#queen katherine of aragon

[mermaidbarbies]

Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon, as depicted in:

A choirbook by the workshop of Petrus Alamire, commissioned by Emperor Maximilian, c.1510s.

An epistle-lectionary by the Horenbout workshop, made for Cardinal Wolsey, c.1528.

[kirby-of-aragon]

Finally, they showed the happy moments of the fat busty man and his wonderful wife. (Ay mi Catita)

Katherine of Aragon (Annette Crosbie) and Henry VIII’s (Keith Michell) happy moments in the BBC TV Mini-Series, “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”. 

[the-tvdors]

"Why should that surprise you, Henry? You have not always been kind to her. I have wept so often to see her alone, abandoned by her father."

JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS and MARIA DOYLE KENNEDY as HENRY VIII and KATHERINE OF ARAGON The Tudors | 'Death of a Monarchy' — S03E10

[dailytudors]

TUDOR WEEK 2024

It is baaaaack by popular demand!. We are hosting Tudor Week 2024. This is going to be hosted from Monday the 14th of October to Sunday the 20th of October.

The week will go as follows:

Day 1 - Monday, 14th of October:  Your Favourite Tudor (members of the family that were born Tudors). Day 2 - Tuesday, 15th of October: Favourite Tudor contemporary quote about or said by the Tudor family. Day 3 - Wednesday, 16th of October: Best Tudor What If? Day 4 - Thursday, 17th of October: Fancast Your Favourite Tudor Family Member. Day 5 - Friday, 18th of October: Favourite Tudor Iconography (e.g. Tudor Rose, Anne Boleyn's falcon, Jane Seymour's Phoenix). Day 6 - Saturday, 19th of October: Favourite Tudor Couple (could include unmarried couples, e.g., Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley). Day 7 - Sunday, 20th of October: Favourite Tudor-related location.

This can cover all events and media that a Tudor family member is present, so from Owen Tudor to Elizabeth Tudor, and may include spouses and acknowledged children of direct members of the Tudor family (if unsure who we cover please check our Family page). We have attempted to make it as broad as possible and no pressure if you are late with some of the days, we will still reblog.

Previous Years: 2021, 2022, 2023

Be sure to tag your posts TudorWeek2024 and DailyTudors, looking forward to seeing your posts!

The Team at DailyTudors

[jischw]

1. Catherine of Aragon (married 1509-1533)

motto: HUMBLE AND LOYAL

Even allowing for tactful hyperbole, it is clear that Catherine, […] did have the kind of youthful prettiness and freshness of appearance that charmed observers, not only the family into which she would marry. It was partly a question of her complexion: her naturally pink cheeks and white skin were much admired in an age when make-up was clumsy in execution, easy to detect and much scorned. Ambassadors abroad, describing princesses to their masters, generally emphasized the tint of the skin, carefully noting whether it was 'painted' or not. A fair complexion like Catherine's was thought to indicate a more serene and cheerful temperament than a 'brown' one. Then Catherine's hair was also fair and thick, with a reddish-gold tint, her features neat and regular in a pleasingly shaped oval face.

Perhaps Catherine's fair colouring, so far from the conventional picture of a dark-visaged Spaniard, reminded onlookers of her one-eighth of English blood: […] 'there is nothing wanting in her that the most beautiful girl should have. '

If her complexion was her chief beauty, Catherine's chief disadvantage was her lack of height. All the grace of her bearing, inculcated over many years at the Castilian court, could not conceal the fact that she was extremely short, even tiny. Years later a loyal defender had to admit that she was 'in stature somewhat mean', while adding quickly 'but bonarly [bonnie] withal'. She was also on the plump side - but then a pleasant roundness in youth was considered to be desirable at this period, a pointer to future fertility. In contrast Catherine's voice was surprisingly low and 'big-sounding' for a woman; and that no doubt contributed to the impression of gracious dignity she left on all observers, making up for the lack of inches.

2. Anne Boleyn (married 1533-1536)

motto: THE MOST HAPPY

Anne Boleyn was not a great beauty. The Venetian ambassador […] pronounced her 'not one of the handsomest women in the world'. […] Anne Boleyn was only moderately pretty.

Some of this lukewarm praise may have been due to the fact that her looks did not accord with the fair-haired, blue-eyed ideal of the time. In theory, dark looks were regarded with suspicion and Anne Boleyn's looks were conspicuously dark: she was 'Brunet' […] Anne Boleyn's olive complexion’ […] her colouring 'rather dark' or sallow 'as if troubled with jaundice', or 'not so whitely as ... above all we may esteem.' She did have a few moles, although she was hardly disfigured by them on the contrary they acted as beauty-spots. Her hair, thick and lustrous as it might be, was extremely dark […] And her eyes were so dark as to be almost black. But then the theory of public admiration was one thing - blondes were supposed to be of cheerful temperament - and the practice of physical attraction was quite another. Clearly in adulthood Anne Boleyn exercised a kind of sexual fascination over most men who met her; whether it aroused desire or hostility, the fascination was there.

The black eyes were sparkling and expressive; and they were set off by those 'dark, silky and well-marked eyebrows' […] on the subject: she knew well how 'to use [her eyes] with effect', whether deliberately leaving them in repose or using them to send a silent message which carried ‘the secret testimony of the heart'. As a result many became obedient to their power. More prosaically, the Venetian ambassador called her eyes "black and beautiful'. Her mouth, described by him as 'wide' (another theoretical disadvantage by the standards of the time), was recorded by Sander as pretty. […] Anne Boleyn was 'of middling stature' (which made her of course a great deal taller than Queen Catherine). She seems to have been quite slight or at any rate not full-breasted - the Venetian ambassador remarked that her bosom was 'not much raised' […]. But a much more important aspect of her appearance when she first came to court was her elegant long neck; this, with the deportment she had learned in France […] gave her a special grace, especially when dancing, which no one denied.

The fresh young damsel had other qualities, some more obvious than others at the moment of her arrival back in England. She had 'a very good wit', wrote Cavendish in his Life of Wolsey, another source not prejudiced in Anne Boleyn's favour? The phrase, going beyond mere intelligence, carried with it connotations of spirit and adventurousness; in other words, Anne Boleyn was good company. Like many spirited people, she had another more impatient side to her: she would display on occasion a quick temper and a sharp tongue. But of these characteristics, deplored in a woman as much as skill at singing and dancing was prized, there was as yet no sign.

3. Jane Seymour (married 1536-1537)

motto: BOUND TO OBEY AND SERVE

From other sources, it seems likely that the charm of her character considerably outweighed the charm of her appearance: […] of middle statute and no great beauty. Her most distinctive aspect was her famously pure white complexion. Holbein gives her a long nose, and firm mouth, with the lips slighty compressed, although her face son a pleasing oval shape with the high forehead then admired (enhanced sometimes by discret plucking of the hairline) and set off by the headdresses of the time. Altogether, if Anne

Boleyn conveys the fascination of the new, there is a dignified but slightly stolid look to Jane Seymour, appropriately reminiscent of English medieval consorts.

But the predominant impression given by her portrait - at the hands of a master of artistic realism - is a young woman of calm good sense. And contemporaries all commented on Jane Seymour's intelligence: in this she was clearly more like her cautious brother Edward than her dashing brother Tom. She was also naturally sweet-natured (no angry words or tantrums here) and virtuous - her virtue was another topic on which there was general agreement. There was a story that she had been attached to the son of Sir Robert and Lady Dormer, a country neighbour, but was thought of too modest a rank to marry him; even if true, the tale brought with it no slur on Jane's maidenly honour. It was told more as a Cinderella story, where the unfairly slighted girl would go on to be raised triumphantly to far greater heights. Her survival as a lady-in-waiting to two Queens at the Tudor court still with a spotless reputation may indeed be seen as a testament to both Jane Seymour's salient characteristics - virtue and common good sense. A Bessie Blount or Madge Shelton might fool around, Anne Boleyn might listen or even accede to the seductive wooings of Lord Percy: but Jane Seymour was unquestionably virginal.

In short, Jane Seymour was exactly the kind of female praised by the contemporary handbooks to correct conduct; just as Anne Boleyn had been the sort they warned against. There was certainly no threatening sexuality about her. Nor is it necessary to believe that her 'virtue' was in some way hypocritically assumed, in order to intrigue the King […]. On the contrary, Jane Seymour was simply fulfilling the expectations for a female of her time and class: it was Anne Boleyn who was - or rather who had been - the fascinating outsider.

4. Anne of Cleves (married 1540-1540)

motto: GOD SEND ME WELL TO KEEP

Let us take the actual appearance of Anna of Cleves first: for this we are fortunate in having a first-hand description, written only a few days later by the French ambassador, Charles de Marillac, who was not prejudiced in either direction, towards her beauty or her ugliness. Anna of Cleves looked about thirty, he wrote (she was in fact twenty-four), tall and thin, 'of middling beauty, with a determined and resolute countenance.' The Lady was not as handsome as people had affirmed she was, nor as young […], but there was a steadiness of purpose in her face to counteract her want of beauty.

The 'daughter of Cleves' was solemn, or at any rate by English standards she was, and she looked old for her age. She was solemn because she had not been trained to be anything else and the German fashions did little to give an impression of youthful charm in a court in love as ever with things French, or at any rate associating them with fun and delight. […] Turning to Holbein's picture, one finds this solemnity well captured: a critic might indeed term it stolidity. Besides Wotton, in his report, had confirmed that Holbein, generally regarded as the master of the 'lively' or lifelike (not the flattering) in his own time, had indeed captured Anna's "image' very well.

Of course a beautiful young woman, however stolid or badly dressed, would still have been acceptable. Anna of Cleves was not beautiful, and those reports which declared she was were egregious exaggerations in the interests of diplomats […]. But was Anna of Cleves actually hideous? Holbein, painting her full-face, as was the custom, does not make her so to the modern eye, with her high forehead, wide-apart, heavy-lidded eyes and pointed chin.

There is indirect evidence that Anna of Cleves was perfectly pleasant-looking from the later years of Henry VIII. When Chapuys reported Anna of Cleves as rating her contemporary, Catherine Parr, 'not nearly as beautiful' as herself, this expert observer did not choose to contradict her; so that the boast was presumably true, or at least true enough not to be ridiculous.

5. Katherine Howard (married 1540-1542)

motto: NO OTHER WILL BUT HIS

No confirmed authentic picture of Katherine Howard survives. The fact that Katherine Howard is the only one of Henry VIII’s wives for whose appearance we must rely properly on contemporary descriptions, gives her career an appropriately evanescent quality. The same mistiness surrounds her date of birth. She was eighteen or nineteen when the King’s roving eye first fell upon her: that is, roughly thirty years younger than he was. […] Katherine was not only small, as Catherine of Aragon had been, but diminutive: parvissima puella – a really tiny girl. If King Henry was about thirty years older than Katherine, he must have been well over a foot taller. We need not speculate further about their respective weights. The French ambassador rated her beauty as only middling (the same phrase he had used for Anna of Cleves, incidentally), but he did praise her gracefulness, and he found much sweetness in her expression; her habit of dressing à la française (as opposed to Anna of Cleves’ Germanic fashions) no doubt commended itself to him.

Even if Katherine Howard was not a beauty, she must have had considerable prettiness and obvious sex appeal (as well as – or perhaps because of – her youth) since we know that she captivated the King instantly.

6. Catherine Parr (married 1543-1547)

motto: TO BE USEFUL IN ALL I DO

The woman who brought about this cheerfulness, the new Queen Catherine Parr, was herself never described by anyone as a beauty: even the term ‘of middling beauty’ used for both Anna of Cleves and Jane Seymour by Marillac was not applied in this case. ‘Pleasing’ and ‘lively’, ‘kind’ and ‘gracious’ were the most flattering epithets ascribed to her. It is true that a difference of age and status may have been responsible for this lack – widows of over thirty were not expected to be beauties – but when Anna of Cleves indignantly exclaimed that the new Queen was ‘not nearly as beautiful as she’, Chapuys, passing on the comment, did not see fit to contradict it.

Queen Catherine Parr’s only known authentic likeness, attributed to William Scrots, shows an amiable face rather than an intriguing one; the nose is short, the mouth small, and the forehead broad rather than domed in the way that contemporaries admired. Her hair was rather similar in colour to that of Catherine of Aragon: light auburn, tinged with what Agnes Strickland in the nineteenth century would call ‘threads of burnished gold’.

But if the new Queen Catherine was not a beauty, she was neither dull nor austere. She enjoyed dancing. […] She was well set up – the tallest of King Henry’s wives – and her height would have enabled her to cut a regal figure since her conception of her role as queen consort also included a great deal of ornate dressing-up.

Bibliography:

- Fraser, Antonia. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York Knopf, 1993.

[bookshopcrow]

In October, I decided to challenge myself to produce a miniature illustrated painting each day of the month inspired by the Tudor court and the medium of portrait miniatures.

Lucas Horenbout was a Flemish artist and founding artist of the tradition of painting miniatures. He moved to England in the mid-1520s and worked as the court miniaturist to King Henry VIII from 1525 until Horenbout's death. He captured many of the iconic figures of the era and also taught the art of illumination to Hans Holbein, who would go on to eclipse him as the most famous court artist of that era.

A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually undertaken in gouache, watercolour, or enamel. Portrait miniatures evolved out of the techniques required to craft the intricate illustrations and borders of illuminated manuscripts, and became popular among 16th century elites. From the middle of the 18th century, the trend spread across the rest of Europe remaining highly popular until the development of photography in the mid 19th century.

For my challenge, I used black ink, water colours, and 300gsm textured watercolour paper. I bought and thrifted some amazing vintage frames, mostly 2 or 3 inches high. Some are over fifty years old, so consequently there are marks and scratches on them but I think it adds to the charm and overall feel of the pieces as historic miniatures.

I'm really proud that I completed the challenge - and all 31 paintings - and wanted to share a few with you here!

You can see them all over on my website 🖤

[crossedwithblue]

random thought bc I've been listening to Six on repeat: the queens claim that the only reason they're remembered is because of Henry, but would Henry be one of the most iconic and well-known English monarchs if not for them?

[tercessketchfield]

♛ @dailytudors Tudor Week 2023

Day 6 : Favourite Portrayal(s) of the Tudor Family Member(s)

[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

[leoleolovesdc]

"What are the other queens to you?”

Aragon: Well, we didn’t get along great at first; It was rough patch to overcome considering our last lives, but with time I learned to value, respect and even love them. We are like family in a way.

Aragon: Oh, and there’s also Anne.

Seymour: Annoyances in the best days, my children in the worst ones.

Howard: The only adults I don’t feel like punching.

Howard, in a whisper: At least not usually.

Parr: Well, I wouldn’t say we’re friends. It’s sort of group of strangers I grew emotionally attatched to during difficult periods of my life.

Boleyn: Losers.

Anna: My bitches.

The others: Woof.

[isabelleneville]

♛ STARZ THE ROYALTY COLLECTION - THE CORONATION OF A QUEEN ♛

Elizabeth Woodville | Crowned 26th of May 1465 as shown in The White Queen

Anne Neville | Crowned 6th of July 1483 in a joint coronation with her husband Richard III as shown in The White Queen

Elizabeth of York | Crowned 25th of November 1487 as shown in The White Princess

Katherine of Aragon | Crowned 24th of June 1509 in a joint coronation with her husband Henry VIII as shown in The Spanish Princess

[palaceoftears]

"It is, of course, possible that these Spaniards lied, or dressed up the truth, to protect their beloved princess. It is also possible that they did not. Either way, they were no more or less likely to be lying than the witnesses in England. That makes their testimony as valid as that of those who claimed to have met an ebullient Arthur demanding beer to quench the thirst of a night of hard love-making. Their words add, if not a definitive tilt, then some extra grains of sand to one side of the moral balance on which Catherine is habitually weighed. That balance measures whether she was the pious victim of a cruel, selfish husband or a consummate liar hiding behind an apparently saintly exterior. Judgements of her have swung backwards and forwards from one extreme to the other over the centuries – and still divide people today. [...] Catherine can, of course, be measured on many more scales than just that which deems her either truthful or deceiving. The most important traits of her character have, in fact, little to do with honesty or falsehood. What really matters about her is the strength of that character. A protected childhood amid a family of intense, self-demanding Spanish women does much to explain where this came from. Catherine grew up to become a woman of deep, even exaggerated, intensity. The complex and unhappy early English years, with their constant illnesses, eating problems and stern written instructions from the pope to avoid the self-harm of excessive fasting, give the first few clues to that nature. These were the reactions of a young, perfectionist woman who found herself lonely, lost and unloved in a foreign land. That same intensity and perfectionism explain, too, both her success and popularity as a queen consort and her final embrace of potential martyrdom."

-Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry's Spanish Queen

[kaspenhoward]

Six The Musical Headcanons - Kathrine Howard:

-AroAce, don’t fight me on this, I can totally understand and see the other head canons about this but to me thinking about Kat being in a romantic relationship in her second life or having crushes just does’t sound right because of all the romantic and intimate relationships she was pressured into in her past one (no I’m not saying she’s AroAce cause of the trauma, although it could possibly push her towards repulsed, I think it’s because she never really wanted a romantic intimate relationship all she cared about was just having a bond with someone or feeling loved or important or a place in life)

-Once she was reincarnated, I totally head canon that it wasn’t Anne she got close to first but rather Jane (not counting Anna who she already knew), Anne was probably a little too overwhelming for Kat first also including all the screaming matches she probably got into with Catalina. Jane with her maternal instincts probably slowly but surely drifted to the scared 17 year old to offer some help and Kat who was still shy and scared quickly got attached to the maternal figure

-Anne definitely got close to Kat just later when everyone ended calming the frick down, or in Annes case finally letting the chaotic side. Very common conception but Anne makes the chaos and Kat helps her out with it, the beheaded cousin just became the trouble and chaos cousins

-PTSD, I know no one will argue me on this one, the repeated reoccurrence of such traumatic events for Kat having happened to her by 4 different people, definitely made the girl come with scars into her next life.

-Nightmares, I know I also won’t be argued about this one, most of the queen household is commonly plagued by nightmares especially Kat, who commonly ends up in Jane’s or Anne’s room in the middle of the night if the other queens don’t find her first

-History nerd, with all the historical facts she knows in the musical, I like to imagine in my head that when it’s her turn to chose something to watch for queen movie nights, she chooses this intense historical documentaries with the guy with the British accent in the background

-She hides behind Jane or a different queen if Jane isn’t present when she’s anxious (or if a man is too close for her comfort)

-Hates being treated like a child, sometimes the queens can mistake her need for extra help as a need to smother her which Kat hates. But all the queens have a talk about this and they agree to give her space and remember that she’s an equal. (Although Kat doesn’t complain about all the extra attention she gets from Jane)

-Really enjoys hot chocolate, Jane makes sure to always keep it stocked because the last time when Kat ran out it was not pretty

-Yes I’m all about mother figure Jane to Kat, but I’m also all about Older sister Figure Anne, and other mother Catalina to Kat because Kat deserves all the love and positive older figures

-Kat has everyone wrapped around her finger even though she doesn’t completely understand it, she cried once in front of everyone and magically a pile of stuffed animals appeared in her room (they were from Cathy and Catalina)

-Kat also enjoys reading (though not nearly as much as Cathy) but will sometimes have little book clubs or talks with Cathy cause Cathy wants someone to talk about the books with and Kat is more than happy to indulge

-Once Kat warms up to everyone she becomes the resident cuddler, clinging to any unsuspecting queen in the household, even Catalina, who the first time initially almost shoved Kat off but with the look of adoration in Kat’s eyes didn’t have the heart to do it

-During Six performances for All You Wanna Do, the first time a swing performed with them, Kat shoved them off before the given beat and almost had to run offstage from the panic (although was able to last until Mega Six, where she got lots of Hugs, reassurances, and help after from her family and the swing even)

Thats all for today about the pink queen 🩷🩷🩷

[pikapals16]

dead tudor queens as things me and my acapella group said

yea we were hanging out after practice anddd shit happened. this is not in order but enjoy

--

Queens: *sees sprinklers*

Chaos Trio: SPRINKLIES!

--

Jane: Does your bladder still hurt?

--

*in the parking lot*

Kat: MEMORYYYYY ALL ALONE IN THE MOONLIGHTTTTTT

--

Jane: I'm too mormon for this.

--

Anna: I expect a lower rice purity test by TOMORROW

--

Kat: I accidentally swiped right on someone I didn't wanna swipe right to

--

*in reference to the BDSM test*

Lina: I don't know what's funnier. The 100% switch, or the fact that vanilla and experimentalist are the exact same percentage

--

Lina: Who gets drunk at 4:30???

Anne: IT WAS ANNA'S IDEA

--

*in reference to the rice purity test*

Anna, to Cathy: HOW DO YOU HAVE A LOWER SCORE THAN ME?!

--

Kat: I've never been in an airplane bathroom. I don't want to.

--

Anne: When I think of mile high club, I think "everything sexual"

--

Anna: I mean, if your dating a really rich guy and it's his private jet, then yeah. That's hot.

--

Cathy: I also find serial killers attractive

--

Cathy: I almost said 2 rocks one bird

Kat: That's a chicken sandwich

[dailytudors]

Tudor Week 2023

To celebrate our belated three-year anniversary we are hosting Tudor Week 2023. This is going to be hosted from Monday the 31st of July to Sunday the 6th of August.

The week will go as follows:

Day 1 - Monday, 31st of July : Favourite Tudor Rivalry Day 2 - Tuesday, 1st of August : Favourite Female Tudor Family Member Day 3 - Wednesday, 2nd of August : Best Tudor Myth Day 4 - Thursday, 3rd of August : Favourite Male Tudor Family Member Day 5 - Friday, 4th of August : Most Used Tudor Related Resource Day 6 - Saturday, 5th of August : Favourite portrayal of a Tudor Family Member Day 7 - Sunday, 6th of August : Favourite Tudor Mentor and Mentee relationship (can be a Tudor familial relationship, or a Tudor and a courtier relationship)

This can cover all events and media that a Tudor family member is present, so from Owen Tudor to Elizabeth Tudor, and may include spouses and acknowledged children of direct members of the Tudor family (if unsure who we cover please check our Family page). We have attempted to make it as broad as possible and no pressure if you are late with some of the days, we will still reblog.

Previous Years: 2021, 2022

Be sure to tag your posts TudorWeek2023 and DailyTudors, looking forward to seeing your posts!

- The Team at DailyTudors

[plantagenetsun]

No. Say it, General. Because the King has left a woman at the helm of England.