Ferdinand of Aragon

Understanding the Man: Henry VIII (Part One)

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As many of you may already know, King Henry VIII is my favorite monarch of the Tudor dynasty. If it wasn't for his reign I do not believe the Tudors would be as popular as they are today. With the creation of Showtime's THE TUDORS, many of us were aware of the name Henry VIII but really didn't know much about him. In the show we were able to see that there was more to the man than the execution of two of his six wives. While I understand that THE TUDORS tv program had a [More]

Tudors Dynasty Podcast – Episode Two: The King and His Early Victories

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Hello!I have launched my second podcast! Creating these podcasts takes many hours of research and writing, not to mention the time it takes to record and edit the audio - with all that being said, I love producing these for you...I never thought I would say that. In order to continue making these podcasts and producing more than two per month I need you, my fans, to participate by becoming members. If you enjoy the articles I write for you on my website and share o [More]

Book Review: “Falling Pomegranate Seeds” by Wendy J. Dunn

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When I read a book the most important thing to me is to see the characters come to life - to learn about what those people may have actually been and how they interacted with others. In this book, "Falling Pomegranate Seeds," we learn not only about Katherine of Aragon, who going forward we'll refer to as Catalina, but also her closest friend Maria de Salines. Maria was with Catalina from childhood - they shared a tutor, Beatriz, who is the true focus of this book. I was [More]

Description of Henry’s Court in 1510

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Henry's Court in 1510: Luis Caroz was Spanish ambassador to England as a representative of Ferdinand of Aragon. It was his job to inform Ferdinand of what was going on in England, at Henry's court, and to speak on his behalf. As Ferdinand's daughter, Catalina (Katherine) was the queen consort of Henry VIII, it was important for him to know how his daughter and son-in-law were doing. This excerpt from Caroz's letter paintsa picture of what England was like at th [More]

Henry VII: Search For a New Queen

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Death of a Queen Consort After the death of his wife and queen consort (Elizabeth of York), Henry VII grieved for a long period of time. Unlike numerous monarchs before him Henry appears to have loved his wife deeply. The two had grown very fond of each other over their marriage, and had experienced extreme loss together with the death of multiple children. But their relationship, as emotional as it may have been was blessed with four healthy children who survived to [More]

Katherine of Aragon: In All Her Glory

Early on in her marriage with the King of England Katherine of Aragon found herself very loyal to Spain and her father, Ferdinand of Aragon. Author, Alison Weir states in her book The Six Wives of Henry VIII, that Katherine greatly influenced her husband on the interests of Spain – sometimes more than the interests of England. It was obvious that Katherine was still very loyal to her father and her home country. At this point in their marriage Katherine was Henry’s “go-to” [More]