Arthur, Prince of Wales

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Arthur
Prince of Wales
Portrait, c. 1500
Born19/20 September 1486
Winchester Cathedral Priory, Winchester, England
Died2 April 1502(1502-04-02) (aged 15)
Ludlow Castle, Ludlow, Shropshire, England
Burial25 April 1502
Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, England
Spouse
​
(m. 1501)​
HouseTudor
FatherHenry VII of England
MotherElizabeth of York

Arthur, Prince of Wales (19/20 September 1486 – 2 April 1502), was the eldest son of King

Edward IV, and his birth cemented the union between the House of Lancaster and the House of York
.

Plans for Arthur's marriage began before his third birthday. At the age of eleven, he was formally betrothed to

consummated
.

One year after Arthur's death, Henry VII renewed his efforts to seal a marital alliance with Spain by arranging for Catherine to marry Arthur's younger brother

Roman Catholic Church
.

Infancy

The family of Henry VII, depicted on an illuminated page.

Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. In an effort to strengthen the Tudor claim to the throne, Henry decided on naming his firstborn son "Arthur" and having him born in Winchester – where the Legend of King Arthur originated – in order to emphasise the Welsh origin of the Tudors.[1] On this occasion, Camelot was identified as present-day Winchester,[2] and his wife, Elizabeth of York, was sent to Saint Swithun's Priory (today Winchester Cathedral Priory) to give birth.[3] Born at Saint Swithun's[4] on the night of 19/20 September 1486 at about 1 am,[5] Arthur was Henry and Elizabeth's eldest child.[6]

Arthur's birth was anticipated by French and Italian humanists eager for the start of a "Virgilian golden age".[5] Sir Francis Bacon wrote that although the Prince was born one month premature, he was "strong and able".[7] Young Arthur was viewed as "a living symbol" of not only the union between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, to which his mother belonged as the daughter of Edward IV, but also of the end of the Wars of the Roses.[2] In the opinion of contemporaries, Arthur was the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor.[5]

Arthur became

Henry and Mary – would reach adulthood.[9] Arthur was especially close to his sister Margaret (b. 1489) and his brother Henry (b. 1491), with whom he shared a nursery.[10]

On 29 November 1489, after being made a

Knight of the Garter[6] at Saint George's Chapel at Windsor Palace.[14]

Around 1491, Arthur began his formal education under John Rede, a former headmaster of Winchester College.[4] His education was subsequently taken over by Bernard André, a blind French poet and Augustinian friar,[15] and then by Thomas Linacre, formerly Henry VII's physician.[16] Arthur's education covered grammar, poetry, rhetoric and ethics and focused on history.[17]

Arthur was a very skilled pupil and André wrote that the Prince of Wales had either memorised or read a selection of Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Terence, a good deal of Cicero and a wide span of historical works, including those of Thucydides, Caesar, Livy and Tacitus.[18] Arthur was also a "superb archer",[19] and had learned to dance "right pleasant and honourably" by 1501.[20]

Childhood

The popular belief that Arthur was sickly during his lifetime stems from a misunderstanding of a 1502 letter,[21] but there are no reports of Arthur being ill during his lifetime.[22] He grew up to be unusually tall for his age,[21] and was considered handsome by the Spanish court:[23] he had reddish hair, small eyes, and a high-bridged nose, resembling his brother Henry,[24] who was said to be "extremely handsome" by contemporaries.[25] As described by historians Steven Gunn and Linda Monckton, Arthur had an "amiable and gentle" personality and was, overall, a "delicate lad".[26]

In May 1490, Arthur was created

Keeper of England and King's Lieutenant. Following the example of Edward IV, Henry VII set up the Council of Wales and the Marches for Arthur in Wales, in order to enforce royal authority there. Although the council had already been set up in 1490, it was headed by Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford.[4] By 1493, Arthur had been sent with his household to Ludlow Castle, near Wales.[28][29] In March 1493, Arthur was granted the power to appoint justices of oyer and terminer and inquire into franchises, thus strengthening the council's authority. In November of that year, the Prince also received an extensive land grant in Wales, including the County of March.[4]

Arthur was served by sons of English, Irish and Welsh nobility, such as

Lady Margaret Beaufort. He was brought up with Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas, the son of powerful Welsh nobleman Rhys ap Thomas. Gruffydd grew quite close to Arthur[31] and was buried in Worcester Cathedral upon his death in 1521, alongside the Prince's tomb.[32]

Marriage

A Flemish tapestry depicting Arthur and Catherine's court.
1496 Portrait by Juan de Flandes thought to be of 11-year-old Catherine. She resembles her sister Joanna of Castile.

Henry VII planned to marry Arthur to a daughter of the

papal dispensation (i.e., waiver) allowing the marriage was issued in February 1497, and the pair were betrothed by proxy on 25 August 1497.[35][3]

To demonstrate his status as heir to the throne, Arthur made a

Royal Entry to Coventry in October 1498. He was welcomed with pageants of the Nine Worthies, introduced by King Arthur, by Queen Fortune, and by Saint George defending a maiden from the dragon.[36] In 1499, a marriage by proxy took place at Arthur's Tickenhill Manor in Bewdley, near Worcester; Arthur said to Roderigo de Puebla, who acted as proxy for Catherine, that "he much rejoiced to contract the marriage because of his deep and sincere love for the Princess".[37] In October 1499, Arthur, referring to Catherine as "my dearest spouse", wrote:

"I cannot tell you what an earnest desire I feel to see your Highness, and how vexatious to me is this procrastination about your coming. Let be hastened, the love conceived between us and the wished-for joys may reap their proper fruit."[37]

The young couple exchanged letters in Latin until 20 September 1501, when Arthur, having attained the age of 15, was deemed old enough to be married.[38] Catherine landed in England about two weeks later, on 2 October 1501, at Plymouth.[4] The next month, on 4 November 1501, the couple met for the first time at Dogmersfield in Hampshire.[39] Arthur wrote to Catherine's parents that he would be "a true and loving husband"; the couple soon discovered that they had mastered different pronunciations of Latin and so were unable to easily communicate.[40] Five days later, on 9 November 1501, Catherine arrived in London.[24]

On 14 November 1501, the marriage ceremony finally took place at Saint Paul's Cathedral; both Arthur and Catherine wore white satin. The ceremony was conducted by Henry Deane, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was assisted by William Warham, Bishop of London. Following the ceremony, Arthur and Catherine left the Cathedral and headed for Baynard's Castle, where they were entertained by "the best voiced children of the King's chapel, who sang right sweetly with quaint harmony".[41]

What followed was a

Lady Margaret Beaufort: the bed was sprinkled with holy water, after which Catherine was led away from the wedding feast by her ladies-in-waiting. She was undressed, veiled and "reverently" laid in bed, while Arthur, "in his shirt, with a gown cast about him," was escorted by his gentlemen into the bedchamber as viols and tabors played. The Bishop of London blessed the bed, and prayed for the marriage to be fruitful, after which the couple were left alone. This is the only public bedding of a royal couple recorded in Britain in the 16th century.[42]

Death

Prince Arthur at prayer, depicted on a stained glass window in Great Malvern Priory
Prince Arthur's Tomb in Worcester Cathedral

After residing at Tickenhill Manor[43] for a month, Arthur and Catherine headed for the Welsh Marches, where they established their household at Ludlow Castle.[44] Arthur had been growing weaker since his wedding,[45] and Henry VII thus seemed reluctant to allow Catherine to follow him, until ultimately ordering her to join her husband.[46]

Arthur found it easy to govern Wales, as the border had become quiet after many centuries of warfare. In March 1502, Arthur and Catherine were afflicted by an unknown illness, "a malign vapour which proceeded from the air."[47] It has been suggested that this illness was the mysterious English sweating sickness,[48] tuberculosis ("consumption"),[49] plague[50] or influenza.[51][note 1] While Catherine recovered, Arthur died on 2 April 1502 at Ludlow, six months short of his sixteenth birthday.[53]

News of Arthur's death reached Henry VII's court late on 4 April.[4] The King was awoken from his sleep by his confessor, who quoted Job by asking Henry "If we receive good things at the hands of God, why may we not endure evil things?" He then told the king that "[his] dearest son hath departed to God," and Henry burst into tears.[54] "Grief-stricken and emotional," he then had his wife, Elizabeth, brought into his chambers, so that they might "take the painful news together";[55] Elizabeth reminded Henry that God had helped him become king and "had ever preserved him," adding that they had been left with "yet a fair Prince and two fair princesses and that God is where he was, and [they were] both young enough."[56] Soon after leaving Henry's bedchamber, Elizabeth collapsed and began to cry, while the ladies sent for the King, who hurriedly came and "relieved her."[57]

On 8 April, a general procession took place for the salvation of Arthur's soul. That night, a

Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd and Brutus of Troy.[4] Two years later, a chantry was erected over Arthur's grave.[3]

Legacy

Main article: English Reformation

Shortly after Arthur's death, the idea of betrothing the widowed Catherine to the new heir apparent, Henry, had arisen; Henry VII and Isabella I were keen on moving forward with the betrothal and the pope granted a dispensation towards that end.

Mary I (b. 1516).[66] In 1526, Henry started to pursue the affections of Anne Boleyn. At the same time, he became troubled by what became known as the King's "great matter", that is, finding an appropriate solution for his lack of male descendants. It soon became the King's wish to dissolve his marriage[67] and marry Anne, who was more likely to bear children.[68]

Henry believed that his marriage was cursed, and believed he found confirmation in the Bible, in

Elizabeth I
. Upon Elizabeth's death in 1603, the House of Tudor came to an end.

In 2002, following the initiative of

canon Ian MacKenzie, Arthur's funeral was reenacted with a requiem mass at Worcester Cathedral, on occasion of the quincentenary of his death. Despite his role in English history, Arthur has remained largely forgotten since his death.[73]

Henry VIII owned a portrait of Arthur wearing a "red cap with a brooch upon it, and a collar of red and white roses".[74] A portrait of Arthur was rediscovered by English art dealer Philip Mould.[75][76]

The stained-glass image of Arthur Tudor praying is in the west window of the nave in St Laurence's Church in Ludlow, Shropshire where he died at the castle in 1502.[77] Arthur's bowels (called euphemistically "the heart") had been buried in a lead box in the church's choir but were noted in 1723 as having been taken up not long since.[78]

Arthur has been featured in several

Jean Plaidy. In The Constant Princess, by Philippa Gregory, Catherine promises Arthur to marry his brother, thus fulfilling not only her own destiny of becoming Queen of England but also the couple's plans for the future of the kingdom.[79] The Alteration, by Kingsley Amis, is an alternate history
novel centred on the "War of the English Succession" during which Henry VIII attempts to usurp the throne of his nephew, Stephen II, Arthur and Catherine's son.

The historical drama

BBC2 aired a historical miniseries titled The Shadow of the Tower, with "Lord Arthur, Prince of Wales" played by Jason Kemp.[citation needed] He is portrayed by Angus Imrie in 2019 period drama The Spanish Princess.[80]

Ancestors

References

Endnotes

  1. ^ In 2002, Arthur's tomb was opened, but experts could not determine the exact cause of death; a genetic ailment which also affected Arthur's nephew, Edward VI, was mentioned as a possible cause being investigated.[52]
  2. ^ Although Henry would have read the verse in Latin, the translation provided by the 1604 King James Version states that "and if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless."

Footnotes

  1. ^ Lauren Rose Browne, 'Elizabeth of York: Tudor Trophy Wife', Aidan Norrie, Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), p. 28.
  2. ^ a b Wagner & Schmid 2011, p. 1104.
  3. ^ a b c d e Wheeler, Kindrick & Salda 2000, p. 377.
  4. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/705. Retrieved 7 October 2013. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)     (subscription required)
  5. ^ a b c Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 1.
  6. ^ a b c Weir 2008a, p. 151.
  7. ^ Fuller 1840, p. 6.
  8. ^ Grose 1784, pp. 193–197.
  9. ^ Crofton 2006, p. 129.
  10. ^ Marshall 2003, p. 85.
  11. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 10.
  12. ^ Allison & Riddell 1991, p. 605.
  13. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, pp. 2–3.
  14. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 3.
  15. ^ Weir 2008b, p. 5.
  16. ^ Weir 2008b, p. 150.
  17. ^ Ives 2007, p. 2.
  18. ^ Scarisbrick 1968, p. 5.
  19. ^ Weir 2008b, p. 113.
  20. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 9.
  21. ^ a b Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 39.
  22. ^ Jones 2009, p. 23.
  23. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 46.
  24. ^ a b Weir 2007, p. 30.
  25. ^ Scarisbrick 1968, p. 13.
  26. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 48.
  27. doi:10.5284/1060129
  28. ^ Thurley, Simon (2019). Houses of Power: the Places that Shaped the Tudor World. Black Swan. p. 91.
  29. ^ Cunningham, Sean (2016). Prince Arthur: the Tudor King Who Never Was. Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing.
  30. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 16.
  31. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 51.
  32. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 94.
  33. ^ Kidner 2012, p. 380.
  34. ^ Weir 2007, p. 17.
  35. ^ Fraser 1992, p. 24.
  36. ^ Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, and Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), pp. 54–6.
  37. ^ a b Weir 2007, p. 23.
  38. ^ Sanders & Low 1910, p. 235.
  39. ^ Weir 2007, p. 27.
  40. ^ Fraser 1992, p. 25.
  41. ^ Weir 2007, p. 33.
  42. ^ Weir 2008b, p. 11.
  43. ^ Weir 2008b, p. 35.
  44. ^ O'Day 2012, p. 1554.
  45. ^ Weir 2007, p. 35.
  46. ^ Weir 2007, p. 36.
  47. ^ Weir 2007, p. 37.
  48. ^ Hibbert 2010, p. 4.
  49. ^ a b Whitelock 2010, p. 14.
  50. ^ Tatton-Brown & Mortimer 2003, p. 286.
  51. ^ Barber & Pykitt 1997, p. 269.
  52. ^ Derbyshire, David (20 May 2002). "Discovery of grave may solve mystery death of Henry VIII's brother at 15". The Telegraph. telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  53. ^ Ives 2007, p. 1.
  54. ^ Weir 2007, pp. 37–38.
  55. ^ Richardson 1970, p. 19.
  56. ^ Crawford 2007, p. 166.
  57. ^ Crawford 2007, p. 167.
  58. ^ a b Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 64.
  59. ^ a b Weir 2007, p. 38.
  60. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 65.
  61. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 71.
  62. ^ Hearne 1774, p. 381.
  63. ^ Loades 2009, p. 22.
  64. ^ Loades 2009, p. 24.
  65. ^ Wagner & Schmid 2011, p. 226.
  66. ^ Weir 2008a, p. 154.
  67. ^ Brigden 2000, p. 114.
  68. ^ Loades 2009, pp. 88–89.
  69. ^ MacCulloch 1995, p. 139.
  70. ^ Weir 2007, p. 34.
  71. ^ Weir 2008b, pp. 337–338.
  72. ^ Williams 1971, p. 124.
  73. ^ Gunn & Monckton 2009, p. 5.
  74. ^ Maria Hayward, The 1542 Inventory of Whitehall Palace, 2 (Illuminata Publishers, 2004), p. 94 no. 763: David Starkey, Inventory of Henry VIII, 1 (London: Harvey Miller, 1998), p. 239 no. 10666: Arthur, Prince of Wales: RCIN 403444
  75. ISBN 978-1857025231
    .
  76. ^ Mould 1995, p. 121.
  77. ^ Lloyd, David Historic Ludlow: the Parish Church of Saint Laurence, a History and a Guide, Birmingham, England: SP Print, 1980, p. 7.
  78. ^ Lloyd, David Historic Ludlow: the Parish Church of Saint Laurence, a History and a Guide, p. 13.
  79. ^ Jackson, Melanie (9 May 2005). "The Constant Princess". Publishers Weekly. publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  80. ^ Hallemann, Caroline (5 May 2019). "See How the Spanish Princess Cast Stacks Up Against the Historical People They're Playing". Town & Country. Retrieved 10 November 2019.

Bibliography
Arthur, Prince of Wales
Born: 19 September 1486 Died: 2 April 1502
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Edward of Middleham
 Prince of Wales
1486–1502 		Succeeded by
Henry Tudor
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