On this day in history, 11th June 1509, seventeen-year-old King Henry VIII married twenty-three-year-old Spanish princess, Catalina de Aragón, or Catherine of Aragon, in the Queen’s Closet at Greenwich Palace.
Henry had come to the throne on 21st April 1509 following the death of his father, King Henry VII, and although he had previously repudiated his betrothal to Catherine, his brother Arthur’s widow, when he became king he decided to marry her afterall.
You can find out more about this marriage and what led to it in today’s “on this day in Tudor history” video.
Claire is doing these videos every day of 2019, bringing you news of Tudor births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, battles, executions, coronations and more, so do check out the Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society YouTube Channel.
This would be an amazing event to go back and witness. Seeing the two of them at the beginning when they both had such hope for the future. The young vibrant Katherine who the people loved and represented England with such class and the new king Henry VIII who was so welcomed after the experience of his father’s rule. Iwould love to see and talk to This Henry before he became the monster of history. Talking to citizens after Henry’s ascession would also be interesting.
Katherine’s young husbands sudden death must have shocked her greatly although death was not uncommon in that age, she had sailed a long and arduous journey to begin life as England’s Queen to be and had to adjust to a strange land with strange customs food and unsavoury weather, poor Katherine she had been ill also but had recovered so she had possibly just had a mild virus, but Arthur it is debated could have suffered from a number of ailments, certainly the Spanish ambassadors thought he looked frail and his joke about being in the midst of Spain after his wedding night was probably just a young mans boast nothing more, we can see how this her second marriage must have been the answer to her prayers as during her long widowhood her life was in spent in a kind of limbo, her future uncertain as her father did not order her return, and her father in law did not wish to loose his marriage allowance either, she was not allowed any income which I feel was mean of Henry V11 as how was she supposed to live with no new clothes how were her servants expected to be paid? Young people grow fast and she was used to wearing sumptuous gowns and eating well, servants at her bidding every minute of the day and it was a sad state of affairs for a young princess born of mighty Spain, now being reduced to having to plead with her mean old father in law, I agree with Claire Henry V111 when he took the throne must have seemed like her knight in armour, I think Katherine must in face have longed for that day as she must have felt she was in a kind of prison and now her handsome young brother in law wished to marry her, her joy must have been absolute and King Henry himself must have told her of his intentions in secret, he was very attracted to her as she was beautiful kind and gracious, in looks she takes after her English ancestors with golden red tresses and fair porcelain skin, she spoke with a strange lilt and Henry was enchanted, though short she was slender and it was only in middle age her waist thickened and after so many pregnancies, their wedding was low key but the new king was to make up for that with a glorious coronation later on, for now they were young deliriously happy and hopeful of the future like all newly weds, the people loved them as they represented the birth of a golden age, dour old Henry V11 was dead and in his place was a sunny natured generous laughing king, soon there would be a prince and the bells would ring out again, we can see how the country felt on this day it was rather like I suppose when Prince Charles married Lady Diana, the night before we went to Hyde Park and you literally could not move the crowds were overwhelming, but I was glad I was there as I felt like I’d experienced a bit of history, sadly we know their marriage was doomed and we know how Henry and Katherine’s marriage turned out, thankful we must be that we cannot see into the future and Katherine years later as she sat in her lonely castle must have let her mind wander back to that day when Henry pledged his hand and heart to her, and thought the same, in a sense her lonely death was reminiscent of her widowhood then she had been deserted, then her hero had rescued her, only twenty years or so later to desert her, but she was the first of Henry V111’s wives and it is to her credit she was the longest married of them all, and I feel also she was lucky in the sense that she knew the king when he was young handsome and charming, not the obese spiteful old man Anne of Cleves knew Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr, he was growing stout when he was courting Anne Boleyn and by the time he married Jane Seymour he was turning into quite a sloth, Katherine really did have the best years of Henry V111 and I think she knew it, it possibly comforted her a little in the time of her life when she was most unhappy.
Katherine of Aragon, literally could not wait to marry the handsome, 6:3, athletic, strong, charismatic, charming, King Henry Viii, the boy so much full of promise and poles apart from the man of myths from his much later years and the feeling was mutual. Henry wanted the beautiful fair haired Spanish Princess of 23 who would teach him how to be a King. They were a golden couple, full of promise, they had a lot of affection for each other and Henry was literally her knight in shining armour. I know how things went wrong and how bad things turned out but at this point and for at least eighteen years they were in love and shared loss and love and the things which would tear them apart were tragic and heart breaking. Now, on this day they were just a hopeful young couple in love and getting married. They saw a great destiny ahead of them as a new King and Queen and it must have been a wonderful time. In a couple of weeks they would share a rare and elaborate duel coronation and their people would be absolutely full of joy.
Happy Wedding Day Henry and Katherine.