Today in 1501 Katherine of Aragon set sail from Laredo Spain to go to England and marry Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales. It was actually the second attempt at sailing. After waiting nearly a month for good winds, she set sail originally on August 17, but a huge storm in the Bay of Biscay forced the ships back to Spain. She had been very frightened and thought she was going to die. The ships were so battered that they needed re-fitting before the journey could resume, which she did from a different port today.
She had already been away from home, which at that point had been the palace of the Alhambra in Granada, since May, and had traveled 500 miles on horseback to northern Spain during the summer. By all accounts her journey was exhausting, and she finally landed in Plymouth on October 2.
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:
Episode 47: Tudor Times talks about Katherine of Aragon
Episode 69: Supplemental – Chat with James Boulton on Katherine of Aragon
From the shop:
Check out this Andalucian Princess Collection.
Featuring: Catherine of Aragon Andalucian Princess Sleeveless Long Dress
Ps. All products are made on-demand and can take a few weeks to ship.
Want more Tudor in your life? Join the Tudor Learning Circle - the only social network devoted solely to Tudor History. Sign up free at TudorLearningCircle.com! And why not Tudorfy your YouTube algorithm by getting exclusive videos and content on Heather's YouTube channel!
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.