#house of aragon

[jaehaeryshater]

England’s Pearl and Their Beloved Queen

Mary I and Katherine of Aragon by @francy-sketches

Guys. I have not been so excited for a commission in my life. I know it’s not ASOIAF so definitely not as anticipated among my friends, but it’s just so well done. I adore Katherine and Mary and this turned out so beautifully. I cannot sing Francy’s praises high enough; after the initial reference pictures I sent her, I did not need to correct anything at all, she completely got the vision.

As anyone who has ever encountered me before will have known, I am incredibly particular about commissions and therefore very involved. I usually like to give pieces I pay for extra thought and historical authenticity. For this piece, I went and looked for available quotes and contemporary accounts of Katherine’s fashion choices. I wanted to make sure from the base of the dress (the farthingale underneath) to the jewelry were all as accurate as was reasonably possible. I did even learn a thing or two, despite my initial intention of just checking to make sure everything I had previously believed was true. For example, I learned that Katherine sometimes wore a flemish hood, which I wouldn’t have thought that would align with her fashion sense; I was proven wrong. I have seen practically all the artworks available to the public that have been confirmed to be Katherine, so I had already guessed black was her favorite color to wear. But I did learn that her other favorites were purple and red. I decided to keep it simple with the black. It’s elegant and regal, black was an expensive color but still is not obnoxiously ostentatious. The jewels around her neckline as taken directly from portraits of her. The pearls seem a mainstay for her, but I did learn that her dresses had many other colored jewels tied into them. I just thought black looked the best. Her dresses were fur-lined, although I would definitely say we took some liberties on what the fur looked. The fur she wore was pretty much exclusively ermine. The sleeves also have true gold, which Spanish royalty traditionally loved (for hundreds of years, by this point, at least). Katherine’s Spanish outfits, of which she had many, definitely collected dust in favor of more traditional English outfits. There’s no indication that she was forced into this, as she did sometimes dress in the Spanish style when it struck her fancy, but it was important for her to present herself as English with English loyalties and priorities in mind. That being said, something as innocuous as gold embroidery, which was not completely foreign to the English court, was definitely something she could implement from back home without seeming like a foreigner. I have pomegranate embroidery on her sleeves, which is more of symbolism rather than something accurate. There’s no proof she ever wore pomegranate embroidery on her sleeve, but her official symbol was of a pomegranate, so I figure that was something important to her.

Katherine’s necklace is obviously a direct copy of the necklace she wears in several of the contemporary artworks depicting. This is pure speculation, but I personally believe that this necklace could have come from old English jewels that had been melted down and repurposed for her. Generally, people weren’t as sentimental in the same way we are today, nor worried about these aspects of preservation, so jewels were melted down and used for other purposes all the time. She also usually wore many strings of pearls, but it just would have looked like too much and would take away from the piece overall, so we decided just to do the necklace. Her gabled hood is also directly taken from her contemporary portraits, the gold and black with the red jewels was what she usually wore. She has a girdle belt with a long string of pearls. Sometimes she would wear a cross at the end or some black jewels that matched her necklace. What’s depicted in this is actually a pomander that turns into a rudimentary clock when it is opened. Katherine is recorded as having one of these; I thought that was very cool. I also asked for her to have some rings. She did have a wedding ring, but I found no description of it, so the artist just did basic gold. She’s wearing two which I think is pretty funny considering she was married twice, of course she wouldn’t have worn two wedding rings, but imagine if she did have the audacity to. Katherine had so much jewelry, more than any of Henry VIII’s wives. She had the royal collection available to her, pieces from Spain, and gifts from Henry specifically made for her. She usually decked herself out as expensively as possible.

Unfortunately, there is basically no information on how Mary dressed as a child. We know her mother dressed her and was having the clothes ordered herself, but beyond that, there’s really nothing available that I could find. I felt that Mary would be dressed similarly to her mother, but I wanted to give her a purple dress because purple fabric was generally the most expensive thing you could buy. I wanted to illustrate how loved and well taken care of she was. She has matching rings with her mother, but no girdle belt or necklace because I’m envisioning her as being 6-9 in this, so I wanted to give her something she could play in. She’s wearing a French hood. Katherine ordered her one in 1520, when she was four. My references on how hers should look is from portraits of her aunts Mary and Juana. I felt that Katherine would probably want to buy a style she was familiar with. Mary’s embroidery is of the Tudor rose. It turned out so beautifully. Similarly to Katherine, there’s no evidence that she actually wore that embroidery, but I wanted some symbolism in there.

My intention with this piece was to show the closeness between Katherine and Mary. Katherine loved Mary with all her heart and showed no outward indication of disappointment that Mary was a girl. She spent more time with Mary than any other highborn individual in this time period that I know of. I wanted to show that Katherine is someone that Mary deeply and completely trusted, even when court could be over the top and crowded, frightening for a child. I feel as if people other themselves from people in the past. People often feel as if people 500 years ago did not care as deeply about their children or weren’t attached to them. I believe this is true in some instances, but generally we are more like the people of the past than we like the believe. As far as any research I’ve done has shown, Katherine loved Mary as much as any mother of our time loves her children.

I believe Francy did a beautiful job, so all compliments go to her, I hope everyone checks out her page to see her amazing work. The caliber of this is unlike the commissions I’ve done in the past. I cannot thank her enough.

I hope this ended up being relatively historically accurate, I’m sure someone will let me know if it’s not haha.

[livesunique]

Castle of Loarre,

Huesca Province, Aragon autonomous region of Spain,

Credit: Navid Fatehpour

[kate-bridgerton]

TUDOR WEEK 2024 Day 3 - Wednesday, 16th of October: Best Tudor What If?

What if Arthur survived his illness and ascended to the throne as King Arthur II?

Rather than dying young, Arthur survived the sweating sickness and continued his life with Katherine of Aragon in Wales. In the seven years that followed, they had two surviving children together, Margret (named for Margaret Pole as well as the prince's grandmother and sister) and Arthur. So as he ascended the throne in 1509 at the age of 22, he already had an heir to continue the Tudor line.

[cesareeborgia]

catherine of aragon + various media portrayals (requested by anonymous)

[marythequeen]

hello guys, i'm here to talk about leah toole's fictional book on mary i of england's. it's called the saddest princess.

at first, i want to clarify that i am highly aware that this book is fictional and not a biography. so you don't need to say "hey but it's fictional"

also, before reading her book, leah toole was someone i really liked. i used to follow her on tiktok and was really excited to read her book. however as you can understand, i am very, very disappointed.

let's start.

just after i had read the prologue i knew that many things would piss me off throughout the book because it was horrendous.

the vilification of queen mary is outdated now and seeing even the people that claim to like her doing this, made me feel awful. according to countless reports, in her death bed, she was peaceful and her conscience clean. the people that she had executed were mainly guilty of treason and many others were executed without her knowledge. i don't think that feeling guilty about this would be her main concern.

but do you know who was rather frightened and surrounded by guilt? her half sister elizabeth.

apart from this, if you ever saw a video of leah toole's, you probably know that she's a great hater of the spanish princess because of its inaccurate portrayals. mind you, the spanish princess tv show never ever claimed that it was historically accurate or something like that but leah toole was MAD (and rightfully so!! i totally agreed with her.) about it anyway. so imagine my disappointment when i started to read her book eagerly then realized that it, in many aspects, was a cheap copy of the tv show.

"there was no lone for this useless baby girl." i mean, really? that scene and almost everything about it was in the spanish princess. AND this whole scene could be proved wrong with countless reports. do i think katharine of aragon suffered from a kind of postpartum depression? i absolutely do. but do i think she HATED her own daughter for years? no because that's not what happened in reality.

again, this is a historical fiction book and it doesn't have to be historically accurate but it's called a hypocrisy when you criticize another material because of the same thing you did yourself.

(ps. katharine of aragon had blue eyes, not dark brown.)

mary's birth scene was AWFUL. henry saying mary is a useless girl was highly inaccurate. writing such things while mary's reputation is STILL unfairly blackened is very unnecessary.

"katherine had tried to love her daughter. but no matter how hard she tried, nothing the girl did held any meaning in katherine's eyes." are you kidding me??

also having mary curse constantly? this woman didn't know the meaning of whore until she was forty something. i can't even imagine her saying words such as bastard, harlot, whore etc. (in the book she called anne boleyn names when in reality she simply called her that woman. which is respectful enough.) especially when she used the word bastard when she was nine? now c'mon! throughout the book, the author is obviously influenced by the spanish princess tv show, even though she'd been very critical about the show. there's a pretty word for situations like this :) and it's called hypocrisy.

and *that* scene with duke philip? even the most passionate mary hater wouldn't write something like this. that was worse than wattpad, worse than ao3. (if you didn't read the book, take a deep breath, she had sex with him. again, did not happen in reality.)

apart from all of this, the only thing that i've liked about this book is clearly seeing that mary wasn't as forgiving as her mother was. because that's what actually happened. long story short, i was eager to read the other books of this series but i don't think that i'll be reading the rest. i am so very disappointed with this. it was such a waste of time. and i have to tell you that i am also incredibly sad because i used to enjoy her content a lot.

there are many more issues about this book but unfortunately i don't have enough time or will to live to write a detailed review but i think this'll do anyway.

lastly, at least there are very few quotes that i've liked and would want you to see.

—chapuys shrugged, "it would seem the king himself is struggling to separate the two religions," he said, "and his newest testaments have received mixed reactions from his council. i believe that in his heart he remains a catholic, but he does not wish to be told by anyone whether it be the pope or his best advisor - what he can and cannot do."

—"of all the women in my father's life, i have survived him the longest. and that alone is a great achievement."

—"i survived my father's tyranny for all my thirty-three years. this edward seymour could not scare me if he turned up at my doorstep dressed up as the devil himself."

[gulnarsultan]

https://www.tumblr.com/gulnarsultan/734317783513497600/hello-can-you-do-anna-boleyn-and-catherine-of?source=share

Could you do part 2 where Sultan reader sends all his Concubines or wives away to keep Anna/Catherine happy?

Hello. I hope you like it.

》Part 2《

Catherine was a patient and intelligent woman. First, she made her husband look after her alone. In other words, a new woman was no longer entering the Sultan's life. Later, she started sending concubines and wives (childless) to her palace. After getting rid of them, it was time to send away the wives and concubines who had children from the Sultan. She sent the legal wives first and then the concubines.

Anne was not very patient. But that doesn't mean she isn't cunning. First, she started to prevent other women from getting close to the Sultan. She later caused the Sultan to turn away from the women was with. She sent them all away from the Palace in a short time.

[a-turtle-dove-on-my-breast]

Thanks @hilda-dewitt for this great piece of work depicting Louis I of Anjou and Marie of Blois, great-grandparents of Margaret of Anjou. Louis I of Anjou was the founder of the Angevin cadet branch of the House of Valois, and Marie of Blois was the first of a series of powerful women in the House of Valois-Anjou.

I really found their story to be full of fun and drama. After King John II of France was taken prisoner in the Battle of Poitiers, Louis broke the Aragonese marriage contract arranged by his father to marry Marie, the daughter of one major claimant to the ducal throne of Brittany, neighboring his appanage of Anjou. His desire to meet his wife pushed him to end his hostage career in England prematurely on his own, and more or less led to the decision of John II to return to captivity, lol. While Marie's father fell in battle six months after John the Good's death in London, the couple remained close and intimate throughout their lives. Louis served as a leading military commander in his elder brother Charles V's reconquest of southwestern France during the second phase of the Hundred Years' War. He was also a loyal friend and protector of Bertrand du Guesclin, who fought for Marie's father before entering service for the Valois. However, due to his role in the 1378 tax revolts and his overambitious claim to the throne of Naples, Louis remained a controversial figure in France, and his past accomplishments were little appreciated. After Louis's death in the unsuccessful march to Naples, Marie continued their quest for the Neapolitan crown, and, after a tough fight against opposing claimants, secured for their seven-year-old son Louis II the County of Provence, which was in a personal union with the Kingdom of Naples. She acted as regent for Louis II during his minority, and arranged the marriage between him and Yolande of Aragon.

[psychicpiratementality]

poems I wrote for henry viii's six wives, along with original graphics

[rmelster]

Amo tus dibujos (y más si es de mi Catita)

Espero que algún día hagas un dibujo de Arthur y Catalina con sus hijos (ese es el "what if" que más amo)

Ayyyys, gracias!

Intentaré! Creo de todo corazón que Arthur habría sido infinitamente un mejor esposo de lo que Henry lo fue. Y tengo una duda! Como rey, habría sido “Arthur I” o “Arthur II” (si se contase su tocayo legendario, el rey Arturo). Cual es tu opinión

Por cierto, creo que esto te interesaría. Lo escribí hace ya algún tiempo:

—Las circunstancias me convierten en el mensajero de una tragedia terrible — dijo el heraldo, y tras una luctuosa pausa, anunció: —nuestra católica Majestad, la reina Isabel de Castilla, ha muerto. Arturo contuvo el resuello, y por unos momentos, guardó silencio. Había oído sobre su vapuleada salud de su suegra, de la melancolía que la había asediado tras la prematura muerte de su muy querido hijo Juan y el póstumo hijo que su viuda había alumbrado ya sin vida; de la pérdida de su primogénita, Isabel, en un infeliz parto, y del portugués hijo de esta, Miguel de la Paz, cuando no tenía más que un año. Tenía razones para creer que la reina no viviría por mucho más tiempo, pero ni la certidumbre de esto mismo lo había preparado para ser receptor de aquella triste noticia. En la vecina alcoba dormía su esposa, su Catalina; de acercarse al lecho y bajo la mortecina luz de una vela, podía intuirse la ligera curva de su vientre. Hacía casi año atrás, recuperados a penas de sus padecimientos, le había asaltado el tormentoso deseo de abrazarla, y dispuesto todo, la había amado; y la había amado con toda la premura que trae el conocimiento de la muerte, la impericia propia de su juventud y el muy sincero cariño que ya entonces le profesaba; y antes de que pudiese darse cuenta, se hallaba encinta, y la sucesión de la Casa Tudor, que durante su gravísima enfermedad había quedado en entredicho, había quedado asegurada. Como puede un hombre despertar a su mujer y decirle que ha perdido a su madre?

[motof1bfs]

these are the xdumbest fucking memes I've ever made -🏍

[vox-anglosphere]

[panzerdrako]

Welcome Back to The House of Mystery

Neil Gaiman / Sergio Aragonés

[alternatehistoryworlds]

A happier life for Henry VIII's children. Part: 1.

Mary was the first surviving child of King Henry VIII of England from his first marriage to the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon. The princess knew that she was not her parents' only child - all of her siblings died shortly after birth. The birth of a living and healthy child was a great happiness for King Henry and Queen Catherine, even though the child was a girl. That is why she became the king's favorite daughter. When she was 12 years old, her father decided to divorce her mother. Catherine did not resist the king's decision for a long time, but accepted the inevitable and agreed to the divorce with favorable terms. For this, the king, as promised, retained for Mary the status of princess and allowed the former spouse to communicate with his daughter. After the divorce for Mary little changed, she continued to grow up in the love of her father and mother, often visited both parents. The princess did not like her father's second wife, but did not show it. Anne Boleyn did not meet Henry's expectations, so he sent her to a convent under strict supervision. The king also wanted to declare Princess Elizabeth illegitimate, but Mary stood up for her sister and convinced her father not to do so. Soon the king married Jane Seymour, and a year after the wedding she gave him a long-awaited son, whom the happy father named Edward. In honor of this joyous event, Henry organized a grand feast that lasted for a whole week. In the same year, Princess Mary married Prince Henry, heir to the French throne. Before meeting his future wife, the dauphin had a love affair with Diana de Poitiers, but when he first saw his betrothed, he fell madly in love with her. Henry immediately severed all ties with Diana and was faithful to his wife until his death. The marriage of Mary and Henry turned out to be very happy. They had five children:

Francis II of France(1538 - 1604). Nicknamed "The Peacemaker" for the foreign policy calm during his reign. During his reign, France did not wage a single war. Husband of Helena of Austria, they had a good relationship. In marriage 7 children were born: Mary, Louis XIII, Anne, Henry, Christina, Philip, Gaston.

Claude of France(1541 - 1600). Queen of Spain. In 1556 she became the wife of Philip II. The spouses loved each other despite the big difference in age. They had 5 children: Philip III, Isabella, Joanna, Ferdinand, Diego.

Henry of France(1541 - 1589). Duke of Orleans. Was a favorite son for his mother, as from a young age showed a keen interest in religion. And when he became older he decided to devote his life to the service of God. He was not married and had no children.

Catherine of France(1544 - 1615). Archduchess of Austria. Favorite sister of Francis II. Was the second wife of Ferdinand II of Austria. The spouses did not love each other, but respected each other. In marriage 3 daughters were born: Anne, Mary, Eleanor. After the death of her husband returned to her homeland.

Charles of France(1546 - 1620). Duke of Angoulême. Because of his dissolute lifestyle he had conflicts with his mother. He married his cousin Jane, daughter of King Edward VI of England. The married life of Charles and Jane was not happy, because of his constant cheating. The marriage produced 4 children: Gedeon, Charlotte, Michelle and Cesar.

While in France, she did not forget about her family and maintained a close correspondence not only with her parents, but also with her second stepmother, because of the warm and close relationship between them. Before leaving, Mary and Jane had great difficulty convincing the king to bring Elizabeth to the palace so that she would not feel lonely. Henry initially had no paternal feelings for his second daughter, but was later able to develop a warmth for the girl. In 1540, Dauphine learned that her mother had died. She could not come to her funeral, as she was pregnant with her second child, but due to severe stress she had a miscarriage. Because of these events, the princess fell into depression, she did not leave her chambers and hardly ate anything. Her husband was with her all this time and provided as much support as possible, but when he realized that he could not cope, he invited Jane to help. She couldn't stay away and convinced Henry to let her go to Mary. After a few months, Mary recovered and all three returned to England. The king greeted his wife, daughter and son-in-law warmly. And the princess was finally able to honor her mother. She also spent time with her brother and sister because she missed them during the 6 years of absence. When Mary returned to France, she was already pregnant with her third child, and nine months later she gave birth to twins. Five years passed.During this time, Mary and Henry became king and queen of France and had two more children. They successfully ruled the kingdom. Shortly before his death, Henry 8 appointed his eldest daughter as regent under his young son. The queen excelled in her duties as regent and pursued a mild policy toward her subjects. When she realized that Edward was already capable of ruling on his own, she placed the power in his hands and returned to France. In 1559, King Henry of France fell from his horse while hunting and died. Mary mourned the death of her beloved husband for a long time and wore mourning for him for the rest of her life. She warmly remembered the 22 happy years they gave to each other and loved to tell her grandchildren about it. Mary often came to visit her brother, and the two developed a warm relationship. The dowager queen of France died in 1580. She was buried next to her husband Henry II in the Abbey of Saint-Denis.

Source:

Pinterest: Dinastia Tudor & Reyes Católicos, Bit_na

Tumblr: the borgias ITALIA

[maryqos]

"Many scholars have highlighted the fevered debate over Catherine of Aragon's virginity during the 'Great Matter.' Yet her body, and its sexual and reproductive history, was the subject of public discussion from the moment she arrived in England at the age of fifteen. Between 1509 and 1518, geopolitical tension exaggerated this discourse regarding the state of her body and its relationship to England's political potency. By the 1520s, Henry VIII's progressive obsession with the need for a male heir had also amplified these associations. Catherine's experiences as a procreating queen consort consequently influenced the ways in which her contemporaries scrutinized and politicized royal pregnancies within the framework of European politics."

caroline armbruster, "'this dolorous chance:' contemporary views on catherine of aragon's pregnancy losses."

[turtlele]

Tree

Jane, showing a new app: It shows me your exact locations, which means I no longer have to worry about unclear directions from a certain person.

Everyone: looks at Anne

Anne: What? I was very clear. I said to meet by the tree.

Kat: Which tree, Anne? We were in the forest!

[marythequeen]

in the honor of england's first queen regnant's coronation anniversary, enjoy her and her mastermind mother<3

Mary’s relationship with her mother is key, and Katherine must be understood not as a weak, rejected wife but as a strong, highly accomplished, and defiant woman who withstood the attempts of her husband, Henry VIII, to browbeat her into submission and was determined to defend the legitimacy of her marriage and of her daughter’s birth.

-Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen by Anna Whitelock