Catherine Howard
Katherine Howard | |
---|---|
Queen Consort of England | |
![]() Miniature watercolour portrait of Katherine Howard, attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger. The manner of dress and jewellery suggest the subject's identity as Katherine. | |
Spouse | Henry VIII |
Father | Lord Edmund Howard |
Mother | Joyce Culpepper |
Kathryn Howard (between 1520 and 1525 – 13 February 1542), also called Katherine Howard[1] was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England (1540-1542), and sometimes known by his reference to her as "the rose without a thorn". Her birth date and place of birth is unknown, (occasionally cited as 1521, probably in London). She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, a poor younger son of the 2nd Duke of Norfolk. Catherine married Henry VIII on 28 July 1540, at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, almost immediately after his annulment from Anne of Cleves was arranged. However, Catherine's marital conduct and past sexual history were known to be unchaste, and she was beheaded after less than two years of marriage on the grounds of treason.
Rise and fall
Early life
Catherine Howard was the tenth child of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce (Jocasta) Culpepper. Her older siblings (not in chronological order) were as follows: Ralph, George, Henry, Charles, Mary, Thomas, Isabel, Joyce,and Margaret.
Catherine's exact date of birth is unknown, although the year has been estimated as being between 1520 and 1525. She was the niece of the Duke of Norfolk, and a first cousin to Henry's second wife Queen Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary Boleyn, a former lover to Henry VIII.
Catherine's family therefore had an aristocratic pedigree, but her father, a younger son, was not well-off and often begged for handouts from his more powerful relatives. His niece, Anne Boleyn, got him a government job working for the king in Calais in 1531[citation needed].
At this point, young Catherine was sent to live with her step-grandmother, Agnes Tilney, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.
The Dowager Duchess ran a large household at Lambeth Palace, and she had numerous female and male attendants, along with her many wards; usually the children of relatives who could not afford to support their families. Supervision was lax, as the Dowager Duchess was often at Court and took little interest in the upbringing and education of her wards.
Consequently, Catherine was the least educated of Henry's wives, although she could read and write, unlike many English women of her time. Her character is often described as merry and vivacious, but never scholarly or devout, and a casual upbringing in the licentious atmosphere of the Duchess's household led to a romance with her music teacher, Henry Mannox around 1536, when Catherine was between the ages of eleven and thirteen. When she became queen, Mannox was appointed as a musician in her household. Mannox later gave evidence in the inquiry against her.
Mannox and Catherine both confessed during her adultery trial that they had engaged in physical contact similar to sexual foreplay: "At the flattering and fair persuasions of Mannox being but a young girl I suffered him at sundry times to handle and touch the secret parts of my body which neither became me with honesty to permit nor him to require." She said. "And I do also admit that I enjoyed his relationship with me, though I shall never regret loving him, I do now love Henry."
This affair came to an end in 1538, when Catherine was pursued by a secretary of the Duchess' household, Francis Dereham. They became lovers, addressing each other as "husband" and "wife". Dereham also entrusted Catherine with wifely duties such as keeping his money when he was away on business. Many of Catherine's roommates knew of the affair, and it was apparently ended in 1539 when the Dowager Duchess caught wind of the matter. Despite this, Catherine and Dereham may have parted with intentions to marry upon his return from Ireland, a "precontract", as it was then known. Indeed, if they had exchanged vows of their intention to marry before having sexual intercourse they would have been considered married in the eyes of the church.
m. 1509–1533
m. 1533–1536
m. 1536–1537
m. 1540
m. 1540–1542
m. 1543–1547
Arrival at court
Catherine's uncle found her a place at the court of Henry VIII. As a young and attractive lady-in-waiting to Henry's new German wife, Queen Anne of Cleves, Catherine quickly caught the attention of the King, who displayed little interest in Anne from the start. Her relatives privately doubted that the young woman was mature enough to handle the responsibilities of being the King's mistress, as she had just arrived at Court a few months earlier, but other factors were at play. The memory of Anne Boleyn's death for supposed adultery marred the standing of the Norfolks (a family proud of their grand lineage) in Henry VIII's court, and the Catholic family saw Catherine as a figurehead for their mission to restore the Catholic faith to England. As the King's interest in their relative grew, so did their influence. Within months of her arrival at Court, Henry bestowed gifts of land and expensive cloth upon Catherine.
Marriage
When Henry had his marriage to Anne annulled on July 9, 1540, rumours swirled that Catherine was pregnant with his child. Their quick marriage just a few weeks after the divorce from Anne, on July 28th, 1540, reflected Henry's lifelong urgency to secure the Tudor succession by begetting healthy sons. Henry, rapidly nearing 50 and expanding in girth, showered his young bride with wealth, jewels and fantastically expensive gifts. War with France and the Reformation had cost Henry the goodwill of his people, and he was then suffering from a number of ailments. The presence of a young and seemingly virtuous Catherine in his life brought him great happiness. Her motto, "Non autre volonte que la sienne" or "No other wish (will) but his", reflects her queenly desire to keep Henry, a man thirty years older than she was, content.
However, despite her wealth and power, Catherine found her marital relations unappealing. She was not pregnant upon marriage, and became repulsed by her husband's grotesque body. (He weighed 136kg, or 300 pounds, at the time and had a festering ulcer on his thigh that had to be drained daily.) In early 1541, she embarked upon a light-hearted romance with Henry's favourite male courtier, Thomas Culpepper, whom she initially desired when she came to court two years earlier. Their meetings were arranged by one of Catherine's older ladies-in-waiting, Lady Rochford, the widow of Anne and Mary Boleyn's brother George Boleyn.
Meanwhile, Henry and Catherine toured England together in the summer of 1541, and preparations for any signs of pregnancy (which would lead to a coronation) were in place, indicating that the married couple were sexually active with each other. As Catherine's extramarital liaison progressed, people who had witnessed her indiscretions at Lambeth Palace began to contact her for favours. In order to buy their silence, she appointed many of them to her household. Most disastrously, she appointed Henry Mannox as one of her musicians and Francis Dereham as her personal secretary. This led to Catherine's charge of treason and adultery two years after the king married her.
Downfall
By late 1541, the "northern progress" of England had ended, and Catherine's indiscretions rapidly became known thanks to John Lascelles, a Protestant reformer whose sister, Mary Hall, was a chambermaid to the Dowager Duchess and therefore witnessed Catherine's youthful liaisons. Motivated by the growing threat to his faith from conservative Catholicism, Lascelles presented the information to Thomas Cranmer, then Archbishop of Canterbury and a close advisor of Henry's.
Cranmer, aware that any precontract with Dereham would invalidate Catherine's marriage to Henry, gave Henry a letter with the accusations against Catherine on November 2, 1541, as they attended an All Souls' Day mass. Henry at first refused to believe the allegations, thinking the letter was a forgery, and requested Cranmer further investigate the matter. Within a few days, corroborative proof was found, including the confessions issued from Dereham and Culpepper after they were tortured in the Tower of London; as well as a love letter written distinctively in Catherine's handwriting to Culpepper.
Catherine was charged with treason, but never, even to her confessor just hours before her death, admitted to betraying the King with Culpepper. Though she readily admitted her behaviour prior to her marriage was unbecoming to say the least of a Lady of her rank, let alone a Queen of England.
Catherine was arrested on 12 November. According to legend, she escaped her guard's clutches briefly to run to the church where Henry was taking Mass. She banged on the doors and screamed Henry's name. Eventually she was arrested by the guards and was taken to her rooms in Hampton Court, where she was confined, accompanied only by Lady Rochford. Her pleas to see Henry were ignored, and Cranmer interrogated her regarding the charges. Even the staunch Cranmer found Catherine's frantic, incoherent state pitiable, saying, "I found her in such lamentation and heavyness as I never saw no creature, so that it would have pitied any man's heart to have looked upon her." [2] He ordered the guards to remove any objects that she might use to commit suicide.
While a precontract between Catherine and Dereham would have the unfortunate effect of terminating Catherine's royal marriage, it also would have allowed Henry to annul their marriage and banish her from court. Catherine would be disgraced, impoverished, and exiled, but ultimately spared the grisly fate of Anne Boleyn. However, she steadfastly denied any precontract, stating that Dereham forced himself upon her.
Imprisonment and death
Catherine was stripped of her title as queen on 22 November and imprisoned in Syon House, Middlesex, through the winter of 1541. Thomas Culpepper and Francis Dereham were executed at Tyburn on 10 December 1541 — the former beheaded, the latter hanged, drawn and quartered — for treasonous conduct [1]. As customary, their heads were placed atop London Bridge. Her relatives were also detained in the Tower, except her uncle Thomas, the Duke of Norfolk, who had sufficiently detached himself from the scandal. All of the Howard prisoners were tried, found guilty of concealing treason and sentenced to life imprisonment and forfeiture of goods. However, in time they were released with their goods restored.
She remained in suspension until Parliament passed a bill of attainder on 21 January 1542, that made the intent to commit treason punishable by death. This solved the matter of Catherine's supposed precontract and made her unequivocally guilty, as adultery by a queen was treason. She was taken to the Tower of London on 10 February 1542. On 11 February, Henry signed the bill of attainder into law, and Catherine's execution was scheduled for 7 AM on 13 February.
The night before her execution, Catherine is said to have spent many hours practising how to lay her head upon the block. She died with relative composure, but looked pale and very terrified, and required assistance to climb the scaffold. Her speech about the "worthy and just punishment" asked for mercy for her family and prayers for her soul. According to popular folklore, her last words were, "I die a Queen, but I would rather have died the wife of Culpepper." She was quickly beheaded with one stroke, and her body was buried in an unmarked grave in the nearby chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, where her cousin, Anne Boleyn, also lay. Henry was not present. Her body was one of those identified during restorations of the chapel during the reign of Queen Victoria and she is commemorated on a plaque on the west wall dedicated to those who died in the Tower.
Francis I of France wrote a letter to Henry upon news of Catherine's death, regretting the "lewd and naughty behaviour of the Queen" and advising him that "The lightness of women cannot bend the honour of men". When Sir William Paget had informed him of Catherine's misconduct, he exclaimed "She hath done wondrous naughty!".[3]
Lineage
16. Robert Howard (before 1407-1436)[6] | |||||||||||||||||||
8. John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk (before 1428-1485)[6] | |||||||||||||||||||
17. Lady Margaret Mowbray (before 1400-after 1437)[6] | |||||||||||||||||||
4. Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (1443-1524)[6] | |||||||||||||||||||
18. Sir William de Moleyns (1378-1425)[6] | |||||||||||||||||||
9. Catherine Moleyns (?-1465)[6] | |||||||||||||||||||
19. Marjery Whalesborough (?-1439)[6] | |||||||||||||||||||
2. Lord Edmund Howard (1472/97-1539)[4] | |||||||||||||||||||
20. Sir Philip Tilney (before 1437-c. 1453)[7] | |||||||||||||||||||
10. Sir Frederick Tylney[7] | |||||||||||||||||||
21. Isabel Thorp (?-1436)[7] | |||||||||||||||||||
5. Elizabeth Tilney (before 1462-1497)[7] | |||||||||||||||||||
22. Sir Lawrence Cheney (c. 1396-1461)[7] | |||||||||||||||||||
11. Elizabeth Cheney[7] | |||||||||||||||||||
23. Elizabeth Cokayn[7] | |||||||||||||||||||
1. Catherine Howard (1520/25-1542) | |||||||||||||||||||
24. Sir John Culpepper[8] | |||||||||||||||||||
12. Sir William Culpepper[8] | |||||||||||||||||||
25. Catherine Charles[8] | |||||||||||||||||||
6. Sir Richard Culpeper (?-c. 1507)[8] | |||||||||||||||||||
26. Robert Ferrers, 5th Lord Ferrers (of Chartley) (before 1387-c. 1413)[8] | |||||||||||||||||||
13. Philippa Ferrers[8] | |||||||||||||||||||
27. Margaret Despenser (before 1375-1415)[8] | |||||||||||||||||||
3. Joyce Culpeper (before 1507-?)[5] | |||||||||||||||||||
28. Richard Worsley (before 1461-?)[9] | |||||||||||||||||||
14. Ottwell Worsley (before 1477-?)[9] | |||||||||||||||||||
29. Catherine Clark (before 1461-?)[9] | |||||||||||||||||||
7. Joyce Worsley (before 1493-?)[9] | |||||||||||||||||||
30. Edward Trevor (before 1461-?)[9] | |||||||||||||||||||
15. Rose Trevor (before 1477-?)[9] | |||||||||||||||||||
31. Angharad Puleston[9] | |||||||||||||||||||
Historiography
Victorian writer Agnes Strickland argued that Catherine had been innocent of all charges laid against her. Others, namely American historian Lacey Baldwin Smith, described her life as one of "hedonism" and Catherine as a "juvenile delinquent". Alison Weir, in her 1991 book The Six Wives of Henry VIII, described her as "an empty-headed wanton".
Other biographers are more sympathetic -- particularly David Starkey, who offered revolutionary theories on Catherine's adultery, and feminist activist Karen Lindsey, whose book Divorced Beheaded Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII (1995) is sympathetic but realistic in its assessment.
Catherine Howard in artwork
Painters continued to include Jane Seymour in pictures of King Henry VIII years after she was dead, because Henry continued to look back on her with favour as the one wife who gave him a son; most of them copied the portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger because it was the only full-sized picture available. In the opposite situation, after Catherine Howard was executed, even the Howard family removed her picture from their family portrait gallery, because Henry never forgave her for her perfidy. Nobody dared make another portrait of her after she was dead.
For centuries, a picture by Hans Holbein was believed to be the only existing portrait of Catherine. (The image, [2]NPG 1119, is owned by the National Portrait Gallery in London, titled as "Unknown woman, formerly known as Katherine Howard.") Some historians now doubt that the woman in the picture is Catherine. Historian Antonia Fraser has persuasively argued that the above portrait is of Jane Seymour's sister, Elizabeth Seymour. The woman bears a remarkable resemblance to Jane (especially around the chin) and is wearing the clothes of a widow, which Catherine never had occasion to wear. Furthermore, the age of the sitter is given as 21; however, Catherine never reached her 21st birthday. Even if we accept the earliest possible date for her birth 1520/1521, Catherine would not have turned 21 until late 1541 or 1542, by which time she was either imprisoned or dead.
There is another portrait allegedly of Catherine, a watercolour miniature (see above); it has been dated (from details about how she is dressed and how the miniature is made) to the short period when Catherine was queen. In it she is wearing jewels remarkably similar to those Jane Seymour was wearing in her official portrait; these were jewels the records show belonged to the crown, not to any queen personally, and there is no record of their having been removed from the treasury and given to anyone else. The only other possibility is that the portrait shows Henry's Scottish niece, Lady Margaret Douglas, the mother-in-law of Mary Queen of Scots. So, whilst it is almost certain that the portrait is not Catherine Howard, but rather Henry's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Seymour, the miniature shown above right is quite likely to be Henry's unlucky fifth queen.
In film
- Catherine first appeared on the silver screen in 1926, in the silent film Hampton Court Palace, played by Gabrielle Morton.
- In 1933, in The Private Life of Henry VIII, she was played by Binnie Barnes. In this comedy of manners, Catherine chooses to abandon love and ambitiously sets out to seduce the king. Her tragedy comes upon falling in love with the debonair and devoted Thomas Culpepper. Catherine's story dominates the film.
- American actress Dawn Addams made a 10-second appearance as the doomed queen in the 1952 romantic film Young Bess, with Charles Laughton as Henry VIII, Stewart Granger as Thomas Seymour and Jean Simmons as Elizabeth I.
- In 1970, Angela Pleasance played Catherine in a 90-minute BBC television drama, as part of the series The Six Wives of Henry VIII, opposite Keith Michell as Henry VIII, Patrick Troughton as the duke of Norfolk and Sheila Burrell as Lady Rochford. In this version of events, a shrill, indulgent, cruel, hedonistic Catherine uses the naïve Culpepper to try and get herself pregnant in order to secure her position.
- Catherine Howard made a cameo appearance, played by Monika Dietrich, in the 1971 slapstick British comedy Carry On Henry, with Sid James as Henry VIII. Two years later, Lynne Frederick portrayed Queen Catherine in Henry VIII and his Six Wives opposite Keith Michell as Henry VIII.
- In 1998 Emilia Fox played Catherine in Katherine Howard at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester, England.
- In 2001, Michelle Abrahams played Catherine in Dr. David Starkey's television documentary on Henry's queens.
- In 2003, Emily Blunt gave a more sympathetic portrayal of Catherine in the ITV television drama Henry VIII which focused on Catherine's sexual escapades. Once again, her adultery was explained by her relatives' desire for her to get pregnant. Catherine is shown crying and screaming with fear at her execution; contemporary accounts suggest she died in a more dignified manner.
Notes
- ^ There are several different spellings of "Catherine" that were in use during the 16th century and by historians today. Her one surviving signature spells her name "Katheryn" but such a spelling is no longer used. Her chief biographer, Lacey Baldwin Smith, uses the common modern spelling "Catherine"; other historians, for example Antonia Fraser, use the traditional English spelling of "Katherine".
- ^ Eleanor Herman, Sex with the Queen, William Morrow, 2006. ISBN 0-06-084673-9. See pages 81-82.
- ^ B Alison Weir, Six Wives of Henry VIII, Grove Presws, 2000. ISBN 0-8021-3683-4. See page 475.
- ^ Lord Edmund Howard, Catherine Howard's father, was the brother of Lady Elizabeth Howard, mother of Anne Boleyn (second wife of Henry VIII of England), making Catherine Howard and Anne Boleyn first cousins.
- ^ Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 28, 2007
- ^ a b c d e f g Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 28, 2007
- ^ a b c d e f g Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 28, 2007
- ^ a b c d e f g Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 28, 2007
- ^ a b c d e f g Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 28, 2007
Bibliography
- Katherine Howard by Jessica Smith (1972)
- Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII by Karen Lindsey (1995) (ISBN 0-201-40823-6)
- Six Wives : The Queens of Henry VIII (reprinted 2004) by David Starkey (ISBN 0-06-000550-5)
- The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir (1993) (ISBN 0-8021-3683-4)
- A Tudor tragedy: The life and times of Catherine Howard by Lacey Baldwin Smith (1961)
- Katherine Howard: A Tudor Conspiracy by Joanna Denny (2005)
- Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman (2006) (ISBN 0-06-084673-9)
External links
- Geocities site on the Boleyn family, but with a section on Catherine's life
- A very brief overview of Catherine's life, accompanied by a portrait gallery
- English History biography Biography and primary sources
- A geo-biography tour of the Six Wives of Henry VIII on Google Earth
- PBS "Six Wives of Henry VIII", which describes Catherine's death
- Tales from the Tudor Rose Bar where Catherine appears as a sexy teenager in a humorous tale of a Tudor Family re-union