What do you think? Did Catherine and Arthur sleep together and do you consider Henry VIII a bigamist? Let me know below and check out my PATREON site for extra perks at

Arthur was 15. What 15 year old boy would come out of his wedding chamber and say "I couldn't do it?"

All this is crazy. In my opinion, whether the first marriage was consummated or not, Henry had no grounds for the annulment. How can you be married for 20 years to a person and then say it never happened. That’s just cruel . He wanted it, so he made it happened?That poor woman and poor Mary.

Henry interpreted the Bible as it best served him. Henry VIII was an opportunist in the very least.

I absolutely believe that Arthur and Catherine consummated their marriage. These people were royal and they both knew what their duty was. They were not put to bed to sleep, they were put to bed to do their jobs.

He humiliated her repeatedly. Absolutely shameful of him to do this to his wife of 20 years. He discarded her and their daughter. He separated Mary and Katherine which was a complete act of evil. Even on her deathbed, he refused to let her see her daughter.

Catherine had always asserted that she was a virgin at the time she married Henry. In fact, her duenna,, Elvura Manuel examined her after Arthur had died and wrote that Catherine was virgo intacta. Later, Catherine herself spoke before the ecclesiastical tribunal and dared Henry to say otherwise. She said that Henry knew that when they came together and he probably saw the result, perhaps a bleeding. When thus confronted, Henry was stupefied and said nothing. A statement like that which Henry did not contradict can be concluded as true - by his silence, he implicitly admitted it as true. Catherine was by reputation a truthful and sincere woman. Henry had moral issues of his own by the time the "King's Great Matter" had exploded. Leave aside Catherine's religiousness and there you have the evidentiary basis tor a conclusion that Arthur's marriage to Catherine was never consummated.

The one theory I don't buy is that Catherine

Regarding the question of how much Katherine would have remembered her first time, that’s not something you ever forget. After 45 years, I can still remember it.

It is mind-boggling that it was illegal to marry a former in law, but marrying your cousin was just fine.

I think it's a bit of both Arthur showing off, and Henry lying to get rid of katherine to marry Anne.

She may have been recognized as a princess at her death but she was ALWAYS a Queen.

Harry didn't worry too much about the matter until Anne crossed his path.

There's no limit to Henry's cruelty, even to his own wives (no matter how infatuated he was, originally) or daughters. He only loved himself and his sons, which I think he saw as an extension of himself.

I remember reading the book "the constant princess" by Phillipa Gregory and thought it was super sweet that Arthur cared so much for Catherine that he begged her to lie about the consummation on his death bed out of fear of what would become of her if she didn't. I doubt that's how it all really played out but part of me has always wondered.

I just want to put this out there. You can lose your virginity and not bleed. Depending on the size of the man, the hymen may not be broken despite sex. This could explain why she didn't bleed with Arthur but did with Henry. I'm not saying this is what happened, but it's absolutely possible.

I believe she didn't. Her faith was so strong that for her to lie and place her immortal soul in jeopardy (to her way of thinking), would be unthinkable.

Thank you for understanding and explaining the difference between divorce and annulment. Just about everybody gets it wrong when speaking of Henry VIII.

This whole situation can be summed up by a simple quote from the wonderful Alice of Sherwood: “Henry’s gonna Henry”