The Wives of Henry the 8th

Henry 8th's first wife was Catherine of Aragon. She was a Spanish princess and was engaged to Henry's older brother, Arthur. She came to England when she was fifteen years old. Catherine of Aragon was the Queen of England from June 1509 until May 1533 as the first wife of King Henry VIII; she was previously Princess of Wales as the wife of his elder brother Arthur. She 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.[1] 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. The couple met on 4 November 1501 at Dogmersfield in Hampshire.[20][21] Little is known about their first impressions of each other, but Arthur did write to his parents-in-law that he would be "a true and loving husband" and told his parents that he was immensely happy to "behold the face of his lovely bride". The couple had corresponded in Latin, but found that they could not understand each other, since they had learned different pronunciations.[22] Ten days later, on 14 November 1501, they were married at Old St. Paul's Cathedral.[11] A dowry of 200,000 crowns had been agreed, and half was paid shortly after the marriage.[23]