gulbaharsultan:܀ history meme ܀ ten female royals: Katherine of Aragon {16 December 1485 – 7 Janua
gulbaharsultan: ܀ history meme ܀ ten female royals: Katherine of Aragon {16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536} (1/10)→ Infanta of Spain, Princess of Wales, Queen of England, Queen Regent and Dowager Princess of Wales. “…the most virtuous woman I have ever know and the highest hearted, but too quick to trust that others were like herself, and too slow to do a little ill that much good might come of it.“ - Eustace Chapuys Spanish-born Catalina, she was the daughter of the greatest European monarchs of the time, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. She was betrothed and then married to Arthur Tudor, son of Henry VII of England, in 1501. This was short lived as Arthur died but a year later. At that point, Katherine’s life took a turn for the worst. Stuck in England with her father-in-law and father arguing over her dowry, the young princess of seventeen was forced into a state of poverty. With little to live off of, she was forced to pawn some of her belongings. A betrothal between Katherine and Henry VII’s younger son, Henry, was struck but it would take nearly seven years before she would marry the man that would become one of the most infamous European monarchs of all time. Katherine was a greatly intelligent woman and promoted the cause for female education, commissioning the book The Education of a Christian Woman which was immensely popular and “paved the way for the newly cultured woman”. She was good friends with many of the Humanist writers of the time such as More and Erasmus. A great diplomat, she was important in keeping harmony between her husband and her father, as well as promoting her Spanish connections as much as possible. She was loved by her adoptive country and as Queen Regent in 1513 she won a great victory against the Scots whilst Henry was in France. Influential and well regarded, Katherine’s compassion and good nature was often remarked up - especially in her later years when she once again found herself in a state of uncertainty and poverty. The annulment of her marriage in 1533 was one of the biggest scandals of the age, altering the course of English and European history. It is this moment that many have focused upon, Shakespeare writing her as “the Queen of Earthly Queens” in the way she presented herself at her trial. The great courage that she showed could not be denied and marked her out as a woman who was more than a match for Henry VIII. Giles Tremlett notes that “Catherine’s importance to English (and European) history is beyond doubt. It is not just that she lasted as long as Henry’s five other wives put together… Reformation, revolution and Tudor history would have all been vastly different without Catherine of Aragon.” Katherine’s influence and significance left a great mark in English history and she was also the mother to England’s first female monarch in her own right, Mary I - (it is disputed if the reigns of Matilda and Jane Grey were). -- source link