Catherine Howard has her own name in history - "Rose without thorns." She is known as the fifth wife of Henry the Eighth, who can safely be considered the prototype of the Blue Beard. Who was the young lady? How was her life with the king? What did the husband order to imprison her in the tower and execute? The article will answer all these questions.
Howard Catherine (biography: childhood and adolescence)
In history, reliable information about the date of birth of the future Queen of England has not been preserved . Opinions vary widely. It is believed that she was born between 1520-1525.
In the kingdom, the Howard family was one of the most notable. Its head (Sir Thomas) was the Duke of Norfolk and served as chairman of the Privy Council under the king.
Parents of Catherine:
- father - Sir Edmund Howard was considered the youngest son, therefore, according to English laws, an insignificant share of the inheritance passed to him, and he was forced to achieve everything on his own;
- mother - lady Jocasta Culpeper was married a second time. From the first marriage, she left five children, and from the second - six, including the future queen.
After the death of her mother, the girl was sent to be raised by the widow of the Duke of Norfolk, Agnes. In this house, she received a meager education. However, it was here that, thanks to the licentious behavior of the maids of honor of the Duchess Catherine, she gained a lot of knowledge in the science of love. Agnesses was indifferent to all this licentiousness, perceiving it as "prank."
It is believed that in her youth, Catherine Howard had two close friends among men. It was a music teacher, Henry Menox, who subsequently testified against her, and the nobleman Francis Derem.
By 1539, the family was able to find the girl a position at court. At that time, she could be nineteen or fifteen years old.
Maid of honor
Duke Thomas Norfolk attached his niece to the retinue of Anna of Cleves, who was the fourth wife of the king. Heinrich the Eighth married her by mistake, not seeing her live. When he was looking for a wife for himself, he was presented with a beautiful portrait of the artist Holbein the Younger, in which he portrayed a girl with aristocratic pallor and delicate facial features. The marriage was concluded by representatives from the king and Anna. When Henry the Eighth saw his wife, he did not feel love for her, but rather disgust and pity.
The only thing that he liked about Anna Klevskaya was her retinue, which included Catherine Howard. The Tudors at that time had the right to divorce themselves, so Anna soon began to live in London not as a queen, but as a "king’s sister." This made it easier for both sides of the misunderstanding.
Seized the situation, Thomas Norfolk, who saw the sympathy that arose between the king and his niece. Already in 1540 a modest wedding took place.
Life with Henry the Eighth
Catherine Howard (wife of Henry 8) was able to return to his wife his youth. At that time he was already fifty years old, he had a sore leg. To all this, in recent years he has become very stout. But his relationship with his young wife returned to him the joy of life, made him believe that he could find family happiness.
At the court, balls and tournaments began to take place again, which ceased after the death of Anna Boleyn. The king adored his wife, and for her innocent disposition he called "A rose without thorns." She was madly in love with gifts and childishly rejoiced at them.
The young queen was very careless in her actions. She brought her “friends of youth”, who knew too much about her, to the court. So, her distant relative on the mother's side, Francis Derem, whom she once wanted to marry, she appointed her secretary. This was her big mistake.
She did not suspect that she had many enemies at the court, or rather opponents of her influential uncle. They took up the queen's close associates, emerging from her past. In addition, the spouses did not have a joint heir, about which the king dreamed. His only son was Prince Edward from an earlier marriage.
Accusation of treason
One of those who investigated the Queen’s behavior was Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who had his own views on who should be next to the king. He had more speculation than evidence. However, this was enough for the king to order Kranmer to start a secret investigation.
Adversaries brought to the king all the information about his wife, providing evidence of her betrayal. For Henry the Eighth, this news caused a completely unexpected reaction. Instead of anger, he began to complain about a fate that does not give him the family happiness of which he dreams. According to him, all the women who were in his life either cheated, or died, or were simply disgusting. At that moment, he realized that the illusion of youth had dissolved.
The queen's relatives were interrogated with particular passion, and they confessed in their connection with her:
- Thomas Culpeper was a page at court;
- Henry Menox is a friend from the past;
- Francis Derem - personal secretary.
Catherine Howard was caught cheating. But she could have been saved if she had informed about her youthful engagement to Derem. In this case, her marriage to the king would be considered invalid, and everything would have ended successfully. But she never recognized this fact.
Execution
The first were executed the alleged lovers of Catherine. Thomas Culpeper was beheaded, and Francis Dremer was hanged and then quartered.
The queen was placed in the Tower 11. 02. 1542, where she spent three days. Catherine Howard, whose execution took place in front of a curious crowd, was beheaded. She met death in a state of shock, she could not even walk on her own, and she had to be carried to the place of the execution.
The headless queen Catherine Howard was buried in an anonymous grave, near the other executed Queen - the second wife of Henry the Eighth, Anna Boleyn. Both women were closely related to each other because they were cousins.
The last wife of the king
After the death of Catherine, Henry the Eighth married again. Thirty-year-old Katerina Parr became his last chosen one. Only she managed to outlive her husband, several times avoiding arrests because of groundless slander from ill-wishers.
Interesting Facts
So severely ended the biography of Catherine Howard, who at the time of death was no more than twenty-two years old.
There are many interesting facts related to her life:
- The king in love in honor of the wedding ordered to cast gold coins with the inscription "Rose without thorns." Later they were taken out of circulation and became a real rarity.
- After Catherine from the maid of honor of Anna Cleves became Queen of England, her friendship with the fourth wife of Henry did not end. There was a warm relationship between them. So, women spent the Christmas holidays together, having dinner with the king and dancing until late.
- The future first lady of England, Mary and Elizabeth, at the time of the execution of Catherine was nine years old. Each of them perceived this event in its own way. Mary reacted to the death of her stepmother indifferently, and Elizabeth at that very time decided to never marry in her life.
- It was estimated that the king spent more on gifts for Katherine than on the previous four of his wives combined.
- Presumably the ballad “Green Holly Growing” was dedicated to Catherine by Henry the Eighth.
Image in art
Catherine Howard did not live long, and the queen managed to stay even less (only two years), but her image was so vivid that she conquered many people of art.
So, in the films she was played by such famous actresses as Lynn Frederick, Emily Blunt, Tamzin Merchant. The opera was dedicated to it by the Italian composer of the nineteenth century, Giuseppe Lillo. Modern musician Rick Wakeman named his instrumental work in honor of Kate. She became one of the main characters in the novels by V. Holt and F. Gregory.
Catherine was too young and naive for the royal court with all its intrigues, and therefore died so early. But the memory of her passed through the centuries precisely thanks to ease and faith in her king.