Pastyme With Good Companye

Post details: Catherine Howard

05/16/08

12:23:59 am, by

, 208 words

Categories: Kings And Queens, British History

Catherine Howard

Portrait miniature of Catherine Howard, by Hans Holbein the Younger.

Out of all of Henry's wives my heart goes out to his fifth Catherine Howard also known as Katherine, or Kathryn Howard, and by the King's nickname for her "the rose without a thorn". Henry became infatuated with the teenage Catherine soon after he annulled his marriage to Anne of Cleves. Catherine was Anne Boleyn's second cousin, but had a much different upbringing then her older relation.

She spent all of her life in England, and from the age of 15 had had a series of serious relationships with different men, which her family desperately tried to cover up, especially once the king began to express interest in her. She was accused by her enemies of not having ceased her reportedly wanton behaviour after her marriage, and Henry was soon made aware of these allegations. He was not amused.

Catherine, her lovers, and her lady-in-waiting were all found guilty of treason executed. Catherine had been queen for 18 months, was never crowned, and had not yet reached her 21st birthday in my mind a terrible waste, and tragedy as none of the claims against her were ever adequately proven in my opinion let alone so terrible by 21st century standards.

Permalink Leave a comment

Comments:

No Comments for this post yet...

Welcome to the blog of amateur historians Matthew James Didier and Sue Darroch. Partners in life and in crime, we endeavor to entertain you with snippets from our combined historical research. Past time with good company indeed, as we shall introduce you to Kings and Knaves, Queens and Mistresses, Cons and Heroes, from our collective past......from events well known to those perhaps all but forgotten, we will do our best to bring you interesting historical factoids from around the globe. It is our belief that through understanding our past we will all gain a better perspective on our future.