Catherine of Aragon: Henry's Spanish Queen

"I began to think of writing a biography having convinced myself that if biographers can learn about an artist, I can learn how to write a biography! Writings about the genre only took me so far, so I began reading widely. Ellmann’s classic biography of James Joyce enthralled me, but I was looking for models that were scholarly but also accessible and wouldn’t put off the many non-specialists intrigued by Goya—those in the museum audiences to whom I have spoken over the years. I found models in the two books I’ve chosen. Writing an engaging biography of a woman who lived five centuries ago is a tall order, masterfully accomplished by Gilles Tremlett. In fact, when I was thinking of my five books for this interview, I returned to this book, which I read some years ago, to refresh my memory and couldn’t put it down until I finished it a second time. Of course, a story of sex, politics, and betrayal has a lot going for it from the beginning! Get the weekly Five Books newsletter Tremlett reveals Catherine through her role in events and relationships with people significant not only in her life, but in the course of European history: royal births, weddings, and deaths; alliances and intrigues of leaders jockeying for power; and the ever fascinating, ever despicable, Henry VIII. The author transitions seamlessly from the stage of European politics to the minutiae of Catherine’s christening gown (“of white brocade, lined with green velvet and trimmed with gold lace”) of Dutch linens for nightshirts and sheets, and Florentine cloth for the infant’s tunics and (of course!) cummerbunds. He describes the jewels worn by her mother, Isabel: “Each ruby, diamond and every stretch of rich cloth for fur reinforced the idea of Isabel’s absolute superiority…” At a later point in the story we wonder if any of those jewels were included in the dowry of her daughter and possibly ended up in the hand of Anne Boleyn. I am indebted to Tremlett for illustrating the advantage of short chapters, each covering a specific period of time, that break down the complexities of time, history, and cast of characters—and which are also the perfect length for those who read only so much at night before turning off the light!"