...God to send us as good lukke against the Scotts, as the King hath there.
― Catherine in a letter during the campaign against the Scots.
Catherine of Aragon (December 16, 1485 - January 7, 1536) was Queen Consort of England from 1509 to 1533. The first wife of the infamous King Henry VIII, she had complete control over England briefly in 1513 when Henry appointed her regent while he was in France. She ultimately lost all power after Henry divorced her to marry Anne Boleyn.
Catherine was initially married to Henry's older brother Arthur when she was fifteen. However, Arthur died of sweating sickness before the marriage could be consummated. Under English law, this meant that Catherine could be married to Henry. Henry's father Henry VII was opposed to the marriage as he wanted a larger dowry, but died before he could prevent it.
As Queen Consort, Catherine was extremely popular with the English people as she set up a program to provide aid to poor people and personally handed out alms to the homeless on holy days. She was also a great supporter of humanism and was respected even by her enemies. Thomas Cromwell, one of her greatest enemies, said that "If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History."
In 1513, Henry led an army to fight a war in France. Catherine was appointed Regent of England, and ruled the country while Henry was away. The Scots then invaded the country in the belief that England was weak. Catherine proved them wrong, ordering Sir Thomas Lovell to raise an army. Catherine's letters to Henry tell us that she was involved in the preparation for war, making banners and flags, and that she enjoyed the process. Despite being pregnant at the time, she put on full armour and rode hundreds of miles north to Flodden, where she inspired the troops with a speech on English courage. The Scots were easily defeated and King James IV of Scotland was killed, with Catherine sending a fragment of his coat to Henry.
Although her first child died at birth, Catherine eventually gave Henry an heir. The child, Princess Mary, was not the male heir they had hoped for (the last time a woman had been named queen, a civil war had resulted). Catherine subsequently commissioned a pamphlet entitled The Education of a Christian Woman, which was controversial at the time for saying all women should have the right to education, to educate Mary.
In 1525, Henry became infatuated with Anne Boleyn and asked Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage to Catherine. When he refused, a lengthy and complicated process resulted that ended in Henry breaking from the Catholic Church and forming the Church of England, allowing him to grant himself a divorce. Catherine was expelled from court, Mary was declared illegitimate and Anne became queen. For the rest of her life, Catherine, who was now the Dowager Princess rather than Queen, insisted that she was Henry's one true bride. She eventually died in January 1536 of cancer, and was greatly mourned by the English population.