Katheryn Howard, Queen of England

<body bgcolor="#000000" text="#ffffff" link="CRIMSON" alink="CRIMSON" vlink="CRIMSON"> <IMG SRC="katheryn_bar.jpg" ALIGN="LEFT" ALT="Believed to be Katheryn Howard, © HM the Queen, scanned by Lara E. Eakins at Tudor History" WIDTH="180"> <font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Magik,Mistral,Comic Sans MS,Arial" size="7">Katheryn Howard, Queen of England</font> <P> <TABLE ALIGN=RIGHT WIDTH=226><TR><TD><A HREF="katheryn.jpg" target="_parent"><IMG SRC="katheryn_embed.jpg" BORDER=0></TD></TR><TR><TD><CENTER><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="1">Image believed to be Katheryn Howard © HM the Queen.<BR> Scanned by Lara E. Eakins at <A HREF="http://tudorhistory.org/" TARGET="_parent">Tudor History</A>.</FONT></CENTER></TD></TR></TABLE>Katheryn Howard was the second niece of the <B><A HREF="thomas3.html" target="_parent">third Duke of Norfolk</A></B> to become Queen of England and the second to be beheaded on Tower Green. In many respects - the King's sudden attraction to her, the unconventional nature of that attraction, her death - her story resembles <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne" TARGET="_parent">Anne Boleyn</A></B>'s. Her tragedy, though, is that - unlike her cousin - she was very far indeed from being equipped to deal with the realities of queenship. While <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne" TARGET="_parent">Anne</A></B> was brought down by a court coup, Katheryn's own indiscretions were to doom her - and Henry's "Rose without a thorn" was thus beheaded. <P> <FONT FACE="Magik,Mistral,Comic Sans MS,Arial" SIZE="6">Birth and Appearance</FONT> <P> Like her cousin, Katheryn's date of birth is unknown. We know for certain that she was born before 1527, as her father's letter to Wolsey then mentions his 'ten children'. Traditional opinion has held that she was born in or around 1521, based on the statement of Marillac (the French ambassador at the time) in 1541 that Katheryn's affair with her admirer, Francis Dereham, lasted from the age of thirteen until she was eighteen. (The affair ended in 1539.) However, other evidence suggests a later date. The will of John Legh, her mother's former father-in-law, makes no mention of her or her sister Mary - yet his widow's will in 1527 mentions both. This suggests a birthdate of 1524-7; the Spanish Chronicle (a less than flawless source, however) corroborates this, saying Katheryn was fifteen when she first met Henry VIII in 1540. This all points to a birthdate of around 1525. Marillac has frequently been known to make mistakes when it comes to dates; certainly, his claim of a five-year affair does not dovetail with Katheryn's own confession, which claims that the affair was about fifteen months. This would mean that Katheryn became sexually active at about the age of twelve; this was fairly early, but by no means unheard of in the Tudor age. <P> Katheryn's appearance is equally disputed, as there is no definite portrait of her. The portrait traditionally believed to be of her has been conclusively shown to be Elizabeth Seymour, sister of Jane (hence the widow's weeds; Elizabeth subsequently married Gregory Cromwell). The miniature on the left has also been disputed, but the jewels the sitter wears seem to be exactly the same pattern as jewels worn by Jane Seymour in Holbein's portraits of her - and also match an inventory of Katheryn's jewels. It is highly likely, therefore, that this miniature does provide an image of Henry VIII's fifth queen. Like her cousin <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne" TARGET="_parent">Anne Boleyn</A></B>, she was described as only middling in beauty. <P> <FONT FACE="Magik,Mistral,Comic Sans MS,Arial" SIZE="6">Early Years</FONT> <P> Katheryn's father was Lord Edmund Howard, third son of the second Duke of Norfolk. Edmund was, for most of his life, poor by noble standards - and was inhibited, in his own view at least, by his status from doing anything which might befit his social inferiors but relieve his hardship. In 1534, probably thanks to the influence of <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne" TARGET="_parent">Anne Boleyn</A></B>, he was made Controller of Calais - but was removed from it for reasons which remain unknown. He died in 1539. Katheryn's mother, Jocasta Culpeper, died when Katheryn was very young - and Edmund Howard married twice further before his death. <P> Quite early on, Katheryn was sent to the household of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk (<I>née</I> Agnes Tylney). She had been the second wife of the second Duke and so was Katheryn's step-grandmother. The Duchess hosted a great many young relatives, and inevitably there was a great deal of opportunity for misbehaviour generally. In all probability, this would have mattered very little had Katheryn lived the life of a normal noblewoman - her misfortune was that she happened to catch the king's eye. <P> It was in 1536 that Henry Manox was hired to teach music at the Duchess' house of Chesworth, near Horsham in Sussex. It seems, on Katheryn's subsequent admission, that the musician proceeded to try and seduce the twelve-year-old girl during lessons. Both Katheryn and Manox always maintained that the relationship was never fully consummated; given that the former admitted full consummation of a later relationship, we can probably accept her denial of the first. It seems that the Dowager Duchess discovered the two alone, dealt Katheryn a few blows and made it clear that the two were not to see each other again. <P> Katheryn's affections, however, later transferred to another, more serious relationship. Manox was succeeded by a Francis Dereham, a gentleman-pensioner in the Dowager Duchess' household. This relationship was undoubtedly consummated - again, on Katheryn's own admission: <P> <BLOCKQUOTE>Francis Dereham by many persuasions procured me to his vicious purpose, and obtained first to lie upon my bed with his doublet and hose, and after within the bed, and finally he lay with me naked, and used me in such sort as a man doth his wife . . .</BLOCKQUOTE> <P> This would have been in 1538-9. The two were accustomed to address each other as 'husband' and 'wife', and on his departure for Ireland Dereham entrusted £100 into Katheryn's keeping: at the time, a very large sum. It is quite possible, therefore, that the two may have actually been precontracted to each other; certainly, Cranmer and others believed that Dereham's entrusting of the £100 strongly suggested such a bond. If so, by the standards of the time the consummation of the relationship had given it the status of a full marriage. This question would later have the potential to be very important indeed - at any rate, by the standards of the time a precontract would excuse her behaviour with Dereham. <P> It seems, however, that Katheryn's affection cooled after Dereham left, particularly when she moved to the <B><A HREF="thomas3.html" target="_parent">Duke of Norfolk</A></B>'s house. Her last conversation with him at this time, as far as Katheryn could recollect to Cranmer, was to do with a Thomas Culpeper. Culpeper was a cousin of Katheryn's mother, and was probably interested in her as well as vice versa. Katheryn denied any connection to him to Dereham There is no evidence either way as to whether there was any mutual interest between them at this stage; but it seems not at all unlikely. It was about this time, however, that Katheryn found her life transformed. Henry VIII fell in love again. <P> <FONT FACE="Magik,Mistral,Comic Sans MS,Arial" SIZE="6">Mistress to Queen</FONT> <P> Katheryn's courtship was a rather more rapid process than her cousin's. The King was married to Anna of Cleves - and conspicuously unhappy with the match. Given that the enmity between France and the Empire was rapidly reviving, after a brief (but, for Henry, frightening) rapprochement which threatened a war against England for its Break with Rome, the need for German Lutheran allies was receding rapidly. When Katheryn Howard was thrown into the mix, matters moved rapidly. By April 1540, it was believed that Henry was very much in love; by the end of the month, he had made her some very substantial grants of land. <P> Katheryn was not solely a pretty girl; she was also a Howard - and as such, her involvement with the king was by no means politically neutral. Unlike the reforming <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne" TARGET="_parent">Anne Boleyn</A></B>, she was to be seen as a tool of those at court of a conservative outlook and who resented the influence of Thomas Cromwell, the king's reformist (and probably secretly Lutheran) secretary; and unlike <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne" TARGET="_parent">Anne</A></B>, she was no independent political figure. (This, of course, suited her male relatives very well indeed.) It is unlikely that the Howards deliberately put Katheryn forward. She was by no means the ideal Howard candidate for queen, not so much because of her relations with Manox and Dereham - her history was by no means unique in this regard - as because of the fact that she had, probably, been precontracted. However, once the king showed an interest, all was forgotten by the Howard clan and its conservative allies. <B><A HREF="thomas3.html" target="_parent">Norfolk</A></B> and Gardiner sang Katheryn's praises and, of course, made sure she understood what was expected of her. <P> Matters continued thus through May, with both Anna of Cleves and Cromwell feeling distinctly uneasy. Given the sudden increase in momentum towards finding excuses for an annulment, it is quite possible that the relationship was consummated around mid- to late April. In the event, the former escaped unscathed. She submitted to Henry's will, agreed to an annulment - and ended up with an income of £4,000 a year, the manors of Bletchingly and Richmond, Hever Castle and the status of fourth lady in the kingdom (after any queen, the Lady Mary and the <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/elizabeth" TARGET="_parent">Lady Elizabeth</A></B>). Thomas Cromwell was less fortunate; his enemies, taking advantage of the opportunity presented by his misfortune over Anna of Cleves (whose marriage he had arranged), managed to persuade the king of his treason and heresy. He was attainted and executed on 28 July. <P> Katheryn's start, however, continued to rise; she was married at Oatlands on the day that Cromwell was executed on Tower Hill. Ten days later, the new queen's status was made public. The king was rejuvenated; the queen showed suitable devotion to her spouse; the conservative faction was jubilant. What could go wrong? <P> <FONT FACE="Magik,Mistral,Comic Sans MS,Arial" SIZE="6">Queenship</FONT> <P> For the moment, it seemed, nothing. Katheryn may not have loved her husband, but she was certainly in awe of him and revered him; indeed, it would later be revealed that she believed that the king, as Supreme Head of the Church of England, knew everything and anything said in the confessional! In addition to this, there was a sense of gratitude for all that the king had done for her. Again, the sense of Katheryn is not that of a 'loose' woman so much as a naive one - essentially not much more than a girl, suddenly turned queen. She was certainly kind enough, pleading for Margaret Pole, Sir Thomas Wyatt and Sir John Wyatt in early 1541 - an eclectic mix of prisoners by any standards! <P> The other difficulty was that Katheryn's indiscretions, past and present, began to catch up with her. Even before her marriage, Joan Bulmer - who had been a serving woman in the Dowager Duchess' household with Katheryn - had asked Katheryn for a place at court, saying that "I know the Queen of Britain will not forget her secretary, and favour you will show". The undertone is threatening; Joan Bulmer had, as Katheryn was only just literate, often acted as a secretary for her in her previous relationships. When, in August 1541, Francis Dereham asked for preferment, Katheryn dared not refuse. He became her secretary, and his temper - and undue closeness to the Queen - made him a less than suitable candidate. <P> Contrary to early hopes, Katheryn did not become pregnant. In April 1541, it was also thought that she might be with child; certainly, when Henry took his richest jewels, tapestry and plate north, the French ambassador assumed it was for Katheryn's coronation in York due to her pregnancy. <P> <FONT FACE="Magik,Mistral,Comic Sans MS,Arial" SIZE="6">Fall</FONT> <P> While the king and queen were on progress, a Protestant by the name of John Lascelles came to speak with Archbishop Cranmer. He said that his sister, Mary Hall (who had known Katheryn at Lambeth) had refused to seek service with the queen as "she is light, both in living and conditions" - and that she could elaborate on this if required. Cranmer, on consideration, summoned Mary Hall - who could, indeed, give more details of the queen's early indiscretions. Her statement called Katheryn's early conduct into question, and also the validity of her marriage to Henry. After taking a written statement, he consulted the Council - and when Henry returned, he gave a paper into his hand at mass detailing Lascelles' allegations. <P> For the moment, Henry believed the paper to be a forgery. He did, however, instruct Cranmer to investigate further to establish the fact; and Katheryn was to be confined with Lady Rochford (<I>née</I> Jane Parker; the widow of <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/george" TARGET="_parent">George Boleyn</A></B>, against whom she had testified to a charge of incest with <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne" TARGET="_parent">Anne Boleyn</A></B>; something of an ill omen where queen consorts were concerned). as an attendant until the matter was cleared up. She and her ladies were practising dance steps when the King's guards arrived, saying it was 'no more time to dance'. But as the investigation proceeded, it became clear that Mary Hall had not invented the claims. The King, in great contrast to his behaviour over <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne" TARGET="_parent">Anne Boleyn</A></B>, was devastated. Katheryn, meanwhile, was hysterical, refusing to eat or drink and not ceasing to weep or cry. It was felt that it was necessary to take away anything with which she might harm herself. Lady Rochford, meanwhile, was suddenly seized with 'madness' - as well she might, realising what danger she was in. The Council, though, did not as yet know why. <P> Cranmer, going to interview the queen, found her hysterical. There was little point in trying to talk to her then, and he returned the next day. Upon being read a letter from the king, promising mercy if she confessed her faults, she seemed to calm down a little. She alternated between periods of relative coherence and utter misery. The Archbishop obtained little from her about any precontract or adultery initially; eventually, though, she said enough that Cranmer felt he could argue there had been such an arrangement. Ironically, the terrified queen failed to understand that proof of a precontract was more likely to save her than condemn her, and she tried to argue that Dereham had forced her. Katheryn did eventually draft a letter to the king begging his forgiveness for her conduct before marriage. It looked, at this stage, as though an annulment was inevitable; but execution would be avoided. <P> However, fatally, Katheryn mentioned to Cranmer that her last conversation with Dereham before he went to Ireland concerned a rumour that she might marry Thomas Culpeper. She denied any such intent at the time, but Cranmer took a chance - and persuaded the Council to arrest him for questioning. In the meantime, the queen's women were also questioned. Katherine Tylney, in particular, provided vital evidence; for she made clear that Katheryn had, while at Lincoln, left her room late at night twice and went to Lady Rochford's chamber. There were also tales of strange messages between Katheryn and Lady Rochford - even a question by Katheryn as to "when she should have the thing she promised her". (It is surprising, given her role in the demise of her sister-in-law, that Lady Rochford did not show more caution about the penalties for an adulterous queen - whether framed, as in <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne" TARGET="_parent">Anne</A></B>'s case, or not.) The Council then called in Margaret Morton, who had been Tylney's companion on the nights in question; Morton confirmed the stories, adding that Lady Rochford had been involved in some sort of intrigue at Pontefract and York as well. It was Morton who put in the link with Culpeper, alleging that they had been together alone in her chambers for several hours. Searching through Culpeper's effects, the Council found a letter written by "Yours as long as life endures, Katheryn". Added to Tylney and Morton's testimony, it was damning. The Council carried on unravelling the story further. <P> Lady Rochford was herself called in. Having calmed down a little now, she tried to ensure her own safety by abandoning Katheryn, confessing that adultery had taken place in her view, given all she had seen. She tried to paint herself as an innocent tool - unaware of what was going on. Katheryn's interpretation was reversed, blaming Culpeper and Lady Rochford; while Culpeper accused the queen, at least in the later stages, of taking the initiative. At this distance, we cannot know whose version of the story is correct. We can definitely say, however, that all three were up to their necks in something which no one in their right mind should even have contemplated. Whether or not full adultery had been committed, the intent was undoubtedly there; and, even if the interrogations never revealed proof of the act itself, there is very little likelihood of a plausible alternative explanation. If the queen and Culpeper were innocent, they were only so in the most technical sense of the term. Dereham's case is a different one; as noted, his appointment as secretary was more likely to be to keep him quiet than to offer him favours. However, if he was attainted for adultery along with Culpeper and Katheryn, he could be executed - and Henry VIII seems to have borne him a special rancour as Katheryn's first full love. On 22 November, Katheryn was deprived of the title of 'Queen' by proclamation. <P> In the meantime, first the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk and then several other Howards were imprisoned temporarily (many of whom could not conceivably have had anything to do with Katheryn's adultery) and eventually punished for misprision of treason with imprisonment, loss of goods and lands. They were later freed (22 December). The same happened to Katherine Tylney, Joan Bulmer and the others involved. Only the head of the house, the <B><A HREF="thomas3.html" target="_parent">third Duke of Norfolk</A></B>, survived - by disowning the sins of his family and flinging himself on his sovereign's mercy. <P> <FONT FACE="Magik,Mistral,Comic Sans MS,Arial" SIZE="6">Execution</FONT> <P> On 10 December, Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were executed. Culpeper's sentence was commuted to beheading, but the unhappy Dereham - who, in all probability, had done nothing in reality save make love to his wife - was condemned to the full horrors of hanging, drawing and quartering - hanging until nearly dead, disembowelling and castration while conscious and eventually beheading and cutting into four pieces. The King might at least have spared him this; but he was in no mood to. By this point, he was not at all inclined to show mercy to his wife either. <P> Katheryn remained at Syon House, where she had been moved on 14 November, during this time; and seemed almost cheerful. She accepted that she would die, but hoped her execution would be private. On 9 February, however, Katheryn was informed of her impending execution; she was taken to the Tower on the 10th - and then the reality hit home. She had to be forced onto the barge, and in the Queen's Apartments in the Tower she wept without pause. <P> The reason for the delay had been the time needed to pass an Act of Attainder. There had been some initial scruples over waiting to try and get more of the truth out of the queen, but Parliament listened eventually to an address from the king. It was a concern, however, since Culpeper was actually beheaded for intent to commit adultery rather than the offence itself. <P> Regardless, she was informed on 12 February that she would die the next day - and asked for the block to be brought to her, so that she might practise how to lay her head on it. She died, along with Lady Rochford - for whose benefit the King had to pass an Act allowing the execution of the insane, but who recovered enough to make an edifying end. Katheryn asked <P> <BLOCKQUOTE>all Christian people to take regard unto her worthy and just punishment with death, for her offences against God heinously from her youth upward in breaking of all of His commandments, and also against the King's Royal Majesty very dangerously.</BLOCKQUOTE> <P> She made a "godly end", so called, and was beheaded - with an English axe, unlike her cousin <B><A HREF="/boleynfamily/anne/" target="_parent">Anne</A></B> - with one stroke. <P> Katheryn, between sixteen and twenty-one at the time of her death, had certainly behaved foolishly - incredibly so. Her conduct prior to her marriage, though, was really not so very unusual; while she had been promoted and backed by the Howard clan to queenship. At the end of the day, she was simply incredibly unlucky; she had been catapulted to queenship without any ability to deal with the requirements of the office. <P> <HR> <P> <A HREF="/boleynfamily/relatives/" TARGET="_parent"><B>Boleyn Relatives</B></A><BR> <A HREF="/boleynfamily/" TARGET="_parent"><B>Home</B></A> </FONT> </BODY>