When the teenage Arthur, first prince of the Tudor royal family, married Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon in a spectacular wedding ceremony, it sparked a chain of events that would change the face of England forever. Here, Sean Cunningham explores their short marriage and the seeds of the second union that was to come

On 23 May 1533, Cranmer, sitting in judgement at a special court convened at Dunstable Priory to rule on the validity of Henry's marriage to Catherine, declared the marriage unlawful, even though Catherine had testified that she and Arthur had never had physical relations. Five days later, on 28 May 1533, Cranmer ruled that Henry and Anne's ...

On 14th November 1501, Catherine of Aragon married Arthur, Prince of Wales at St Paul’s Cathedral. Giles Tremlett, 1 author of Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen, writes of how a huge wooden stage, measuring twelve feet by 350 feet, had been erected in the cathedral. It stood on four foot struts and its railings were decorated with ...

Catherine was the youngest daughter of the Spanish rulers Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. In 1501 she married Prince Arthur, eldest son of King Henry VII of England. Arthur died the following year, and shortly afterward she was betrothed to Prince Henry, the second son of Henry VII.

Prince Arthur aged fifteen years and Catherine of Aragon, aged sixteen years, were married in St Paul’s Cathedral. Catherine was ‘given away’ by Prince Henry who escorted her up the aisle. The ceremony was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry Deane, who was assisted by the Bishop of London, William Warham.