On December 16, 1485, Princess Catherine was born in Alcala de Henares, Spain. Her parents were King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castille; she had three sisters and a brother. This girl was to be known as Catherine of Aragon.
One day, ambassadors from England came asking for Catherine's hand in marriage to Prince Arthur of Wales. So it was that the one-year-old Spanish princess became an English queen.
When she was 16 years old, Catherine went to England for this marriage. However, Arthur died in April of the next year and she was now promised to Prince Henry, his brother. They were married in May of 1509 after Henry's father's death. She became his first wife.
The marriage began well - she supported him and became his confidante. She ran her estates, got involved in royal affairs, and was England's Spanish ambassador. Yet problems arose when it came to children, and an heir for the Tudor dynasty. Catherine and Henry's only surviving child was Mary (who would eventually become Queen of England and half-sister to Elizabeth).
Henry noticed this and tried to annul the marriage, so he could marry his lover Anne Boleyn (later the mother of the aforementioned Elizabeth). The Pope would hear nothing of it, but the Archbishop of Canterbury allowed it. Henry and Catherine were divorced on March 30, 1534. This act seperated the religious powers and caused conflict between Catholics and Protestants throughout England.
Catherine fought the divorce in the courts unsuccessfully rather than drifting away from the royal life and living in a nunnery. From then on, she lived in Kimbolton without seeing her own daughter again, until her death on January 7, 1536.
Why I Admire Her
Even though she didn't have much say in being Queen of England, she was still a good ruler and later fought for herself in the courts about the divorce. It also brought about some major historical, life-changing events.
Yet her story still leaves some mystery. How could she have survived without seeing her family and daughter again? And what would have happened if Arthur had survived?