When Catherine came to England, she brought with her an impressive dowry and a prestigious alliance with Spain. Now, widowed at 16, she was without funds and in political limbo. Not yet having mastered the English language, she must have felt isolated and bereft, having no one to talk to but her duenna and the unlikable ambassador, Dr. Puebla. Furthermore, as a matter of security she was confined to Durham House in the Strand to await her fate.
Catherine may have been a pawn, but she was a valuable one. After Arthur's death, the tentative negotiations that the king had begun for young Henry's marriage to Eleanor, daughter of the duke of Burgundy, were set aside in favor of the Spanish princess. But there was a problem: Under canon law, a papal dispensation was required for a man to marry his brother's wife. This was only necessary if Catherine's marriage to Arthur had been consummated, and she swore fervently that it had not; she had even, after Arthur's death, written to her family about it, against the wishes of the Tudors. Nevertheless, Dr. Puebla agreed that a papal dispensation was called for, and a request was sent to Rome.
A treaty was signed in 1503, but the wedding was delayed over the dowry, and for a time it seemed there would be no marriage. Negotiations for a marriage to Eleanor were reopened, and the new Spanish ambassador, Fuensalida, suggested they cut their losses and bring Catherine back to Spain. But the princess was made of sterner stuff. She had made up her mind that she'd rather die in England than return home disowned, and she wrote to her father demanding Fuensalida's recall.
Then, on April 22, 1509, King Henry died. Had he lived, there is no telling who he'd have chosen for his son's wife. But the new king, 17 and ready to take on the world, had decided he wanted Catherine for his bride. She was 23, intelligent, devout and lovely. She made a fine choice of consort for the ambitious young king.
The couple were wed on June 11. Only William Warham, the archbishop of Canterbury, expressed any concern about the marriage of Henry to his brother's widow and the papal bull that had made the marriage possible; but whatever protests he had were swept aside by the eager groom. A few weeks later Henry and Catherine were crowned in Westminster, beginning a happy life together that would last nearly 20 years.
Next: Young King Henry VIII