The notoriously much-betrothed Henry VIII of England had two wives by the name of Catherine. The first, Catherine of Aragon, was a Princess of Spain when she came to England in 1501 to marry into the royal family (as such were predestined political alliances of the day). She was Henry VIII’s first wife. Catherine of Aragon was unable to produce a male heir beyond infancy, and Henry VIII eventually grew tired of her. Unable to get the marriage annulled by the Roman Catholic Pope in order to marry his pregnant lover, Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII created the Church of England instead! Catherine of Aragon and her one surviving daughter, Mary I of England, remained steadfast loyal to Catholicism. Catherine Parr was Henry VIII’s last wife, and ironically, she was named after Catherine of Aragon (Parr’s mother had been a lady-in-waiting to the then-Queen of England). So Catherine Parr became the sixth wife of Henry, and he became her third husband at the ripe old age of 31. The King died during their marriage, and she went onto marry for a fourth time. After Henry’s death, Catherine Parr became the guardian of the future Queen of England, Elizabeth I (daughter to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn).
