Sir William Bulstrode

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Abt 1485; Gentleman Usher to Catherine of Arogan
• Office: Abt 1500; Justice of the Peace and Member of Parliament

Notes:

Catherine of Aragon,
Queen of Henry VIII., was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile, and was born in 1483. In her 18th year she was married to Arthur, prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII. The young prince dying in a few months after his marriage, Henry's mercenary dread of losing the rich dowry of Catherine induced him to marry her of to her brother-in-law, afterwards Henry VIII.

The vast religious changes to which the dissolution of this marriage gave occasion belong rather to history than to biography. Suffice it, therefore, to say, that after years of anxiety and spirited resistance she was divorced. But though she was no longer called queen at court, her attendants at Kimbolton Castle, where she took up her residence, were never allowed to address her otherwise than as a queen, as she protested to the last that the divorce was unjust and illegal.

Just before her death she wrote a pathetic letter to Henry in favour of Mary, their daughter, and he is said to have shed tears as he perused it. She possessed considerable literary ability, but some devotional pieces, which have been attributed to her pen, were the production of queen Catherine Parr. Died at Kimbolton, Jan. 1, 1536.

William married Maud UNKNOWN about 1485. Maud was born about 1460. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]