Portrait of a noblewoman, possibly Catherine of Aragon c. 1502 (Wikimedia Commons)Arthur, Prince of Wales c. 1500In November 1501 Katherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, arrived in England to marry Arthur, Prince of Wales and heir to King Henry VII. The two young people (Arthur was 14 and Katherine 15) had been married by proxy the year before, but the wedding ceremony, and Katherine's subsequent installation as a princess in England, had waited until late 1501.

This was a dynastic marriage, negotiated to cement an alliance between the two Catholic countries. As such, Katherine's journey from Spain to England was a significant affair. She brought with her an entourage from the Spanish court, some of whom would remain with her after the wedding, and was accompanied by an escort of Spain's political elite. Henry VII ordered a contingent of English nobility to meet the Spanish and journey with her from Plymouth, where the Spanish ships landed, to London, where she would marry Arthur at St Paul's Cathedral.

There are several contemporary accounts, as well as chronicles written after the fact to describe the events. These materials, read together, provide the context for the events and their significance. REED records offer an insight into not only how performance played a part in these celebrations, but perhaps more importantly the role that London's leaders and guild members planned and structured Katherine's royal entry into the City. REED London has identified four 'events' to which our records refer:

  • - Katherine's entry into the City of London
  • - The wedding ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral
  • - The river voyage taken by the wedding party and escorted by representatives from the City, leaving from Baynard's Castle Wharf to Westminster for a series of martial entertainments.
  • - The river voyage from Westminster to Richmond for further frivolity.

Panoramic view of London, c. 1616 (Claes Van Visscher)

There are 23 records from the Civic London collection that refer in some way to the events between 12-26 November 1501. Those records are available below for your examination tagged as per REED London encoding protocols to gather information about the semantic value within the records (named people, places, organizations, and items related to the business of performance).

Thanks to the research undertaken by Anne Lancashire for REED: Civic London to 1558, we can see distinctive patterns related to the activities of the mayor, aldermen, and various guilds in conjunction with the royal wedding activities. Representatives of the guilds attended the ceremonies and contributed to the preparations, including paying for the building of  'standings' (platforms with rails on which they could watch Lady Katherine's process) and undertaking repair of the streets after the procession had gone by.

Standinges on the bridge of dyuers people standing there and in a vacant tenament at the Standard in Chepe at the commyng in of the Pryncess (Bridgemasters' Annual Accounts and Rentals, 1501-2)

Item paid for pavyng of the holys there the Rayle stode (Carpenters'  Wardens' Accounts, 1501-2)

We also see transactions undertaken to arrange for barges the guildsmen attending the wedding party took to accompany the royal family to Westminster and then to Richmond. .

Item for Bargehire to Westminster with the king the xxti day of Nouembre (Drapers' Wardens' Accounts, 1501-2)

Item rewardyd the Botemene and for brede and Drynk spent vpon theym and our company (Skinners' Receipts and Payments, 1501-2)

Item for Costes goyng to Richemount with the princesse (Grocers' Memorandum, Ordinance, and Account Book, 1501-2)

 

We at REED London believe that there is real value to integrating contextual understandings for these records to help our readers to understand the ways in which Civic performance provides us with a different or more complex perspective on traditional approaches to history. To that end we have also included excerpts from Holinshed's Chronicles and Kipling's Receypts. While these documents were not included in the body of the original REED: Civic London print collection, Professor Lancashire referred to them in her editorial apparatus, and so we believe it is helpful to augment the transcribed records with these texts.

It may be easy to overlook a figure who is referred to obliquely at several points in these documents: the Duke of York. This young duke was tasked on several occasions with escorting and accompanying his soon-to-be sister-in-law. This boy, not quite 12 years old, was Henry, Prince Arthur's little brother. Why is this important? Some six months after the wedding tragedy struck Prince Arthur died of a mysterious illness; Henry was elevated as heir to his father's crown, and a hasty new marriage was struck between Henry and the now-widowed Katherine. And the rest, as they say, is history.

You will notice amongst the endnotes for individual records that there are connections to 'event objects' within the project. This is the first experiment we are undertaking to link REED London's data with that of other scholars through the Semantic web. This may look a bit clunky at the moment because we are still developing the finished REED London site. Please understand that this is very much still 'under construction.'

REED RECORDS:

City of London records:

Company records:

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES BEYOND REED: