Travelling back to History

Some links can be found between Aragón, Kimbolton Castle and our High School.

Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, is best known as the final home of King Henry VIII's first queen, Catherine of Aragon. Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, it was the family seat of the Dukes of Manchester from 1615 until 1950. It now houses Kimbolton School.

If we have a look back in History, Catherine of Aragon (also Katherine) was a Spanish princess, the first wife of Henry VIII and mother of Mary I. Henry's desire to divorce Catherine was one of the complex factors which contributed to the English Reformation.

 Catherine was born near Madrid in december 1485. She was the daughter  of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, whose marriage had united Spain. She was given a good education and remained a devout catholic throughout her life. In 1501, Catherine was married to Prince Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII of England. Arthur died shortly afterwards. Catherine stayed on in England and in june 1509 she married Arthur´s brother Henry, who had recently become Henry VIII. She bore him six children, including three sons, but all died except one daughter, Mary, born in 1516.

Catherine was under enormous pressure to produce a male heir and her marriage to Henry unsurprisingly soured. Desperate for a son and now hostile to Spain, in 1527 Henry asked the pope for an annulment of his marriage. He claimed that his marriage was cursed as it was against biblical teaching to marry a sister-in-law, although a papal dispensation had been given at the time of the wedding. Catherine refused to give it to Henry, claiming her marriage to Arthur had been consummated. She attracted much popular sympathy.

 The pope refused, unwilling to admit the papal dispensation had been wrong, but he was also at the time a virtual prisoner of Catherine´s nephew, the Emperor Charles V, who opposed the annulment.

 But Henry was determined to marry his favourite, Anne Bolwyn, and did so secretly in 1533. he then passed the Act of Supremacy, declaring that he was the head of the English church.

Catherine continued to reject the divorce and her new tittle of prince dowager. She was forced to live in much reduced conditions and denied access to her daughter.

Catherine died on 7 January 1536 at Kimbolton House in Cambridgeshire. She was buried in Peterrborough Abbey.

Sources:  http://www.bbc.co.ukhistory/historic_figures/catherine_of_aragon.shtml
                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimbolton_Castle

                          
And back to the History of our High School, the English Department used to have a students´exchange with Kimbolton School for several years. Our students used to spend 15 days there  sharing life and lessons with Kimbolton students and their families. And then Kimboltonians came here to do the same and enjoyed the Spanish experience among us.

Those days are now history, but if you want to see the type of adventure our students, your school mates, could live in Kimbolton historiacal walls, have a tour of Kimbolton School and appreciate the magnificient building and the green areas around the castle.

http://tours.e4education.co.uk/kimbolton