Catalina's father, Ferdinand of Aragon

Catalina's father, Ferdinand of Aragon, is both an intimate family presence and a forceful architect of dynastic policy. In Catalina’s account, he wins Isabella of Castile through a daring secret visit, but his later dealings over marriage alliances and money reveal the same defining trait: he plans ahead and pursues his objectives with little regard for the obstacles his methods create for others.

Identity and Political Ambition

Ferdinand is presented as a ruler intent on extending his kingdom. Catalina describes Castile and Aragon as the foundations of a growing realm, with Granada added and further expansion still in view. She identifies Navarre and Naples as particular aims and expects him to press beyond them toward the southern and western regions of France. His ambitions reach beyond securing existing borders: in her telling, he will not be satisfied until he has enlarged them further.

That long-range outlook shapes his diplomacy. When King Louis makes an alliance with him, Catalina interprets it not as a change in Ferdinand’s ultimate aims but as a move in a larger contest for Naples and Navarre. She argues that King Louis may believe he has gained an ally, while Ferdinand will extract a high price. To the English court, the arrangement looks like a troubling partnership with a rival; Catalina counters that Ferdinand’s pressure on France in the south may serve England’s interests as well.

Marriage to Isabella of Castile

Catalina recounts her parents’ courtship as an episode in which political alliance and personal feeling converge. Isabella was in danger of being married off by her brother to prevent her from inheriting his throne. Ferdinand, her cousin and heir to a neighboring kingdom, came to her castle in disguise, traveling at night without servants or soldiers. He revealed himself to her and proposed; Catalina says Isabella accepted at once and that the two fell in love immediately.

The account also gives the romance a pointedly practical edge. Ferdinand told Isabella that he had obtained a dispensation for their marriage, but Catalina says it was not properly signed. She describes him as having deceived his devout prospective bride, then securing a dispensation for her to hold. The episode establishes a pattern: Ferdinand could act boldly to make a political future possible, while treating the legal and religious steps as matters to manage in pursuit of his decision.

Diplomacy, Marriage, and Money

Ferdinand’s approach to the English alliance becomes visible in the dowry dispute. He agreed to a substantial payment for Catalina but sent her to England with only half the money, proposing that the value of her household plate and other goods make up the remainder. Henry VII demanded the full sum; Ferdinand maintained that Catalina’s household had been supplied with the best and invited the English king to choose from it. The disagreement turned domestic goods into diplomatic bargaining assets and set the marriage on a tense financial footing.

The stakes sharpened after Arthur’s death. Under the marriage arrangements, Catalina was owed a jointure amounting to a third of the revenues of Wales, Cornwall, and Chester, and her parents also sought the return of her dowry. Catalina doubted that Henry VII would pay either the sums or the revenues, particularly since he had not reliably paid her allowance while Arthur was alive. She also understood that the contract gave her leverage: the king owed her the dowry, could not simply claim her plate, and had to provide the jointure until she remarried. The return of the dowry and the payment of the jointure were thus not merely private financial matters; they affected whether Catalina could remain in England or be sent back to Spain.

A letter from Isabella sets out what Catalina is to do under either possible outcome of her next course. If she is not pregnant, she is to remain in her appointed lodging until certain, have Dr. de Puebla demand her jointure, and sail for Spain only after receiving the money. If she is pregnant, the letter directs that the dowry be paid in cash and at once, while Catalina secures her allowance and rests in hope of a boy. This is Isabella’s instruction, not a direct statement of Ferdinand’s decision, but it places Catalina’s body and prospects for remarriage within the financial calculations of the two courts.

Catalina’s Position and His Legacy

Ferdinand’s policies leave Catalina caught between her father’s demands and Henry VII’s resistance. After Arthur’s death, she faces competing claims over her dowry, plate, and widow’s income, while the possibility of being recalled to Spain carries the prospect of another marriage arranged for her. Later, as her betrothal to Harry remains unfulfilled, she describes poverty severe enough that she turns her gowns, sells jewels and household plate, and pawns gold pieces to feed herself and her household. She knows that each sale may delay the marriage she wants, yet has no wages with which to support those around her. These passages show the human cost of a dynastic settlement whose financial promises are contested across borders.

Ferdinand’s authority also stands behind the legal and political obstacles to Catalina’s proposed marriage to Henry VII. De Puebla points out that the proposed union would require a papal dispensation and that, without her parents’ application, there could be no marriage. The exchange does not establish Ferdinand’s final response, but it makes clear that Catalina’s choice cannot be separated from parental consent and international negotiation.

The novel therefore presents Ferdinand neither simply as a devoted father nor merely as a calculating king. His clandestine journey to Isabella offers a story of initiative and love; his marriage maneuvering, territorial aims, and hard bargaining over Catalina’s dowry display a ruler who repeatedly makes private relationships serve dynastic strategy. For Catalina, that legacy is both an inheritance of political understanding and a constraint: she knows how her father calculates, but must live with the consequences of decisions made between kings.