Catherine of Aragon

"You act as though love itself were a plague!"

Catherine of Aragon is Henry's first wife. She appears in seasons 1, 2 and a dream in season 4. She is popular and all that a queen should be, but Henry becomes convinced that their marriage is null and void, and makes it his mission to divorce her. Catherine is hurt but comes to accept that she is no longer in the King's good graces, and she has been replaced by a new, younger queen - Anne Boleyn. Catherine is banished from court and from seeing her daughter Mary and dies four years after her banishment. Her death comes as a shock and mental slap in the face for both Mary and Henry, and her goodbye letter to Henry states that she forgives him for all the wrong he has done her. Catherine believes she is Henry's true wife until her death. She is overjoyed when she sees her daughter Mary, although it is hinted that this is a hallucination.

Season 1
Catherine is the popular and graceful Queen of England. In the first episode Henry injures himself and Catherine stresses to him that she would rather he didn't joust again, although he does. Catherine's daughter Mary is betrothed to the Dauphin of France and Catherine tells Henry she can't disguise her distress. Henry simply tells her, "Well, you're going to have to." This arrangement is broken and Mary is betrothed again, but the Emperor, Mary's betrothed, marries Princess Isabella, tempted by her money, and Mary is left unbetrothed. While Catherine is at church praying, Henry sleeps with one of her ladies in waiting, who takes Catherine's place sexually.

Later on in the first episode, Catherine sees Elizabeth Blount, Henry's mistress, bending over due to her pregnancy with Henry's child, and realizes "Bessie" (Elizabeth's nickname) is pregnant. She knows it is Henry's, and sits Bessie down telling her she is the only person she can trust. Bessie doesn't talk and listens to Catherine's story. Catherine tells Bessie the King blames her for not producing a son for him. She says Henry doesn't understand how much she suffers and Bessie remains silent. Catherine doesn't seem to express any hatred towards Bessie despite Bessie having slept with her husband. Earlier on Catherine tells Henry at dinner that he no longer visits her bedchamber and Henry just tells her to eat, effectively dodging Catherine's reference to his adultery.

Henry tells Wolsey at the end of episode 4 that he wants a divorce, and the King has now fallen for the beautiful and seductive Anne Boleyn. He chases her and loves it, but chasing her only makes Henry want her more, as she is the only one so far who has made him work for it.

Catherine realizes that Henry and Anne Boleyn are having an affair, but tells Anne Boleyn that Henry will tire of her. Anne replies with the golden response: "And what if he does not?" however Catherine's prediction is proven correct in season 2. Despite Anne being one of Catherine's ladies in waiting, Catherine begins being hostile to Anne, who still serves her nonetheless. Catherine tells Anne that she cannot the King away from her, but this is indeed untrue.

Henry continues his affair with Anne Boleyn. He visits Catherine in her chapel and bluntly tells her their marriage is at an end. He confesses to not knowing these things before but now understands them. Catherine realizes Henry is divorcing her and she sinks down on the floor, crying.

She continues trying to be Henry's wife, and tells him and several other people several times that her marriage with Henry's deceased brother Arthur was never consummated, although Henry doesn't believe this and remains in firm belief that a man who marries his brother's wife will die childless. When it is pointed out that Henry has a child, he says he has a child but no son. Catherine and Henry sleep in the same bed still and he says she is denying him justice, calling her "so heartless." He pulls on her heart strings, saying he can't persuade himself she loves him. Catherine announces she does and has never ceased to and he knows it. She is evidently hurt by Henry's obvious disinterest as the two loved and respected one another in their early years. This is obvious.

In episode 7 a plague breaks out, the sweating sickness, and Henry is distressed when it does, shouting, "What about my wife, the queen?" He sends Catherine and Mary away to a secluded place to protect them from the sweating sickness. Catherine asks if Henry is sending her away so he can see his mistress, Anne Boleyn, and Henry says he doesn't sleep with Anne while he and Catherine are still married. He assures her he still loves her enough to protect her from dying, and Catherine is charmed. However, Henry pulls away suddenly as Catherine is about to tell him something and she furiously says that he acts as though love itself is a plague. He says he will write letters and to tell Mary that he loves her.

Catherine is not seen for a little while but reappears soon enough. In episode 8 Catherine and Henry go to court to settle the matter of their annulment once and for all. Catherine pleads to Henry on her knees and makes a speech that is entirely true. Henry is left in tears as Catherine leaves and the people outside the court cheer for their beloved queen. She waves.

The final episode of the first season marks the last time Henry is ever remotely nice to Catherine, who still continues to love him to death. Little does Catherine know what she will suffer in the coming years, and the appalling cruelty Henry will have done to her.

Season 2
Catherine is still at court although Henry's heart now belongs to Anne Boleyn. When Anne spots a man carrying linen she asks him where he is bringing it to. He says that he is taking it to Catherine so she can make Henry's shirts from it. After being told off by Anne, Henry tells Catherine she must stop making his shirts. Catherine still remains affectionate and tells him she sees him wearing one of the shirts she's made him right now. Henry has Catherine banished from court. She lives in a cold, lonely small establishment with just her faithful maid Elizabeth.

While Henry is with Anne Boleyn he recieves a gift from Catherine, who he can't seem to get away from. Catherine is made dowager princess and her daughter Mary is falsely demoted to the title of Lady Mary, whom Catherine is banned from seeing. She asks to see Mary but isn't allowed. Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England in front of a small and uneager crowd, which is better for her but makes Catherine's situation worse. Henry never visits Catherine and has completely fallen out of love with her.

He also doesn't seem to respect her anymore. Catherine becomes sick; the audience sees this is clear as her face is paled and she appears unwell. Although Henry knows of this, he doesn't seem to care all that much. The news pleases Anne Boleyn, and she tells her brother everyone talks about how sick Catherine is, saying, "Why doesn't she just die?" Despite Catherine's illness she remains alive while Henry remains happily in love with Anne, who eagerly awaits Catherine's death so the people can truly accept her as queen. However, everybody's loyalty remains with Catherine, whose condition worsens.

Catherine's illness reaches the final stage, and her death becomes inevitable. Her maid Elizabeth and several other people of the court stay with Catherine. She voices what her goodbye letter to Henry must say while one of the court people writes it down. The letter expresses Catherine's forgiveness for all the wrong Henry has done her, and we see Henry holding Catherine's letter crying. Catherine dies. Henry wears black the next day.

Season 4
Catherine makes a brief appearance in the series finale. She says to Henry that Mary should be married and have kids by now. She says she was Henry's true and legitimate wife and still is. She disappears, and Henry is then visited by Catherine's successors Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, who also reprimand Henry. It should be noted that Henry is rather hostile towards Catherine when she makes her appearance in his dream sequence. It can be implied that perhaps Henry felt guilt for what he did to his first two wives and still fondly remembered his third wife Jane Seymour, as his dream was most likely due to earlier memories.

Physical Appearance
Catherine is not overly pretty but she is attractive and looks good for the age 50 she is portrayed as being in season 2. She often wears black clothing despite the occasion seldom being a tragedy, and she has long black hair and light brown eyes. She wears the typical jewelry queens of England wore, and she is a tall and well-built woman. However, Catherine's appearance was no match for the younger and sexy Anne Boleyn, and Henry lost his love for her. Catherine's charm lies less in her physical appearance than her kind nature and lovely, religious personality. It can be inferred Catherine was prettier in her younger days.

Personality
Catherine is a spirited, passionate and religious person. She harbors little to no hate but did dislike Anne Boleyn for taking the King away from her. She possesses inner beauty and kindness, and was born to be a queen, gracefully fulfilling that role. As queen, Catherine was loved by the people of England who simply saw Anne Boleyn as a replacement for Catherine. She is lit on a long fuse, rarely losing her temper. Catherine is also of noble character, despite having been brought up as a princess. She has unwavering affection for Henry, and even after all that Henry put her through she still loved him. She is also very forgiving and can truly find forgiveness in her heart. Catherine's religiousness is shown frequently; she kisses the church floor and often goes to pray at the church. She stated twice in the series that if she had to choose between extreme happiness and extreme sorrow, she would choose sorrow, as she believes that if one is overly happy they will forget God.

Relationships
Henry- Catherine was married to Henry during his younger years, when he was the most fit, youthful and good-looking. However, despite the fact that Henry and Catherine had loved and respected one another in the early years of their marriage, Henry later obviously showed disinterest, making their annulment even more painful for Catherine to bear. She was evidently hurt by Henry's request that she give back the jewels he gave her to pass on to Anne Boleyn, but the entire situation was out of Catherine's hands. Her strong affection for Henry would often cloud her judgment. Throughout their marriage, despite Henry having loved Catherine at one point, it is clear Catherine loved Henry a lot more than he loved her.

Charles Brandon- Queen Catherine's messenger, he had a good relationship with her and frequently was forced to bring her bad news. It is to Charles that Catherine confides she would choose sorrow over happiness, lest she forget God while being happy. Charles obviously hated being the messenger and begged for Catherine's forgiveness after telling her particularly bad news, although Catherine knew none of it was Charles' fault. During the few carefree occasions Catherine was shown having with Charles, the two seemed to be having fun together and Charles obviously loved and respected his first queen.

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey - One of the few people Catherine hated, Wolsey often started their arguments and brought on Catherine's resentment and hatred of himself. Catherine was also peeved that Wolsey slowly stole away her position of being Henry's advisor, and Wolsey turned several of Catherine's women into his spies by, according to Catherine, granting them sexual favors. Wolsey was very smug in telling Catherine bad news.

Mary Tudor- As Catherine's daughter, Mary was very close to her mother even as a child. Catherine adored Mary and Mary in return loved her mother so much that she wouldn't accept any queen but her mother, although she later accepted Jane Seymour as queen. Catherine would often play games with Mary as a child but when Mary became an adult the two were no longer allowed to see each other and both had been banished from court. Catherine dreamed of Mary and believed it to be reality, while her maid simply complied although she knew this wasn't true. Despite Catherine's compassionate nature, Mary, as Queen, burned several people.

Anne Boleyn- Yet another one of the people Catherine hated, Anne Boleyn was originally Catherine's lady in waiting but after Catherine discovered her affair with Henry she became very hostile towards Anne, who was able to talk back to Catherine and stand up to her so long as she was in Henry's good graces. Catherine resented Anne and believed her to be the King's mistress, although this wasn't so. Anne in return hated Catherine even more than Catherine hated her, and once even said, "Sometimes I wish all Spaniards were at the bottom of the sea", while people of the court listened and Anne knew full well Catherine was Spanish. Catherine was pushed off the throne by Anne Boleyn.

Prince Arthur- Catherine was originally Henry's brother Arthur's wife, something which played a major factor in Henry's persuasion that he had been living in sin by marrying Catherine. Catherine had come to England at 15 to wed Arthur. When Arthur died of the sweating sickness, Henry, who had been taken with his pretty Spanish sister-in-law, married Catherine. Little to nothing is known about their relationship except that it was never consummated.

Elizabeth Blount- She was one of Catherine's ladies in waiting, and Catherine seemed to favor "Bessie" (Elizabeth's nickname) in particular. She trusted Bessie more than any of her other ladies and sat her down to have a solemn conversation with her. Despite Bessie having slept with Henry, Catherine showed no hate or resentment towards her.

Thomas More- Another person who loved his queen, Thomas was in full support of Catherine although his loyalty seemed to always remain to Henry. The two had little interaction but Thomas loved Catherine just as much as everyone else did, in a platonic way.

Ambassador Chapuys- A close and trusted ally of Catherine, Ambassador Chapuys was also a close ally of Catherine's daughter Mary after her mother's death. Ambassador Chapuys and Catherine were shown having several conversations and he was one of her closest connections. He despised Anne Boleyn, who returned the feeling, but platonically loved and supported Catherine as queen.

Cardinal John Fisher- He was Catherine's friend and often supported her during hard times and at court during the beef over whether Catherine and Henry's marriage was null and void. He hated Anne Boleyn as well, and saw her as a replacement for Catherine whom he considered the true queen. Unfortunately, Cardinal Fisher's execution took place just after he was named a cardinal.

Lady Elizabeth Darrell- She was Catherine's most faithful servant and stayed with her until the very end. Elizabeth told Thomas Wyatt, "I love the queen, nothing in the world could make me leave her." She never did, and in fact hung herself after Catherine's death. She was a loyal servant and always did Catherine's bidding, and was clearly devastated by Catherine having met her demise.

Thomas Cromwell- On a few occasions he brought messages to Catherine, most of these messages were bad. He informed her of her becoming dowager princess and several other things. He was no enemy of Catherine but hated Henry's next two wives, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, however he showed little emotion in telling Catherine of her status as dowager princess.

Quotes

 * "I should like to be your wife in every way."
 * "You do not visit my bedchamber like you used to."


 * "But I can trust you, can't I?"
 * "He does not know how much I suffer. He blames me, I know he does."
 * "Though I love Your Majesty and I'm loyal to you, in every way, I cannot disguise my distress and unhappiness." Catherine to Henry.
 * "I am surprised to recieve such a request from such a wise and noble man as you. I am but a poor woman, lacking in wit and understanding. How am I supposed to respond to such a request made to me out of the blue?"
 * "All I know, your Eminence, is that you, for your own purposes, have kindled this fire. All this time, all these years, I have wondered at your high pride and your vain glory. I have abhorred your voluptous life and had no regard at all for your presumptous power and your tyranny! I also know your malice against my nephew, the Emperor. You hate him like a scorpion. And why? Because he would not satisfy your ambition and make you Pope by force."
 * "My only satisfaction is that in frustrating you, I hasten your fall from the King's good graces...an outcome I desire above all others."
 * "Be strong, my daughter, remember who you are. Descendant of Isabella and Ferdinand of Castille. The only daughter of the King of England. Be strong and true and one day...One day you will be Queen."
 * "Let him play with you, let him give you gifts. But do not think to take the King away from me. He cannot give you his true heart, for I have that in my keeping." Catherine to Anne Boleyn.
 * "If I had to choose between extreme sorrow and extreme happiness, I would always choose sorrow, for when you are happy you forget about spiritual things, you forget about God. But in your sorrow, He is always with you."
 * "Chastity? You talk to me about chastity when you have a mistress and two children, your Eminence." Catherine to Wolsey.
 * "He has turned several of my women into his spies." Catherine about Wolsey.
 * "But I do love you, I have never ceased to love you. You know that." Catherine to Henry.
 * "I am being reasonable! It is you who is not being reasonable."
 * "Tell me, do you prefer your place in this life rather than in heaven?"
 * "God never called me to a nunnery, I am the King's true and legitimate wife."
 * "Sir I beseech you. For all the love that has been between us. Let me have justice and right. Give me some pity and compassion, for I am a poor woman, a stranger born out of your dominion. I have no friend here, and little counsel. I plea to you as head of justice in this realm. I call God and all the world to witness that I have been to you a humble and obedient wife ever compliant to your will and pleasure. I have loved all those whom you have loved for your sake whether or not I had cause. Whether they be friends or enemies. By me you have had many children. Although it has pleased God to call them from this world. But when you had me at first, I take God as my judge, I was a true maid without a touch of men. And whether or not it be true, I put it to your conscience." Catherine to Henry in the Legatine Court.
 * "I had always thought fancied that the King, after pursuing his cause for some time, would turn away, would hear to his conscience and change his purpose, as he has done so often before. I believed with all my heart that he would return to reason, but now, I..."
 * "For every scholar that would vote for you, I could find a thousand that would vote for me."
 * "I see you wearing one right now." Catherine to Henry after he demands she stop making his shirts.
 * "I will not give up what is rightfully mine to a woman who is the scandal of Christendom!" (to Cromwell about the royal jewels)
 * "As long as I live, I will always call myself the Queen of England."
 * "I am sure His Majesty will one day relent. For I think, I believe, with all my heart, that he still loves and cares for me."
 * "Is it not cruel to keep her from me?"
 * "She was here before."
 * "...but for my part, I forgive you all, and pray, dear God, that He will forgive you also... and lastly, this I vow, that my eyes desire you above all things."
 * Henry: "What are you doing here?" Catherine: "I have come to see my daughter. Why should that surprise you, Henry? You have not always been kind to her. I have wept so often to see her alone, abandoned by her father." Henry: "Is that why you have come back, Catherine? To chide me for all that I am not?" Catherine: "She out to be a long time married by now, she ought to have her own children." Henry: "Go away. Shade. Go away, Catherine." Catherine: "You have sent me away before, though I loved you but I was still your wife in God's eyes and still am." (she disappears)

Appearances

 * In Cold Blood
 * Simply Henry
 * Wolsey, Wolsey, Wolsey
 * His Majesty, The King
 * Arise, My Lord
 * True Love
 * Message to the Emperor
 * Truth and Justice
 * Look to God First
 * The Death of Wolsey
 * Everything Is Beautiful
 * Tears of Blood
 * Checkmate
 * The Act of Succession
 * His Majesty's Pleasure
 * The Definition of Love
 * Matters of State
 * Death of a Monarchy

Trivia

 * Catherine of Aragon's portrayer, Maria Doyle Kennedy, actually learned Spanish and stayed there for a time, much like the character's knowledge of Spanish.
 * After Catherine of Aragon's death, her heart was revealed to be blackened, which gave rise to rumours of poisoning by the Boleyns. However, this theory was disproved by the fact that she died from cancer. For further information on this see Historical Controversies. 
 * Catherine had six children, although only one survived infancy: the Princess Mary Tudor. In the series Catherine has stated she had a boy once, although it died in her arms at four weeks old. Henry's second wife Anne Boleyn failed to produce an heir as well. This would cause the demise of both Catherine and Anne.
 * Most people remember Catherine for being pushed off her throne by Anne Boleyn; Henry's desire for Anne was instrumental in Catherine's fall from favour.
 * Most of Catherine's ladies in waiting have slept with her husband. She does not show contempt to any of them except for Anne Boleyn, whom she knew deep in her conscience was more than just a fling to Henry. It is amusing that Henry seems to target Catherine's ladies in waiting without self consciously realising they have ties to the wife he continues to cheat on.
 * Catherine was 6 years older than her spoiled husband and none of his other wives shared this similarity. All of his wives were younger than him or equal in age, apart from Catherine of Aragon.

Historical Controversies
See also: Historical Controversies on Catherine of Aragon