𝕵𝖚𝖉𝖞 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖆

File Name: The Albatross 🤍

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Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII- passed away at age 50 on January 7, 1536  while in exile following the divorce in 1533 at Kimbolton Castle. When news arrived to the court of the former queen’s passing- rumors spread she died due to poisoning- which was done in some way by Henry. How he acted after the news would almost prove he was guilty. He and his second wife, Anne Boleyn wore yellow- which its debated if it was a sign of mourning as it was believed yellow was the color of mourning in Spain, or if it was a sign of celebration. Henry would even cry “God be praised that we are free from all suspicion of war!” Now he and his new queen could be together in peace it seems. (Though we all know how long that lasted)

Eustace Chapyus- imperial ambassador would write in a letter to Charles V on January 9th- noticing that Catherine fell ill after consuming a welsh beer stated “[Her] illness began about five weeks ago… It was a pain in the stomach, so violent that she could retain no food.” After consulting her Physician, Miguel de la Sola- they both would draw the poisoning conclusion, writing “He said he was afraid it was so, for after she had drunk some Welsh beer she had been worse, and that it must have been a slow and subtle poison for he could not discover evidences of simple and pure poison; but on opening her, indications will be seen.”

But, actually- poison was not what caused the death of Catherine. Despite Henry’s harsh choice to celebrate his exes death, the more plausible cause of her death by historians was more believed to be cancer, specifically cancer of the heart or a melanotic sarcoma. A melanotic sarcoma is a malignant kind of tumor often affecting the pigmentation of cells. Which often makes the color of it very dark or even black.

Prior to burial, her body would be prepared by a servant (chandler) of the household, not a physician. Chapuys would chronicle the procedure to Charles in a January 21st letter by saying her internal organs were healthy, “except the heart, which was quite black and hideous”. As well as including “some black round thing which clung closely to the outside of the heart”, which is believed to be a secondary  melanotic sarcoma. The chandler even going as far as to cut the heart in half and attempting to wash off the black from the heart, but to no avail. Though, at the time- Cancer was not an understood cause, which is why the quick belief of poison was more accepted.

During her last days, it was reported she was very weak, had stomach pains and was unable to keep food down. When researching sarcoma symptoms; weight loss, abdominal pain, and fatigue would be found as main contributors.

Unfortunately given the centuries between Catherine’s passing and medical advances we are unable to concretely diagnose what she went dealt with in her final moments on this earth, but with the letters from Chapuys its gives us a glimpse of understanding as to what more likely happened to the once Queen of England.

August 2, 2023 Welcome to Woo Wednesday, folx Today, largely thanks to yesterday's Supermoon in Aquarius, we have more unpredictable but powerful energy to harness.

You likely felt it begin yesterday, with unexpected occurrences, sudden changes in plans, or plans that were stalled, suddenly moving again. This is the energy that wil resonate to the end of the week but, it isn't overwhelming anything. You have all the power to manifest from it, whatever works for your highest good. Try to stay in the moment and remain flexible, and you will easily see your opportunities to influence the shifts.