On 14 November 1501, Catherine and Arthur finally married in person at St Paul’s Cathedral. She chose to marry in white. She wore a long white satin skirt over a farthingale (which created a hoop shape), pleated in folds. Her face was covered with a white veil with gold edges and pearls embroidered on it. She wore her hair loose, as was traditional. Her train was carried by Cecily of York, Queen Elizabeth’s sister. Arthur, too, was dressed in white satin, as was Prince Henry, who gave away the bride. Following the wedding ceremony, they were blessed, and a Mass was read before they retired.
In the evening, the bedding ceremony followed and many years later this night would be analysed. Catherine and Arthur travelled from the Bishop’s Palace to Baynard Castle, where the bed chamber had been prepared. Catherine was brought into the bed chamber first, dressed in her nightgown. She had to wait for Arthur, who was eventually carried in by his gentlemen. Then, everyone withdrew, leaving Catherine and Arthur alone at last. We’ll never know if consummation took place that night. Arthur bragged in the morning that he had been “in the midst of Spain” and that it was a “good pastime to have a wife.”1 Catherine later swore that it had not been consummated, and she never claimed otherwise.
On 21 December 1501, Arthur and Catherine departed for the Welsh Marches; Catherine had just celebrated her 16th birthday. At Ludlow Castle, they both had separate chambers, as was customary. Catherine settled into her new home as Arthur resumed his duties as Prince of Wales. She formed a close connection to Margaret Pole, who was the daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence and thus a cousin of Queen Elizabeth.
At the end of March 1502, Arthur and Catherine both fell ill. It is not quite clear what they were ill with; it could have been the plague or the sweat. However, while Catherine eventually recovered, Arthur died on 2 April 1502. Following the examination of his body, a physician diagnosed “tisis”, “phthisis”, or pulmonary tuberculosis.2 However, a disease like this would have been obvious for a lot longer, and he had not been described as having been sickly before. It is not clear when Catherine finally learned the devastating news.
King Henry learned the news on 5 April and immediately sent for Queen Elizabeth so that they may “take the Painefull sorrows together.”3 Within weeks, Queen Elizabeth was pregnant again for the sake of the dynasty. On 25 April, Arthur was laid to rest at Worcester Cathedral; Catherine was not present. As Catherine regained her health, she realised she was now in a precarious position. Perhaps she expected to return home to Castile, but this would have also meant returning her dowry. She had to wait and see what was to be decided for her. Catherine was transported to London in a black-draped carriage sent by her mother-in-law.
It wasn’t until early May that the news of Arthur’s death even reached Castile, and a special envoy was sent to England with instructions to demand that Catherine be sent home. However, when Queen Elizabeth died following childbirth on 11 February 1503, King Henry wanted to marry Catherine. Isabella was horrified at the idea. She wrote, “It would be a very terrible thing – one never before seen, and the mere mention of which offends the ears.”4 She told her ambassador, “If anything be said to you about it; speak of it as a thing not be endured. You must likewise say very decidedly that on no account would we allow it, or even hear it mentioned, in order that by these means, the King of England may lose all hope of bringing it to pass, if he has any. For the conclusion of the betrothal of the Princess, our daughter, with the Prince of Wales, his son, would be rendered impossible if he were to nourish any such idea.”5
Isabella was clearly aiming for a match with Prince Henry, and she even instructed Catherine to pack her bags to join a Spanish fleet on its way back from Flanders. This prompted King Henry to agree to a match with his other son. King Henry wrote to the Pope for the papal dispensation, which included a part about the non-consummation of her first marriage to prevent arguments over legitimacy. The wedding was set to take place when Prince Henry turned 14 in the summer of 1505, and Catherine was sent to live at Durham House. Catherine was miserable there, and she often wrote to her mother about her ill health and unhappiness. She often stopped eating, and King Henry was forced to write to the Pope to ask him to order her to eat. She was sometimes allowed to visit the court.
On 26 November 1504, Catherine’s mother, Isabella, died, and her sister Joanna became the new Queen regnant of Castile. She had written to her mother that day, not knowing that she had already passed, and had written that she had “no other hope or comfort than that which comes with knowing that her mother and father are well.”6 Catherine likely only learned of her mother’s death sometime in December. Her mother’s loss also meant a loss of status for Catherine. She no longer represented the mighty Castile, and if King Henry wanted an alliance with Castile, he would now look towards the new King and Queen. Their daughter, Eleanor, was looking far better now. The summer of 1505 passed without a wedding for Catherine and Prince Henry.
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