Monday, May 05, 2008

Question from Liz - Catalina as Katherine of Aragon's real name

Was Katherine of Aragon's real name Catalina? Did anyone call her this?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Katherine of Aragon was born "Infanta Catalina de Aragón y Castilla". Her name was English-ized into "Katherine" or whatever spelling you prefer. Personally I find it annoying that she had to change her name... "Catalina" is so much nicer than "Katherine".

kb said...

It is probable that her Spanish entourage used the Spanish version of her name in private. Maria Salinas most likely did. But there was also a push to become English as the princess of Wales and queen of England. So using Katherine would have been part of that political statement.