[Avalon]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

Avalon, sorry to insist again and but I read in a quite reliable book about the history of Church law that pope Julius II. did not send a proper dispensation because the French had bribed him in order to make sure the marriage between Henry (later Henry VIII.) and Catherine of Aragon would not be valid. When king Henry VII., Catherine's father in law, realized that, he did not allow his son Henry (later Henry VIII.) to marry Catherine out of the fear that God might be against the marriage.

Though I have read in several books about Henry VIII that Pope did allow Henry to marry Catherine, I wasn't entirely sure, as they were more of a novel type books, so I tried to check.

First of all, it is important to remember that Catherine always insisted that her marriage with Arthur was not cosumated, which alone was enough to consider (in those times) the marriage between Henry and Catherine legal, since the marriage between Catherine and Arthur was not, in a way, legal (consumated). Henry humslef acknowledged that Catherine was 'pure', when she married him (during the divorce proccess).

As for the 'licence of marriage', granted by Pope Julius, here are a few quutes from different sources on the matter:

from the Official Website of the British Royal Family

Royal divorces had happened before: Louis XII had been granted a divorce in 1499, and in 1527 James IV's widow Margaret (Henry's sister) had also been granted one. However, a previous Pope had specifically granted Henry a licence to marry his brother's widow in 1509.

From Tudor History Organization

It was deemed necessary for a papal dispensation to be issued allowing Henry to marry Catherine, as she was his dead brother's wife, and this marriage was prohibited in Leviticus. At the time, and throughout her life, Catherine denied that her marriage to Arthur had even been consummated (and given the boy's health, that is most likely the case) so no dispensation was needed. However, both the parties in Spain and England wanted to be sure of the legitimacy of the marriage, so permission from the pope was sought and received. This issue would be very important during the Divorce and the Break with Rome.

And from Wikipedia

Henry VII was in a marital alliance between England and Spain through a marriage between Henry, Prince of Wales, and Catherine. Since the Prince of Wales sought to marry his brother's widow, he first had to obtain a dispensation from the Pope from the impediment of affinity. Catherine maintained that her first marriage was never consummated; if she were correct, no papal dispensation would have been necessary, but merely a dissolution of ratified marriage. Nonetheless, both the English and Spanish parties agreed on the necessity of a papal dispensation for the removal of all doubts regarding the legitimacy of the marriage. Due to the impatience of Catherine's mother, Queen Isabella, the Pope hastily granted his dispensation in a Papal Bull. Thus, fourteen months after her husband's death, Catherine found herself engaged to his brother, the Prince of Wales.