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Not since Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou in 1445 was there a prestigious royal foreign marriage for England. Edward IV had married widow Elizabeth Woodville and Richard III had married his childhood friend Anne Neville, both English natives. Due to the decisive way in which Henry had defeated his enemies over a fifteen-year period, his power and his profile grew internationally, influencing foreign leaders to ally with him. In medieval times, there was no greater way to tie two countries together in a mutual alliance than with a royal wedding. King Henry shopped around for a marriage for his eldest child Arthur when his son was still an infant and found a taker in Ferdinand and Isabella, parents to Catherine of Aragon.1
In 1489, the marriage between Prince Arthur and Princess Catherine was agreed to in the Treaty of Medina del Campo followed shortly thereafter with the required dispensation. Since Arthur and Catherine were both descended from John of Gaunt, the pope had to approve their marriage for it to be deemed legitimate. Several proxy marriage ceremonies were held afterwards as the betrothed couple grew closer to adulthood.2 Then in 1500 the planning began. Henry wanted their marriage to be the most celebrated, magnificent event in all of Europe so he could display the strength, wealth, and power of the Tudor dynasty. He spared no expense and had the luxury of an entire year to plan his grand extravaganza.
On 2 October 1501, the princess Catherine of Aragon arrived on English soil after surviving a perilous voyage across the Channel through stormy seas. Catherine spent the next month making her way towards London, nearly 300 kilometres away from where she had landed in Plymouth.3 On 6 November she lodged in the village of Dogmersfield, about seventy kilometres southwest of London when she was surprised by the unexpected arrival of King Henry himself. He had tried to wait patiently for Catherine to make her arrival in London but couldn’t contain his excitement at meeting the Spanish princess, showing up unannounced at Dogmersfield. Although it was against the Spanish tradition for the bride to be seen before the wedding, Catherine received the king graciously and then shortly thereafter was introduced to her fiancé Arthur.4
Catherine made her official entry into London on 12 November 1501, escorted by Arthur’s younger brother Henry and her future-father-in-law, King Henry. At London Bridge they were welcomed by the mayor and then the procession through the city began. The streets and sidewalks were packed with Londoners trying to get a glimpse of the future queen. The conduits flowed freely with wine and there was music and celebrations throughout the city.5 Along the procession, Catherine stopped to watch six carefully planned pageants before arriving at St Paul’s Cathedral where she would lodge in the bishop’s palace until the wedding.
On the morning of 14 November 1501, Princess Catherine emerged from bishop’s palace and was escorted to St Paul’s by Prince Henry. The two cut a fine figure in their white satin and cloth of gold outfits made specially for the occasion. As they arrived at the church, they mounted a platform constructed for the occasion so that the massive crowds could all see their splendor. The platform was covered in red carpet and stretched nearly 200 metres up to the church altar. Henry gave the hand of Catherine to his brother Arthur and the bishops kicked off the three-hour ceremony.6 Afterwards, a huge celebratory wedding feast was held at Lambeth Palace followed by ten days of further banquets, pageants, jousts, and disguisings. Then the young couple departed London for their permanent resident at Ludlow Castle in Wales.
Henry must have been extremely proud of this achievement, both personally and for the prestige it brought his kingdom. Unfortunately, the royal wedding would be the pinnacle of his reign. From this point forward, King Henry would experience a staggering number of losses in his family and circle of friends. These devastating losses would shape him into the miserly, heartless king for which he is most well-known, not the jovial young Henry from the early days of his reign. He was forever changed by the events that would unfold in the early 1500s.
Less than five months after the grandiose wedding, Henry was riding high but then was promptly brought down by the shocking news that Arthur had died at Ludlow on 2 April 1502. It seems both Arthur and Catherine had contracted a case of the sweating sickness. Catherine recovered but unfortunately Arthur did not.7 King Henry and Queen Elizabeth were utterly devastated. They took turns consoling each other and resolved that they were young enough to try for more sons. Their only living son, Prince Henry, the former spare heir, would now inherit the throne of England as Henry VIII.
Before he even had time to recover from the devastation of losing his on Arthur, an even worse blow was dealt to Henry when Queen Elizabeth died in childbirth on 11 February 1503, as did the daughter she delivered. The king was inconsolable at the loss of his wife and partner to whom he had been completely loyal. Their marriage may not have started as a love match, but over the years they did indeed grow to love each other quite deeply. The king withdrew in total despair, then fell into an illness so terrible that his attendants feared for his life. It took him an entire month to recover and get back to some sense of normalcy.8 Never had Henry been one to give up. He knew he had no choice but to pick up the pieces and carry on, for the sake of his kingdom and his children.
First, he settled the situation with the widowed Catherine of Aragon. In August 1503, King Henry and Catherine’s father Ferdinand came to the agreement that Catherine should be married to Prince Henry once he came of age (he was only 12 years old at the time).9 Next, Henry took advantage of his own widowed status to get into the foreign marriage market himself. He entertained the idea of marrying another daughter of Ferdinand’s and the prospect of marriage with the duchess of Savoy was a real possibility, but in the end, Henry wasn’t interested in a new spouse, he was merely playing the royal matrimonial game and feeling out other foreign leaders.10
From about 1504 on, Henry started to retreat from court life and relegate governmental tasks to his advisors, the most notorious of those being Empson and Dudley who were described as ‘ravening wolves’.11 King Henry gave the two men free reign to collect taxes and extort money from his noblemen, charging them exorbitant fines for minor offences and forcing them to pay bonds to reassure their loyalty and good behaviour towards the king. The ruthlessness of these two men had a major effect on King Henry’s reputation since he did nothing to stop their predatory methods. Henry lost the love of his people in these later years due to his miserly ways and his refusal to regulate his councillors.
The common perception is that Henry VII was always a greedy, penny-pinching king, but that’s simply not the case. Long before the tragedies of the early 1500’s, Henry held a magnificent court and spent huge amounts of money impressing his many visitors, both from England and abroad. He spent lavishly on clothing, ceremonies, and festivals as well as entertainers, poets, and scholars who would visit his court. He spoiled his family with gifts, he loved to gamble, and was generous in the wages he paid to his household staff.12 It was only in the later part of his reign that his personality changed into a withdrawn and apathetic ruler.
For the last few years of his life, Henry VII suffered repeated bouts of illness that would confine him to his bed for weeks at a time.13 During Easter 1507, he suffered a serious attack of quinsy (a severe sore throat) and was unable to eat or drink for nearly a week. In March 1509, the king again took to his bed, this time with consumption, or tuberculosis. It cruelly took its time ravaging the body, causing uncontrollable weight loss until the victim literally wasted away. By mid-April, it was clear to everyone he was dying. On 21 April 1509, the 53-year-old monarch quietly passed away at Richmond.
Obviously, Margaret Beaufort was devastated at the loss of her only son but took it upon herself to fulfill one last duty: ensure the safe succession of her grandson, Prince Henry. From Henry VII’s death to Henry VIII’s coronation two months later, she acted as a regent for her grandson, planning the coronation and choosing the councillors who would advise him.14 King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine were jointly coronated in London on 24 June 1509. Margaret watched the ceremony from a private viewing gallery, just as she had done for her son when he took the throne almost twenty-five years prior.15 Having fulfilled her final duty, Margaret took to her bed and died on 29 June 1509, just five days after Henry VIII’s coronation.