Part 1, Katherine of Aragon: Chapters 1 and 2 Summary and Analysis

The first chapter describes the circumstances into which Katherine was born—the wealthy, influential court of Spain. The author describes how her parents, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, were intent upon maintaining and strengthening their country's position as one of the great European powers, and did so by both conquest and by arranging politically advantageous marriages for their four children. Henry VII of England, the author suggests, was determined to have his son and heir, Prince Arthur, married to Ferdinand and Isabella's youngest daughter Katherine, but Ferdinand and Isabella were wary. Henry's position on the throne of England was by no means secure—he had, as he himself admitted, taken the throne by conquest and had no real royal blood in him. To ensure his position, however, and to...