I agree…I think she quite possibly lied.  I just get the feeling that Arthur being too sickly and weak to consummate his marriage is farfetched.  Obviously, since she was stuck in England with only loneliness, abandonment from her ambitious parents, and decreasing political importance, Katherine would have greatly benefited from such a lie.  But I doubt that we will ever know for sure.

I say she was a virgin when she married Henry.  Consummation of a marriage was a big deal back then.  I find it hard to believe that someone as devout and religious as Katharine was would lie about something like that.

Hmm I may have to change my opinion on this subject.  I just started reading Antonia Fraser's “The Wives of Henry VIII”, and there are some interesting facts in the section about Katherine that lean towards her virginity after Arthur died and seem credible.  However, I haven't finished this section, so I'll have to update on this.

Hannah said:

There is no  way of ever knowing the truth about this, I think we just have to mindful of the fact that Katherine could've lied. Most men know when a woman is a virgin, there is usually blood and discomfort when a woman's virginity is taken. Only Henry and Katherine themselves know the details of that. Also, Arthur as far as I know, died of sweating sickness meaning that he would've been perfectly healthy up until the day before he died. And ofcourse, there were Arthur's famous boasts about “being in the midst of Spain”. We just don't know, and likely, never will. For what its worth, Henry genuinely believed she wasn't a virgin and attributed Arthur's death to too much sexual activity at too young a age; and barred his own illegimiate son from consummating his marraige (to Mary Howard).

Some people are in pain the first few times they “consummate” so they could give the appearance of virginity each time without any real acting or lying.  I dunno.  Different question-do you think Anne thought Katherine was truly not a virgin when she married Henry?

Of couse, there is no way of knowing for sure, but my gut tells me Katherine was not a virgin when she went to Henry's bed.  Arthur was a healthy young man when they were married.  It would have been expected of them to consummate their marriage.  They were 15 and 16 yrs old.  Old enough to bedded and to have children in that time period.

She claimed she was a virgin for diplomatic reasons.   And when it came to diplomacy, Katherine proved herself to be as manipulative as her Father and Father-in-law.

As for Anne's thoughts on this, it's probably a safe bet that she would have believed Katherine was lying.  Henry may have influenced that belief; but then again, Anne was very good at forming her own opinions and most assuredly would not have trusted Katherine's say so.

I read, in Antonia Fraser's book about The six Wives of Henry VIII, that Catherine was virgin when she married Henry VIII. But Arthur, Henry's brother, said that he and Catherine consumated on the first night. I think that Catherine was virgin and that Arthur lied but this is a mistery; only Catherine knew the thrut.

Katharine's beloved and only brother Juan was sickly like Arthur, and died shortly after his teen marriage: it was believed at the time that he had worn himself out trying to do his duty. I read a book (can't remember which one, but I believe it was fiction) in which Katharine confesses to her duenna after Arthur's death that she was still a virgin. That she had been worried about Arthur dying like Juan, and had confided in him the story of her brother dying. That she was willing to wait until he was stronger and also willing to let people think the marriage had been consummated to protect his pride. And that Arthur had been relieved and grateful, and it had brought them closer. But now that he was dead, there was no longer any reason to protect his pride and let Henry VII hang on tenterhooks and delay naming Henry heir while wondering if she was pregnant.

Even if it was fiction, enough of it seemed plausible to make me wonder. And the story of her brother is true, so maybe…

I can’t figure out a reason that they wouldn’t have consummated the marriage in 6 months….I mean, they were around the same age…I don’t see where they complained about each other anywhere….and he didn’t get sick and die until April(6 months after the wedding)….so why wouldn’t they? Isn’t it their job to get to the business to creating an heir asap?

But I see what everyone else is saying…that she was so “good” that she wouldn’t lie about something like that…but as we know, women were chattel…maybe her father made her lie in order to keep the alliance…maybe Henry vii pressured her to lie in order to keep her dowry….

From the books I’ve read, it seems like the ladies in waiting and serving maids knew more about those queens and princesses bodies than they knew themselves….so I wonder if there was someone who testified(during the granting of the dispensation) that there was no evidence of consummation?

I know one thing, I would LOVE to know the reason the marriage was not consummated with Arthur in 6 months, and he was close to her age…but it was consummated with Henry viii and he was 5 yrs younger….(around 11yrs old)….

The comments that Arthur supposedly said that where brought up during the divorce trial sound to me like a young man who is trying to save face. He would not have admitted that the marriage was not consumated for political and personal reasons. If he even said them at all.

When Arhur was alive, it was to her benefit to say the marriage had been consummated, but when he died, it was better to say the marriage had not been consummated. Personally, I like to think that she was a virgin because I so love the way she staunchly stood up for herself and Mary and it would be very heartbreaking if that was based on a lie.

I read somewhere that Henry VII had said that his son (Henry VIII) was not to marry his brothers widow. Ferdinand and Isabella were apparently none too pleased with their daughter being treated so badly in England after the death of Arthur and made it known quite strongly.  Young Henry was apparently infatuated with Katherine even though just 11 at the time of Arthur's wedding, he spent more time with Katherine than Arthur from her arrival in England to her wedding. Young Henry was the one who accompanied Katherine to her wedding and was said to be dazzled by the occasion. It was never envisaged that young Henry would ever become king and his education took a 180 degree turn on the death of Arthur his brother. He now needed to be moulded into a king, usually a lifetimes work and education. It is my feeling that young Henry knew what he wanted and Katherine who had been cast aside gladly took young Henry's offer. I also think that Henry was guided by his mother, Elisabeth of York and at that time he took her word as gospel. The alliance of England's Henry and Spain's Katherine ticked so many boxes, it just had to happen at that time. For Henry VIII it was perfect and what he wanted.

England needed stability and regardless of what Elisabeth of York's husband Henry VII thought before his death, a re-marriage to Spain would bring this much needed stability about and after all,  there were not too many available alliances of worth to the English throne at that time. The Tudor claim to the throne was dubious enough and the new King, Henry VIII needed every advantage if he were to succeed and not end up in more wasteful wars with England's Nobles and there were many who believed to have more claim on his throne than any Tudor.

so, I can't see Katherine's Virginity getting in the way of what needed to be done. If she needed to be a Virgin, then she was!