This was the date of a marriage and an execution, both related to Henry VIII.
On May 19th, 1499 Catherine of Aragon married Henry’s elder brother, Arthur, by proxy! Yes, by proxy, this was because Catherine was 13 and Arthur 12 and they were in two different countries.
It all came about due to the Anglo-Spanish Treaty of Medina del Campo which included the plan for Prince Arthur, Henry VII’s eldest son, to marry Catherine of Aragon.
After the proxy marriage, which meant that they were married, they had to wait for Henry VII to convince King Ferdinand that England was a safe place for his daughter. Further, Henry VII wanted to make a big splash about the marriage, so he spent the year, 1500, planning the marriage as a great public spectacle. Finally, on November 14th, 1501, they married.
Then five months later Arthur died!
Under the marriage agreement King Henry VII now had to return the dowry, something he had no intention of doing. His only solution was to make another treaty!
This treaty said that this time Catherine would marry Henry VII’s second son, Henry, Duke of York, who later became Henry VIII, and then, guess what, this time Catherine’s mother died! Immediately her “value” in the marriage market decreased, suddenly, Ferdinand dawdled over the remainder of Catherine’s dowry.
There was a further problem. As she had been married, they needed the Pope’s dispensation as in Christian law you couldn’t marry your brother’s widow, unless it had never been consummated, naturally Catherine confirmed it hadn’t. Eventually, after all this, on May 19th, 1509, they were finally married.
It was a happy marriage, but there was one problem, she couldn’t bear him a son. Unfortunately for Catherine, eventually, Henry VIII became fanatical about this son business. He started looking around for a suitable lady and by 1525, he found one, Anne Boleyn, however, the Pope wouldn’t give him a divorce, in the end Henry’s solution was to set up his own church giving him supremacy over all religious matters, at last, he could marry Anne.
On June 1st, 1533, he married Anne, but she didn’t produce a male heir, she did have a daughter, who eventually became Queen Elizabeth I, then a further three miscarriages. This sent Henry looking for another wife and he found Jane Seymour, but first he had to get rid of Anne, which he did by claiming treason and putting her on a show trial. She was convicted on 15 May and beheaded on, yes, May 19th, 1536. He then married Jane Seymour 10 days later.
Anne Boleyn’s daughter Elizabeth who eventually became Queen 
Elizabeth I, was imprisoned after Henry’s death in the tower.
Guess what, Elizabeth was finally released from the Tower of London on 19th May 1554, the anniversary of her mother, Queen Anne Boleyn’s, execution. Weird, isn’t it?
However, they didn’t really free her, they simply released her to house arrest.
For all these reasons the date May 19th is an interesting one for Tudor England.
At The History Portal we have put together two schools’ musicals about the Tudors
Henry VIII – The Break With Rome – tells the story of Henry VIII who wanted a son, his wife Catherine of Aragon was too old to have any more children, so Henry found Anne Boleyn whom he thought could give him a son. Unfortunately for him he couldn’t do this without getting a divorce, something he could only do with the blessing of Rome itself. To download the show go to https://www.history-portal.com/product/henry-viii/
The Spanish Armada – The Invasion of England – Spain’s King Philip launches an armada of warships, his target, England. His elaborate plan was to send the armada to pick up his soldiers who were waiting in Calais. But Queen Elizabeth 1st, Francis Drake and the English navy were waiting for them, cannons ready. You can download the musical at https://www.history-portal.com/product/the-spanish-armada/
Isn’t History Fun?
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© Tony Dalton