What did Catherine of Aragon die of?
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Although it was rumoured that Catherine of Aragon had been poisoned by Anne Boleyn, or even Henry, because of a black patch on her heart, it is now thought that she died of cancer, a disease that was not understood at the time. Another theory is that she died of depression and a broken heart. Catherine was aged 50 at her death.
11 Responses to “What did Catherine of Aragon die of?”
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I feel that even though Anne and Catherine were enemies I do not feel that she would have poisened her or King Henry,I doubt neither would have ordered her to be poisened.I beleive she died of cancer.
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Do we know the age difference between Catherine and Henry? It seems that since she was previously married to his older brother that she might be older than him. But then again, women were married at such young ages. Queen Catherine certainly looks older than King Henry in “The Tudors” (sorry Maria Doyle Kennedy) but was that merely casting or somewhat acurate portrayal?
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Hi Amber,
Catherine was born on 16th December 1485 and Henry was born on 28th June 1491 so Catherine was 5 and a half years older than him which I suppose was quite a lot in days when the average age of death was 35. I would have thought that Catherine would have actually looked much older than Henry after all her pregnancies and the toll they took on her body, whereas Henry was a fit, sporty man until his jousting accident. Interestingly, Maria Doyle Kennedy is nearly 13 years older than Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
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I believe Catherine died of cancer, too. I doubt Anne would have had Catherine poisoned, because as long as she was alive, it pretty much guaranteed that Henry would stay with Anne, not wanting to go back to Catherine if he wanted to be rid of Anne. Anne most likely knew this.
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I subscribe to the cancer theory, but I believe the emotional and psychological trauma that Catherine went through after being dumped by Henry and forcibly separated from Mary would have played a huge role in her illness, perhaps even physically manifesting itself as the cancer. It is widely accepted that there is a huge correlation between emotional pain and physical illness.
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I suspect that she died of metastatic melanoma, one of the few cancer that metastisizes to the heart, and because the tumor found on her heart was described as being black, classic for melanoma.
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I go with the Cancer theory also. It goes without saying that there was tension between Anne and Catherine, after all they were fighting for the same man, and that can get pretty sticky when both sides have their claws out, however, I do not think Anne would or even thought of knocking Catherine off with poison. I think she knew she was winning the game and well, that was not a necessary option to think about. 50 was old in those days, but when you think about all of us getting old one usually starts to think about the two most common reasons for death now a days, heart attack or some terminal form of cancer. So why not in Catherine’s case. Added to that fact though, I can not even begin to doubt that she was one sad and depressed lady, tired out from the constant fighting and tension not only with Anne but with her husband, Henry. Why should the love game be any different then to now. Depression is a killer also and when added to heart attack or cancer, Catherine did not have a chance so to speak…who would have needed poison….?
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I don’t believe Anne had anything to do with Katharine’s death. If anyone would gain from her death, it would have been Henry. Not that I think he did, just pointing out that who had motives was murkier than we often suppose. If Henry wanted Anne’s marriage to him recognized, Katharine’s death would free him to do so by making him a widower in the eyes of the Papists. If he wanted out of his marriage to Anne, Katharine’s death opened up the possibility of Anne dying, too, which would make him indisputably single.
I think Katharine’s death was by natural causes, probably cancer, but it could have been exacerbated by her years of enormous stress, poor living conditions, her separation from Mary, etc.
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Queen Anne may have been an enemy of Catharine of Aragonbut I have no doubts she would have killed her. I believe she died of Cancer just as Mary I died of cancer.
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I also go by the idea that she had cancer, and I heard that Anne Boleyn grieved for her.
Supposedly she openly celebrated when news got to her that Catherine was dead, but later on the King and Queen separately broke into tears once they had privacy.
There is also the story about the two of them wearing yellow. Some say that it was the Spanish color of mourning and therefore the two Were grieving over her death, while other say that their wearing yellow was symbolizing their hap pines and celebration in her death.
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Its an interesting point Sebastian makes that her daughter, Mary I also died of cancer around the same age (maybe 5 years younger or less?). The cancer was different; uterean or ovarian cancer, does anyone know if there is a genetic link to those kinds of cancers? If the cancer metastisized to the heart does that mean it came from elsewhere? Sorry about raising more questions than giving opinions or answers but I am interested
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