#OnThisDay

Henry VIII was crowned in Westminster Abbey on the 24 June 1509. Henry of course was not meant to be king of England, that was to have been his brother Arthur, Prince of Wales. However, Arthur died on April 2, 1502 at Ludlow Castle, where he and Catherine of Aragon were to have established their household. Both Arthur and Catherine were afflicted by an unknown illness, attributed to the “sweating sickness”, and whilst Catherine recovered, Arthur, who had been growing weaker sometime before arriving at Ludlow Castle, died six months before he would have turned sixteen. Henry’s life would now take a different route than that planned as a younger brother of a monarch, and the consequences which then followed his marriage to his brother’s widow, Catherine, are of course well documented for England was never to be the same again.

If you want to know what links Henry VIII to Samuel Pepys, the term ‘Schadenfreude’, Theresa May, Chaucer’s The Miller’s Tale, the siege of Gibraltar in 1782 and Elvis, listen to our episode on the fart!

For an unexpected look at the history of the Tudors listen to our episode on the Tudors!

For more on the unexpected history of the English Reformation, listen to our episode on the Reformation!

Or why not read our magazine post about the sweating sickness here.