“Catherine of Aragon and her party would make it safely to Castile where she would dock at Santander. Her nephew Charles V would not be able to greet her as he was still embroiled in the border dispute between Castile and Aragon. Arrangement would be made to convey Catherine of Aragon to her daughter’s side.
She would arrive to find that Ferdinand had made peace with France and Navarre and would not be pursuing the English throne. He assured her that the cease fire was temporary, until the day which faithful Catholics would call for Maria Tudor. That day would never come.”
Walter Owens, “The Tragedy of Catherine of Aragon”
“England waited with baited breath to see how Kathryn Tudor would handle the religious question. For, the majority of England was still Catholic, but it had been the Awakeners that had backed her from the beginning. Now that she had the crown, which side would be rewarded?
Initially, it appeared that Kathryn Tudor would be supporting the Awakeners; her grandfather, Prince Henry perhaps
the Awakener, was appointed Lord Chancellor. But then Sir Thomas More was appointed Lord Privy Seal. Sir Thomas More was a great opponent of the Awakeners. Next, Thomas Cromwell, newly made Duke of Suffolk and an Awakener, was made Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Appointments continued in this vein; one appointment for the Awakeners, and one for the Catholics. When questioned about the selections, Kathryn Tudor is recorded to have said, ‘I am to be Queen of ALL England. The Catholic and the Awakener alike.’
Ironically, Sir Thomas More who previously had been one of the great persecutors of the Awakeners, became one of her greatest backers in her policy of religious tolerance. Legend goes that she told him she greatly enjoyed
Utopia and wish to see some of its practices in real life, namely religious acceptance.
While this policy was seen as madness at the time, it was probably what allowed her to keep her throne is the face of her various challengers. None of the parties, Catholics, Awakeners, or the growing population of protestants, were favored enough to gain power over the other nor were they unfavored enough to truly get riled up over it.”
Vanessa Corey, “Glorianna”
“Interviewer: So which book is the movie actually based on? ‘Catherine and Kathryn’ by Everett Jacobs, from which the film gets its name, or Walter Owens’ ‘The Tragedy of Catherine of Aragon?’ Because I see plot points in the movie that can be found in both books.
Richard Gray: We drew inspiration from both books. Jacobs does a wonderful job of showing how similar both women were and Owens depiction of the collapse of their relationship is truly heartrending.
Interviewer: Do you feel the ending was oversimplified? That Kathryn Tudor won the war simply because she was willing to compromise on religion?
Richard Gray: No, I don’t. While there were a lot of complicated factors, the simple fact is Kathryn Tudor was more pragmatic than her grandmother.”
Interview with Richard Gray director of “Kathryn and Catherine”