A princess widowed at a young age, leading her adopted nation to victory in war as regent, but ultimately banished and dying alone separated from her daughter who would later become a ruling Queen.
Story in the evening ...
Story in the evening ...
https://twitter.com/Arby_K/status/1328551234576338945
Princess Catalina (later Katherine) was born in 1485 to King Fernando of Aragon & Queen Isabella of Castile. As the youngest daughter, she was likely to have been married off for political leverage. Her elder sisters had been married to the heirs of Austria & Portugal. 1/10 
In 1501 she married Arthur, Prince of Wales and the heir to the English throne. But the marriage was short lived since Arthur died the next year. Widowed at 16, her life was in a limbo. Her father made her Ambassador to England essentially preventing her from returning home. 2/10
In 1509, the English king would die and Arthur's younger brother would become the new king - Henry VIII. Aged few days short of 18, Henry would seek to marry Catalina. Princess Catalina would become Queen Katherine of England. 3/10
In 1512, Henry VIII joined Katherine's father in Italy to defend the Pope from the French. While Henry was away, Katherine became the Regent of England. She would have to deal with trouble in England. 4/10
Katherine's parents had been formidable rulers in their time. Katherine showed her ability by defeating the Scots (Allies of the French) who attacked England, in Battle of Flodden. The King of Scotland (And married to Henry's sister) James IV would be killed in the battle. 5/10
The victory gave popular support to Katherine. In 1516, she would give birth to Mary. All her other children would die young. This also put Henry and Katherine in a difficult position. 6/10
Coming from the Welsh Tudor family, Henry's father had become king after a long civil war. Now with no male heir, Henry was likely to be the last of the Tudors. A potential way out was for Henry to divorce Katherine and remarry. 7/10
Katherine was against it, though. The Pope would refuse as well, likely backed by Katherine's nephew, Emperor Karl V. But by 1531, Katherine had been banished from palace, with Anne Boleyn taking her place, though as mistress. 8/10
In 1533, Henry would decide to break away from Rome and found the Anglican Church. Henry would finally get his divorce and marry Anne Boleyn. But Queen Anne would also fail to produce a male heir and end up getting beheaded in 1536. 9/10
Henry would marry again four more times and will get a male heir, Edward. Soon though, Katherine's daughter Mary would become Queen, England's first ruling Queen. @smithsonian has this about Queen Mary smithsonianmag.com/history/myth-b… 10/10
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