Annulment of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
Did Catherine Lie About Her Marriage to Arthur, Prince of Wales?
Feb 23, 2009
Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII of England, has been often raised to near sainthood, a patron of scorned and mistreated wives everywhere. She was tossed aside in favour of a younger woman by her husband and all over a delusion Henry held that their marriage was not in fact legal. This argument came down to one claim: that Catherine had consummated her earlier marriage with Henry’s older brother. Catherine continually denied that this was the case and the common perception has been that this was a desperate move by Henry who – by this time besotted with Anne Boleyn –would have done or said anything to get rid of his wife. However, this ignores evidence that suggests that perhaps she had indeed lied, in order to marry Henry VIII and solidify her position in England.
The Case for Annulment
The grounds Henry VIII cited for the annulment of his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon was that he had broken with Biblical law for marrying the wife of his brother, Prince Arthur, who died several months after marrying Catherine. Henry had known this when he married her and received a papal dispensation allowing for the marriage; however, that dispensation had been based on the grounds that Catherine’s marriage to Arthur had never been consummated. In his petition to have the marriage annulled, Henry claimed that Catherine had lied and that because of this lie their marriage had been sinful, which was the reason that the couple had failed to have a son who lived for more than a couple of months.
Catherine and Arthur
At the time of Catherine’s first marriage, it was believed that she and Arthur had indeed consummated their marriage. Though both parties were very young (Arthur fifteen and his bride sixteen), it certainly was possible for the couple to have been physically capable. And Arthur himself claimed to have been “in the midst of Spain” that night (Catherine was a Spanish princess).
During their brief marriage, it was not questioned that the couple had been sexually intimate with each other. The couple lived together quite happily and Catherine was anxiously watched for signs of pregnancy. It was only after Arthur’s death that Catherine claimed she was still a virgin.
Why Would She Lie?
Popular representations of Catherine tend to focus on her religious side, making her out to be the epitome of piety, a Catholic who would rather die than betray her beliefs. This however may not be all she was.
Catherine of Aragon was a very intelligent woman. She successfully ruled England as Regent when Henry was away at war and she should politically astuteness throughout the investigation of her marriage’s validity and successfully delayed the process. While she was deeply religious, lying to protect herself (and to maintain her daughter Mary’s right to be Henry’s primary heir) is something which she certainly may have considered. It kept her in England and it maintained her status in her new country.
So…Did She or Didn’t She?
In the end, of course, there is no way of knowing whether Catherine lied about the consummation of her first marriage. She died still claiming that she was Henry’s true wife. But it is impossible to rule out the possibility that she may have lied in order to protect herself. It was the politically astute action to take and Catherine proved many times to be very politically astute. And so the question needs be asked, instead of just accepting the idea that Catherine was a saint above all reproach.
Source:
Starkey, David. Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII. Great Britain: Chatto & Windus, 2003.
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