On this day in Tudor history, 24 June 1509, Midsummer’s Day and the Feast of St John the Baptist, England’s new king, seventeen-year-old Henry VIII, and his bride of thirteen days, Catherine of Aragon, were crowned king and queen by William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a joint ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London.
The Winter King was dead and young King Henry VIII’s accession brought new hope and joy to the English people, and was something to celebrate.
In today’s “on this day in Tudor history” video, I draw on contemporary sources to tell you more about what happened that day in 1509.
I’m doing these videos on a daily basis for the Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society Channel, so do head on over to the channel to catch up or to have a browse. There is also a playlist on “Questions about Anne Boleyn”. Please do consider subscribing to the channel too as it helps other Tudor history lovers find my videos – click here – thank you!
I’ve had lots of emails and comments from people asking for an audio-only version of my “on this day” talks so from today onwards you can listen to my talks as podcasts via my Podbean page – https://tudorhistory.podbean.com/.
And, if you prefer reading, you can read the article on which my talk was based – click here.
What a wonderful day after waiting so long to become queen. After watching the Spanish princess and the awful way Katherine is portrayed its good to read this blog. What a bright future it seemed to be
What a wonderful day, the tall handsome hulk of a young man and the beautiful redhead at his side. Red hair was considered magical as it was much rairer in some places and here we have two, one a fair red haired beautiful woman and one a tall very red haired young athletic boy of seventeen. Katherine of Aragon and the seventeen years old King Henry Viii were a sight to please every eye and put joy into every heart. It is a great pity it all went wrong much later because they were a real power couple. They looked full of happiness and promise and of course it was a magnificent display of pomp and ceremony and a young Thomas More saw this as a new golden age. For a number of years Henry was a fair ruler, nothing like the tyrant he turned into in his later years, he was warm and generous and outgoing, he was like a friend, not a King to be with, he was gallant and a superstar and he and Katherine were literally adored. Today was a day to celebrate and enjoy everything the occasion offered. Hail Henry and Katherine!