Katherine of Aragon's prognathism

Analysing visual evidence.

In my book Medical Downfall of the Tudors, I drew attention to the visual evidence showing that Katherine of Aragon suffered from prognathism.

In 1519, Francis I quipped that Henry VIII had “an old deformed wife, while he himself is young and handsome”. 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”. Yet there’s evidence that Francis was referring not only to Katharine’s figure but also to a deformity of her jaw—a deformity that has been overlooked by modern historians until now.

Visual evidence

In the vast collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, there is a boxwood game piece by Hans Kels the Elder, German sculptor, woodcarver and modeller. The game piece bears a portrait of Katharine of Aragon dating to c. 1535. She is depicted in profile to the left, with her head covered by an English gable hood, and wears a dress with a low-cut décolletage that emphasises her ample bosom. Around her neck, she wears a chain with an oval pendant. The feature that draws the viewer’s attention is the half-opened, jutting jaw.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna holds a set of twenty-seven boxwood-on-walnut game pieces, dating to c. 1535, depicting various political personages of the sixteenth century. Katharine of Aragon is one of them: She is depicted wearing similar headdress, clothes and pendant as in the Victoria & Albert boxwood game piece but faces the viewer with her eyes turned to the left. Like in the Victoria & Albert game piece, her jaw is half-opened and pronounced. According to the description in the Victoria & Albert Museum catalogue, both pieces were probably designed by Hans Kels the Elder.

The National Portrait Gallery in London preserves a miniature of Katharine, dating to c. 1525-26, wherein her jaw is more pronounced than in other known portraits.

Likewise, the 1511 Westminster Tournament Roll shows Katharine observing Henry VIII jousting from a gallery above the tiltyard. In this portrait, the lower part of Katharine’s face is clearly enlarged.

Finally, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston preserves a portrait of the Queen wherein her jaw is closed but clearly jutting.

The abovementioned pictorial evidence strongly suggests that Katharine of Aragon suffered from mandibular prognathism. The word prognathism originates from two Greek words: pro, meaning “forward”, and gnathos, meaning “jaw.” In mandibular prognathism, the jaw protrudes and the face is disfigured. Prognathism is an extension or bulging out (protrusion) of the lower jaw (mandible). Jaw deformities may be caused by genetic factors, trauma and certain birth defects, such as cleft lip and cleft palate.

Prognathism is a medical condition characterized by the protrusion of the lower jaw but it is often referred to as the “Habsburg jaw”. While this term suggests an exclusive association with the Habsburg dynasty, the condition was, in fact, present among many individuals during the sixteenth century, far beyond the confines of one royal family.

Prognathism in Katharine of Aragon’s family

The Trastámara dynasty, from which both of Katharine of Aragon’s parents descended, produced several members who suffered from this condition. Katharine’s half uncle, King Henry IV of Castile, was the most recent example in the Trastámara line, as evidenced by his skeletal remains exhumed from his resting place in 1946. Katharine’s brother John of Castile, Prince of Asturias, was said to have had an “ailment affecting his lower lip and tongue that prevented him from speaking fluently”, perhaps a cleft lip or possibly prognathism.

Conclusion

The extent of Katharine of Aragon’s prognathism is not known, and only exhumation of her skeletal remains could yield conclusive evidence.

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If you enjoyed this post, you’ll love my new book Secrets of the Tudor Portraits where I discuss Tudor portraiture.