CATHARINE OF ARAGON, Queen of England, the first wife of Henry VIII., and fourth daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Castile and Aragon, was Dec., 1485. She occupies a prominent place in English history, not for what she herself was, but for what she was the occasion of—the reformation. Married when scarcely 16, to Arthur, prince of Wales, son of Henry VII., she was left a widow within a year; and in the course of a few months more a second marriage was pro jected for her by her father-in-law, with his second son Henry, as yet a boy of only 12 years old. The pope's dispensation enabling such near relatives to marry was obtained in 1503, and the marriage took place in June, 1509, immediately after Henry's accession to the crown as Henry VIII. Although Henry was very far from being. a model husband, he appears to have treated queen C., who had borne him several children, with all due respect, until about 1527, when he conceived a passion for Anne Boleyn (q.v.). He now expressed doubts as to the legality of his marriage, and set about obtaining a divorce. Pope Clement VII. would readily have annulled the marriage permitted by his predecessor, had he not feared queen C.'s powerful nephew, the emperor Charles N . He, however, granted a commission to Compeggio and Wolsey, to inquire into the validity of the marriage; but before these prelates queen 0. refused to plead, adu
appealed to the pope. The king craved judgment. The legates cited the queen, and declaring her contumacious when she appeared not, weut on with the cause; but the wily Campeggio, anxious only for time for his master when the king expected an answer, prorogued the court until a future day. The king consulted the universities of Europe, many of which declared the marriage invalid. The pope now summoned the king to Rome, but Henry haughtily refused to appear either himself, or by deputy, which he maintained would be to sacrifice the prerogatives of his crown; and setting the pope at defiance, married Anne Boleyn. Craumer, shortly afterwards (1533), declared the first marriage void, and pope Clement annulled Cramner's sentence, making the separation from Rome complete. Queen C. did not quit the kingdom, but took up her residence first at Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, and aftewards at Kimboltou castle, Huntingdonshire, where she led an austere religious life until her decease in Jan., 1536. Queen C.'s per sonal character was unimpeachable, and her disposition sweet and gentle.