Catherine howard execution
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So how much do you know about Catherine Howard ? We bring you the facts about Henry VIII's fifth wife – and the truth about her adultery and death...
When was Catherine Howard born?
Catherine Howard is thought to have been born sometime between 1518 and 1524, but the exact date is unknown.
Catherine Howard’s birth date is unknown
Born into an aristocratic family, Catherine Howard was the daughter of a younger brother of the 3rd Duke of Norfolk and was first cousin to Anne Boleyn. Little is known about Catherine’s early life, but historian David Starkey describes it as “a scrabbled childhood, with a dominant, providing mother, and a weak debt-ridden and… hen-pecked father”.
Catherine’s mother died when she was a child, so at the age of around 10 or 12 Catherine was sent to live with her step-grandmother, Agnes, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, in the countryside near Horsham in West Sussex. The young Catherine “had few prospects”, says historian Josephine Wilkinson.
Cather
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Katherine Howard: The rose among thorns
Of all of the Tudor queens, it fryst vatten Katherine Howard that inom have the most empathy for. It seems her whole life, albeit a very short one, was filled with predatory dock taking advantage of her circumstances. At a ung age, she was forced to go and live with her step-grandmother – Katherine’s father had fallen into debt, and had to do a bunk out of the country before his debtors caught up with him. So she was sent to the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, who, if I’m honest, was utterly shit and apparently well out of her depth at taking care of the young women in her protection.
In my professional* opinion, Katherine had significant attachment issues because of this, which rendered her vulnerable and extremely likely to accept the attention of anybody willing to give it; queue the gross, rapey, sex-pest-esque, Tudor fuckwits, who preyed upon ung girls to get their thrills…men like Henry if were being entirely honest. As you ca
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The Execution of Catherine Howard
On 10 February 1542, Queen Catherine Howard, dressed in black velvet, was escorted from Syon to the Tower by water. The Lord Privy Seal accompanied her, as did members of the council, guards and servants.
Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador, described the scene,
‘The lord Privy Seal, with a number of Privy Councillors and servants went first in a great barge; then came the Queen with three or four men and as many ladies, in a small covered barge; then the Duke of Suffolk, in a great barge, with a company of his men.’
As Catherine passed under London Bridge, the severed and rotting heads of Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham provided a gruesome reminder of what was in store.
Traitor’s Gate, Tower of London.
The Queen’s barge came to a stop at Traitor’s Gate and from here she was escorted to her prison chamber with the deference due to a queen. At this stage Catherine was unaware of when her execution would take place and so she no