Arthur, Prince of Wales (19/20 September 1486 – 2 April 1502) was the first son of King
Henry VII of EnglandHenry VII was the 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 Tudor dynasty.Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the Wars...
and
Elizabeth of YorkElizabeth of York was the daughter, sister, niece, mother and wife of Kings of England. She was Queen of England as spouse of King Henry VII, whom she married in 1486.-Princess 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 VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
.
Birth
In order to strengthen his dubious claim to the throne, Henry VII set his personal genealogists to trace back his heritage to
CadwaladrCadwaladr 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 search identified
WinchesterWinchester is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. It 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 the River Itchen...
in Hampshire as
CamelotCamelot is the most famous 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 fabulous Arthurian...
, and it was there that the first Tudor
Prince of WalesPrince 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...
, Arthur, was born. He was named after the legendary
King ArthurKing Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defense of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated...
of the
Round TableA round table is a table which has no "head" and no "sides", and therefore no one person sitting at it is given a privileged position and all are treated as equals. The idea stems from the Arthurian legend about the Knights of the Round Table in Camelot....
. His christening took place at
Winchester CathedralWinchester 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. It is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun and is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and...
, his godfathers were
Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of DerbyThomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, KG , was King of Mann, an English nobleman and stepfather to King Henry VII of England....
and
John de Vere, 13th Earl of OxfordJohn de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford was one of the principal Lancastrian commanders during the English Wars of the Roses....
who was late for the ceremony.
Elizabeth WoodvilleElizabeth Woodville or Wydeville was the Queen consort of Edward IV, King of England, from 1464 until his death in 1483.-Early life and first marriage:...
, 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". However, some historians suggest that he had been weak his whole life long, and that was what led to his death.
His only original surviving portrait shows a teenage boy growing into his skin, though some say he looks weak in it. His appearance in the portrait certainly differs from that of his athletic younger brother, the future Henry VIII. There is no evidence to show that Arthur was a sportsman, but he may have been fond of
archeryArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
. In the portrait he has the red
TudorThe House of Tudor was a prominent European royal house that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch Henry Tudor, descended paternally from the rulers of the Welsh principality of Deheubarth, and maternally from a legitimised branch of the English royal...
hair, small eyes, and a high-bridged nose. He bears a resemblance to both his father and brother.
Betrothal and alliance
Arthur's father, Henry VII, was eager to strengthen his kingdom through an alliance with newly-united Spain, seeking the support of the
Catholic MonarchsThe Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. The title of "Catholic King and Queen" was bestowed on them by the Pope Alexander VI. They married on October 19,1469, in the city of Valladolid; Isabella was eighteen...
,
Isabella I of CastileIsabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, laid the foundation for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor....
and
Ferdinand II of AragonFerdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, de jure uxoris King of Castile and then Regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of his mentally unstable daughter Joanna the...
, against French interests and possible aggression. When Arthur was two years old, a marriage with the Spanish princess,
Catherine of AragonCatherine of Aragon was Princess of Wales as the wife of Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England....
(in Spain, Catalina de Aragón) was arranged for him as part of the
Treaty of Medina del CampoThe 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 more than ready to break the treaty if the pretenders to the throne of England did not vanish. Therefore, in 1499,
Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of WarwickEdward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick and 7th Earl of Salisbury 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...
was beheaded, and the pretender
Perkin WarbeckPerkin Warbeck was a pretender to the English throne during the reign of King Henry VII of England. Traditional belief claims that he was an imposter, pretending to be Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV of England, but was in fact a Fleming born in Tournai...
, who some contemporaries asserted was Edward IV's illegitimate son, was hanged.
Childhood
At the age of three, Arthur was made
Prince of WalesPrince 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
Earl of ChesterThe Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England. Since 1301 the title has generally been given to heirs-apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales.- Traditional power base...
, and when five he was made a Knight of the Garter. He, as the heir, was specially trained. Some historians maintain that he had some kind of bond with
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of NorfolkThomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk was an English soldier and statesman, and son of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk by his first wife, Katherine de Moleyns, the daughter of William de Moleyns and Anne Whalesborough.-Life:...
, who defended the border of England whenever the
Kingdom of ScotlandThe Kingdom of Scotland was a state in North-West Europe which existed from 843 until 1707...
attacked. His tutors were John Rede and the blind poet
Bernard AndréBernard André 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 seems to have been blind...
. When he was fourteen to fifteen years old
Thomas LinacreThomas Linacre was an English humanist and physician, after whom Linacre College, Oxford is named....
(or Lynaker) began to teach him. His tutor, Bernard André, wrote an unfinished biography of Henry VII in which he inserted the information that Arthur was familiar with all the best
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
and
Greek languageGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
authors. The Prince's governor and treasurer was Sir Henry Vernon. Arthur may have frequently lived with Henry Vernon at his residence,
Haddon HallHaddon 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 the
DerbyshireDerbyshire 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...
. In the house, there was an apartment called 'The Prince's Chamber' which was adorned with Arthur's Coat of Arms.
Marriage
For two years, Arthur wrote numerous letters in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
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 (the Spanish title for princess) finally landed in the autumn, and on 4 November 1501, the couple met at last at Dogsmersfield Palace in
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
. 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 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.
Death and aftermath
The couple soon travelled to
Ludlow CastleLudlow Castle is a large, now 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
WelshWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
border, where Arthur resided in his capacity as
Prince of WalesPrince 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 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
consumptionTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
, diabetes, or the mysterious
sweating sicknessSweating sickness, also known as the "English sweate" , was a mysterious and highly virulent disease which struck England and later Europe in a series of epidemics, the first beginning in 1485 and the last in 1551, afterwards apparently vanishing. The onset of symptoms was dramatic and sudden,...
, which some modern theorists tie to a
hantavirusHantaviruses belong to the Bunyaviridae family of viruses. The Bunyaviridae family is divided into 5 genera: Orthobunyavirus, Nairovirus, Phlebovirus, Tospovirus, and Hantavirus. Like all members of this family, hantaviruses have genomes comprised of three negative-sense, single-stranded RNA...
. Catherine was sick too, but unlike her unfortunate husband, she survived. Arthur's brother,
HenryHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
, Duke of York, was not created
Prince of WalesPrince 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...
until it was certain Catherine wasn't carrying Arthur's child.
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 enter the Church and perhaps become
Archbishop of CanterburyAlso see Leaders of ChristianityThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief 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, the see that churches must be in communion with in order to be...
. This lack of preparation and education is seen in the heavy influence of older statesmen such as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey during the early years of Henry's reign. Catherine would marry Henry (who was six years her junior) eight years later, but in the interim, she lived in relative poverty.
Funeral
Arthur was buried in
Worcester CathedralWorcester 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 RyceSir Gruffydd ap Rhys was a Welsh nobleman and member of Prince Arthur's household...
, 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 VIIHenry VII was the 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 Tudor dynasty.Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the Wars...
was too distressed. Arthur's mother,
Elizabeth of YorkElizabeth of York was the daughter, sister, niece, mother and wife of Kings of England. She was Queen of England as spouse of King Henry VII, whom she married in 1486.-Princess of England:...
did not attend the funeral either, and as was the custom, Catherine of Aragon also remained at home.
Question of consummation
Immense controversy surrounds the question of whether or not Arthur and Catherine consummated their brief marriage, since the subsequent history of England and even of British Christianity was strongly influenced by the issue. It is likely that if a teenage couple shared a bed, the result would be sexual intercourse. There is also the fact that Catherine and Arthur understood that they needed to begin producing heirs, something they would have regarded as a pressing and major duty. It was common then for a girl to marry and consummate her marriage at a very young age; Margaret Beaufort was only 12 when she married Edmund Tudor.
Catherine's dueña
Doña ElviraDoña 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. Shortly before the death of Queen Isabella in 1504, Catherine's husband, Arthur, Prince of Wales died. Catherine was then betrothed...
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. Arthur himself, before the wedding night, stated that he was feeling very 'lusty and amorous', and his friends claimed that the following day, he had proudly called for some water, saying that he had "been in Spain" and that being a husband was "thirsty work." There is no way to know whether Arthur made this joke merely to cover up the fact that he had failed at his marital duty.
What most people find hard to believe is that the fervently devout Catherine, who insisted that her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated, would lie. Leviticus 20:21 states that it is unclean for a man to take his brother's wife and if a man did so, the union would be childless. (By the same token, other biblical passages enjoin a man to marry his brother's widow and to father children on her, so that the deceased man's line will officially continue.
Catherine argued during the divorce case that the Leviticus version applies to a living man taking his living brother's wife (of course, not the case with Henry and herself) and Deuteronomy to a dead brother's wife (which fitted her marriage to Henry). During the divorce case, Henry VIII looked at the Hebrew translation of Leviticus 25:5-10, which specified that a union with his brother's wife would produce no sons - which had been the case with himself and Catherine. He therefore decided to use Leviticus as the basis of his divorce argument, against the advice of Wolsey.
The first time Catherine publicly claimed that her marriage to Arthur had not been consummated was when Henry sought the divorce; 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 IMary I , was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. She was the oldest daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived...
. 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, but this is unconfirmed by any historical records.
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 had realized with the passing years that the aging Catherine was unlikely to produce a son and heir, and he was having a notorious love affair with sisters
MaryMary Boleyn was a member of the English Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England...
and
Anne BoleynAnne Boleyn was Queen of England as the second wife of King Henry VIII, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I, 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 start of the...
. His divorce 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 Scripture and married his brother's widow — which Catherine would have been if she and Arthur had consummated their marriage.
This dispute, and Henry's inability to obtain papal dissolution of his marriage, would be the main reason for the
English ReformationThe English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first 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, to be paraded around his palace as proof of the consummation. How or why these sheets should have been preserved for so many years was not explained.
Further research
Christopher Guy, the archaeologist of
Worcester CathedralWorcester 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 CastleLudlow Castle is a large, now 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 StarkeyDavid Robert Starkey, CBE, FSA is an English historian, a television and radio presenter, and a specialist in the Tudor period.- Early years :...
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 sicknessSweating sickness, also known as the "English sweate" , was a mysterious and highly virulent disease which struck England and later Europe in a series of epidemics, the first beginning in 1485 and the last in 1551, afterwards apparently vanishing. The onset of symptoms was dramatic and sudden,...
, it could have been a genetic condition that might have been passed on to his nephews, Edward VI and
Henry FitzroyHenry 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 that Henry acknowledged.- Biography :...
.
Arthur in fiction
Arthur has appeared in several novels about Catherine of Aragon.
Norah LoftsNorah Lofts, née Norah Robinson, was a 20th century best-selling British author. She wrote over 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 PrincessThe 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 Katherine is five years old...
, by
Philippa Gregory-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 eventually decided to go to university and was educated at the University of Sussex. She worked in BBC radio for two years before attending...
, tells the story of how Catherine and Arthur fell in love, consummated their marriage, and how he suddenly died. In it, Katherine 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 AmisSir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than twenty novels, three collections of poetry, short stories, radio and television scripts, and books of social and literary criticism...
wrote "
The AlterationThe Alteration is the title of 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 historyAlternative history may refer to a number of subjects relating to history, the chronology and study of the past. It may mean:* Alternate history, a subgenre of speculative fiction dealing with divergences from the world's actual 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.
Award-winning author
Sandra WorthSandra Worth is an award-winning Canadian author of fiction and an American citizen.For her bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, she took a double major in Political Science and Economics....
presents a sympathetic portrayal of Prince Arthur from his birth to his death in
The King's Daughter: A Novel of the First Tudor Queen. The story, narrated in the first person by his mother,
Elizabeth of YorkElizabeth of York was the daughter, sister, niece, mother and wife of Kings of England. She was Queen of England as spouse of King Henry VII, whom she married in 1486.-Princess of England:...
, is praised by
Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
as
"an impressive feat."
Additional reading
- Fraser, Antonia
Lady Antonia Fraser, CBE , née Pakenham, is an English author of history and novels, best known as Antonia Fraser for writing biographies and detective fiction...
, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, ISBN 0-7493-1409-5
- "Royal Tutors in the Reign of Henry VII", David Carlson, Sixteenth Century Journal Vol. 22, No. 2 (Summer, 1991), pp. 253–279
- Mould, Philip. (1995) Sleepers. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 1857022181
- Weir, Alison
Alison Weir is a British writer of history books, mostly in the form of biographies about British royalty.-Family and early life:...
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
- Weir, Alison
Alison Weir is a British writer of history books, mostly in the form of biographies about British royalty.-Family and early life:...
The Princes in the Tower
External links
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