Editing Arthur, Prince of Wales (section)

== Death ==
[[File:Prince Arthur transept window.jpg|thumb|right|Prince Arthur at prayer, depicted on a stained glass window in [[Great Malvern Priory]]]]
[[File:Prince Arthur's Tomb, Worcester Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 486860.jpg|thumb|Prince Arthur's Tomb in [[Worcester Cathedral]]]]
After residing at [[Tickenhill Palace|Tickenhill Manor]]{{sfn|Weir|2008b|p=35}} for a month, Arthur and Catherine headed for the [[Welsh Marches]], where they established their household at [[Ludlow Castle]].{{sfn|O'Day|2012|p=1554}} Arthur had been growing weaker since his wedding,{{sfn|Weir|2007|p=35}} and Henry VII thus seemed reluctant to allow Catherine to follow him, until ultimately ordering her to join her husband.{{sfn|Weir|2007|p=36}}

Arthur found it easy to govern Wales, as the border had become quiet after many centuries of warfare. In March 1502, Arthur and Catherine were afflicted by an unknown illness, "a malign vapour which proceeded from the air."{{sfn|Weir|2007|p=37}} It has been suggested that this illness was the mysterious English [[sweating sickness]],{{sfn|Hibbert|2010|p=4}} [[tuberculosis]] ("consumption"),{{sfn|Whitelock|2010|p=14}} [[Black Death|plague]]{{sfn|Tatton-Brown|Mortimer|2003|p=286}} or [[influenza]].{{sfn|Barber|Pykitt|1997|p=269}}{{refn|In 2002, Arthur's tomb was opened, but experts could not determine the exact cause of death; a genetic ailment which also affected Arthur's nephew, [[Edward VI]], was mentioned as a possible cause being investigated.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1394759/Discovery-of-grave-may-solve-mystery-death-of-Henry-VIIIs-brother-at-15.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1394759/Discovery-of-grave-may-solve-mystery-death-of-Henry-VIIIs-brother-at-15.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | title=Discovery of grave may solve mystery death of Henry VIII's brother at 15 | publisher=telegraph.co.uk | work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] | date=20 May 2002 | access-date=9 October 2013 | author=Derbyshire, David}}{{cbignore}}</ref>|group=note}} While Catherine recovered, Arthur died on 2 April 1502 at Ludlow, six months short of his sixteenth birthday.{{sfn|Ives|2007|p=1}}

News of Arthur's death reached Henry VII's court late on 4 April.<ref name="odnb" /> The King was awoken from his sleep by his confessor, who quoted [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]] by asking Henry "If we receive good things at the hands of God, why may we not endure evil things?" He then told the king that "[his] dearest son hath departed to God," and Henry burst into tears.{{sfn|Weir|2007|pp=37–38}} "Grief-stricken and emotional," he then had his wife, Elizabeth, brought into his chambers, so that they might "take the painful news together";{{sfn|Richardson|1970|p=19}} Elizabeth reminded Henry that God had helped him become king and "had ever preserved him," adding that they had been left with "yet a fair Prince and two fair princesses and that God is where he was, and [they were] both young enough."{{sfn|Crawford|2007|p=166}} Soon after leaving Henry's bedchamber, Elizabeth collapsed and began to cry, while the ladies sent for the King, who hurriedly came and "relieved her."{{sfn|Crawford|2007|p=167}}

On 8 April, a general procession took place for the salvation of Arthur's soul. That night, a [[dirge]] was sung in [[St Paul's Cathedral]] and every parish church in London.{{sfn|Gunn|Monckton|2009|p=64}} On 23 April,{{sfn|Wheeler|Kindrick|Salda|2000|p=377}} Arthur's body, which had previously been embalmed,{{sfn|Weir|2007|p=38}} sprinkled with holy water and sheltered with a canopy, was carried out of [[Ludlow Castle]] and into the [[Parish Church of Ludlow]] by various noblemen and gentlemen.{{sfn|Gunn|Monckton|2009|p=64}} On 25 April, Arthur's body was taken to [[Worcester Cathedral]] via the [[River Severn]], in a "special wagon upholstered in black and drawn by six horses, also caparisoned in black."{{sfn|Gunn|Monckton|2009|p=65}} As was customary, Catherine did not attend the funeral.{{sfn|Weir|2007|p=38}} [[Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk|Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Surrey]] acted as chief mourner.{{sfn|Gunn|Monckton|2009|p=71}} At the end of the ceremony, Sir William Uvedale, Sir Richard Croft and Arthur's household ushers broke their staves of office and threw them into the Prince's grave.{{sfn|Hearne|1774|p=381}} During the funeral, Arthur's own arms were shown alongside those of [[Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd]] and [[Brutus of Troy]].<ref name="odnb" /> Two years later, a [[chantry]] was erected over Arthur's grave.{{sfn|Wheeler|Kindrick|Salda|2000|p=377}}