The Spanish Travels of Katherine of Aragon

Long before Katherine of Aragon sailed for England, she had already traveled across kingdoms, witnessed conquest, encountered new cultures, and experienced life at the heart of an itinerant royal court.

In this episode, Rebecca is joined by Dr. Emma to retrace Katherine’s formative journeys through Spain—from her birth in Alcalá de Henares to Granada, Barcelona, Medina del Campo, Laredo, and finally La Coruña, where she departed for England in 1501.

Together, they challenge the familiar image of Katherine as an isolated princess and reveal a very different childhood: one spent on the road as a “nomad princess,” surrounded by royal ceremony, political negotiation, and the practical administration of her parents’ expanding monarchy. Katherine witnessed the surrender of Granada, experienced the extraordinary surroundings of the Alhambra, and was present in Barcelona when Christopher Columbus returned with reports and objects from across the Atlantic.

The conversation also explores Katherine’s surprising connections to the Americas and considers how the architecture and decorative traditions she encountered in Spain may later have influenced Tudor England.

Before she became Henry VIII’s queen, Katherine of Aragon had already been shaped by a childhood of movement, spectacle, cultural exchange, and political power.

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--Co-Hosts: Rebecca Larson & Dr. Emma Cahill Marron