Figure 1.--This portrait shows Prince Arthur. I'm not sure who painted it or when. It looks to have been done a few years his marringe to the Princess Catherine of Aragon. Notice the flower that he is holding.
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Figure 1.--This portrait shows Prince Arthur. I'm not sure who painted it or when. It looks to have been done a few years his marringe to the Princess Catherine of Aragon. Notice the flower that he is holding. |
Arthur was Henry's oldest son. As a diplomatic strategy, Henry arranged for Arthur to marry Catherine of Aragon who was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Arthur's untimely death within months complicated Henry's foreign policy. As a result, Henry secured a papal dispensation to allow his next son Henry to marry Catherine.
Prince Arthur was the oldest son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Henry had ended the War of the Roses between the Lancaster and York factions and the founder of the Tudor dynasty. Thus Arthur would have been the first English monarch with both Lancastrian and York blood.
Henry having won the crown of England in battle sought to establish a ligitimate claim. He had genealogists "prove" a line of descent back to Cadwallader and the ancient British kings. Henry associated Winchester with Camelar and thus had Elizabeth go there to give birth to Arthur. Henry was enamored of the Athurian legend. Here he saw Tudor rule as ending the debilitating War of the the Roses a a rebirth of the Bitish nation and no king was more associated with English greatness than the legendary Arthur. Henry also one to stress Tudor links with Wales Thus his first son was named Arthur after the King Arthur of the Round Table.
Henry and Elizabeth had four children who survived infancy, Arthur, Henry (the future Henry VIII), Margaret and Mary. The marriage of his children were some of the most important in English history.
Arthur was Henry's oldest son.
Henry was the youngest son, but became the heir apparent upon the death of his brother Arthur. He married Catherine after receiving a papal dispensation. Henry succeded his father as inherited the crown as Henry VIII. Years later when Henry decided to divorce Catherine, he used questions over the papal dispensation as justification for an annulment of his marriage. With the pope unable to annul the marriage, Henry broke from Rome, launching the Protestant Revolution.
Henry married his daughter Margaret to James IV of Scotland. This provided a dynastic link between the Tudors and Stuarts. When Henry VIII's daughter Elizabeth died chioldless, the Tudor line became extinct giving the Stuart Scottish King James VII title to the English throne which he assumed as James I, launching the English Stuart dynasty.
Arthur was born in 1486. He was christened in Winchester Cathedral. Tere is not much known of his childhood. Apparntly he was not as robust as his younger brother Henry Duke of York. Some historians believe that he was not as athhletic as Henry, but he may have been prfient in archery. I have been unable to find any information about the relationship between the two brothers.
Arthur at his christening was made a Knight of the Bath. He was made Prince of Wales at 3 years of age. nd then he was made a Knight of the Garter at age 5.
Henry gave considerable attention to Arthur's education. The Renaisance had reached northern Europe and Henry wanted his sons to have the best education available. John Rede was Arthur's first tutor . Subsequently the blind poet laureate, Bernard André. Apparently he was an apt pupil. André began a biography of Henry VII and claimed that by 15 years old Arthur had read all of the leading Greek and Latin authors.
Royal marriages until the 20th century were matter of high diplomacy. Henry when Arthur was only 2 years old began planning for Arthur's marriage (1488). His object was to have Arthur marry Catherine of Aragon. Aragon was one of the most important kingdom in Spain. Having ties to Spanish royalty was importnt to England as it helped preclude threats from France, Engand's historical enemy. Catherine's father, King Ferdinand, was, unsure about the marriage. Henry has seized the crown by force with a tenuous cliam. Ferdinand thought it prudent to see if Henry was in firm control of the rown. Henry's execution of the pretender Perkin Warbeck and the Earl of Warwick (1499) demonstrated that he was in firm control. Ferdinand finally agreed. Prince Arthur at about 13 years of age began writings letters from Ludlow Castle to Catherine. She was 2 years older than Arthur and the two had never met. The terms of the marriage were agreed to at a meeting near Calais (1500).
Catherine was born in 1485 at Alcala de Henares, Madrid. Her parents were the Famous Ferdinanbd and Isabella who dispached Colunbus on his fateful voyage. She was their fifth and yungest child. Her father was King Ferdinand V "The Catholic" of Aragon (1452- ). His parents were John II of Trastámara, King of Aragón, (1398- ) an Juana Enriquez (1425- ). Catherine's mother was Isabella "The Catholic" of Castile (1451- ). Isabella's parents were King John II (Juan II) of Castile, King of Castile & León (1405- ) and Isabella of Portugal (1428- ). After marrying Henry, Catherine had one surviving child--Princess Mary. Henry's decession to annul the marriage and marry Anne Boleyn launched the English Reformation. Catherine died in 1536, Kimbolton Castle, probably of cancer. She is interred: Peterborough Cathedral.
Arthur and Catherine were married in St. Paul's Cathedral (1501). The newlyweds set up court as the Prince and Princess of Wales at Ludlow. Ludlow was located on the Welsh border. Here Arthur resided to fufill his duties as Prince of Wales and President of the Council of Wales and the Marches. Wales was not yet fully integrated under English law. It is believed that the marriage was not consumated as their parents thought them to young to cohabit. Catherine herself later claimed that the marriage was not consumated becuse of Arthur's age and poor health. [Lofts, p. 44.] This question was to have a powerful impact the future of Britain during the rule of Arthur's brother Henry.
Arthur the Spring after the marriage suddenly died (1502). Arthur was apparently not physically strong, but his death came as a great shock. No one knows what caused Arthur's death. Accounts at the time describe a fever. Some relate it to the damp damp conditions at Ludlow. Other historians wonder if it was a genetic disorder and related to Edward VI's poor health and eventual death as a youth. This unforseen event was to emense consequences, not only for the young bride, but he Roman Catholic Church and the people of England. There are some who believe that foul play may have been involved, but there is no real evidence to substantiate this.
King Henry, Arthur's father decided that all the diplomatic negotions could be maintained by Prince Henry replacing his departed brother. That way Catherine would not have to be sent back to Spain. A papal dispensation was arranged and Prince Henry married Catherine. Later when Henry sought to have his marriage with Catherine annulled, the grounds was that the papal dispensation allow the marriage was invalid.
Lofts, Norah. Anne Boleyn (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan: New York, 1979), 192p.
Unknown. "Arthur Tudor: Prince of Wales" (tudorplace.com)
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