Catherine of Valois

Catherine was born on 27 October 1401, in Paris. She was the youngest daughter of King Charles VI of France and his wife, Isabeau of Bavaria. While it has been suggested that Catherine was neglected as a child by her mother, a more modern examination of the evidence suggests otherwise. According to the financial accounts of Isabeau, toys were purchased, religious texts were provided, and Catherine was sent to a convent to receive a religious education.

Early on, there had been a discussion of marrying her to Henry, son of King Henry IV of England, but the King died before negotiations could begin. In 1414, however, the now King Henry V reopened the discussion of the match.

Henry V went to war with France, and even after the English victory at Agincourt, plans for the marriage continued. Catherine was said to be very beautiful and when Henry finally met her at Meulan, he became enamoured. In May 1420, a peace agreement was signed (the Treaty of Troyes) and Charles VI of France acknowledged Henry as his heir. Catherine and Henry were married at the Parish Church of St John or at Troyes Cathedral on 2 June 1420. Catherine went to England with her husband and was crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey on 23 February 1421.

By June 1421, Henry returned to France to continue his campaigns. Catherine was pregnant and, on 6 December 1421 she gave birth to a son, Henry. Her husband never saw their child. During the siege of Meaux, Henry V became sick with dysentery and died on 31 August 1422. Catherine, aged not quite 21, was a widow. Her father died a couple of months after her husband, and her young son (now King Henry VI) was King of England and English-occupied France. Catherine doted on her son.

Catherine was still young and marriageable. Rumours abounded that Catherine planned to marry Edmund Beaufort, Count of Mortain. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was strongly against the match and the Parliament passed a bill which set forth the provision that if the Queen Dowager remarried without the King’s consent, her husband would forfeit his lands and possessions. The King’s consent was contingent upon his having attained his majority; at the time, Henry was only six years old.

Catherine lived in the King’s household, which meant she could care for her son, but also meant she was watched over by the councillors. Nevertheless, Catherine entered a sexual relationship with Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudor who, in 1421, had been in service of Henry V’s steward. Tudor was probably appointed keeper of Catherine’s household or wardrobe. The relationship began when Catherine lived at Windsor Castle, and she became pregnant with their first child there.

There is no evidence that Catherine and Owen Tudor were married. No such documentation exists. Moreover, if they had been married, the question arises whether the marriage would have been lawful. At the same time, there is no evidence that the validity of the marriage and the legitimacy of her children were questioned in secular or canon law. From the relationship of Owen Tudor and Queen Catherine descended the Tudor dynasty – Tudor historians asserted that Catherine and Owen had been married, for their lawful marriage would add respectability and royal ties to the claims of the Tudor dynasty.

Owen and Catherine had at least six children: Edmund, Jasper and Owen were all born away from court; they also had one daughter, Margaret, who became a nun and died young.

Catherine of Valois, Queen of England, died on 3 January 1437, shortly after childbirth. She made her will just three days before her death. She now rests at Westminster Abbey in Henry V’s Chantry Chapel. After her death, Catherine’s enemies decided to proceed against Owen for violating the law of the remarriage of the Queen Dowager. He was arrested and taken to Newgate Prison, from where he tried to escape.

Owen and Catherine’s two older sons, Edmund and Jasper, went to live with Katherine de la Pole, sister of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Sometime after 1442, the King (their half-brother) took a role in their upbringing. He gave them earldoms: Edmund became Earl of Richmond and Jasper became Earl of Pembroke. Edmund married Margaret Beaufort, one of the last-remaining heirs to the Lancastrian claim to the throne; their son became King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor King.

Marriage of King Henry V of England and Catherine of Valois

c. 1494