1510 - Katherine's early pregnancies

It was fully expected that Katherine of Aragon would give Henry VIII many healthy children. Her mother had given birth to five children who lived until adulthood, her sister, Juana of Castile, had six, and her sister Maria nine. Therefore, the assumption was that the same good fortune (and fertility) would befall Katherine. 

At this time, anything which went wrong relating to pregnancy or birth was largely blamed on the woman, and this huge amount of pressure to give Henry a son certainly can’t have helped matters. Katherine did however, conceive quickly: only four and a half months after her wedding, and Henry was able to write to Ferdinand and inform him that not only was Katherine pregnant but that the child was already kicking. 

This first kicking,or ‘quickening’, was a really important sign as without modern tests it was only at this point the physicians could be sure the woman was pregnant rather than experiencing other physiological issues. 

Sadly, this first baby, a daughter, did not survive and was born at seven months old in January 1510.  Katherine, afraid of her Father’s reaction, didn’t write to inform him until May of that year, when she was once again in the early stages of pregnancy. 

By September of 1510 she could officially celebrate being pregnant again and urple velvet was ordered for the ‘King’sNursery’. Katherine gave birth to a baby boy on 31 January 1511, to the huge joy of the people. He was Christened Henry.

Devastatingly, he passed away at only 52 days old. We can only imagine how differently things may have played out had he survived.