Katharine of Aragon and Arthur Tudor

“I have this night been in the midst of Spain, which is a hot region, and that journey maketh me so dry,” ~ Arthur Tudor

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Katharine of Aragon and Arthur Tudor.....

One of the age old mysteries regarding the Tudors is, did they, or didn't they?

Only the two involved actually know the truth, and Katharine went to her death, claiming she was a virgin when she married Arthur's brother Henry.

Near one o’clock in the morning, of the 20th September 1486, Arthur Tudor was born in Winchester.

His birth was a great joy to his parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, and bought with it, security for the Tudor Dynasty.

Arthur was a healthy child, beloved by his family, and the Court.....with the reddish brown hair of the Tudors, and the light grey eyes of his mother's Woodville side.

Arthur was said to have a friendly disposition and a gentle personality accompanied by a handsome face.

When he was a young boy, his parents procured a marriage contract between Arthur, and the youngest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile, four year old, Katharine of Aragon.

Katharine and Arthur were married on the 14th November 1501, at St Paul’s Cathedral, amidst sumptuous pageantry and ceremony.

The bride was led to the altar by the ten-year-old boy who was about to become her brother-in-law, Henry, Duke of York.

Arthur was six weeks past his fifteenth birthday.

Following the ceremony, the Court returned to the Palace of Westminster to continue festivities, and to witness the ceremonial bedding of the couple.

According to witnesses, Arthur had staggered out of their wedding bed the following morning, demanding ale to quench his thirst~

“I have this Night been in the midst of Spain, which is a hot region, and that journey maketh me so dry,” he reportedly said.

“And if thou hadst been under that hot climate, thou wouldst have been drier than I.”

In December 1501, Arthur and Katharine arrived at Ludlow Castle, where Arthur would continue his training as the next King of England.

The young teenagers, were not able to enjoy married life for long.

Four months later, on the 2nd April 1502, Arthur was dead.

For the rest of her life, Katharine would maintain, that she and Arthur, had never had full sex.

She claimed they had slept together only seven times, and the results had been disappointing.....

Katharine would say that she had

“remained as intact and uncorrupted, as the day she left her mother’s womb”.......

So did they, or didnt they...

Did Arthur take her maidenhead, as he proclaims he did.....

Witnesses to Arthur's statements, certainly think so, but was that just the bragging of a young boy, or had he really spent the night in the 'midst of Spain'......

Katharine would maintain her womanhood was intact, that Arthur's clumsy fumbles left her still a virgin....

Was she still a virgin, or did she just say she was, to marry Arthur's brother, Henry....

You decide

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https://www.historyextra.com/.../catherine-aragon.../

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders