Pomegranate Queen @catalinadearagonsblog - Tumblr Blog

Manuel I of Portugal and Isabel of Aragon

Juan, Prince of Asturias, and Margaret of Austria

Juana of Castile and Philip The Handsome

Manuel I of Portugal and María of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon and Arthur, Prince of Wales

Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII of England

#catherine of aragon #henry viii #Isabel of Aragón #Juan Prince of Asturias #Margaret of Austria #Juana of Castile #Philip The handsome #Manuel I of Portugal #María of Aragon #Arthur Tudor #Imagen IA

Catherine of Aragon's Coronation Procession and the Storm at Cornhill (23 June 1509)

On 23 June 1509, the eve of their joint coronation, King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon made the traditional royal procession from the Tower of London to Westminster, a ceremonial route designen to present the new sovereigns to the citizens of London before their anointing. The procession was one of the most magnificent public spectacles of the early Tudor period, celebrating the beginning of a reign that contemporaries believed would inaugurate an era of peace, prosperity, and dynastic stability after the final years of Henry VII.

The City of London had been lavishly prepared for the occasion. Temporary triumphal arches, allegorical pageants, richly embroidered tapestries, and banners decorated the route. Guilds, civic authorities, clergy, and thousands of spectators lined the streets to witness the young queen's progress.

Catherine travelled in an open litter borne by two white palfreys richly trapped in cloth of gold, accompanied by an imposing retinue of English nobles and Spanish attendants. She wore a magnificent gown of cloth of gold richly embroidered with gold thread and adorned with precious jewels and pearls. Her long auburn hair flowed loosely beneath an elegant headdress, following the ceremonial custom for a queen before her coronation.

The route passed through Cornhill, one of London's principal commercial streets, where contemporary accounts describe an unexpected summer storm. Heavy rain and wind briefly disrupted the carefully choreographed pageantry, soaking decorations and startling spectators. The queen was obliged to interrupt her ceremonial progress and seek temporary shelter beneath the covered stalls of the drapers' shops near the Cardinal's Hat Tavern, an inn on Cornhill well known to Londoners of the period.

Although the interruption was temporary and the procession continued to Westminster without major delay, the event attracted considerable comment because extraordinary weather during royal ceremonies was frequently interpreted in symbolic or providential terms.

Many Londoners regarded unusual natural phenomena as possible divine omens. Medieval and early Tudor political culture commonly interpreted eclipses, storms, comets, or sudden changes in weather as signs of God's favour or displeasure toward rulers and kingdoms. Consequently, some observers reportedly viewed the storm at Cornhill with apprehension, wondering whether it foreshadowed difficulties for the new reign.

The procession resumed after the rain, and Henry and Catherine reached Westminster amid widespread celebration. The following day, 24 June 1509, the Feast of St John the Baptist, they were crowned together in Westminster Abbey by Archbishop William Warham.

Sources:

Edward Hall, Hall's Chronicle (London, 1809 edition)

John Nichols, The Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James the First, vol. I (London, 1828)

Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, vol. II (London, 1841)

#catherine of aragon #katherine of aragon #catalina de aragon

kirby-de-aragon

perioddrama

Charlotte Hope as Catherine of Aragon THE SPANISH PRINCESS (2019–2020)

themonsterousregimentofwomens

If the World Cup ends up being Spain vs. England we all know whose side I’m on

catalinadearagonsblog

Can you imagine a Spain vs. England match with the Spanish players wearing Catherine of Aragon on their jerseys and the English players wearing Henry VIII on theirs?"

Did you know that every one of Henry VIII's six wives was a direct descendant of Queen Urraca I of León?

Remarkably, all six of Henry VIII's wives descended from King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile through one or more of their sixteen children, making the royal couple common ancestors of every one of Henry's queens.

#catherine of aragon #catalina de aragon #katherine of aragon #Anne Boleyn #Catherine howard #Anne of Claves #Catherine parr #Urraca of León #Berenguela of Castile #Eleanor of Castile

themonsterousregimentofwomens

Frances Cuka as Queen Catherine of Aragon in Henry VIII and His Six Wives, 1972

latristereina

“In a few years you will become my wife. And I will be the proudest man in England.” - Harry Tudor, The Prince of Wales (Isabel)

“As far as I am concerned our marriage is at an end. Actually… there is no need to end something which has never been. You and I were never truly married.” - Henry VIII of England (The Tudors)

Hard to believe it turned out this way…