manuscript experts. A moving three-page plea by Catherine of Aragon auctioned by Sotheby's.
Arguably, the letter played a part in changing English history - the split from Rome.
The queen - Henry's first wife - miserable and at her wit's end, asks for help from her nephew Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor.
sufferings that I and my daughter undergo, as well in the treatment of our lives, as in the surprises and affronts which every day the King's Council puts upon us, for our troubles are matters of VII to uphold her marriage.
A month later he did, to the anger of the king, who had already had the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, grant the annulment.
The chain reaction and his subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn led to the break with the Catholic Church. "It is an extraordinary letter," said Marsha Malinowski of Sotheby's in New York. "It is so rare to have someone of such high standing write in her own hand, not using a secretary.
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Catherine was 39 when she wrote the letter, which is one of only years. It is expected to sell for between $US100,000 ($131,000) and $US150,000 on December 11.
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