I think this is a statement. This monkey is an American monkey. Think about how many people would have a monkey from America in a Tudor's Dynasty podcast with Rebecca Larson.

Catherine of Aragon is quite possibly the most underrated of the six queens of Henry the 8th,

frequently seen as boring and pious.

Today we get a chance to look at a different side of Catherine, one we don't often talk about.

To help us understand, today I am joined by Dr. Emma Kehl-Morone. Emma's PhD is in art

history, and her research focuses on the cultural and artistic patronage of Catherine of Aragon

and the construction of the image of female power in the Tudor courts.

Emma, welcome to the show.

Hi.

I'm so excited to talk Catherine of Aragon with you today.

And I want to start out because anybody who's listened to the show for any small period

of time knows I really dislike historical typecasting.

And one of the things that drives me crazy is that Catherine of Aragon is frequently, if not

always, seen as one-dimensional, and that is as a pious queen.

So as someone who has done extensive research on her, how would you describe Catherine?

Oh, that's a very good question because you're right. I think it is fair to say that she was a very pious woman,

but there was so much more to her than that. The way I see her, because influenced by my own work,

is as a patron of the arts and culture,

as someone who is deeply interested in bringing new types of art and culture to the Tudor court

when she knows that she's going to become the queen, the first Renaissance queen in England.

That's what she's interested in, as well as also in her side of being the

ambassadors of the Spanish monarchy on advancing that alliance between the Tudor dynasty

...