Catherine of Aragon: Facial Reconstructions & History Documentary

Catherine of Aragon is somewhat of a forgotten figure in the Tudor-sphere. She is often passed over in the drama shows, and thought of as plain or even boring. But she was an incredibly interesting figure in European history. We also don't know exactly what she looked like - there are some disputes regarding portraits of her. Let's check out my recreations as well as learn about her history.

0:00 Introduction
0:42 The History of Catherine of Aragon
11:29 What did Catherine of Aragon Look Like?
14:38 Recreations Reveal

Hello everyone and welcome back
to Royalty Now Studios

where we recreate famous figures
from the past

and talk about their history.

Today's subject is Catherine of Aragon

who lived a fascinating life
between her childhood

as the daughter
of the catholic monarchs in Spain

and her marriages
to two princes of England

including the infamous King Henry VIII.

We'll first explore
her life and her history

and then we'll jump into her portraits

and what she may have looked like.

I'll reveal multiple new recreations
of Katherine at the end.

So, let's go ahead and get started.

The History of Catherine of Aragon
0:44
catalina de aragon was born in what is
0:46
now madrid spain on december 16th of
0:49
1485. as a child in spain she was called
0:52
catalina but it was later anglicized in
0:54
england to catherine and that's what i'm
0:56
going to use throughout the video
0:58
now catherine is born into this really
1:01
really high-powered royal family she is
1:03
the youngest daughter of ferdinand ii of
1:05
aragon and isabella the first of castile
1:08
her parents known as the catholic
1:10
monarchs and widely considered to be
1:12
spain's greatest monarchs they
1:14
effectively united spain with their
1:16
marriage and made it one of the most
1:17
powerful countries in europe
1:19
an alliance with spain would be
1:21
massively beneficial to any country
1:24
so from a young age catherine was
1:25
considered this very valuable bargaining
1:27
chip on the marriage market of europe
1:30
in fact she was promised at only three
1:31
years old to the english heir prince
1:33
arthur
1:34
[Music]
1:36
catherine was chosen as the future queen
1:38
of england for a few specific reasons
1:41
first was her sweet nature her
1:43
intelligence and obviously her great
1:45
education she was essentially raised to
1:47
be a queen
1:49
the second is far more interesting
1:51
you see catherine of aragon technically
1:53
had a stronger claim to the throne of
1:55
england than the king of england himself
1:57
henry vii
1:59
she was a descendant of john of gaunt's
2:01
second wife while king henry vii was a
2:04
descendant of his third wife catherine
2:06
swinford and their children were born
2:08
out of wedlock and barred from
2:09
succession to the english throne
2:12
even though henry vii won his throne in
2:14
battle being the last english monarch to
2:16
do so the tudor monarchy was not
2:18
accepted by all european kingdoms
2:21
catherine comes from the house of
2:22
trestamata and that is one of the most
2:24
powerful houses in europe at this time
2:26
marriage into this house means safety
2:29
for the tudor dynasty
2:30
any air that was born from catherine and
2:32
arthur would have an indisputable claim
2:34
to the english throne
2:37
and finally the partnership between
2:39
england and spain could quiet this
2:41
ongoing french hostility that the
2:43
english had been dealing with for years
2:46
catherine and arthur are married by
2:48
proxy in 1499 and then officially
2:51
married in england in november of 1501
2:54
when both were just 15 years old
2:57
little is known about their first
2:59
impressions of each other but arthur did
3:01
write to his parents-in-law telling them
3:02
that he would be a true and loving
3:04
husband
3:06
sadly the two would only be married for
3:08
four short months
3:11
in early 1502 both of them came down
3:14
with a quote malign vapor the english
3:16
sweating sickness
3:18
while catherine recovered
3:20
arthur did not
3:23
this was a massive blow to everyone the
3:27
master plan that the family had for an
3:28
alliance with spain was just shattered
3:31
and the ten-year-old quote spare the
3:33
future henry viii was not expecting to
3:35
be the next king of england
3:37
very quickly a shuffling occurs and
3:40
young henry immediately becomes the new
3:42
prince of wales
3:43
his studies have to pivot very quickly
3:45
from general education to training to
3:47
become the next king
3:50
the next question is what to do with
3:52
catherine
3:54
the newly widowed king henry vii still
3:56
needing this spanish alliance and the
3:58
dowry that catherine offered which by
4:00
the way was one of the largest ever
4:02
offered by a princess of europe
4:04
even began negotiations to marry
4:06
catherine himself
4:08
but queen isabella refused she did not
4:10
want her daughter to be the wife of an
4:12
aging king of england
4:14
so then the idea is obviously come up
4:16
with that catherine should just stay in
4:18
england and she should marry the next
4:19
heir to the throne the young henry
4:22
who is only about 12 years old at this
4:24
time
4:25
so on the 25th of june 1503 they were
4:28
betrothed and the plan to keep catherine
4:30
in england was back on for the most part
4:34
but in 1504 catherine's mother queen
4:37
isabella dies
4:39
queen isabella was a strong supporter of
4:41
henry and catherine as a match
4:43
ferdinand her father was not
4:46
ferdinand really wanted his daughter
4:48
back in spain with him and he
4:49
procrastinated paying the rest of the
4:51
dowry
4:52
but it actually wouldn't be easy for
4:54
henry and catherine to marry
4:56
based on the fact that she had once been
4:58
married to his brother they would
4:59
require a special dispensation from the