On 30th November 1529, St Andrew’s Day, Catherine of Aragon confronted her husband Henry VIII about the way he was treating her, saying that she had “long been suffering the pains of Purgatory on earth” and that she was “very badly treated by his refusing to dine with and visit her in her apartments”.
It must have been so hard for Catherine, what with her husband viewing their marriage as invalid and trying to replace her with Anne Boleyn.
You can read all about her complaint and Henry’s reaction to it in my article Catherine of Aragon confronts Henry VIII.
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Hi there, my family is based in New Zealand and we believe we have a wooden chest which belonged to Catherine of Aragon – have you ever heard of her owing such a thing? Perhaps as part of her dowry? It’s quite intricately carved, seems to feature her heraldic coat of arms, and has pomegranate details everywhere. I think some Victorian copies were probably made, but this piece took a long journey from a US-based antique dealer a long time ago to NZ. Would be great to know if you’ve ever heard of or come across an object like this before.
I was only thinking about Catherine recently and what she must have endured married to that tyrant. She was very popular with the people, and died a lonely death denied financially towards the end of her life enough to pay staff. Her tomb still has flowers left today. The sheer cruelty of Henry VIII is beyond words.
My morning thought: It’s funny how nothing changed. I mean, after 500 years people still seem to be divided into the fraction of Catherine of Aragon and the fraction of Anne Boleyn. It’s like time stopped in early 1530’s, they both are alive and we have to decide on which side we prefer to be. History is always alive. By the way, I love your blog 🙂