Catherine Howard

Catherine was born circa 1523, in Lambeth. She was one of the daughters of Lord Edmund Howard and his wife, Jocasta “Joyce” Culpeper. Her father’s sister, Elizabeth Howard, was the mother of Anne Boleyn, so Catherine and Anne were cousins. Catherine had an aristocratic pedigree, but her father was not wealthy, being a younger son among 21 children.

Joyce Culpeper died circa 1528, when Catherine was aged about 5, so she was sent with some of her siblings to live in the care of her father’s stepmother, Agnes Tilney, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Agnes presided over large households at Chesworth House and at Norfolk House, where dozens of attendants, along with her many wards, resided. While sending children to be educated and trained in aristocratic households other than their own was common for centuries among European nobles, supervision at Chesworth House and Norfolk House was apparently very lax. Agnes was often at court and it seems she had little direct involvement in the upbringing of her wards and attendants. As a result of Agnes’ lack of discipline, Catherine was influenced by some older girls who candidly allowed men into the sleeping areas at night for entertainment. The girls were rewarded with food, wine and gifts.

Catherine was not as well educated as some of Henry VIII’s wives, although, on its own, her ability to read and write was impressive enough at the time. Her character was often described as vivacious, giggly and brisk, but never scholarly or devout. She displayed great interest in her dance lessons but would often be distracted and make jokes. She also had a nurturing side for animals, particularly dogs.

In 1536, at Chesworth House, Catherine (then aged 13) was repeatedly molested by her music teacher, Henry Mannox (aged 36). He would later give evidence in the inquiry against her. Mannox and Catherine both confessed they had engaged in sexual contact, but not actual coitus. When questioned, Catherine was quoted as saying At the flattering and fair persuasions of Mannox, being but a young girl, I suffered him at sundry times to handle and touch the secret parts of my body, which neither became me with honesty to permit nor him to require.

The interferences by Mannox came to an end by 1538, when Catherine moved to Norfolk House, in Lambeth. There, she was pursued by Francis Dereham, a secretary of Agnes Tilney. They allegedly became lovers, addressing each other as "husband" and "wife". Dereham also entrusted Catherine with many wifely duties, such as keeping his money when he was away. Many of Catherine’s roommates knew of the relationship, which apparently ended in 1539 when Agnes found out. Despite this, Catherine and Dereham may have parted with intentions to marry upon his return from Ireland, agreeing to a precontract of marriage.

Catherine’s uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, found her a place at court in the household of the King’s 4th wife, Anne of Cleves. As a young and attractive lady-in-waiting, Catherine quickly caught Henry’s eye. The King had displayed little interest in Queen Anne from the beginning, so Norfolk saw an opportunity. The Howards may have sought to recreate the influence gained during Anne Boleyn’s reign.

As the King’s interest in Catherine grew, so did Norfolk’s influence. Her youth, prettiness and vivacity were captivating for the middle-aged sovereign, who claimed he had never known the like to any woman. Within months of her arrival at court, Henry bestowed expensive gifts upon Catherine. He called her his rose without a thorn and the very jewel of womanhood. Holbein’s portrait showed a young auburn-haired girl with a characteristically hooked Howard nose; Catherine was said to have a gentle, earnest face.

Henry VIII and Catherine were married at Oatlands Palace on 28 July 1540, the same day Thomas Cromwell was executed. She was 16 and he was 49. Henry indulged her every whim.

No plans were made for a coronation, but she still travelled downriver in the royal barge into the City of London to a gun salute and some acclamation. She was settled at Baynard Castle. Little changed at court, other than the arrival of many Howards. Every day she dressed in new clothes in French fashion. With ominous foresight, her motto read Non autre volonté que la sienne (No other will but his).

The King and Queen escaped plague-ridden London in August 1540. They travelled on a honeymoon through Reading and Buckingham. The King embarked on a lavish spending spree to celebrate his marriage, with extensive refurbishments and developments at the Palace of Whitehall. This was followed by more expensive gifts for Christmas at Hampton Court Palace.

That winter, the King’s bad moods deepened and grew more furious. He accused councillors of being lying time-servers and began to regret losing Cromwell. After a dark depressed March, his mood lifted at Easter.

During her marriage, Catherine may have been involved with Henry’s favourite courtier, Thomas Culpeper. According to Dereham’s later testimony, he was the young man who had succeeded [him] in the Queen’s affections. Catherine had considered marrying Thomas during her time as maid-of-honour to Queen Anne. It has been alleged that the pair were meeting secretly in the spring of 1541. The meetings were supposedly arranged by one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting: Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford, the widow of George Boleyn.

During the autumn Northern Progress, crisis began to loom over 17-year-old Catherine. People who claimed to have witnessed her earlier sexual behaviour while at Lambeth reportedly contacted her for favours in return for their silence and some of these blackmailers may have been appointed to her royal household. The brother of Mary Lascelles, John Lascelles, claimed that he tried to convince her sister to find a place in the Queen’s royal chamber. However, Mary allegedly refused, stating she had witnessed the light ways of Queen Catherine while living at Lambeth. After hearing this, John reported the news to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, who then interrogated Mary. Under the Archbishop’s interrogation, Mary alleged that Catherine had had sexual relations prior to her relationship with the King.

Cranmer immediately took up the case to be made to topple his rivals – the Howard family. Jane Boleyn was interrogated, and from fear of being tortured, agreed to talk. She told how she had watched for Catherine backstairs as Culpeper made his escapes from the Queen’s room. 

During the investigation, a love letter written in Catherine’s distinctive handwriting was found in Culpeper’s chambers.

It is unlikely that Henry was unaware of the allegations against Catherine when on 1 November 1541, he arranged to be found praying in the Chapel Royal, where he received a warrant of the Queen’s arrest that described her crimes. On 7 November 1541, Archbishop Cranmer led a delegation of councillors to question her. Even the staunch Cranmer found young Catherine’s frantic, incoherent state pitiable: I found her in such lamentation and heaviness as I never saw no creature so that it would have pitied any man’s heart to have looked upon her. He ordered the guards to remove any objects that she might use to commit suicide.

Establishing the existence of a precontract between Catherine and Dereham would have been effective in terminating Catherine’s marriage to Henry, but it would also have allowed Henry to annul their marriage and banish her from court, in poverty and disgrace, instead of executing her. However, Catherine steadfastly denied any precontract, maintaining that Dereham had raped her.

On 23 November 1541, Catherine was stripped of the title of Queen of England and imprisoned in Syon Abbey, where she remained throughout the winter of 1541. The King would be at Hampton Court Palace, but she would never see him again.

Culpeper and Dereham were arraigned at Guildhall on 1 December 1541 for high treason. They were executed at Tyburn on 10 December 1541; Culpeper was beheaded and Dereham was hanged, drawn and quartered. Many of Catherine’s relatives were also detained in the Tower except for her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, who had sufficiently distanced himself from the scandal and wrote a grovelling letter of apology.

Catherine herself remained in limbo until Parliament introduced a bill of attainder on 29 January 1542, which was passed on 7 February 1542. The Royal Assent by Commission Act 1541 made it treason, and punishable by death, for a Queen consort to fail to disclose her sexual history to the King within 20 days of the marriage, or to incite someone to commit adultery with her. This retroactively solved the matter of Catherine’s supposed precontract and made her unequivocally guilty. No formal trial was held. 

When the Lords of the Council came for her, she allegedly panicked and screamed, as they manhandled her into the barge that would escort her to the Tower on 10 February 1542. Entering through the Traitor’s Gate, she was led to her prison cell. The next day, Catherine’s execution was scheduled for 7:00 am on Monday, 13 February. 

The night before her execution, Catherine is believed to have spent many hours practising how to lay her head upon the block, which had been brought to her at her request. She died with relative composure but looked pale and terrified; she required help to climb the scaffold. She made a speech describing her punishment as worthy and just and asked for mercy for her family and prayers for her soul. According to popular folklore, her final words were: I die a Queen, but I would rather have died the wife of Culpeper. There are no accounts that support this, instead of reporting that she stuck to traditional final words, acknowledging that she deserved to die a thousand deaths for betraying the King, who had always treated her so graciously. Catherine was beheaded with a single stroke of the executioner’s axe; she was 18 or 19 years old.

Jane Boleyn was executed immediately after. Both their bodies were buried in an unmarked grave in the nearby chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, where the bodies of Catherine’s cousins, Anne and George Boleyn also lay. She is commemorated on a plaque on the west wall dedicated to all those who died in the Tower.

Catherine Howard

Hans Holbein the Younger

16th century