When was catherine of aragon divorced

What did Spaniards have to say? But some of their evidence is readily available, as I discovered while researching my new biography, Catherine of Aragon. The divorce was a Europe-wide problem that threatened to spark war between Henry and Charles. The latter leaned heavily on the pope.

Orders were sent out to track down those who had travelled to England with Catherine for her first wedding. Even her Moorish slave girl Catalina, who had returned to Spain to marry a bow-maker, was to be found. A questionnaire was drawn up. It ranged from the biologically precise to the absurd. Was there blood on the marital sheets? Did Arthur look impotent? Answers were to be sent on to Rome where, in another victory for Catherine, the case had been moved before the Blackfriars court could reach a verdict.

Catherine won and lost her case. She won because Rome declared her marriage safe. A passage in the Bible was found that said if a man takes his brother's wife, they shall be childless. Catherine had previously been married to Henry's brother Arthur. With the help of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, divorce proceedings began. Henry had been married to Catherine for over 20 years and he had started a relationship with Anne Boleyn. Catherine refused to agree to divorce, so Henry got rid of Wolsey and divorced Catherine without the blessing of the Pope.

The Pope was furious and banished Henry from the Roman church. Catherine became a very active resistor against an annulment — much to the surprise of Henry who had expected her not to support it but to be very much passive in her approach.

There can be little doubt why Catherine took this stand. She was a devout Roman Catholic with all that this meant with regards to the sanctity of marriage. But Catherine was more than this. She also believed that she had been a very good wife to Henry, fulfilling all her duties as queen and turning a discreet eye to his indiscretions. Catherine believed that natural justice meant that she should be allowed to continue in this role.

Catherine wrote a steady string of letters to the Pope, Clement VII, and to Charles V explaining her stance and asking that they back her. There is little doubt that she had the support of many of the public who saw her as being virtuous — the opposite of what many thought of Anne Boleyn.