Pope refuses to dissolve Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon

Historical Context Note

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Catherine of Aragon had first been married, in 1501 at the age of fifteen, to the eldest son of Henry VII, Arthur, Prince of Wales. However, he died five months later, and in 1509 she remarried to his younger brother, the new King Henry VIII of England. She bore him a daughter, Mary, but despite six pregnancies, none of her other children survived more than a few weeks. By 1525, Henry was pursuing a new mistress, Anne Boleyn, and, hoping to gain a male heir, aimed to make her his wife. He sought an annulment of his marriage to Catherine on the grounds that since she had previously been his brother's wife, their own marriage was never legitimate in the first place. Catherine, however, insisted her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated. Since she was aunt to Holy Roman Emperor…

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9988 Pope refuses to dissolve Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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