by Heather R. Darsie, J. D.

Thank you for joining me on the first stop of my blog tour celebrating the release of Katharine of Aragon, Spanish Princess: ‘I am not as Simple as I may Seem’!

When thinking of from whom Katharine of Aragon inherited her courage and her moxy, one’s mind instantly goes to Katharine’s mother, Isabella of Castile and Leon. While it is true that Isabella was an exceptional role model for Katharine when it came to stalwart, elegant queenship, Katharine had another ancestress born four centuries before herself: Urraca of Leon.

Urraca of Leon, who became know as Urraca the Reckless, was a fascinating woman. She is discussed in my new book Katharine of Aragon, Spanish Princess: ‘I am not as Simple as I may Seem’:

“The Trastámara dynasty was not always in power on the Iberian peninsula. They first came into power over the Crown of Castile and León before being elected in Aragón. Before the Trastámara dynasty, the House of Ivrea, a cadet branch of the Burgundian-Frankish Anscarid dynasty ruled Castile.

“Urraca de Jiménez was the first recognized European queen regnant. Recognized as Queen Urraca of León and Castile, known as the Reckless, she lived from 24 June 1081 until 8 March 1126. Her reign lasted from 1 July 1109 until her death. Urraca was Empress of All Spain in her own right. She was also the Countess of Galicia, and at one point queen consort of Aragón and Navarre during her second marriage to Alfonso I of Aragón, known as the Battler.

“It was Urraca’s son Alfonso with her first husband, Raymund of Burgundy, that produced Urraca’s heir to León and Castile. Raymund came from the cadet branch of the Anscarid House of Ivrea. Urraca’s son Alfonso VII of León and Castile became the common Ivrean ancestor of the Castilian and Leonese monarchs until the Trastámara dynasty was founded. Ivrean blood flowed in Trastámaran veins too, albeit not in a recognized way.”

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After Urraca’s first husband Raymund died and she was no longer under his thumb, she asserted herself as the first European queen regnant. Her father had died not long before her husband, and so she wasted no time in claiming the throne. Not wanting to leave room for doubt, Urraca issued her first official document as queen regnant the day after her father was buried. Several important nobles and bishops from the territories under her reign witnessed the document, showing that there was no objection to the roughly twenty-eight-year-old queen. It was around this time that she began styling herself the empress of Galicia, an archaic term for the territories on the Iberian peninsula that make up modern Spain.

Urraca’s solo reign lasted for only a couple of months before she was convinced to marry Alfonso I of Aragon. The couple wed in late 1109. It was a horrible, physically abusive marriage, with Urraca separating from Alfonso within half a year. Hostilities between the two increased, leading to annulment and a war. Eventually, the war subsided. Urraca died in childbirth with her second illegitimate child in 1126.

Katharine of Aragon, Spanish Princess: ‘I am not as Simple as I may Seem’ is available for preorder in the UK and US. It will be released in the UK on 15 May 2025 and in the US on 14 October 2025.