by Danielle Friedl

Created on: January 22, 2009

When Henry VIII became betrothed to his brother Arthur's widow he felt he was doing his duty. He was, after all, a young lad of 10, second-born son to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and previously dedicated to a life in the Church. He wasn't raised to be a king and he certainly wasn't old enough to be a husband. On the heels of Henry VIII's accession, days before his 18th birthday Henry took Katherine as his wife and they participated in a joint coronation proclaiming Henry King and Katherine Queen. And while this marriage would last over two decades, it would come to a long, drawn-out bitter end that would reform England forever.

Henry VII's oldest son Arthur was married to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella's youngest daughter Katherine in a pact to align England with Spain. The two were married in November 1501, both only 15 years old. Not six months later Arthur was dead, a victim of a sudden illness and Henry was now the Prince of Wales. To maintain good relations with Spain Henry VII offered his new heir apparent, Henry, to Katherine's parents. In order for this to happen Katherine required papal dispensation to pronounce that her marriage to Arthur was not consummated and therefore not threaten the legitimacy of her marriage to Henry. As young teenagers only married for 5 months consummation seemed unlikely and dispensation was granted.

Because Henry was too young to marry at the time of his brother's death he was betrothed to Katherine until he reached the age of majority. During this time Henry VII grew weary of Spain and tried to break the betrothal. The legalities continued until Henry died in 1509, leaving the throne and England in Henry VIII's 17 year old hands. A month after his accession Henry married Katherine in and the two participated in a joint coronation ceremony to proclaim them King and Queen of England. They were young, they practically grew up around each other and it's quite possible there was love there. Sure, Katherine was some five years Henry's senior but even at 23 she was most certainly capable of providing Henry with the next King of England.

Henry and Katherine seemed to be relatively happy for a while, despite Katherine's inability to produce a viable male heir. In 1510 she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. The next year she gave Henry a son, however the infant died only after 52 days of life. In 1513 Katherine became pregnant with another boy and during her pregnancy acted as Regent for Henry when he went to France. She rode

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