Medical Monday: What was Catherine of Aragonโs real cause of death?
Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII- passed away at age 50 on January 7, 1536ย while in exile following the divorce in 1533 at Kimbolton Castle. When news arrived to the court of the former queenโs passing- rumors spread she died due to poisoning- which was done in some way by Henry. How he acted after the news would almost prove he was guilty. He and his second wife, Anne Boleyn wore yellow- which its debated if it was a sign of mourning as it was believed yellow was the color of mourning in Spain, or if it was a sign of celebration. Henry would even cry โGod be praised that we are free from all suspicion of war!โ Now he and his new queen could be together in peace it seems. (Though we all know how long that lasted)
Eustace Chapyus- imperial ambassador would write in a letter to Charles V on January 9th- noticing that Catherine fell ill after consuming a welsh beer stated โ[Her] illness began about five weeks agoโฆ It was a pain in the stomach, so violent that she could retain no food.โ After consulting her Physician, Miguel de la Sola- they both would draw the poisoning conclusion, writing โHe said he was afraid it was so, for after she had drunk some Welsh beer she had been worse, and that it must have been a slow and subtle poison for he could not discover evidences of simple and pure poison; but on opening her, indications will be seen.โ
But, actually- poison was not what caused the death of Catherine. Despite Henryโs harsh choice to celebrate his exes death, the more plausible cause of her death by historians was more believed to be cancer, specifically cancer of the heart or a melanotic sarcoma. A melanotic sarcoma is a malignant kind of tumor often affecting the pigmentation of cells. Which often makes the color of it very dark or even black.
Prior to burial, her body would be prepared by a servant (chandler) of the household, not a physician. Chapuys would chronicle the procedure to Charles in a January 21st letter by saying her internal organs were healthy, โexcept the heart, which was quite black and hideousโ. As well as including โsome black round thing which clung closely to the outside of the heartโ, which is believed to be a secondaryย melanotic sarcoma. The chandler even going as far as to cut the heart in half and attempting to wash off the black from the heart, but to no avail. Though, at the time- Cancer was not an understood cause, which is why the quick belief of poison was more accepted.
During her last days, it was reported she was very weak, had stomach pains and was unable to keep food down. When researching sarcoma symptoms; weight loss, abdominal pain, and fatigue would be found as main contributors.
Unfortunately given the centuries between Catherineโs passing and medical advances we are unable to concretely diagnose what she went dealt with in her final moments on this earth, but with the letters from Chapuys its gives us a glimpse of understanding as to what more likely happened to the once Queen of England.
Sources for research: The death of Catherine of Aragon, Catherine of Aragonโs Black Heart and Poison: The Primary Sources, Medical History: Black Hearted
