When Catherine of Aragon travelled to London she brought a group of her African attendants with her, including one identified as the trumpeter John Blanke.

16th century woodcut of the coronation of Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon showing their heraldic badges, the Tudor Rose and the Pomegranate of Granada

On Midsummer's Day, Sunday, 1509, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon were anointed and crowned together by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

# REDIRECT Catherine of Aragon

* 1485 – Catherine of Aragon, consort of Henry VIII of England ( d. 1536 )

Her older half-sister, Mary, had lost her position as a legitimate heir when Henry annulled his marriage to Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry Anne and sire a male heir to ensure the Tudor succession.

In 1501, the king's son Arthur, having married Catherine of Aragon, died of an illness at the age of 15, leaving his younger son Henry, Duke of York, as his heir.

He married the widowed Catherine of Aragon, and they had several children, but none survived infancy except a daughter, Mary.

* 1509 – Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon.

* 1509 – Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon are crowned King and Queen of England.

# REDIRECT Catherine of Aragon

* 1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.

She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.

She was the only child of King Henry VIII of England and his first wife Catherine of Aragon to survive infancy.

Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, c. 1525

* 1501 – Catherine of Aragon ( later Henry VIII's first wife ) meets Arthur Tudor, Henry VIII's older brother – they would later marry.

* Catherine of Aragon 2 October 1501: arrived and was escorted to London for her marriage to Henry VIII of England

Vives fell into disfavor when Henry VIII divorced Catherine of Aragon and left England in 1528.

He was imprisoned in 1534 for his refusal to take the oath required by the First Succession Act, because the act disparaged papal power and Henry ’ s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from union with the Holy See.

Their father, Henry VII then betrothed Arthur's widow, Catherine of Aragon, to the future king.

Henry VIII of England | Henry VIII recognised Cranmer's value in obtaining support for the annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon.

Once the procedures were agreed, Cranmer opened his court on 10 May, inviting Henry and Catherine of Aragon to appear.

Henry VII married his son Arthur to Catherine of Aragon, cementing an alliance with the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, and the two spent their honeymoon at Ludlow Castle, the traditional seat of the Prince of Wales.

Catherine Parr, Henry's widow, soon married Thomas Seymour of Sudeley, Edward VI's uncle and the brother of the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset.

In 1542, following the execution of Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, the unmarried Henry invited Mary to attend the royal Christmas festivities.

In 1530, More refused to sign a letter by the leading English churchmen and aristocrats asking Pope Clement VII to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine, and also quarrelled with Henry VIII over the heresy laws.

Holding fast to the ancient teaching of papal supremacy, More refused to take the oath and furthermore publicly refused to uphold Henry's annulment from Catherine.

On 23 May Cranmer pronounced the judgement that Henry's marriage with Catherine was against the law of God.

Catherine was Henry's older brother's wife, making the path for their marriage a rocky one from the start.

Despite the fact that Henry's father died before he was married to Catherine, he was determined to marry her anyway and make sure that everyone knew he intended on being his own master.

The newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was then able to declare Henry's marriage to Catherine annulled.

Henry's fancy with Catherine started before the end of his marriage with Anne when she was still a member of Anne's court.

Catherine was young and vivacious, but Henry's age made him less inclined to use Catherine in the bedroom ; rather, he preferred to admire her, which Catherine soon grew tired of.

He had a good relationship with his sister Elizabeth, who was a Protestant, albeit a moderate one, but this was strained when Elizabeth was accused of having an affair with the Duke of Somerset's brother, Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, the husband of Henry's last wife Catherine Parr.

Since Pope Clement VII had already rejected Henry's petition for annulment in 1530, Catherine continues to believe herself Henry's wife until her death.

It soon became the one absorbing object of Henry's desires to annul his marriage to Queen Catherine so he would be free to marry Anne.

Catherine of Aragon had first come to England to be bride to Henry's brother Arthur who died soon after their marriage.

It soon became the one absorbing object of Henry's desires to secure an annulment from Catherine.

The Pope was still a veritable hostage of Charles V, and Charles V was the loyal nephew of Henry's queen, Catherine.

A year later in 1531 ( fully two years before Henry's marriage to Anne ), Queen Catherine was banished from court and her rooms were given to Anne.

A convenient chaperon for Catherine and Henry's times together.

Henry's death thrust Catherine into the political arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis II.

Catherine and Henry's marriage, painted seventeen years after the event