The Pomegranate and the Rose: The Story of Katharine of Aragon

This is a good biography of catherine of aragon for adolescents- I found it at my library and was surprised. I picked it up and finished it within two days. I have to say I enjoyed it for the most part, but must deduct a star for some small historical accuracies in the book. The main one was that in the Epilogue, it says Jane Grey ruled as queen of England after Bloody Mary's troubled reign. This is a huge error, Jane Grey was set up after Edward VI's death in fear of Mary becoming queen because of her Catholicism. Needless to say, it didn't work, and Mary became queen anyway. Another error worth noting is that Winifred Roll mentions a portrait of Anne Boleyn and claims it was identified by historians as Anne of Bohemia. It would be impossible to confuse the two- Anne of Bohemia was the first queen to Richard II, and lived in the late 14th century, Boleyn was Henry VIII's second wife and lived in the early 16th century. Confusing the two queens would be virtually impossible. Those errors out of the way, almost none were made in the actual story of Catherine's life, and her story is told here with very little bias and is made quite interesting. I would recommend this book to teenagers, but be aware of the small inaccuracies.

This is a good, concise bio that is a good intro to any study of Henry VIII's messy marital history. It tells the sad story of Katharine of Aragon, a Spanish princess who was initially married to Henry's older brother Arthur, a sickly boy who died only four months after the wedding. During the years between 1502-1509, Katharine lived in near abject poverty, since neither her father-in-law, Henry VII, nor her father, Ferdinand of Spain, would give her any money to pay her staff, buy new clothes (Katharine was constantly altering and patching her gowns; for years she wore the same old dresses she'd brought from Spain in 1501 to marry Arthur), or even good food. Both Ferdinand and Henry VII thought it the other's job to provide for her. Then in 1509 her life changed forever, if not for the better. Henry VIII was now King, and he wanted to marry Katharine. And he did. At the time, Katharine saw him as her knight in shining armour, rescuing her from the poverty she'd been forced to live in for so long. They loved each other, and had waited years to get married. The fact that Katharine was six years older than Henry wasn't an issue then; Henry loved her just the same. Katharine thought all her problems were over, that she woul;d never be sad or lonely again. Truth is, the problems were just beginning... This book keeps the action centered around Katharine, which is good because bios of people who really aren't all that well-known tend to wander from the subject. This is one of the best books on Katharine of Aragon for anyone to read.