Category: Queens Of England - Meandering Through Time

Marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon

19/10/2018

On this day in 1469, the marriage took place of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon,

Wedding Portrait of Isabella and Ferdinand c1469

Their marriage had been previously arranged, but Isabella only consented to this marriage if she met with the future king of Aragon before it took place, this meeting had been set for the 11th of October. The young man that Isabella first set eyes on was a dark-haired, seventeen-year-old with chubby cheeks and full lips who she no doubt found attractive.

Isabella was a year older than Ferdinand, they also were second cousins. The marriage of close family members was illegal and therefore there were consanguinity issues, however documentation, dated to five years earlier, had been found that decreed that Ferdinand could marry within the third degree of consanguinity, this papal bull legalised their marriage.

The wedding took place at the Palacio de los Vivero (Palace of the Nurseries) in the city of Valladolid in Castile and their first child, a daughter, Isabella, was born just under a year following their marriage.

Isabella and Ferdinand went on to have another six children, the most famous, from an English point of view, was Catherine, the wife of Prince Arthur and later his brother Henry VIII.

Isabella and Ferdinand's marriage paved the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country that we now know as Spain.

Margaret of England

28/9/2018

It has been claimed that Margaret, the second daughter of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, was named after her aunt Margaret of Provence, the wife of King Louis IX of France. However, chronicler Matthew Paris states that she was named after Saint Margaret of Antioch who her mother called upon whilst giving birth. There is also some confusion over Margaret's date of birth which is stated as being either this day in 1240 or in the first weeks of October.

By the age of eleven Margaret had married the ten year old King Alexander III of Scotland, and it was in Scotland that Margaret is said to have spent a great deal of time in a miserable existence. Margaret's first child a daughter, also Margaret and later queen of Norway, was born ten years after her marriage.

Alexander was Margaret's second child and heir to the throne of Scotland, his death three years after his brother David in 1281 would cause a succession crisis, this would end with one John Baillol being crowned as king of Scotland. Eventually, the enthronement of Baillol would lead to the Scottish Wars of Independence.

But what of Margaret? She outlived her father by three years, she was present at the coronation of her elder brother Edward I as king of England in Westminster in the August 1274.

Of Margaret it was written

‘She was a lady of great beauty, chastity, and humility, three qualities which are rarely found together in the same person.’

Catherine of Aragon

18/5/2018

On the 19th May 1499, thirteen year old Catherine of Aragon was married, by proxy, to twelve year old Arthur, Prince of Wales at Tickenhill Palace, a manor house that formed part of the princes estate.

The actual wedding would take place on 14th of November in 1501 at St Paul's Cathedral, when Henry VII's heir would be of age.

The sweet chestnut tree in the image below is reputed to have been planted to commemorate the couple's marriage in the manor gardens. If the story is true, then this year the tree will be five hundred and eighteen years old.

Its branches have been allowed to grow, its longest branch, which stretches down a slope has an elbow and touches the ground, is forty four feet from the tree's trunk and reaches to its furthest extent of 77 feet. Sweet chestnut trees were introduced to England over two thousand years ago and can grow to a massive size, many have large hollow trunks.

Catherine and Arthur's 'tree' can be found in the grounds of the Georgian Kateshill House, that now stands in what was the 15th century Tickenhill estate.

Funeral of Catherine of Aragon

29/1/2018

Catherine of Aragon died in the first week of January 1536 it was on this day she was laid to rest at Peterborough Cathedral.

Catherine was Henry VIII's first and 'true wife,' abandoned when she was no longer any use to him. In the furore that surrounded Henry's relationship with Anne Boleyn, it was said that Anne poisoned Catherine. Today, however, it is widely considered that she died of cancer, and most probably a broken heart.

Catherine had written of her fears to Charles V in the November of the previous year

"My tribulations are so great, my life so disturbed by the plans daily invented to further the king's wicked intention, the surprises which the king gives me, with certain persons of his council, are so mortal, and my treatment is what God knows, that it is enough to shorten ten lives, much more mine."

Henry did not attend Catherine's funeral, and in one last cruel act against his wife, he also forbade their daughter Mary to attend. It was written that the queens funeral waggon was

"was covered with black velvet, in the midst of which was a great silver cross; and within, as one looked upon the corpse, was stretched a cloth of gold frieze with a cross of crimson velvet, and before and behind the said waggon stood two gentlemen ushers with mourning hoods looking into the waggon, round which the said four banners were carried by four heralds and the standards with the representations by four gentlemen." and once inside the cathedral Catherine's coffin was "placed under the chapelle ardente which was prepared for it there, upon eight pillars of beautiful fashion and roundness, upon which were placed about 1,000 candles, both little and middle-sized, and round about the said chapel 18 banners waved.”

Below you can see the tomb of Catherine at Peterborough Cathedral if you look closely you can see that people are still leaving pomegranates in remembrance of her.

Death of Catherine of Valois

3/1/2017

On the 3rd January 1437 occurred the death of Catherine of Valois, Queen to Henry V, and after his death to Owen Tudor. Catherine's marriage to Tudor is not documented, but from their relationship the mighty Tudor dynasty sprang.

Catherine is often referred to as rather amorous or 'over sexed,' a derogatory term often thrown at women, which, it seems, is okay behaviour if you're a male!

Catherine is thought to have died whilst in Bermondsey Abbey and was buried in the old Lady chapel of Westminster Abbey. In 1503 Catherine's body had been was found 'loosely wrapped in lead' From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century her remains were often displayed as a curiosity.

One of the saddest things I've read about Catherine was written by Samuel Pepys in his diary in 1660.

"I now took to Westminster Abbey, it being Shrove Tuesday;and here we did see, by particular favour, the body of
Queen Katerine of Valois; and I had the upper part of her body in my hands, and I did kiss her mouth, reflecting upon it that I
did kiss a Queen, and that this was my birthday, thirty six years old, that I did first kiss a Queen. When Henry the Seventh
built his chapel, it was taken up and laid in this wooden coffin; but I did there see that, in it, the body was buried in a leaden
one, which remains under the body to this day"

Not the actions of a normal man surely? Somebody ought to have given him a clip round the ear!

Sadly, Catherine's remains were still left unburied and available to view at Westminster until 1793! It was not until the late
19th century that it was removed to Henry V's chantry.

King Henry I

30/11/2016

Henry of Huntington, the 12th century English chronicler wrote that Henry I was endowed with three gifts, that of wisdom,
victory and riches, but he also writes that these were offset with three vices, avarice, cruelty and lust.

Henry was cruel, on one occasion he sanctioned an act of vengeance, ordering the blinding of his own granddaughters when
he discovered a similar atrocity had befallen the son of one of his courtiers. In 1124, he had 44 thieves hanged on the same day. Henry the lustful he most certainly was, however, Henry the romantic he was not despite the stories we've heard of the Welsh beauty Nest ferch Rhys and his long-term mistress Sybil Corbit. Henry worked his way through a stream of women, from other men's wives to abbesses. He did acknowledge fifteen illegitimate children, the sons he placed in important positions and the daughters he married off to wealthy nobles, the others, another nine or so he had little or no time for.

Henry's ability to father children goes without question, it is a puzzle then, that with his first wife Matilda, he only fathered two children in their eighteen-year marriage and he fathered none with his second wife, the very young and beautiful Adeliza of Louvain in their fifteen years of marriage.

Henry was a good administrator, and as we have seen he was cruel and harsh, he demanded loyalty but was known to return
the latter to those who served him well, the result of which was from 1103 until his death, there were no significant uprisings during his reign.

The beginning of the end of Henry's thirty-five years on the throne of England came in the November of 1135 at a hunting
lodge at Lyons la Foret in France when death knocked on his door. According to his doctors, Henry had been well, but Henry
of Huntingdon wrote the king became ill during the night after

he partook of some lampreys, of which he was fond, though they always disagreed with him; and though his physician recommended him to abstain, the king would not submit to his salutary advice… This repast bringing on ill humours,
and violently exciting similar symptoms, caused a sudden and extreme disturbance, under which his aged frame sunk
into adeathly torpor

A few days later, on the 1st December the king was dead, as was the stability of his realm.

Henry I was buried at Reading Abbey.

Marriage of Eleanor

1/11/2016

Married today in 1254 King Edward I to Eleanor of Castile.

Statues of Edward and Eleanor at Lincoln Cathedral.

It is thought that their marriage was a happy one. Eleanor travelled with Edward continually from the time of their marriage, even through the troubled times of war.

Edward is said to have had no extramarital affairs or illegitimate children during his time with Eleanor and in return she gave him sixteen children, their youngest Edward would rule England after his father.

Edward's thirty-six year marriage to Eleanor ended with her death in Nottinghamshire in 1290. It seems, that the man who history has named Hammer of the Scots, was at home at least, a big softy. In her memory, Edward erected twelve elaborate monuments in the places where her body rested on its journey to Westminster Abbey.

One of the few remaining Eleanor Crosses in the grounds of Lincoln Castle

Arthur, Prince of Wales

20/9/2016

Born on the 20th September 1486, Arthur, Prince of Wales, was the boy on whom all Henry VII's hopes and dreams were pinned.

So important was it to Henry that Elizabeth give birth in the Hampshire town of Winchester, that he risked both their lives by rushing to get them there. This journey caused Elizabeth to give birth early, fortunately the queen delivered a healthy baby boy at St. Swithun’s Priory

“afore one o’clock after midnight.”

The new heir to the Tudor throne of England was named Arthur, after King Arthur the victorious fifth century warrior, who lead the Britons into battle against Saxon invaders. Henry was quick to see the parallels between himself and Arthur, after all had he not lead the true line of the blood royal in a battle against those who had no right to the English crown?

To Henry, Arthur as a perfect English hero, who Chretien de Troyes, the French poet, had written so eloquently about three centuries earlier. Henry was not the only one to be inspired by the chivalric tales of King Arthur, Thomas Malory's wrote the about this 'West Country' king and it was in his work that Winchester was the suggested site of King Arthur's Castle.

Prince Arthur was baptised four days after his birth in Winchester Cathedral, and for a while at least, Henry's new Tudor garden was filled with healthy red roses.

Catherine of Aragon at Blackfriars

20/6/2016

On the 21st June 1529, Catherine of Aragon, appeared in front of Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio at the court at Blackfriars.

“Sir, I beseech you for all the love that hath been between us, and for the love of God, let me have justice. Take of me some pity and compassion, for I am a poor woman, and a stranger born out of your dominion. I have here no assured friends, and much less impartial counsel…

Alas! Sir, wherein have I offended you, or what occasion of displeasure have I deserved?… I have been to you a true, humble and obedient wife, ever comfortable to your will and pleasure, that never said or did any thing to the contrary thereof, being always well pleased and contented with all things wherein you had any delight or dalliance, whether it were in little or much. I never grudged in word or countenance, or showed a visage or spark of discontent. I loved all those whom ye loved, only for your sake, whether I had cause or no, and whether they were my friends or enemies. This twenty years or more I have been your true wife and by me ye have had divers children, although it hath pleased God to call them out of this world, which hath been no default in me…

When ye had me at first, I take God to my judge, I was a true maid, without touch of man. And whether it be true or no, I put it to your conscience. If there be any just cause by the law that ye can allege against me either of dishonesty or any other impediment to banish and put me from you, I am well content to depart to my great shame and dishonour. And if there be none, then here, I most lowly beseech you, let me remain in my former estate… Therefore, I most humbly require you, in the way of charity and for the love of God – who is the just judge – to spare me the extremity of this new court, until I may be advised what way and order my friends in Spain will advise me to take. And if ye will not extend to me so much impartial favour, your pleasure then be fulfilled, and to God I commit my cause!”

Catherine was renowned for her strength of character and virtue, abandoning Catherine was Henry VIII's
first big mistake.

Death of Catherine Howard and Jane Boleyn.

15/2/2016

On the 13th February in 1542 the execution of Catherine Howard and Jane Boleyn.

Many people believe that it was Jane Parker, the wife of George Boleyn, who was to blame for initiating the downfall of her sister in law Anne in 1536, but there were other women in the court, Elizabeth Browne for instance, whose actions history might like to take a look at. However, it was the events of 1542 that were Jane's downfall.

In 1541, Catherine Howard, Henry VIII fifth wife, had begun a physical relationship with one of his favourite courtier, Thomas Culpepper, and Jane Boleyn went out of her way to encourage this relationship.

Catherine wrote to Culpepper in a letter that was to be all their undoing:

“praying you that you will come when my Lady Rochford is here”

If Jane had anything to do with Anne’s downfall she must have realised that she was lucky to escape in 1536, and if she didn’t, then she doesn't seem to have learnt anything from the whole affair. Jane must have known what would happen if Henry found out that she was involved with Catherine and Culpepper and when the affair was out in the open each woman blamed the other. Jane Boleyn walked right into the Culpepper affair with her eyes open.

Following their arrest, Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London and Catherine Howard at Syon Abbey. The night before her execution, Catherine is said to have spent it practicing laying her head upon the block, and Jane was in the throes of a nervous breakdown.

Both women were beheaded with one blow of the executioners axe and their bodies buried in the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula.

I often asked myself the question, were Catherine, Jane and Anne's 'crimes' so appalling that they warranted a death sentence? That, I think made little difference, once they stood before the justice's their fates were sealed, state trials weren't fair trials. Schauer and Schauer in their article Law as an Engine of State wrote " Laws, like armies, were an engine of state, not a mechanism for justice!" and in that lies the answer.