[The following is in relation to the death of Henry, Duke of Cornwall, the first child of Henry VIII of England and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. He lived only 52 days, and the cause of his death is not recorded.]
The baby’s death was a terrible blow to both parents, a terrible blow to the nation. Henry was so grief-stricken that ambassadors dared not even offer their condolences. For the first time fate had struck him, hard, and he could not altogether understand it. Nor could Catherine, though she asked enlightenment through many weary hours on her knees. Yet the fatality was only too common in those days, in every walk of life.
We have no means of knowing what infant mortality was among the lower classes in the sixteenth century; only that it must have been appalling. Among the royalty and aristocracy, it has been estimated, of every five children born alive at least two failed to live out their first year, and at least one more died before reaching maturity. The figure is probably conservative.
Of the eight children of Henry VII and Elizabeth only three survived their parents.
Isabella not unluckier than most queens reared five, but lost at least five others by stillbirth, late miscarriage, or death in early infancy, and saw two of the five who passed childhood die in youth.
Source:
Mattingly, Garrett. “Part II: England’s Queen (1509-1527); Chapter One, Section iii” Catherine of Aragon. New York: Quality Paperback , 1990. 143. Print.
Further Reading:
Catalina de Aragón (Catherine of Aragon)
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