He said that the marriage was not valid because Catherine had been married to his older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales before she had married Henry. Arthur had died a few months after the marriage at the age of fifteen, and a special dispensation from the Pope on the ground the marriage had never been consummated was issued so Catherine could marry Henry and the alliance between Spain and England would be kept. King Henry now thought that their marriage should not have been allowed in the first place and that they had been punished by not having any sons. He quoted a verse from the Bible that said "a man may not marry his brother's wife". He said he was doing what he thought was right, even though he still loved Catherine, but his conscience would not allow him to continue living in sin with her. The plans for the divorce caused a lot of gossip at court and abroad and became known as the "King's Great Matter".