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Catharine of Aragon

Queen of England, the youngest daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, born in 1485. In 1501 she was married to Arthur, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VII. Her husband dying about five months after, the king, unwilling to return her dowry, caused her to be mar- CATHARINE OF BRAGANZA ried to his remaining son, Henry, and a dispensation was procured from the Pope for that purpose. On his accession to the throne as Henry VIII. in 1509 she was crowned with him, and despite the inequality of their ages retained her ascendency with the king for nearly 20 years. Her children, however, all died in infancy, excepting Mary, and on the advent of Anne Boleyn, Henry affected to doubt the legality of his union with Catharine. He applied therefore to Rome for a divorce, but the attitude of the papal court ultimately provoked him to throw off his submission to it, and declare himself head of the English Church. In 1532 he married Anne Boleyn; upon which Catharine, no longer considered Queen of England, retired to Ampthill in Bedfordshire.

Cranmer, now raised to the primacy, pronounced the sentence of divorce, notwithstanding which Catharine still persisted in maintaining her claims, showing from first to last a firm and dignified spirit. She died in January, 1536.