Katherine, Princess of Wales

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Early life
Katherine was born as as Grand Duchess Katrinka (meaning 'pure') Rurik at the Moscow Kremlin on the night of 29 May 1434. She was the penultimate child of six and second daughter of the Great Prince Dmitrei III, a Rurikid ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow - the largest and most prosperous of all the Rus fiefs and his wife, Vasilia Rurik, princess of the lost Byzantine Empire. Vasilia's Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire, leaving her surviving Palaigos relatives to flee to Russia and Morea. In the same year of Katrinka's birth, 1434, Kremlin records from Vasilia's personal collection confirm that Dmitrei descended into madness and was deemed unfit to rule, therefore passing his title to his eldest son, then fourteen, in his stead, known throughout history as Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Ivan transformed Russia to unified glory, his cutthroat court renowned throughout 15th century Europe and Asia for its iron fist and control through wealth -- earning accolade, fear, admirers and enemies alike through a tumultuous period. As Russia swiftly changed under Ivan's ruthless conviction, Katrinka grew and learned under his guidance. Ivan favoured Katrinka, and several records indicate their attachment to each other reflected more paternal to child than siblings throughout their lives.

By all accounts, Ivan ensured Katrinka had exposure to quality, privately tutored education. A curious child, she learned constellations, arithmetic, history, philosophy, theology. She learned to speak, read and write in Latin, and throughout the years learned French (through Ivan's wife, tsarina Adalsinda D'Anjou), Italian and English. Her favourite subjects included music and literature, leading to a lifelong prized collection of texts, a variety of which is on display with her own annotations in The British Library. As with all her daughters, Vasilia sought to teach her necessary skills including household management, embroidery, sketching, needlepoint, sewing, weaving, though Katrinka initially proved to be reluctant to such subjects. Other necessary activities included dancing, games, playing the harp, and singing. Several sources convey Katrinka thrived as a younger member of the family, avoiding the watchful eye of her mother and supervisors throughout her early years. A lively, curt, quiet, graceless tomboy, Katrinka quickly earned the pseudonym as Russia's Little Wolf, favouring swordplay, hawking, hunting, riding, archery, training with her accomplished war-hero brother, Rudolf. Like all Ruriks, Katrinka was raised under a strong Orthodox upbringing, which abruptly shifted as marital deals developed.

In order to strengthen and span Rurik influence, Rurik children were expected to wed foreign nobility, though there was strong argument for Rurik daughters to wed heirs of old fiefs to further bind loyalties to Russia's first tsar. The eldest daughter, Maria Irina, wed Prince Magnus of Sweden, Duke of Värmland in 1450. At an early age, Katrinka was considered a suitable bride for Ferdinand, then Prince of Naples, heir apparent to the Neapolitan throne. Katrinka received Ferdinand's portrait, and the two exchanged several letters throughout their betrothal. By January 1456, however, exchange between Ivan and Naples' ambassador resulted in a dissolved deal, leaving Katrinka once more as a strong bargaining tool for Russian alliances.

Marriage
No time was spared in securing a new marital arrangement for Russia's Little Wolf. In early 1456, the Ruriks and the Plantagenets of England desired to strengthen ties between England and Russia to provide a powerful alliance between East and West, which proved to be a momentous historical move. Ivan commissioned his court's esteemed painter, Sir Andrew Rublev, to create a portrait of the grand duchess which was sent to Westminster in record time. Accounts of the portrait included speculation over Katrinka's "unseemly, unsettling" depiction, and that she held an Orthodox text. After some diplomatic discussion between King Edward IV and Katrinka's brother, Nikita Rurik, a deal was struck to unite Katrinka with England's crown prince, Henry, Prince of Wales. The agreement was swift and unexpected, and at twenty-one years of age, Katrinka prepared to leave Moscow. Her departure from Ivan was emotional, the event inspired folksongs still heard throughout Russia's countryside today.

Katrinka and her handsome dowry was accompanied to England with an entourage of sixty people, her dearest companion on the journey was close brother, Grand Duke Nikita. She travelled with a fleet of her attendants and supervisors over a long, arduous stretch of land and sea. The voyage faced its peak of difficulty crossing the English Channel, as the party set sail in calm weather but met a tempest bringing with it  'waves so fearfully wrought'  and gale force winds so intense that many on board  'thought they should retract their course.' Witnesses account the grand duchess arrived on Dover's shores and kissed the ground of her new homeland with relief, speaking in flurried Russian, only mastering English after several living months in the country. Although she eventually became fluent in the language, she retained a heavy Russian accent throughout her days.Katrinka was greeted in Dover by an English welcoming party, though there was little time to rest as her entourage steadily travelled inland, to London.

  

Katrinka did not meet her groom until her party sailed down the Thames in formal procession amid great pomp and pageantry. Upon confirmation of their impending union, Katrinka penned several letters to Henry but refrained from sending them, a collection of such letters are included in her exhibit within the British Library. Though little is known of Katherine's first impression of Henry that fateful day of meeting him, their exchange inspired several authors, poets, filmmakers.

The following weeks consisted of chaotic joy, as thousands amassed to the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the girl who would become their beloved prince's wife, and England's future queen. Historically, Catholics were obligated to marry only other Catholics, and marital conversion of the non-Catholic party was almost obligatory. The Catholic Church received the grand duchess as a member, appointing her the new name, Katherine. Shortly after her conversion, Katherine prepared for a spectacular ceremony ready to debut her new position to the world. Katherine and Henry's matrimony was elevated for maximum public impact on an international scale. Councillors planned how pageantry, propaganda, ceremony, and entertainment would promote Plantagenet's power, creating one of the greatest public spectacles ever seen in England. Katherine and Henry wed at Westminster Abbey, marking the first royal wedding in the cathedral since the marriage of the 7th Earl of Gloucester and Joan of Acre in 1290. The ceremony extended with riotous festivities, including an endless wine fountain for the public.

Later years
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Legacy
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