Catherine of Aragon

Born in 1485 to Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, Catherine was betrothed at three and married at fifteen to Arthur, Prince of Wales, who died five months later. She spent years in limbo before marrying his younger brother Henry VIII in 1509, serving as regent in 1513 and rallying England during the Scottish invasion at Flodden. By 1526 Henry wanted a son and Anne Boleyn; when the pope refused annulment, Henry broke with Rome, declared the marriage invalid in 1533, and banished Catherine from court. She refused to accept his supremacy over the Church or relinquish her title, living out her final years at Kimbolton Castle as the public mourned her and Henry acknowledged her only as dowager princess. She died in January 1536, probably of cancer; her daughter Mary became England's first undisputed queen regnant seventeen years later.