Facts about Catherine Howard ( king henry VIII 5th wife)

Question

Does anyone have any interesting facts about henry the eigths fifth wife?

Answer 1

Catherine was one of 10 children of Joyce Culpeper and Lord Edmund Howard (1480-1539).  BORN: c. 1521

MARRIED: 28 JULY 1540

EXECUTED: 13 FEBRUARY 1542

Kathryn Howard was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, a younger brother of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. She was also first cousin to Anne Boleyn, Henry's ill-fated second Queen. She was brought up in the household of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. As part of the Duchess' household, she would have spent most of her time at Lambeth and Horsham.

Kathryn came to court at about the age of 19 as a lady in waiting to Anne of Cleves and there is no doubt that the spirited young girl caught Henry's attentions. Kathryn's uncle probably encouraged the girl to respond to the King's attentions and saw it as a way to increase his own influence over the monarch. The Duke of Norfolk also took advantage of the debacle of the Anne of Cleves marriage as a chance to discredit his enemy, Thomas Cromwell. In fact, Cromwell was executed shortly after the marriage was nullified.

King Henry VIII first became attracted to the young girl Catherine in 1540, when he was seeking to end his politically motivated marriage to Anne of Cleves, to whom Catherine was a maid of honour. He had his marriage to Anne annulled on July 9, and on July 28 Henry and Catherine were privately married. Henry was 49 and he bride was no older than 19. He publicly acknowledged her as queen on August 8.

For the next 14 months Henry appeared to be much enamored of his young bride. But shortly thereafter, based on charges of infidelity, Henry beheaded Catherine and her two accused lovers, including her distant cousin, Thomas Culpeper.

Her last words before beheading;

"I die a Queen, but I would rather

die the wife of Culpeper."

Genealogy

Catherine Howard, Thomas Culpeper, and the modern day Culpeppers are all apparently descended from Sir Thomas Culpeper of Brenchley and Bayhall (1230-1309). This Thomas was the grandson of the earliest Culpepper of whom we have record: Sir Thomas Culpeper (born abt. 1170).

Answer 2

We don't know the exact date of Catherine's birth, but it was probably between 1520 and 1525.  We do know that she was very young when she married Henry VIII, who was nearly fifty, ailing and fat, with a suppurating and stinking wound on his leg.

She had had a lax upbringing, which contributed to her downfall.  Henry fell in love with her, calling her his "Rose without a thorn".  However, while she was married to him she did have an affair with Thomas Culpepper.  Perhaps it's not surprising, given that she was married to a much older man who was not attractive at that time.

When she was caught and imprisoned, Henry did offer her a chance to save her head and be exiled or disgraced: she had a pre-contract with Francis Dereham.  If she admitted to that, it would have meant that she had married Henry illegally, and Francis would be the cuckold, not the king.  But Catherine swore that Francis had forced himself upon her; she was not very bright, and didn't realise that admitting an earlier pre-contract would save her life.

I add some sites which tell the whole story.  Poor Catherine was so afraid that, the story goes, she ran screaming down the Long Gallery to the king at the chapel at Hampton Court to plead for her life, but was dragged back by guards.  Her ghost is said to be heard to this day in the same place.

http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/aboutCather...

http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/CHow...

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cat...

http://tudorhistory.org/howard/

http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/tudor_1...

http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs...

Answer 3

Katherine Howard (She personally spelled her named as "Katheryn") was born to Jocasta Culpepper and Edmund Howard, the younger son of Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk. She had nine other sibings- Ralph, George, Henry, Charles, Mary, Thomas, Isabel, Joyce, and Margaret. She was born during the years 1520-1525, but sources differ. She was, however, called "a very little girl", so this could point to her age... or stature.

Although she was kin to Anne Boleyn (Henry's second wife) and had a good pedigree, her father was poor and lazy. I recall his saying that if he was a poor man, he'd work hard for a living.

When Katherine was young, she was sent to live with her grandmother, Agnes Tilney, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Agnes had many other girls living with her, but none were particulary educated and all took advantage of the duchess's lax rules. This is where Katherine's doom began, as she started an affair with Francis Dereham as they became lovers. This was after Katherine engaged in a relationship with her music teacher, Henry Manox, who testified at her trial.

In 1539, Katherine's uncle found Katherine a place at court with the new Queen, Anne of Cleves. She became a lady-in-waiting and soon Henry started to pay attention to her. In July of 1540, after annulling his marriage to Anne of Cleves, Henry married the teenage Katherine at Oatlands Palace. Rumors at this time swirled around that Katherine was pregnant, but this later proved false.

As queen, Katherine did not argue with Henry. Henry loved his bride because she was young and apparently virtuous. Katherine's motto was "No other wish but his [the king's]", which probably added to his delight.

Not surprisingly, Katherine found Henry rather repulsing. She was almost a third of his age and he was very fat and smelly from an ulcer in his leg from a wound that never healed (it is said he was about 300 pounds at 6'2''). By 1541, Katherine became attached to the King's favorite courtier, Thomas Culpepper, her cousin. Thomas was definitely the king's favorite- he had raped a woman and killed her husband for attempting to help her, but the king amazingly pardoned him for both offenses.

Also in 1541, Katherine was forced to allow Henry Manox and Francis Dereham into court in order to buy their silence along with other people from the Duchess of Norfolk's place. On All Soul's Day, Thomas Cranmer told Henry VIII about Katherine's past. Henry did not believe the accuastions at first, but he was forced to believe it after evidence was found. Then Henry became very angry and swore he would kill Katherine herself before breaking into tears.

Katherine was arrested on November 12, 1541 and according to legend, began screaming and crying in order to make the guards go away, but this did not help and she was soon taken to the Tower of London. On February 13 the next year, she was beheaaded.

Some extra facts:

-The main person who helped Katherine with the affair with Culpepper was Lady Rochford, who became insane in the Tower of London but was still beheaded.

-Some people say her last words were: "I die a queen, but I'd rather die the wife of Culpepper".

-Two portraits are said to be her, but no one is sure. One, however,  is suspected to be her, because of the jewels. The other is said to be of Elizabeth Seymour.

-Henry called her his "rose without a thorn"

-It is said that she was told that if she confessed to a precontract, she would be spared, as that would mean she was never legally wed to the king, but she refused to say so.