Although Anne Boleyn remains the most popular tragic figure among Henry VIIIs wives, the story of Catherine Howard is no less fascinating. A teenager who married what now is considered middle aged, and back then flat out old man, was willing to risk her crown and her very life in order to honor her youth, beauty and sexuality. Without realizing it, Catherine Howard might very well have been one of the first feminists of Medieval Europe.
The Early Years
Long before becoming a queen, Catherine Howard demonstrated an extremely adventurous and free spirited personality. She was centuries ahead of her time and her behavior was similar to that of a normal 21st century teenage girl.
Catherine was born around 1520 to a noble family and was a niece of the powerful Duke of Norfolk and a cousin to her ill-fated predecessor queen Anne Boleyn. Catherine was one of ten children of Norfolk’s younger brother Edmund whose wife died when Catherine was nine. She was raised by her aunt and lived dormitory style with other young ladies from aristocratic families. Her first infatuation was Henry Maddox the music teacher with whom she had an exiting but platonic relationship till she left him for Francis Dereham, an aristocrat, but still not nearly as noble as the Howards. Although the affair with Dereham was intense and passionate, Catherine refused his marriage proposal. For a young girl going “all the way” with a man whom she didn’t consider a potential husband was an extremely bold move for a medieval aristocratic lady.
The Reign
In December 1539 Catherine appeared at court as one of Queen Anne’s ( Anne of Cleves) ladies. By that time Henry the VIII was obese and unattractive, but apparently still regarded himself as a young charming prince he once used to be. Henry was smitten with Catherine right away and it could be one of the reasons for his complete lack of affection for a queen. In July, Henry’s second divorce was finalized and he married Catherine. According to the overwhelming majority of the historians Catherine was a good natured, kind and fun loving girl. She took good care of her subjects by making their lives easier and also enjoyed all the advantages of being a queen.
Flirting With Death
By the spring of 1541 (less than a year into her marriage) Catherine began her affair with a handsome young gentleman of Henry’s privy chamber Thomas Culpeper. Some historians portray their relationship as a noble passion, others label Catherine as promiscuous and foolish. According to Karen Lindsay, the author of Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII all those scholars miss the point. Logic suggests that queen Catherine was first and foremost a fun loving young woman who stayed true to herself, loved sex and refused to give her body entirely to an obese, old unattractive man.
Downfall and Execution
The royal court of Henry the VIII without a doubt represented the milieu in which keeping secrets was almost impossible. John Lascelles one of the Protestants and a sworn enemy of Howard’s clan made his own research about Catherine’s past and quickly figured out she was not a virgin when she married the king. That alone was considered a crime and immediately reported to archbishop Cranmer. Both Catherine’s ex-lovers were arrested and undoubtedly under torture confessed their affairs with the queen. Figuring out Catherine’s relationship with Calpeper was just the matter of time.
All three men suffered the slow torture of quartering. The teenage queen was beheaded on February 13th, 1541 and legend has it her last words were she would much rather die a happy woman, married to the man she loved.
Bibliography:
Lindsay, Karen. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Interpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII. London: DeCapo Press,1999.
Anna Inger - My name is Anna Inger. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, spent most of my life in Israel and for the last few years I've been ...
