Tudor Times is the online repository for all things Tudor and Stewart (1485–1625)

On 29th June 1482, Isabella of Castile gave birth to her third surviving daughter, Maria, who was thus the younger sister of Juana, Queen of Castile, and the older sister of Katharine of Aragon, Queen of England. Maria had a much less turbulent life than her sisters. A marriage to James IV of Scotland was mooted (see more on his wife and mistresses here) but never carried out. Instead, she married her sister, Isabella’s, widower, Manuel I of Portugal. The couple had eight children who survived to adulthood, including Isabella, who was married to her cousin Charles V and became Empress. Maria died in 1517 at the age of 35.

On 28^th June 1491, Elizabeth of York gave birth to her third child and second son at the Palace of Placentia (Greenwich). He was named Henry for his father and baptised by Bishop Fox in the Chapel of the Observant Friars, next to the palace. When Henry was ten, his older brother, Arthur, died, leaving him as heir to the throne. He went on to become probably the most famous king in British history.

On 27^th June 1505 Henry, Duke of York, repudiated his betrothal to Katharine of Aragon, which had taken place two years before. The significance of the date, is that it was the eve of his fourteenth birthday. In the 16th century, fourteen was the age of marital consent for a male, at which time they could decline to honour any arrangements entered into before their maturity. We can suppose that Henry was acting on instruction from his father, Henry VII. The older Henry, although he had vigorously promoted the match initially, was no longer so keen. The death of Katharine’s mother, Isabella of Castile, had led to the break-up of Spain back into the constituent parts of Castile and Aragon. As the Queen of Castile was married, with several children, the alliance would now only be with Aragon, a less important country. Instead, Henry VII was putting out feelers for a match between young Henry and the Queen of Castile’s daughter, Eleanor of Austria.