Elvira Manuel
Doña Elvira Manuel was a Spanish noblewoman and duenna of Princess Catherine of Aragon.
Catherine's mother, Queen Isabella I of Castile, trusted Doña Elvira completely. Ferdinand and Isabella instructed Ferdinand, Duke de Estrada, that Elvira would order Catherine's household according to her discretion and their orders, and he should see that Catherine should do as Elvira advised.[1] Shortly before the death of Queen Isabella in 1504, Catherine's husband, Arthur, Prince of Wales died. Catherine was then betrothed to Henry, Prince of Wales and Duke of York, the future Henry VIII.
Meanwhile, Catherine's sister, Joanna was now reigning with her husband Philip in Castile. Joanna had a mental disability and could not properly rule as Queen, so it was Philip who held all the power. Henry VII saw that an alliance with Austria and Castile would do him better.
By this time, Philip had turned against his father-in-law, Ferdinand, Catherine's father, and took matters into his own hands by arranging with Henry VII that his son, the future Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, was to be married to Princess Mary Tudor and his daughter Archduchess Eleanor of Austria to Prince Henry. Henry VII then made his son repudiate his betrothal to Catherine and secretly engaged him to Catherine's niece. Doña Elvira took part in this intrigue as a spy, for she absolutely loathed Ferdinand. Suddenly, in 1506, King Philip died. At this point it was only Aragon that was left as a political option for Henry VII, and he recanted and reinstated the betrothal of Catherine and Prince Henry, but still it would be three more years before Catherine would marry Henry VIII.
When Catherine later discovered Doña Elvira's betrayal, she immediately dismissed her from her service. On 6 September 1507, Alonso de Esquivel wrote to Miguel Perez Almazan that it had been an horrible hour when Elvira left Catherine's service.[2]
References
- Weir, Alison, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, London, (1991)