Arthur marriage to Catherine of Aragon amidst one of the most festive celebrations in the history of the land herald great hope for the nascent Tudor dynasty. Catherine was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castille and Aragon, one of the most prestigious and powerful families in the whole of Europe. Like everything Henry VII did, money was, of course, always an issue, and Catherine brought plenty in terms of a dowry. Soon after the wedding the young couple—Arthur was only 15, and Catherine —left London for Ludlow Castle, on the Welsh Marches, where Arthur, as Prince of Wales, would learn and practice the art of being a future king. Less than six months later, disaster struck; on 2 April 1502, Arthur died.
Catherine was herself ill, and had to be brought back to London to recuperate. Besides the grief she suffered, Catherine now found herself in a most difficult position, financially and diplomatically. Her dowry had not been settled and Henry VII was always a miser; the quarrels among her own ambassadors made alliviating the situation difficult. Diplomatically also, as a widow and the daughter of one of Europe's great power broker, she was vulnerable. After a great deal of haggling between Henry VII and Ferdinand, it was agreed that she would marry the new Prince of Wales, Henry, Arthur's younger brother. But being the widow of Arthur meant that she was then related to her prospective husband in the first degree of affinity, but both parents, with Catherine's firm declaration that her marriage to Arthur had not been consummated, eventually received the papal dispensation for the marriage to go ahead. Though Henry was still a minor, Henry (the future Henry VIII) and Catherine were bethrothed 25 June 1503, two days after the treaty was signed. A seed, however, has been planted for future quarrels.
©ALBERITH
270121lch