The CATHERINE Necklace

The Catherine Necklace

For Halloween, I have a long record of dressing up as a strong female figure from history. In Halloween's past, I've been everything from Cleopatra to Medusa and most recently, Jackie Onassis. Since I started entertaining the idea of selling my jewelry online, I've been wanting to take my strong woman costumes and translate them into my SHE INSPIRES jewelry collection. The necklace that I'm sharing with you today is the second piece in my SHE INSPIRES collection, and I call it the CATHERINE necklace.

The CATHERINE Necklace
This necklace features heart- and tube-shaped Aragonite gemstones, Swarovski crystal, bright copper beads, black seed and bugle beads with a bright copper toggle clasp. More pictures are available on my Etsy shop.

I named this necklace after Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Spanish Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. She inspired me to make a necklace, because she had the persistence of mind to refer to herself as Henry VIII's only lawfully-wedded wife and England's only rightful Queen Consort until they day she died.

To give you the nutshell version, Henry VIII (the king with six wives) had basically divorced Catherine after they were unable to produce a male heir together. He fell in love with one of her ladies in waiting (Anne Boyelyn - who was eventually beheaded by Henry VII). Catherine's people loved her, and she was a greatly admired Queen in history (often credited with bringing about the Protestant Reformation). She fought bitterly against the annulment of her marriage in court, and was forced to live in exile. She also fought bitterly to maintain a relationship with her daughter, Mary. And, after all of that she went through with Henry VII, she wrote him one of the greatest love letters in history. She had a strong faith that seemingly never wavered, and among many of her famous quotes, the one below are words that I find very inspiring:

'In this world I will confess myself to be the king's true wife, and in the next they will know how unreasonably I am afflicted.'
~~ Catherine of Aragon, 1532 ~~

So whether Catherine was just a really gracious and confident Christian, or in complete denial about her marriage, I guess it doesn't really matter to me. For some reason, I just think that a woman with steadfast persistence of mind and gumption to fight for what she believes in are good things.