Catherine of Aragon's Tomb-Peterborough Cathedral

This is the trace of two Empires - the new Spanish Empire of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, who had united Spain, expelled the Moors from Grenada and was conquering the New World; and the new Tudor dynasty of an England united in 1485 by Henry Tudor after the civil Wars of the Roses.

Katherine was the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon born in 1485, the year that Henry VII won the throne of England. When Catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to Prince Arthur, heir to the English throne and eldest son of Henry VII. They married in 1501, but Arthur died five months later.

After much squabbling over the dowry, Catherine married Arthur's younger brother, Henry who had just succeeded to the throne as Henry VIII, in 1509.

Memorably for six months in 1513, she served as regent of England while Henry VIII was fighting in France. In contrast to Henry's rather lacklustre performance - although he did win the skirmish of the 'Battle' of the Spurs; during Catherine's time as Regent the English decisively won the Battle of Flodden, killing James IV of Scotland and the flower of the Scottish nobility.

By 1525, Henry VIII had met Anne Boleyn and was dissatisfied that his marriage to Catherine had produced no surviving sons, and only one daughter - Mary. There was no precedent for a woman on the throne.

As is well known he sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion the Reformation in England. Pope Clement VII - greatly influenced by Catherine's nephew Charles V - refused to annul the marriage, Henry assumed supremacy over religious matters. and in 1533 had their marriage declared invalid. He then married Anne Boleyn.

Catherine refused to accept Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England and continued to consider herself the King's rightful wife and Queen. She was acknowledged only as Dowager Princess of Wales by Henry. He banished her from court, and Catherine lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, and died there on 7 January 1536.

She was buried here at Peterborough Cathedral (then Abbey), because it was close to Kimbolton, but as Princess of Wales. In modern times the flags of Henry and Katherine have been hung over her tomb, and devotees leave pomegranates - her symbol representing her place of residence in Granada - there.