A few notes


I just saw most of the first episode.

Catherine of Aragon was born 16 December 1485, Arthur Prince of Wales was born 19/20 September 1486, and the future Henry VIII was born 28 June 1491. Thus they were aged 15 years, 10 months and 29 days, 15 years 1 month, and 25 days, and 10 years, 4 months, and 17 days respectively, when Catherine and Arthur were married on 14 November 1501.

Thus Catherine and Arthur are probably depicted as looking older and more mature than they actually did, while Henry is definitely depicted as being way too old in the first episode.

I note that a typical Tudor style country house was used for Dogmersfield House. Which makes sense because 1501 when Catherine came to England was during the Tudor dynasty that lasted from 1485 to 1603, right? Except that it took time for the new style to develop and sixteen years after the start of the Tudor dynasty seems a little early. And many landowners might take years or decades to rebuild their houses at great expense in the new style, so it seems a little odd that Dogmersfield House looks Tudor instead of medieval.

I believe that I head someone mention the "Habsburg empire" in 1501. That was an anachronistic expression. There was never a realm officially called "The Habsburg Empire", and loosely calling the Habsburg lands the "Habsburg Empire" was not yet a common practice.

In 1501 the only empire in western, Catholic, Latin Europe was the Holy Roman Empire, more or less considered to be the only empire. It is true that a member of the Habsburg dynasty was King of the Romans and future emperor, but the emperorship was elective and didn't belong to the Habsburg dynasty by hereditary right.

Furthermore, Spain was not ruled by the Habsburgs yet. Catharine's mother Isabella I, Queen Regnant of Castille, Leon, etc., etc., and Catherine's father Ferdinand II, King of Aragon, Valancia, etc., etc., were both still alive and ruling, dying in 1504 and 1516 respectively.

Catherine's Brother John, Prince of Asturias (1478-1497) had died without children, leaving Catharine's sister Isabella (1470-1498) as the heir to Castile, etc., and after her death without children the next sister Joanna la Loca (1479-1555) was the heir to the throne of Castile. And it was true that Joanna was married to a Habsburg, Philip the Handsome (1478-1506) Duke of Burgundy, etc., who did become King of Castile jure uxoris (by right of wife) in 1504. And they did have three Habsburg children including the future King of the Spains and Emperor Charles V (1500-1558).

But the future is always unknown and in 1501 it was always possible that a mere five deaths could have prevented the inheritance of Spain by the Habsburgs and made Catherine's sister Maria (1482-1517) Queen of the Spains, and a few more deaths would have eliminated Maria and her heirs and made Catharine herself the Queen of the Spanish kingdoms. Spain was not yet guaranteed to be ruled by the Habsburgs.

reply

I didn't get what was the point of turning Isabella of Castile into a warrior queen. It's not like she wasn't great enough without swinging sword in battle.

reply

Possibly it might have been to establish that Catherine had big shoes to fill and might have felt inadequate and intimidated by her mother's achievements and abilities.

Of course in real life both Isabella and Catherine were sufficiently military for people in their positions. Isabella was the ruler of Castile when Castille conquered Granada and so was responsible for the victory. Catharine was in charge in England while her husband Henry VIII was away and so was responsible for the victory over the Scots at Flodden - maybe not as much as the Earl of Surrey who was in command at Flodden but to a degree.

reply

Her Aragonese husband and his military advisors planned the campaigns and conquered Granada for Castile. Just as he won the Civil War to keep in her power. It's bullshit how Ferdinand, an actual King who fought in the battlefield and risked his life gets insulted to push these modern feminist themes.

Yes, Catherine was Queen during the Battle of Flodden, but she sure didn't organize and lead the troops. Although I have no doubt this show next year will show her doing that.

reply

Yeah, from what I read, Isabella once rode out to negotiate with some upstarts, but she never actually rode into battle.

reply

Good article, thanks.

Queen Isabella in armor was rather jarring. Really going too far.

And what happened to Richard Pole's useless right hand? Now suddenly perfectly normal?

reply

One note on the notes. From 1440 the Hapsburgs basically had the HRE throne locked up. They cared about it more than than the other houses -- it could be a burden. That is because they had a lot of land that bordered the kingdom of France. It was a great advantage diplomatically to hold the title of emperor when your opponent is a mere king. Really impresses the vassals.

reply

Very interesting. One detail, though, with regard to "I believe that I head someone mention the "Habsburg empire" in 1501. That was an anachronistic expression. There was never a realm officially called "The Habsburg Empire", and loosely calling the Habsburg lands the "Habsburg Empire" was not yet a common practice."

I get from the wiki:
"El Imperio Habsburgo a veces citado también como la Monarquía del Danubio (Donaumonarchie), es una denominación no oficial entre los historiadores de los países y provincias que fueron gobernados por la rama austriaca menor de la casa de Habsburgo (primogénita desde 1700) hasta el 1780 y después por la rama sucesora de los Habsburgo-Lorena hasta el 1918.". The translation would be "The Habsburg Empire, also called the Habsburg Monarchy, is a non-official term among historians from countries and provinces that were ruled by the Austrian branch from the House of Habsburg until 1780, and after it by their successors from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine until 1918."
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperio_Habsburgo

It wasn't a common practice in English speaking countries, but it was used in the Kingdom of Castille and Aragon (Spain) ruled by the Habsburg.

reply