A Son of Aragon - Henry VIII's Catholic Heir

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Direwolf22

A Son of Aragon- Henry VIII's Catholic Heir

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Hello all. This will be my new timeline. After returning to the site and in the process of wrapping up Disaster at Leuthen I will now be beginning a new journey. One where we will revisit the chaos and opportunities of early Reformation Europe. We shall begin with that age old question of alternative history: what if Catherine of Aragon had had a surviving son? I shall as always try to remain in the realm of plausibility but may look to push and experiment more than I have previously. Things to look forward to are a very different Britain, a new balance of power in Eastern and Central Europe, religious and political struggles from the Irish Sea to the Bay of Bengal.

This will be a top-down style of timeline, written in the same manner and format as Disaster at Leuthen was. And I may indulge in a fair bit of artistic license. Months of research, planning and writing have already been done and a fair plan has been worked out for the next century. After that we shall find out together. We will begin by addressing the small changes in England and the surrounding states. But then in the next few years the butterflies will flap their wings and then we shall see Europe face its new destiny come what may.

The POD will be Catherine's rumored pregnancy of 1517. It is likely this ended OTL in miscarriage which in turn accelerated the souring of her marriage to King Henry and and his desire for annulment and a new wife. And we all know where that ended.

But what if it hadn't? What if she had seen through the pregnancy? What if she had a born a son? How would history be different if Henry VIII had gotten his prince? And secured his Catholic heir? Well what follows shall be my interpretation of a possible different history.

Do not listen to the Insults and Detractions against the Vicar of Christ which the Fury of the little Monk spews up against the Pope; nor contaminate Breasts sacred to Christ with impious Heresies, for if one sews these he has no Charity, swells with vain Glory, loses his Reason, and burns with Envy." - Henry VIII on Luther in the Defence of the Seven Sacraments (1521).

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Jonathan

Jonathan

Is there a reason your going for the seventh pregnancy, the one after Mary?

The fifth one sounded easier to change when on 30th June 1513, Catherine was left as regent in England when Henry VIII went to fight in France. In November 1513, she went into labour prematurely and gave birth to a stillborn boy.
 

Direwolf22

Jonathan said:
Is there a reason your going for the seventh pregnancy, the one after Mary?

The fifth one sounded easier to change when on 30th June 1513, Catherine was left as regent in England when Henry VIII went to fight in France. In November 1513, she went into labour prematurely and gave birth to a stillborn boy.
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Yes there is. Quite simply there are things that have happened by 1517 that I didn't want to change. Specifically Mary's birth (she will definitely have a part to play) and some of the events in Italy and the Balkans.
 
Jonathan

Jonathan

Direwolf22 said:
Yes there is. Quite simply there are things that have happened by 1517 that I didn't want to change. Specifically Mary's birth (she will definitely have a part to play) and some of the events in Italy and the Balkans.
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That’s fair enough, I’ll wait and watch with interest.
 

Polish Eagle

He was the Defender of the Faith! He was supposed to destroy the Protestants, not join them! Bring balance to the Church, not leave it in darkness!

I’ll be watching this timeline with great interest.
 

Direwolf22

Glad to see there's a lot of interest. Will start posting later this week.

Will also try during this to take in reader interests about what you'd all like to see after the first few updates.
 

BlueFlowwer

I demand a happy Catherine of Aragon! Also if Charles Brandon can get run over by a runaway wagon or something that would be perfect, thank you very much.
 

desmirelle

I like Charles Brandon - definitely better than Henry VIII - so I'm hoping his life doesn't change much. But it butterflies a marriage to Anne B.
 

desmirelle

the Kell theory raises it's head.....I think a prefrontal head injury in 1524 and increasing bad health accounts for it, myself. Especially since Henry basically went from prisoner (of his father) to King without any real training and, of course, absolute power corrupts absolutely and Henry VIII just might be the poster boy for that saying.
 
Avrorrange

Avrorrange

desmirelle said:
the Kell theory raises it's head.....I think a prefrontal head injury in 1524 and increasing bad health accounts for it, myself. Especially since Henry basically went from prisoner (of his father) to King without any real training and, of course, absolute power corrupts absolutely and Henry VIII just might be the poster boy for that saying.
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I think the fact that he had so many stillborn children most certainly is an indication that there’s something wrong on the genetics level,especially since most of the stillborns happened when Henry was athletic and young.
 
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Direwolf22

True he had some problems. But I think the twin jousting incidents in 1524 and 1536 played a large part in those. These will be butterflied. I do think he had some other issues as well so don't expect him to live until hes 80.
 

Darth_Kiryan

You know, this is very refreshing. Everyone always goes for a son by Anne Boleyn.

DOn't actually recall if I have every seen a surviving son by Katherine Timeline yet.
 

Kellan Sullivan

Darth_Kiryan said:
You know, this is very refreshing. Everyone always goes for a son by Anne Boleyn.

DOn't actually recall if I have every seen a surviving son by Katherine Timeline yet.
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The idea gets pulled out of mothballs every so often, but what happens (IMO) is that people get carried away with the idea of Henry has a son by Katherine of Aragon in 1511/1513/151x, and don't realize how much stuff would change beyond the whole no Anne Boleyn and the other 4 wives thing. Sure, Henry could still take England Protestant (for other reasons than OTL), but a son means we factor out most (if not all) the hoops that Henry's jumping through OTL 1520s, and he's too much of a glory-hound to enjoy a splendid isolation type government. Thus, it gets awkward, and (IMO) the writer either loses interest or just takes the route of least resistance and either keeps England Catholic or has everything happen as OTL (if Henry's gone Protestant for some reason). Whereas, if Anne Boleyn/one of the others gives Henry a son, all of that water's over the dam already, so the world would be more recognizable under a Henry IX born in 1533/34/36/4x than one born in 151x.

But that's just my opinion.
The last attempt at giving Henry and Katherine a son - there are probably others, but it's the only one I know of without having to go to the search function.

https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/fruit-of-the-pomegranate-a-tudor-timeline.335629/
 
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