catalina-de-aragon:On this day in history the young King Henry VIII of England married Katherine of
catalina-de-aragon:On this day in history the young King Henry VIII of England married Katherine of Aragon in a private ceremony at Greenwich.Six weeks later of the death of his father, the young King Henry VIII decided immediately on marrying Katherine of Aragon. She was his sister-in-law, escorted at sixteen by the ten year old Henry to marry his elder brother, Arthur of Wales. She was a widowed princess in financial and diplomatic limbo for seven years, rescued from this uncertainty by Henry’s ascension to the throne. Her difficulties, her work, and her faith in the eventual outcome were all now triumphantly vindicated. Henry had previously been affianced to Katherine, but this had been set aside because the alliance was no longer so advantageous to the English, and her father had not paid her dowry in full. Henry was betrothed to Katherine’s niece Eleanor of Austria, but announced that his father on his deathbed had begged him to marry Katherine of Aragon instead. Some historians dispute this deathbed promise as unfounded, particularly given the poor treatment Katherine suffered at the hands of Henry VII. It may well be that his story of Henry VII’s deathbed change of heart was invented shortly afterwards to placate the Habsburgs whose princess Eleanor had just been jilted. The Spanish ambassador Fuensalida believed that it was the young King himself who brought about the change of plan, and this may be the truth. Five days after Henry VII died, the ambassador was still convinced that Katherine’s cause was lost and quoted two members of the Council to the effect that the dying King had assured his son that he was free to marry whomsoever he chose.Probably it was a choice based in politics -an anti-French alliance with Spain- and attraction for the young, beautiful and highly intelligent princess Katherine. They had met at court many times. This apart, honour demanded that Henry should marry her, as by so doing he would rescue her from penury and dishonour, like a knight errant of old, and win her unending gratitude. It certainly caused great relief and joy to Katherine and her servants. The Archbishop of Canterbury, William Warham, had disapproved the match at first. Many years later, he said, “I told him (Henry VII) that the marriage seemed to me to be neither honourably nor well-pleasing to God, that one brother should marry another brother’s widow; and I told him to consider how much older was the Lady Katherine than the Prince of Wales.” But the bull of dispensation put an end to all opposition and ‘then I contradicted it no more.“ For the moment any doubts there may have been were brushed aside as a proud King undid the protest he had made at his father’s command three years before and finally (and freely) ratified his union with a princess who, though five years his senior, was still beautiful and certainly of a quality of mind and life which few queens have seriously rivalled.The wedding took place on 11 June 1509, the feast day of St Barnabas, in one of the Queen’s Closets at Greenwich Palace. There were two Queen’s Closets or oratories in the palace. They were known respectively as the Privy Closet and the Holyday Closet, this used for days of estate or ceremony. Princess Katherine was 23 years of age. King Henry was just days short of his 18th birthday. She wore virginal white with her long hair flowing free under a gold circlet. The ceremony was small and private with just two witnesses: George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and Lord Steward, and William Thomas, groom the Privy Council. According to David Starkey, the name of the officiating priest or bishop is not known. Alison Weir says William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury. According to the Calendar of State Papers of Spain, the marriage vows at this wedding went something like this:“Most illustrious Prince, is it your will to fulfil the treaty of marriage concluded by your father, the late King of England, and the parents of the Princess of Wales, the King and Queen of Spain ; and, as the Pope has dispensed with this marriage, to take the Princess who is here present for your lawful wife?The King answered : I will.Most illustrious Princess, (etc.) - The Princess answered : I will.”The Archbishop pronounced the young pair man and wife, then the small wedding party proceeded to the Chapel of the Observant Friars within thepalace precincts to hear mass. It was rather different to Katherine’s first wedding, celebrated splendidly in St Paul’s Cathedral in the heart of the capital. It was said to be one of the most expensive royal weddings in history. When she married Henry, it was in a private ceremony in the bowels of a palace five miles from London. There was no great cathedral. Not even the Chapel Royal was used. The wedding was probably low key because the couple’s joint coronation was taking place less than two weeks later, and that would be a lavish affair. Describing the wedding night which followed, Henry VIII liked to boast that he had found his wife a “maiden” (virgin). Although years later he would attempt to pass off these boasts as “jests”, there seems little doubt that he had made them.Sources:Henry VIII by J. J. ScarisbrickHenry VIII by David LoadesSix Wives by David StarkeyThe Six Wives Of Henry VIII by Alison WeirMistresses of Henry VIII by Kelly Harthttps://archive.org/stream/trialsoffivequee00deanrich/trialsoffivequee00deanrich_djvu.txthttp://www.tudor-history.com/henry-viii-marries-catherine-of-aragon/http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/11-june-1509-henry-viii-and-catherine-of-aragon-marry-at-greenwich/ -- source link
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