Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Was Catherine of Aragon POISONED? She was the first wife of Henry VIII and is also known as the Spanish princess, but what killed Catherine of Aragon in January 1536 at the age of 50, while she was staying at Kimbolton Castle where she had been sent by Henry as a form of exile? Rumours at the time insisted that she had been murdered on the orders of either Henry himself, or his second wife, Anne Boleyn, because she refused to accept the annulment of her marriage to the King and insisted that she was still Queen of England and not dowager Princess of Wales. When Catherine’s autopsy found a black mass on her heart, it seemed to confirm the worst to contemporaries, including the Imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, who was one of Catherine’s greatest supporters and who had visited her shortly before her death. The rumour was that the poison had been administered in a glass of Welsh ale, but did Henry VIII kill Catherine of Aragon, the woman he’d spent 24 years married to and who was the mother of his daughter, the future Mary I, or did she die of natural causes? In this six wives documentary from History Calling we ask, how did Catherine of Aragon die? Was it poison, or was it a form of heart cancer? Either way, romantics like to say that having been abandoned by Henry, she died of a broken heart.
We’ll look at contemporary documents, including a summary of the post-mortem of Catherine of Aragon and at how Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn reacted when they heard the news of her death, for some sources speak of their delight, others of their grief. I’ll also consider what more modern doctors say about heart cancer and how it presents.
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
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YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0Hb5Wjykc2hBrBddQYXDUqU
ROYAL WOMEN PLAYLIST youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0HnqxlXmoJ1C3iQK3bXNO_g
DID CATHERINE OF ARAGON SLEEP WITH PRINCE ARTHUR TUDOR?
youtu.be/JQp-SLOhx90
DEATH & BURIAL of CATHERINE of ARAGON
youtu.be/5u7Spc5l2Ms
THE SHORT LIFE OF PRINCE HENRY TUDOR
youtu.be/7F6WYqzGURk
TUDOR FERTILITY PROBLEMS
youtu.be/eQ0Xv9vGMVw
ALL THE PRINCESSES OF WALES
youtu.be/-6f1WmRs-v8
GEAR USED
DJI Drone: amzn.to/38h1vXr (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/39hROZm (US LINK)
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3EPIK9U (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rTWScL (US LINK)
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/37CdC1r (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3vaVxjU (US LINK)
Memory Card: amzn.to/36QvcOQ (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3KeLZZs (US LINK)
Microphone: amzn.to/3MFtoaK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rYtjH8 (US LINK)
LEARN MORE
The Tudors, season 1 amzn.to/3rFmveg (UK link) OR amzn.to/2VCwQ0j (US link)
The Tudors, season 2 amzn.to/3m64HIn (UK link) OR amzn.to/2VMPnHw (US link)
The Tudors, season 3 amzn.to/3wiwPwi (UK link) OR amzn.to/3BijsPB (US link)
The Tudors, season 4 amzn.to/3rNeggF (UK link) OR amzn.to/3z16S58 (US link)
Wolf Hall (2015) amzn.to/2UJ9Mwz (UK link) OR amzn.to/3B70Qlp (US link)
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) amzn.to/3jhXAgo (UK link) OR amzn.to/3xKvbEg (US link)
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) amzn.to/3dAIlf9 (UK link) OR amzn.to/3z5xt18 (US link)
Henry VIII and his Six Wives (2016 docu-drama) amzn.to/3jiCkag
Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (2016 docu-drama) amzn.to/3hd93vd (UK link) OR amzn.to/3wH2mr2 (US link)
READ
Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010)
amzn.to/3UfGmmx
Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r
David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall (Fourth Estate, 2010) amzn.to/2UQmA48
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Was Catherine of Aragon POISONED? She was the first wife of Henry VIII and is also known as the Spanish princess, but what killed Catherine of Aragon in January 1536 at the age of 50, while she was staying at Kimbolton Castle where she had been sent by Henry as a form of exile? Rumours at the time insisted that she had been murdered on the orders of either Henry himself, or his second wife, Anne Boleyn, because she refused to accept the annulment of her marriage to the King and insisted that she was still Queen of England and not dowager Princess of Wales. When Catherine’s autopsy found a black mass on her heart, it seemed to confirm the worst to contemporaries, including the Imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, who was one of Catherine’s greatest supporters and who had visited her shortly before her death. The rumour was that the poison had been administered in a glass of Welsh ale, but did Henry VIII kill Catherine of Aragon, the woman he’d spent 24 years married to and who was the mother of his daughter, the future Mary I, or did she die of natural causes? In this six wives documentary from History Calling we ask, how did Catherine of Aragon die? Was it poison, or was it a form of heart cancer? Either way, romantics like to say that having been abandoned by Henry, she died of a broken heart.
We’ll look at contemporary documents, including a summary of the post-mortem of Catherine of Aragon and at how Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn reacted when they heard the news of her death, for some sources speak of their delight, others of their grief. I’ll also consider what more modern doctors say about heart cancer and how it presents.
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0Hb5Wjykc2hBrBddQYXDUqU
ROYAL WOMEN PLAYLIST youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0HnqxlXmoJ1C3iQK3bXNO_g
DID CATHERINE OF ARAGON SLEEP WITH PRINCE ARTHUR TUDOR?
youtu.be/JQp-SLOhx90
DEATH & BURIAL of CATHERINE of ARAGON
youtu.be/5u7Spc5l2Ms
THE SHORT LIFE OF PRINCE HENRY TUDOR
youtu.be/7F6WYqzGURk
TUDOR FERTILITY PROBLEMS
youtu.be/eQ0Xv9vGMVw
ALL THE PRINCESSES OF WALES
youtu.be/-6f1WmRs-v8
GEAR USED
DJI Drone: amzn.to/38h1vXr (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/39hROZm (US LINK)
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3EPIK9U (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rTWScL (US LINK)
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/37CdC1r (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3vaVxjU (US LINK)
Memory Card: amzn.to/36QvcOQ (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3KeLZZs (US LINK)
Microphone: amzn.to/3MFtoaK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rYtjH8 (US LINK)
LEARN MORE
The Tudors, season 1 amzn.to/3rFmveg (UK link) OR amzn.to/2VCwQ0j (US link)
The Tudors, season 2 amzn.to/3m64HIn (UK link) OR amzn.to/2VMPnHw (US link)
The Tudors, season 3 amzn.to/3wiwPwi (UK link) OR amzn.to/3BijsPB (US link)
The Tudors, season 4 amzn.to/3rNeggF (UK link) OR amzn.to/3z16S58 (US link)
Wolf Hall (2015) amzn.to/2UJ9Mwz (UK link) OR amzn.to/3B70Qlp (US link)
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) amzn.to/3jhXAgo (UK link) OR amzn.to/3xKvbEg (US link)
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) amzn.to/3dAIlf9 (UK link) OR amzn.to/3z5xt18 (US link)
Henry VIII and his Six Wives (2016 docu-drama) amzn.to/3jiCkag
Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (2016 docu-drama) amzn.to/3hd93vd (UK link) OR amzn.to/3wH2mr2 (US link)
READ
Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010)
amzn.to/3UfGmmx
Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/36IqD5r
David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3wImKIh
Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall (Fourth Estate, 2010) amzn.to/2UQmA48
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
