[Footnote 58: The next prince to hold the title was
Charles, afterwards Charles I., who was created
Duke of York on 6th Jan., 1605.]
[Footnote 59: Afterwards Queen of Portugal and then
of France. _L. and P._, _Henry VII._, i., 285,
425.]
Immediately on receiving the news, and two days before they dated
their letter of condolence to Henry VII., Ferdinand and Isabella
commissioned the Duke of Estrada to negotiate a marriage between the
widowed Catherine and her youthful brother-in-law.[60] No doubt was
entertained but that the Pope would grant the necessary dispensation,
for the spiritual head of Christendom was apt to look tenderly on the
petitions of the powerful princes of this world. A more serious
difficulty was the question of the widow's dower. Part only had been
paid, and Ferdinand not merely refused to hand over the rest, but
demanded the return of his previous instalments. Henry, on the other
hand, considered himself entitled to the whole, refused to refund a
penny, and gave a cold reception to the proposed marriage between
Catherine and his sole surviving son. He was, however, by no means
blind to the advantages of the Spanish matrimonial and political
alliance, and still less to the attractions of Catherine's dower; (p. 027)
he declined to send back the Princess, when Isabella, shocked at Henry
VII.'s proposal to marry his daughter-in-law himself, demanded her
return; and eventually, when Ferdinand reduced his terms, he suffered
the marriage treaty to be signed. On 25th June, 1503, Prince Henry and
Catherine were solemnly betrothed in the Bishop of Salisbury's house,
in Fleet Street.
[Footnote 60: _Sp. Cal._, i., 267.]
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