[The following takes place during the wedding celebrations for Catherine of Aragon and Arthur, Prince of Wales, in 1501. Arthur was the older brother of Henry VIII, who was quite young at this time (Later, Arthur would die before the marriage could be consummated, and Catherine would later marry Henry VIII as his first wife).]
To the gaiety Catherine contributed the antics of her Spanish fool who performed on a high platform grotesquely dexterous feats of tumbling and balancing which kept the onlookers gasping with alternate apprehension and laughter, and she, herself, danced for the company the dances of Spain. Even little Henry, the Prince’s brother, danced, performing with such determined energy that to everyone’s delight he finally threw off his heavy surcoat and capered in his smallclothes [underwear, basically].
Source:
Mattingly, Garrett. “Part I: A Spanish Princess (1485-1509); Chapter 2, Section iii” Catherine of Aragon. New York: Quality Paperback , 1990. 42. Print.
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