death_date consort birth_date signature reign father house death_place coronation spouse image caption succession birth_place issue religion mother burial_place article_title
7 january 1536 yes 16 december 1485 catherine of aragon signature.svg 11 1533 june 1509 & nbsp ; -- 23 may ferdinand ii of aragon house of trastámara kimbolton england castle , kimbolton , cambridgeshire , kingdom of 24 june 1509 arthur 02 ; his death -rrb- henry viii of england -lrb- , m. 1509 ; ann . 1533 -rrb- prince of wales -lrb- m. 1501 -- catherine aragon.jpg portrait by lucas hornebolte queen consort of england archbishop of spain 's palace , alcalá de henares , kingdom henry , duke of cornwall mary i of england roman catholicism isabella i of castile peterborough cathedral , peterborough , kingdom of england catherine of aragon

catherine of aragon

catherine of aragon -lrb- castilian : catalina ; also spelled katherine of aragon , 16 december 1485 -- 7 january 1536 -rrb- was queen of england from 1509 until 1533 as the first wife of king henry viii ; she was previously princess of wales as the wife of prince arthur .
the daughter of queen isabella i of castile and king ferdinand ii of aragon , catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to prince arthur , heir apparent to the english throne .
they married in 1501 , and arthur died five months later .
in 1507 , she held the position of ambassador for the spanish court in england , becoming the first female ambassador in european history .
catherine subsequently married arthur 's younger brother , the recently succeeded henry viii , in 1509 .
for six months in 1513 , she served as regent of england while henry viii was in france .
during that time the english won the battle of flodden , an event in which catherine played an important part .
by 1525 , henry viii was infatuated with anne boleyn and dissatisfied that his marriage to catherine had produced no surviving sons , leaving their daughter , the future mary i of england , as heiress presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the throne .
he sought to have their marriage annulled , setting in motion a chain of events that led to england 's schism with the catholic church .
when pope clement vii refused to annul the marriage , henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters .
in 1533 their marriage was consequently declared invalid and henry married anne on the judgement of clergy in england , without reference to the pope .
catherine refused to accept henry as supreme head of the church of england and considered herself the king 's rightful wife and queen , attracting much popular sympathy .
despite this , she was acknowledged only as dowager princess of wales by henry .
after being banished from court , she lived out the remainder of her life at kimbolton castle , and died there on 7 january 1536 .
catherine 's english subjects held her in high esteem , and her death set off tremendous mourning among the english people .
the controversial book `` the education of christian women '' by juan luis vives , which claimed women have the right to an education , was commissioned by and dedicated to her .
such was catherine 's impression on people that even her enemy , thomas cromwell , said of her , `` if not for her sex , she could have defied all the heroes of history . ''
she successfully appealed for the lives of the rebels involved in the evil may day , for the sake of their families .
catherine also won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor .
she was a patron of renaissance humanism , and a friend of the great scholars erasmus of rotterdam and thomas more .
