Did Katherine of Aragon suffer from prognathism?
This is an excerpt from my book "Medical Downfall of the Tudors: Sex, Reproduction & Succession" (pp. 111-113).
"In 1519, Francis I quipped that Henry VIII
“has an old deformed wife, while he himself is young and handsome”.[i] It
is generally assumed that the French King was referring to Katharine’s
corpulent figure; several years later one eyewitness described her as “of low
stature” and “rather stout”.[ii]
Yet there’s evidence that Francis was referring not only to Katharine’s bulky
figure but also to a deformity of her jaw—a deformity that has been overlooked
by modern historians until now.
In the vast collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, there is a boxwood draughtsman that bears a portraitof Katharine of Aragon, dating to c. 1535.[iii] She is depicted in profile to the left, with her head covered by a hood of English making, and wears a dress with a low-cut décolletage that emphasises her ample bosom. Around her neck, she wears a chain with a pendant. The feature that draws the viewer’s attention is the half-opened, jutting jaw.
This is not the only depiction of Katharine with a pronounced jaw. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna holds a set of twenty-seven boxwood-on-walnut game pieces, dating to c. 1535, depicting various historical personages of the sixteenth century.[iv] Katharine of Aragon is one of them: She is depicted wearing similar headdress, clothes and pendant as in the Victoria & Albert boxwood draughtsman but faces the viewer with her eyes turned to the left. Like in the Victoria & Albert piece, her jaw is half-opened and pronounced.
The National Portrait Gallery in London preserves a miniature of Katharine, dating to c. 1525-26, wherein her jaw is more pronounced that in other known portraits.[v] Finally, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has a portrait of the Queen wherein her jaw is closed but clearly jutting.[vi]
The abovementioned evidence suggests that
Katharine of Aragon suffered from mandibular prognathism, much like her
Habsburg nephew Charles V (Katharine’s sister Joanna married into the Habsburg
dynasty in 1496, espousing Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy). The so
called “Habsburg jaw” refers to the inherited trait which was present and
clearly evident in the Habsburg family, Maximilian I and Charles V being the
most prominent examples in the sixteenth century. This condition manifests
itself as a jutting of the jaw. Yet the Habsburgs were not the only ones who
suffered from prognathism. The Trastámara dynasty, from which both of
Katharine’s parents descended, had several members who suffered from
prognathism. Katharine’s half uncle, Henry IV of Castile, was the most
prominent example, as evidenced by his skeletal remains. John II of Castile,
Katharine’s maternal grandfather, also suffered from prognathism, as did the
first Trastámara King of Castile, Henry II. Clearly, prognathism ran in
Katharine of Aragon’s family and was a trait she inherited."
[i] Calendar
of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice,
Volume 2, 1509-1519, n. 1230.
[ii] Calendar
of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice,
Volume 4, n. 694.
[iii] Catherine of Aragon, gamesiece, Museum
number: A.35-1934,
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O96204/catherine-of-aragon-gamespiece-kels-hans
[iv] The Kunsthistorisches Museum, KK 3851-77.
[v] Katherine of Aragon, attributed to Lucas Horenbout
(or Hornebolte), watercolour on vellum, circa 1525-1526, NPG L244,
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw191234/Katherine-of-Aragon
[vi] Catherine of Aragon, 48.1142,
https://collections.mfa.org/objects/33353
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