On this day in Tudor history, 9th November 1518, Queen Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s wife of nine years, gave birth prematurely to a stillborn daughter at Greenwich Palace.
This was to be Catherine's sixth and final pregnancy. She had tried her very best to give King Henry VIII what he wanted, a surviving son and heir, a Prince of Wales.
In today's talk, I explain what happened on this day in 1518 and what we know about Queen Catherine of Aragon's pregnancies.
Book recommendation: "Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile" by Julia Fox.
Also on this day in history:
In 1569, the Northern Rebellion or Rising of the North began. Click here to read an article by historian Conor Byrne on this rebellion. And here is an interesting video on it:
- 1593 – Death of William Harris, historian and topographer, at St George's Chapel, Windsor. He was buried in the chapel. Harris's works included “Historicall Description of the Island of Britain” and “The Great English Chronology”.
- 1596 – Burial of George Peele, poet and playwright, at St James's Clerkenwell. His plays included “The Arraignment of Paris”, “Edward I”, “The Battle of Alcazar”, “The Old Wives' Tale” and “The Love of King David and fair Bethsabe”.
- 1623 – Death of William Camden, Richmond Herald, antiquary, historian, topographer and officer of arms, at Chislehurst in Kent. He was aged seventy-three. He was buried in the south aisle of Westminster Abbey. Camden is known for his “Britannia”, which was the first chorographical survey of Great Britain and Ireland, and his Annales Rerum Gestarum Angliae et Hiberniae Regnate Elizabetha, his history of Elizabeth I's reign.