lady Cecily Neville (1460; disputed)
* Lady Anne Neville (1470–1471)
* Infanta Catherine of Aragon (1501–1502)
* Princess Caroline of Ansbach (1714–1727)
* Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1736–1751)
* Princess Caroline of Brunswick (1795–1820)
* Princess Alexandra of Denmark (1863–1901)
* Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (1901–1910)
* Lady Diana Spencer (1981–1996)
* Camilla Shand* (2005–2022)
* Catherine Middleton (2022–present)

* Though legally Princess of Wales, she did not use the title

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Latvia
* Sweden
* Poland
* Vatican
* Israel
* Catalonia
* Belgium

People|

* Netherlands
* Trove
* Deutsche Biographie
* DDB

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC
* 2
* RISM

*[c.]: circa
*[m.]: married
*[ann.]: annulled
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[r.]: reigned
*[b.]: born