Today in 1501 Catherine of Aragon met Prince Arthur Tudor, her betrothed, for the first time. She had been traveling for nearly six months, through the hot summertime in Spain on horseback, a treacherous journey through the Bay of Biscay that had to be abandoned once, and then finally landing in Plymouth in early October. Then the overland trip through England in rainy autumn began.
After years of marriage negotiations, Henry VII couldn’t wait any longer to see his son’s bride, and so he set off to surprise her, with his son, as she got closer to London. He met her in Hampshire, at a palace that belonged to the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and at first they were nearly turned away. The Spanish diplomat insisted that tradition demanded that she not meet Arthur before her wedding day. Henry was insistent, and Catherine knew she wouldn’t get out of it, so she agreed. Henry was pleased with the sight, and the betrothal was blessed, and celebrated with Katherine entertaining the royal party with music and dancing. It must have been a stressful situation for Catherine after all her traveling, but she handled it with grace and dignity. The next day she set off to complete the journey to London.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
James Boulton from the Queens of England Podcast on Katherine of Aragon
Tudor Times on Katherine of Aragon
Episode 110: Arthur Tudor
From the shop:
The Andalucian Princess Collection
Featuring: Catherine of Aragon Andalucian Princess Women’s Socks
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.