On this day in 1536, Katherine of Aragon was laid to rest at Peterborough Cathedral. Also on this day, Anne Boleyn miscarried for the last time. You can read more about this here.

Despite once being Queen of England, Katherine was buried not as a queen, but as the “Dowager Princess of Wales,” the title Henry VIII insisted upon after their annulment. Her funeral reflected this diminished status.

Henry did not attend, nor did Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador, who considered the funeral unworthy of the queen he believed she truly was. Most heartbreaking of all, Katherine’s daughter, Mary, was forbidden by Henry from attending, robbing her of the chance to say a final goodbye to her mother.

Details of the funeral are as follows:

“First, 16 priests or clergymen in surplices went on horseback, without saying a word, having a gilded laten cross borne before them; after them several gentlemen, of whom there were only two of the house, “et le demeurant estoient tous emprouvez,” and after them followed the maître d’hotel and chamberlain, with their rods of office in their hands; and, to keep them in order, went by their sides 9 or 10 heralds, with mourning hoods and wearing their coats of arms; after them followed 50 servants of the aforesaid gentlemen, bearing torches and “bâtons allumés,” which lasted but a short time, and in the middle of them was drawn a waggon, upon which the body was drawn by six horses all covered with black cloth to the ground. The said waggon was covered with black velvet, in the midst of which was a great silver cross; and within, as one looked upon the corpse, was stretched a cloth of gold frieze with a cross of crimson velvet, and before and behind the said waggon stood two gentlemen ushers with mourning hoods looking into the waggon, round which the said four banners were carried by four heralds and the standards with the representations by four gentlemen. Then followed seven ladies, as chief mourners, upon hackneys, that of the first being harnessed with black velvet and the others with black cloth. After which ladies followed the waggon of the Queen’s gentlemen; and after them, on hackneys, came nine ladies, wives of knights. Then followed the waggon of the Queen’s chambermaids; then her maids to the number of 36, and in their wake followed certain servants on horseback.In this order the royal corpse was conducted for nine miles of the country, i.e., three French leagues, as far as the abbey of Sautry, where the abbot and his monks received it and placed it under a canopy in the choir of the church, under an “estalage” prepared for it, which contained 408 candles, which burned during the vigils that day and next day at mass. Next day a solemn mass was chanted in the said abbey of Sautry, by the bishop of Ely, during which in the middle of the church 48 torches of rosin were carried by as many poor men, with mourning hoods and garments. After mass the body was borne in the same order to the abbey of Peterborough, where at the door of the church it was honorably received by the bishops of Lincoln, Ely, and Rochester, the abbot of the place, and the abbots of Ramsey, Crolain (Crowland), Tournan (Thorney), Walden and Thaem (Tame), who, wearing their mitres and hoods, accompanied it in procession till it was placed under the chapelle ardente which was prepared for it there, upon eight pillars of beautiful fashion and roundness, upon which were placed about 1,000 candles, both little and middle-sized, and round about the said chapel 18 banners waved, of which one bore the arms of the Emperor, a second those of England, with those of the King’s mother, prince Arthur, the queen of Portugal, sister of the deceased, Spain, Arragon, and Sicily, and those of Spain and England with three “lambeaulx,” those of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, who married the daughter of Peter the Cruel, viz., “le joux des beufz,” the bundle of arrows, the pomegranate (granade), the lion and the greyhound. Likewise there were a great number of little pennons, in which were portrayed the devices of king Ferdinand, father of the deceased, and of herself; and round about the said chapel, in great gold letters was written, as the device of the said good lady, “Humble et loyale.” Solemn vigils were said that day, and on the morrow the three masses by three bishops: the first by the bishop of Rochester, with the abbot of Thame as deacon, and the abbot of Walden as sub-deacon; the second by the bishop of Ely, with the abbot of Tournay (Thorney) as deacon, and the abbot of Peterborough as sub-deacon; the third by the bishop of Lincoln, with the bishop of Llandaff as deacon, and that of Ely as sub-deacon; the other bishops and abbots aforesaid assisting at the said masses in their pontificals, so the ceremony was very sumptuous. The chief mourner was lady Eleanor, daughter of the duke of Suffolk and the French queen, and niece of king Henry, widower now of the said good Queen. She was conducted to the offering by the Comptroller and Mr. Gust (Gostwick), new receiver of the moneys the King takes from the Church. Immediately after the offering was completed the bishop of Rochester preached the same as all the preachers of England for two years have not ceased to preach, viz., against the power of the Pope, whom they call bishop of Rome, and against the marriage of the said good Queen and the King, alleging against all truth that in the hour of death she acknowledged she had not been queen of England. I say against all truth, because at that hour she ordered a writing to be made in her name addressed to the King as her husband, and to the ambassador of the Emperor, her nephew, which she signed with these words—Katharine, queen of England—commending her ladies and servants to the favor of the said ambassador. At the end of the mass all the mourning ladies offered in the hands of the heralds each three ells in three pieces of cloth of gold which were upon the body, and of this “accoutrements” will be made for the chapel where the annual service will be performed for her. After the mass the body was buried in a grave at the lowest step of the high altar, over which they put a simple black cloth. In this manner was celebrated the funeral of her who for 27 years has been true queen of England, whose holy soul, as every one must believe, is in eternal rest, after worldly misery borne by her with such patience that there is little need to pray God for her; to whom, nevertheless, we ought incessantly to address prayers for the weal (salut) of her living image whom she has left to us, the most virtuous Princess her daughter, that He may comfort her in her great and infinite adversities, and give her a husband to his pleasure^.”1

Peterborough Cathedral remains Katherine’s final resting place to this day, and she is still honoured there each year on the anniversary of her burial.

Peterborough Cathedral needs your help to keep its doors open. Please consider donating to the Cathedral via the following link – any amount will help! https://www.kindlink.com/fundraising/Chapter-of-Peterborough-Cathedral/cathedral-in-crisis

1. ‘Henry VIII: February 1536, 6-10’, in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 10, January-June 1536. Edited by James Gairdner (London, 1887), https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol10/pp98-108. ↩︎