When we think of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, we picture a queen of unwavering faith, dignity, and strength, far removed from any scandal But did you know that she was once at the centre of a scandal so controversial that it sparked gossip, royal fury, and even diplomatic intervention?
At the heart of it all was her confessor, Fray Diego Fernández, a man who had an influence over her that many at court found alarming. His close relationship with the Spanish princess raised eyebrows, strained her already fragile position in England, and even led to accusations that could have ruined her reputation.
Let me tell more…
Transcript:
When we think of Catherine of Aragon, we think of piety, dignity, and unwavering devotion. She was the deeply religious first wife of Henry VIII—a woman who endured extraordinary trials with grace. But what if I told you that Catherine, the model of virtue, was once at the centre of a scandal?
A scandal that involved her confessor, Fray Diego Fernández—a man who became her closest confidant, her advisor, and, some said, something more. This relationship raised eyebrows, sparked gossip at court, and even led to reprimands from kings.
How did this happen? How did a young princess, isolated and vulnerable, come to rely so heavily on this controversial friar? And why did their relationship cause such a stir in Tudor England?
Let’s delve into this lesser-known chapter of Catherine of Aragon’s life—a story of faith, scandal, and survival in the treacherous world of Tudor politics.
When Catherine of Aragon set sail from northern Spain in September 1501, she was destined to be Queen of England. A marriage between her and Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII of England, had been agreed in 1489 in the Treaty of Medina del Campo, with her parents, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, agreeing to pay the English king a marriage portion or dowry of 200,000 ducats (about £40,000), split into 2 instalments, and Henry agreeing to settled a third of the Prince of Wales’ lands on Catherine so that she would have income if Arthur died.
Catherine and Arthur married on 14th November 1501 and Catherine’s future seemed secure. But tragedy struck when Arthur died in April 1502, less than five months after their wedding, leaving the young widow in a precarious position. Her father, Ferdinand II of Aragon, didn’t want her back in Spain, and her father-in-law, Henry VII, was unsure of what to do with her. To complicate matters further, ongoing disputes over Catherine’s dowry and who should pay for her household left her isolated and impoverished.
Imagine this: a Spanish princess, far from home, caught between two powerful kings more interested in politics and finances than her well-being. Catherine was alone, deprived of support, and unsure of her future. She couldn’t even rely on her household, many of whom wanted to return to Spain and were unhappy with their situation in England. Catherine became betrothed to Prince Henry, the future Henry VIII, but even that arrangement hung by a thread as tensions between Spain and England simmered.
And she was without a confessor, something that must have been awful for the deeply pious Catherine. As her biographer, Giles Tremlett, points out, without a confessor, the fate of her immortal soul was at risk. In April 1506, she begged her father to send her a Spanish confessor. She didn’t want an English one, having not mastered the language. She needed one she could communicate with. And she wanted one from her mother’s favoured order, the Order of St Francis, and someone who was “a man of letters”. But Catherine didn’t wait for her father to sort it out, she took matters into her own hands, appointing Fray Diego Fernández, a young Franciscan friar. She later described him as ‘the best that ever [a] woman of my position had,’ praising his advice, good example and faithfulness.
But while Catherine saw him as a godsend, others saw trouble. Giles Tremlett notes how Diego proved himself to be ‘vain, arrogant, and bullying,’ and notes how his behaviour quickly raised eyebrows at court. Spanish ambassadors were deeply concerned about the influence he had over Catherine and how besotted with him the Spanish princess came to be. Ambassador Fuensalida warned Catherine’s father of the friar, saying Diego was ‘young, light, and haughty, and scandalous in an extreme manner.’
Diego’s close relationship with Catherine became the subject of court gossip, with suggestions that the two were even intimate. Fuensalida wrote of how the friar was “continually in the palace and amongst the women”, and Catherine turned to Diego for advice on everything, from her personal struggles to matters of state. She even chose to consult him about her marriage contract—something that horrified the Spanish ambassadors, who believed the friar was unqualified and overstepping his role.
Fuensalida accused Diego of domineering over Catherine’s household, squandering her money, and encouraging her to ignore the advice of more experienced diplomats. At one point, he even alleged that despite her father’s orders not to sell any of her plate and jewels, Diego convinced Catherine to sell her plate—precious items of silver and gold—to buy books and things for him.
Fray Diego’s influence over Catherine didn’t go unnoticed by King Henry VII. On one occasion, after recovering from an illness, Catherine was summoned to Richmond Palace by the king, to spend the day with him and his daughter, Mary. But Diego ordered her not to go. Catherine objected, saying, “I am well; I do not wish to stay here alone”, but Diego stood firm “I tell you that, upon pain of mortal sin, you shall not go today”. A mortal sin to disobey him! Catherine, feeling bound by his spiritual authority, obeyed the friar and left Princess Mary waiting for her for two hours. Henry VII was furious. Mary had seen Catherine at mass and breakfast, and reported to her father that Catherine had appeared perfectly fine. When Catherine finally appeared before the king, he ignored her completely—and continued to snub her for three weeks. She’d chosen a friar over a king.
This defiance, at Diego’s direction, strained Catherine’s already fragile position at the English court and Ambassador Fuensalida just couldn’t believe the princess’s behaviour, writing, “May God forgive me, but since I have known so well the affairs of the Princess’ household, I acquit the King of England of a great and very great portion of the blame which I hitherto laid on him, and do not wonder at what he has done, but at what he does not do. He really couldn’t blame Henry VII for his fury. A concerned Fuensalida pleaded for the Spanish king to remove Diego and send “an old and honest confessor” in his stead, warning that rumours of impropriety could harm Catherine’s reputation and derail her betrothal to Prince Henry. The ambassador even attempted to have Diego arrested and deported! Catherine may have been far too sensible and God-fearing to have an affair with her confessor, but the close relationship and her reliance on Diego adversely affected her reputation.
So why did Catherine cling so tightly to Diego, even as her father and father-in-law objected? Perhaps it was because she had no one else. Isolated and deprived of resources, Diego was the one person she believed she could rely on. She’d been badly let down by her father and father-in-law, two men she should have been able to depend on. In her letters to Ferdinand, she defended Diego fiercely, even asking her father to intervene with Henry VII to ensure Diego was treated with respect. She felt that God had sent this man to her in her hour of need, and she wasn’t giving him up.
Diego, for his part, only fuelled the scandal. In March 1509, he arrogantly declared to Fuensalida that the gossip about him and the princess didn’t bother him, saying, ‘In this house there are evil tongues, and they have cast slanderous imputations upon me… this is no disgrace to me.’ Fuensalida wrote of how incensed he was by the friar’s words that, and I quote, “almost beyond power of restraint from laying hands on him.”
And regardless of the gossip, Catherine continued to stand by her confessor, even complaining to her father that what pained her the most about her situation was that she couldn’t “remedy the hardships” of her confessor and that it grieved her that she couldn’t maintain him in the way his office and her rank demanded, due to her poverty, particularly as, she wrote, he had “always served” her “with such labour and fatigue as no one else would have undergone”. And she complained of the bad treatment Fuensalida was dishing out to her beloved confessor.
Despite Catherine’s loyalty and defence of her confessor’s reputation, Fray Diego’s story didn’t end well. He continued to serve as her confessor after her marriage to Henry VIII, even comforting her after her first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage in 1510. But in 1515, Diego’s behaviour caught up with him. Despite his pleas of innocence and claims that his accuser, the Bishop of Huntly hated him and had it in for him, Diego was found guilty of fornication and forced to leave England, his reputation in tatters.
For Catherine, Diego’s departure marked the end of a scandalous chapter in her life—a chapter that revealed just how vulnerable she was as a young princess caught between political manoeuvring and personal isolation. A knight in shining armour, Henry VIII, had saved her from her precarious position by choosing to marry her following his accession in 1509, she wasn’t vulnerable any more and perhaps didn’t need Diego.
The story of Catherine of Aragon and Fray Diego is a fascinating glimpse into the personal struggles behind the grand politics of Tudor England. Catherine’s attachment to Diego highlights her isolation and the immense pressures she faced as a pawn in a diplomatic game between two powerful kings. But it’s also a story of resilience. Despite the scandal and gossip, Catherine went on to become Queen of England and one of the most admired women of her age.
What are your thoughts on this intriguing chapter of Catherine’s life? Was she foolish to ignore the warnings of the Spanish ambassador and King of England or was she right to keep a servant who was important to her at her side?