Today in 1528 Cardinal Campeggio, the Papal legate, arrived in Dover in preparation for the special legatine court which would determine the fate of Henry VIII’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon. Henry had put a great deal of hope in the legate, and this court. But this would, of course, be the court that was unable to decide on a divorce, and the king’s Great Matter would drag on for another five years.
Cardinal Campeggio had pleaded with Katherine to retire to a nunnery, but she refused, and at the special court she gave her famous speech directly to Henry, swearing that she had been a true and lawful wife to him, had been a virgin when they married, and then swearing her love for him.
Henry was not pleased with the outcome of the legatine court.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 109: Divorce in the Middle Ages (The Precedence for Henry’s Divorce)
Episode 47: Tudor Times talks about Katherine of Aragon
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
