Arthur, Prince of Wales
Encyclopedia
Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales (19/20 September 1486 – 2 April 1502) was the first son of King Henry VII of England
and Elizabeth of York
, and therefore, heir to the throne of England. As he predeceased his father, Arthur never became king. At Henry VII's death, the throne passed to Arthur's younger brother, who became King Henry VIII
.
and Henry VII
married January 1486. In order to strengthen his claim to the English throne, Henry set his personal genealogists to trace back his heritage to Cadwaladr
and ancient British kings. The royal historians proclaimed that Henry was related to King Arthur
, identifying Winchester
in Hampshire as Camelot
. Henry insisted that Elizabeth, now pregnant, would give birth to a son who would bring a golden age back into England, and Henry would name the boy Arthur in honour of his 'ancestor'.
, Arthur, was born. His christening took place at Winchester Cathedral
, his godfathers were Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby
and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
who was late for the ceremony. Elizabeth Woodville
, his maternal grandmother, was his godmother and carried him during the ceremony. He was made a Knight of the Bath at his christening. It is not known if Arthur was a robust child when born. In Arthur's Church History it says: ". . . [Arthur Tudor was] yet vital and vigorous", while Francis Bacon describes him as, "Born in the eighth month, as the physicians do prejudge," yet "strong and able". Some historians suggest that his death resulted from a life-long weakness, but others disagree. Philipa Jones has pointed out that there was never any discussion of Arthur being ill or weak during his lifetime. She argues that Arthur was betrothed to Catherine of Aragon from the age of two: if he had been weak and sickly it would have been reported to Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon
, Catherine's parents.
Arthur's earliest surviving portrait, painted in his early or pre-teens, shows him with red Tudor
hair, small eyes, and a high-bridged nose.
and Ferdinand of Aragon
. When Arthur was two years old, a marriage with the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon
was arranged for him as part of the Treaty of Medina del Campo
. The auburn-haired Catherine was the youngest daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand.
Isabella and Ferdinand were in no hurry to have their daughter married, and, although the treaty had been made, they were still open to other options. Ferdinand was especially aware that Tudor rule was threatened by various pretenders, most notably Perkin Warbeck
, and sent Pedro de Ayala
as ambassador in Scotland, where Warbeck had found support. After Warbeck had been hanged and the Earl of Warwick
, another potential threat, beheaded in 1499, the rule of Henry VII stabilised.
went into labour during his creation as a Knight of the Bath on the 29th and Elizabeth gave birth to Margaret Tudor
on St Andrew's Day. The following day he was formally created Prince of Wales in the Parliament Chamber.
As heir apparent
, Arthur was carefully educated. His tutors were John Rede
and the blind poet Bernard André
(who, in his unfinished biography of Henry VII, stated that Arthur was familiar with all the best Latin
and Greek
authors). Arthur was known to be studious, thoughtful and reserved. When Arthur was fourteen or fifteen years old, Thomas Linacre
(or Lynaker) began to teach him. The Prince's governor and treasurer was Sir Henry Vernon, and Arthur may frequently have lived at Sir Henry's residence, Haddon Hall
, in Derbyshire
: in the house was an apartment, called "The Prince's Chamber", adorned with Arthur's coat of arms. Some historians maintain that Arthur had a bond with Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk
, who defended the northern border of England against the Scots
.
It is unknown if Arthur was close to his siblings; their reaction to his death is not recorded. His sister Margaret Tudor
would later name one of her short-lived sons Arthur, Duke of Rothesay
in honour of her deceased older brother in 1509, at the time of their father's death and her younger brother Henry's accession to the throne, the year in which Arthur should have become King. As for Arthur's relationship with his brother, it is unknown if they knew each other well as Arthur had been sent to Ludlow Castle when the young future Henry VIII
was only a year old.
In 1492 at the age of 6, Arthur was sent to live at Ludlow Castle
in the Welsh marches to begin his proper training for kingship. This model of residing at Ludlow was copied by Henry VII from the model his predecessor and father in law Edward IV of England
had used for the education of his son Edward V of England
. Arthur was served by sons of prominent members of English, Welsh and Irish society, such as Gearoid Óg FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare the son of Gerald Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare
who was brought to the English court over his father's role in assisting and crowning of Lambert Simnel
in Ireland in Henry VII's early reign. The Fitzgeralds of Kildare at this time more or less ruled Ireland, Anthony Willoughby a son of Robert Willoughby, Baron Willoughby of Broke, Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex
, the heir of Lord Fitzwalter, Maurice St John (a favourite nephew of Arthur's grandmother Lady Margaret Beaufort), and Gruffydd ap Rhys the son of Thomas ap Rhys (a powerful Welsh nobleman). Arthur seems to have been developed a close friendship with Gruffydd, and when Gruffydd himself died in 1521 prematurely his tomb was placed in Worcester Cathedral where Arthur himself rests.
For two years, Arthur wrote numerous letters in Latin
to his bride-to-be, and she would formally reply. However, as the young couple had never met, the letters were written as instructed by their tutors and were more polite than passionate. When Arthur was fourteen, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile promised to send their daughter Catalina (later known as Catherine) to England, but it was not until after Arthur turned fifteen that Catherine and her retinue finally started their journey. The Spanish Infanta finally landed in the autumn, and on 4 November 1501, the couple met at last at Dogmersfield
in Hampshire
.
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 he later told his parents that he was immensely happy to behold the face of his lovely bride. Ten days later, on 14 November 1501, they were married at Old St Paul's Cathedral
. At the end of the festive day came the bedding ceremony, in which most of the court put the young couple to bed.
The couple soon travelled to Ludlow Castle
on the Welsh
border, where Arthur resided in his capacity as Prince of Wales
and President of The Council of Wales and Marches. He died suddenly at the young age of fifteen. The cause of his death is unknown but may have been consumption
, diabetes, or the mysterious sweating sickness
, which some modern theorists tie to a hantavirus
. Catherine also fell ill, but survived. Arthur's brother, Henry
, Duke of York, was not created Prince of Wales
until it was certain Catherine wasn't carrying Arthur's child. She lived in relative obscurity until becoming Henry's first wife after his coronation.
Henry became heir upon Arthur's death and would come to the throne in 1509. He was somewhat unprepared for the position, as it had been intended that he would pursue a clerical career and perhaps become Archbishop of Canterbury
. This lack of preparation and education is seen in the heavy influence during the early years of Henry's reign of older statesmen such as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and the queen Catherine of Aragon
, his elder by five years.
where "Prince Arthur's Chantry" stands today. Sir Griffith Ryce
, a member of Arthur's household, was an official mourner, and his tomb is located near Arthur's. Arthur's father, the King, did not attend the funeral. The reasons for his absence are unknown, though many conjecture that the journey was too long or that Henry VII
was too distressed. Arthur's mother, Elizabeth of York
did not attend the funeral either, and as was the custom, Catherine of Aragon also remained at home as she was still extremely ill with the same disease that had killed Arthur.
.
Catherine's dueña Doña Elvira Manuel
said that the marriage was not consummated, though some historians argue that Doña Elvira was never close to the girl, whom she would later betray. Yet Arthur himself, before the wedding night, had stated that he was feeling very 'lusty and amorous', and Anthony Willoughby, one of his attendants claimed that on the following morning he had called for a cup of ale, saying "for I have been this night in the midst of Spain". Later the Prince also said, "Masters, it is good pastime to have a wife." Though, Arthur may have jested merely to cover up a failure in his marital duty.
Some find it difficult to believe that the fervently devout Catherine, who insisted that her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated, would lie. Others point to Catherine's difficult situation after Arthur's death and argue that she did lie.
The first time Catherine publicly claimed that her marriage to Arthur had not been consummated was when Henry sought the annulment; the subject had not been mentioned earlier, and it is possible that Catherine lied to protect her reputation, her marriage to Henry, and the rights of her daughter, Mary
. To say otherwise would have been an admission of fornication as well as a condemnation of Princess Mary to illegitimacy. Catherine claimed that she and Arthur had shared a bed for only seven days.
What Henry really wanted was a son, since he had historical reasons to believe that England would not accept a female monarch. During his marriage to her, Catherine had given birth to several living children, but only Mary survived infancy. Henry realized with the passing years that the aging Catherine was unlikely to produce a son and heir, and he was having notorious affairs with sisters Mary Boleyn
and Anne Boleyn
. His annulment from Catherine and his marriage to Anne were predicated on his claim that he and Catherine had produced no living son because he had disobeyed a Scriptural injunction and married his brother's widow — which Catherine would have been, had Arthur and she consummated their marriage.
During the annulment hearing, Henry VIII looked at the Hebrew version of Leviticus 20:21, which states that it is unclean for a man to take his brother's wife and that, if a man did, the union would be childless. He decided to use Leviticus as the basis of his annulment argument, against the advice of Cardinal Wolsey.
This dispute, and Henry's inability to obtain papal dissolution of his marriage, would come to be a major cause of the English Reformation
. Whatever the truth of the matter, whether Henry had found Catherine to be a virgin on their wedding night has never been recorded. However, when he was trying to annul his marriage to Catherine, he ordered bloodstained bedsheets, supposedly from his brother's marriage night as proof of the consummation. How or why these sheets should have been preserved for so many years, and how their authenticity could have been proved, was not explained.
, said he found it odd that, if Arthur had been unhealthy, he was sent to the cold remoteness of Ludlow Castle
. Peter Vaughan, of the Worcester Prince Arthur Committee, finds this strange as well. He remarks: "He wasn't a strong character, unlike his younger brother. Could it be that his father was strong enough to see that the best interests of the Tudors were to be served by Henry Duke of York, rather than Arthur?" However, historians such as David Starkey
and Julian Litten have dismissed theories of neglect or murder. "There is nothing fishy about his demise", said Litten. "He was in Ludlow as an ambassador for a King setting up a new dynasty." Litten believes that the real mystery in Arthur's death is the disease that killed him. If not consumption or the historical English sweating sickness
, it could have been a genetic condition that might also have been expressed in his nephews, Edward VI and Henry Fitzroy
.
In the 1890s, a similar incident occurred in the royal family. Prince Albert Victor, the eldest brother of the future King George V, was engaged to be married to Princess Mary of Teck
, but died. She then married the younger brother and became Queen of England.
wrote The King's Pleasure in the late 1960s. Katharine, The Virgin Widow by Jean Plaidy has Arthur in it as well. The Constant Princess
, by Philippa Gregory
, tells the story of how Catherine and Arthur fell in love, consummated their marriage, and how he suddenly died. In it, Catherine promises Arthur she will become Queen of England by marrying his brother in order to fulfill their vision for the future of the kingdom.
Kingsley Amis
wrote "The Alteration
" (1976), an alternative history novel about the effects of a contested "War of the English Succession" (c 1509 CE), where the birth and reign of Prince Arthur Tudor and Katherine of Aragon's son, "Stephen II", leads Henry VIII
to attempt to usurp his nephew's throne.
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|-
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
and Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England....
, and therefore, heir to the throne of England. As he predeceased his father, Arthur never became king. At Henry VII's death, the throne passed to Arthur's younger brother, who became King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
.
Name Arthur
Arthur's parents Elizabeth of YorkElizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England....
and Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
married January 1486. In order to strengthen his claim to the English throne, Henry set his personal genealogists to trace back his heritage to Cadwaladr
Cadwaladr
Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon was King of Gwynedd . Two devastating plagues happened during his reign, one in 664 and the other in 682, with himself a victim of the second one. Little else is known of his reign...
and ancient British kings. The royal historians proclaimed that Henry was related to King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, identifying Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
in Hampshire as Camelot
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world...
. Henry insisted that Elizabeth, now pregnant, would give birth to a son who would bring a golden age back into England, and Henry would name the boy Arthur in honour of his 'ancestor'.
Moving the court
Henry moved the court to Winchester for the birth of his unborn child, no doubt taking a huge gamble that the baby was in fact a son and not a daughter. It was there that the first Tudor Prince of WalesPrince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
, Arthur, was born. His christening took place at Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
, his godfathers were Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby
Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby
Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, KG was titular King of Mann, an English nobleman and stepfather to King Henry VII of England...
and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford , the second son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabeth Howard, was one of the principal Lancastrian commanders during the English Wars of the Roses...
who was late for the ceremony. Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...
, his maternal grandmother, was his godmother and carried him during the ceremony. He was made a Knight of the Bath at his christening. It is not known if Arthur was a robust child when born. In Arthur's Church History it says: ". . . [Arthur Tudor was] yet vital and vigorous", while Francis Bacon describes him as, "Born in the eighth month, as the physicians do prejudge," yet "strong and able". Some historians suggest that his death resulted from a life-long weakness, but others disagree. Philipa Jones has pointed out that there was never any discussion of Arthur being ill or weak during his lifetime. She argues that Arthur was betrothed to Catherine of Aragon from the age of two: if he had been weak and sickly it would have been reported to Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
, Catherine's parents.
Arthur's earliest surviving portrait, painted in his early or pre-teens, shows him with red Tudor
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
hair, small eyes, and a high-bridged nose.
Betrothal and alliance
Eager to strengthen his kingdom against France and its potential support of pretenders to his throne, Henry VII sought the support of Isabella of CastileIsabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
and Ferdinand of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
. When Arthur was two years old, a marriage with the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
was arranged for him as part of the Treaty of Medina del Campo
Treaty of Medina del Campo (1489)
The Treaty of Medina del Campo was an agreement developed on March 26, 1489 between England and the nascent Spain. Its provisions accomplished three goals: the establishment of a common policy for the two countries regarding France, the reduction of tariffs between the two countries, and, most...
. The auburn-haired Catherine was the youngest daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand.
Isabella and Ferdinand were in no hurry to have their daughter married, and, although the treaty had been made, they were still open to other options. Ferdinand was especially aware that Tudor rule was threatened by various pretenders, most notably Perkin Warbeck
Perkin Warbeck
Perkin Warbeck was a pretender to the English throne during the reign of King Henry VII of England. By claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV, one of the Princes in the Tower, Warbeck was a significant threat to the newly established Tudor Dynasty,...
, and sent Pedro de Ayala
Pedro de Ayala
Don Pedro de Ayala was a 16th-century Spanish diplomat employed by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile at the courts of James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England. His mission to Scotland was concerned with the King's marriage and the international crisis caused by the pretender...
as ambassador in Scotland, where Warbeck had found support. After Warbeck had been hanged and the Earl of Warwick
Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick
Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick was the son of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and a potential claimant to the English throne during the reigns of both Richard III and his successor, Henry VII...
, another potential threat, beheaded in 1499, the rule of Henry VII stabilised.
Childhood
In 1489, just after Arthur had turned three, his father decided it was time for Arthur to be created Prince of Wales. Arthur was brought to Westminster in November 1489; it was hoped that the ceremony would coincide with the birth of the next royal child. His mother Elizabeth of YorkElizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England....
went into labour during his creation as a Knight of the Bath on the 29th and Elizabeth gave birth to Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
on St Andrew's Day. The following day he was formally created Prince of Wales in the Parliament Chamber.
As heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
, Arthur was carefully educated. His tutors were John Rede
John Rede
John Rede was an English scholar, tutor and politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Westminster, London and the tutor of Arthur, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VII of England....
and the blind poet Bernard André
Bernard André
Bernard André , also known as Andreas, was a French Augustinian poet, a chronicler of the reign of Henry VII of England, and poet laureate. A native of Toulouse, he was tutor to Prince Arthur, and probably had a share in the education of the future Henry VIII. He was also a tutor at Oxford, and...
(who, in his unfinished biography of Henry VII, stated that Arthur was familiar with all the best Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
authors). Arthur was known to be studious, thoughtful and reserved. When Arthur was fourteen or fifteen years old, Thomas Linacre
Thomas Linacre
Thomas Linacre was a humanist scholar and physician, after whom Linacre College, Oxford and Linacre House The King's School, Canterbury are named....
(or Lynaker) began to teach him. The Prince's governor and treasurer was Sir Henry Vernon, and Arthur may frequently have lived at Sir Henry's residence, Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye at Bakewell, Derbyshire, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland, occupied by Lord Edward Manners and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it has been described as "the most complete and most interesting house of [its]...
, in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
: in the house was an apartment, called "The Prince's Chamber", adorned with Arthur's coat of arms. Some historians maintain that Arthur had a bond with Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal , styled Earl of Surrey from 1483 to 1514, was the only son of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk by his first wife, Katherine Moleyns...
, who defended the northern border of England against the Scots
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
.
It is unknown if Arthur was close to his siblings; their reaction to his death is not recorded. His sister Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
would later name one of her short-lived sons Arthur, Duke of Rothesay
Arthur Stewart, Duke of Rothesay
Arthur Stewart, Duke of Rothesay was the second son of James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, and had he outlived his father, James IV of Scotland would have been King of Scotland.-Birth:...
in honour of her deceased older brother in 1509, at the time of their father's death and her younger brother Henry's accession to the throne, the year in which Arthur should have become King. As for Arthur's relationship with his brother, it is unknown if they knew each other well as Arthur had been sent to Ludlow Castle when the young future Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
was only a year old.
In 1492 at the age of 6, Arthur was sent to live at Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle is a large, partly ruined, non-inhabited castle which dominates the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England. It stands on a high point overlooking the River Teme...
in the Welsh marches to begin his proper training for kingship. This model of residing at Ludlow was copied by Henry VII from the model his predecessor and father in law Edward IV of England
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
had used for the education of his son Edward V of England
Edward V of England
Edward V was King of England from 9 April 1483 until his deposition two months later. His reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who succeeded him as Richard III...
. Arthur was served by sons of prominent members of English, Welsh and Irish society, such as Gearoid Óg FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare the son of Gerald Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare
Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare
Gerald Mór FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, KG , known variously as "Garret the Great" or "The Great Earl" , was Ireland's premier peer...
who was brought to the English court over his father's role in assisting and crowning of Lambert Simnel
Lambert Simnel
Lambert Simnel was a pretender to the throne of England. His claim to be the Earl of Warwick in 1487 threatened the newly established reign of King Henry VII .-Early life:...
in Ireland in Henry VII's early reign. The Fitzgeralds of Kildare at this time more or less ruled Ireland, Anthony Willoughby a son of Robert Willoughby, Baron Willoughby of Broke, Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex
Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex
Robert Radcliffe , 1st Earl of Sussex, KG was a prominent English courtier and soldier of the time of Henry VIII...
, the heir of Lord Fitzwalter, Maurice St John (a favourite nephew of Arthur's grandmother Lady Margaret Beaufort), and Gruffydd ap Rhys the son of Thomas ap Rhys (a powerful Welsh nobleman). Arthur seems to have been developed a close friendship with Gruffydd, and when Gruffydd himself died in 1521 prematurely his tomb was placed in Worcester Cathedral where Arthur himself rests.
Marriage
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
to his bride-to-be, and she would formally reply. However, as the young couple had never met, the letters were written as instructed by their tutors and were more polite than passionate. When Arthur was fourteen, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile promised to send their daughter Catalina (later known as Catherine) to England, but it was not until after Arthur turned fifteen that Catherine and her retinue finally started their journey. The Spanish Infanta finally landed in the autumn, and on 4 November 1501, the couple met at last at Dogmersfield
Dogmersfield
Dogmersfield is a small and peaceful village between the towns of Fleet and Hartley Wintney located in Hampshire, England.Places of interest include the village church, the Queen's Head pub and a mansion house known variously as Dogmersfield House or Dogmersfield Park...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
.
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 he later told his parents that he was immensely happy to behold the face of his lovely bride. Ten days later, on 14 November 1501, they were married at Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's Cathedral is a name used to refer to the medieval cathedral of the City of London which until 1666 stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built between 1087 and 1314 and dedicated to St Paul, the cathedral was the fourth church on the site at Ludgate Hill...
. At the end of the festive day came the bedding ceremony, in which most of the court put the young couple to bed.
Death and aftermath
Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle is a large, partly ruined, non-inhabited castle which dominates the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England. It stands on a high point overlooking the River Teme...
on the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
border, where Arthur resided in his capacity as Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
and President of The Council of Wales and Marches. He died suddenly at the young age of fifteen. The cause of his death is unknown but may have been consumption
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, diabetes, or the mysterious sweating sickness
Sweating sickness
Sweating sickness, also known as "English sweating sickness" or "English sweate" , was a mysterious and highly virulent disease that struck England, and later continental Europe, in a series of epidemics beginning in 1485. The last outbreak occurred in 1551, after which the disease apparently...
, which some modern theorists tie to a hantavirus
Hantavirus
Hantaviruses are negative sense RNA viruses in the Bunyaviridae family. Humans may be infected with hantaviruses through rodent bites, urine, saliva or contact with rodent waste products...
. Catherine also fell ill, but survived. Arthur's brother, Henry
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, Duke of York, was not created Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
until it was certain Catherine wasn't carrying Arthur's child. She lived in relative obscurity until becoming Henry's first wife after his coronation.
Henry became heir upon Arthur's death and would come to the throne in 1509. He was somewhat unprepared for the position, as it had been intended that he would pursue a clerical career and perhaps become Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. This lack of preparation and education is seen in the heavy influence during the early years of Henry's reign of older statesmen such as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and the queen Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
, his elder by five years.
Funeral
Arthur's body was taken from Ludlow Castle to Worcester Cathedral in a large cortege, accompanied by Sir William Uvedale and Sir Richard Croft. Arthur was buried in Worcester CathedralWorcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester...
where "Prince Arthur's Chantry" stands today. Sir Griffith Ryce
Griffith Ryce
Sir Gruffydd ap Rhys was a Welsh nobleman. He was the son of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, the de facto ruler of most of south-west Wales who aided Henry Tudor in his victory on Bosworth Field in 1485 and Efa ap Henry.-Early life:In the reign of Richard III his father's loyalty was questioned to the house...
, a member of Arthur's household, was an official mourner, and his tomb is located near Arthur's. Arthur's father, the King, did not attend the funeral. The reasons for his absence are unknown, though many conjecture that the journey was too long or that Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
was too distressed. Arthur's mother, Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England....
did not attend the funeral either, and as was the custom, Catherine of Aragon also remained at home as she was still extremely ill with the same disease that had killed Arthur.
Question of consummation
Immense controversy surrounds the question of whether or not Arthur and Catherine consummated their brief marriage, for the subsequent history of England and even of British Christianity was strongly influenced by the issue. Modern readers may think it likely that a teenaged couple sharing a bed and legally married to each other would also engage in sexual intercourse, particularly since Catherine and Arthur understood the production of heirs as a pressing and essential duty. At the time, a girl often consummated her marriage at a very young age: Lady Margaret Beaufort was only twelve years old when she married Edmund TudorEdmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond
Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond , also known as Edmund of Hadham , was the father of King Henry VII of England and a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd, North Wales.-Birth and early life:...
.
Catherine's dueña Doña Elvira Manuel
Dona Elvira Manuel
Doña Elvira Manuel was a Spanish noblewoman and duenna of Princess Catherine of Aragon.Catherine's mother, Queen Isabella I of Castile, trusted Doña Elvira completely. Ferdinand and Isabella instructed Ferdinand, Duke de Estrada, that Elvira would order Catherine's household according to her...
said that the marriage was not consummated, though some historians argue that Doña Elvira was never close to the girl, whom she would later betray. Yet Arthur himself, before the wedding night, had stated that he was feeling very 'lusty and amorous', and Anthony Willoughby, one of his attendants claimed that on the following morning he had called for a cup of ale, saying "for I have been this night in the midst of Spain". Later the Prince also said, "Masters, it is good pastime to have a wife." Though, Arthur may have jested merely to cover up a failure in his marital duty.
Some find it difficult to believe that the fervently devout Catherine, who insisted that her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated, would lie. Others point to Catherine's difficult situation after Arthur's death and argue that she did lie.
The first time Catherine publicly claimed that her marriage to Arthur had not been consummated was when Henry sought the annulment; the subject had not been mentioned earlier, and it is possible that Catherine lied to protect her reputation, her marriage to Henry, and the rights of her daughter, Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
. To say otherwise would have been an admission of fornication as well as a condemnation of Princess Mary to illegitimacy. Catherine claimed that she and Arthur had shared a bed for only seven days.
What Henry really wanted was a son, since he had historical reasons to believe that England would not accept a female monarch. During his marriage to her, Catherine had given birth to several living children, but only Mary survived infancy. Henry realized with the passing years that the aging Catherine was unlikely to produce a son and heir, and he was having notorious affairs with sisters Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn , was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn and a member of the Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England...
and Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
. His annulment from Catherine and his marriage to Anne were predicated on his claim that he and Catherine had produced no living son because he had disobeyed a Scriptural injunction and married his brother's widow — which Catherine would have been, had Arthur and she consummated their marriage.
During the annulment hearing, Henry VIII looked at the Hebrew version of Leviticus 20:21, which states that it is unclean for a man to take his brother's wife and that, if a man did, the union would be childless. He decided to use Leviticus as the basis of his annulment argument, against the advice of Cardinal Wolsey.
This dispute, and Henry's inability to obtain papal dissolution of his marriage, would come to be a major cause of the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
. Whatever the truth of the matter, whether Henry had found Catherine to be a virgin on their wedding night has never been recorded. However, when he was trying to annul his marriage to Catherine, he ordered bloodstained bedsheets, supposedly from his brother's marriage night as proof of the consummation. How or why these sheets should have been preserved for so many years, and how their authenticity could have been proved, was not explained.
Further research
Christopher Guy, the archaeologist of Worcester CathedralWorcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester...
, said he found it odd that, if Arthur had been unhealthy, he was sent to the cold remoteness of Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle is a large, partly ruined, non-inhabited castle which dominates the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England. It stands on a high point overlooking the River Teme...
. Peter Vaughan, of the Worcester Prince Arthur Committee, finds this strange as well. He remarks: "He wasn't a strong character, unlike his younger brother. Could it be that his father was strong enough to see that the best interests of the Tudors were to be served by Henry Duke of York, rather than Arthur?" However, historians such as David Starkey
David Starkey
David Starkey, CBE, FSA is a British constitutional historian, and a radio and television presenter.He was born the only child of Quaker parents, and attended Kendal Grammar School before entering Cambridge through a scholarship. There he specialised in Tudor history, writing a thesis on King...
and Julian Litten have dismissed theories of neglect or murder. "There is nothing fishy about his demise", said Litten. "He was in Ludlow as an ambassador for a King setting up a new dynasty." Litten believes that the real mystery in Arthur's death is the disease that killed him. If not consumption or the historical English sweating sickness
Sweating sickness
Sweating sickness, also known as "English sweating sickness" or "English sweate" , was a mysterious and highly virulent disease that struck England, and later continental Europe, in a series of epidemics beginning in 1485. The last outbreak occurred in 1551, after which the disease apparently...
, it could have been a genetic condition that might also have been expressed in his nephews, Edward VI and Henry Fitzroy
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset was the son of King Henry VIII of England and his teenage mistress, Elizabeth Blount, the only illegitimate offspring whom Henry acknowledged.-Childhood:...
.
In the 1890s, a similar incident occurred in the royal family. Prince Albert Victor, the eldest brother of the future King George V, was engaged to be married to Princess Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
, but died. She then married the younger brother and became Queen of England.
Arthur in fiction
Arthur has appeared in several novels about Catherine of Aragon. Norah LoftsNorah Lofts
Norah Lofts, née Norah Robinson, was a 20th century best-selling British author. She wrote more than fifty books specialising in historical fiction, but she also wrote non-fiction and short stories...
wrote The King's Pleasure in the late 1960s. Katharine, The Virgin Widow by Jean Plaidy has Arthur in it as well. The Constant Princess
The Constant Princess
The Constant Princess is a historical novel by Philippa Gregory, published in 2005. The novel depicts a fictionalized version of the life of Catherine of Aragon.-Plot summary:Childhood:The book starts at Alhambra Palace, when Catalina is five years old...
, by Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is an English novelist.-Early life and academic career:Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex...
, tells the story of how Catherine and Arthur fell in love, consummated their marriage, and how he suddenly died. In it, Catherine promises Arthur she will become Queen of England by marrying his brother in order to fulfill their vision for the future of the kingdom.
Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis
Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism...
wrote "The Alteration
The Alteration
The Alteration is a 1976 alternate history novel by Kingsley Amis, set in a parallel universe in which the Reformation did not take place. It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1977.-Creative origins:...
" (1976), an alternative history novel about the effects of a contested "War of the English Succession" (c 1509 CE), where the birth and reign of Prince Arthur Tudor and Katherine of Aragon's son, "Stephen II", leads Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
to attempt to usurp his nephew's throne.
Primary sources
- Hearne, Thomas ed., John Leland's De rebus Britannicis collectanea, vol. 5 (1774) pp.356-381, festivities at Catherine's arrival in England; the funeral of Arthur.
- Yorke, PhilipPhilip Yorke, 2nd Earl of HardwickePhilip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke FRS , and eldest son of the 1st earl, was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.In 1741 he became a fellow of the Royal Society...
, ed., Miscellaneous State Papers, vol.1 (1778) pp.1-20, instructions for the royal wedding.
Secondary writings
- "Royal Tutors in the Reign of Henry VII", David Carlson, Sixteenth Century Journal Vol. 22, No. 2 (Summer, 1991), pp. 253–279
- Fraser, AntoniaAntonia FraserLady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...
, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, ISBN 0-7493-1409-5 - Steven Gunn and Linda Monckton, ed, Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, Boydell 2009 ISBN 9781843834809
- Jones, Philippa (2009) "The other Tudors"
- Mould, Philip, (1995) Sleepers. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 1857022181 (paperback edition retitled The Trail of Lot 163 (1997) ISBN 1857025237)
- Perry, Maria King Henry's sisters
- Starkey, David (2009) Henry
- Weir, AlisonAlison Weir (historian)Alison Weir is a British writer of history books, and latterly historical novels, mostly in the form of biographies about British royalty.-Personal life:...
, The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Weir, Alison, The Princes in the Tower
External links
- Prince Arthur biographical sketch on Find-A-Grave
- "Intimate Strangers," a popular account of the hantavirus theory, and one which assumes Arthur was indeed a victim of the sickness.
- "The Death of Prince Arthur Tudor, 1502" from EnglishHistory.net
- Short biography of Prince Arthur http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/ArthurTudor.html
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