Catherine Howard

c. 1518–1524-February 13 1542. Fifth wife of king Henry VIII of England. She married him July 28 1540 and was beheaded after two years.

Catherine's date of birth is unknown, but dated between 1518 and 1524. She was a daughter of Edmund Howard who in turn was a brother of the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Howard. Catherine was raised in the household of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.

Although she was poor, her good family name of Howard let her become one of the ladies-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife. Catherine quickly caught Henry's attention, which her uncle saw as an opportunity to gain more influence over the king. It is also assumed that Catherine had more sexual experience than Henry's other wives, which made her interesting for him. After Henry divorced Anne of Cleves and Cromwell had been executed, they married. Their marriage was on July 28, 1540 and Henry probably thought that he had finally found his ideal wife. This marriage made the Howards the most influential family in England. Catherine was never formally crowned Queen of England, however.

Catherine's behavior led to a moral uproar when she tried to cheat on her husband several times: When Henry fell ill in 1541; Catherine started an affair with Thomas Culpeper, one of her mother's cousins, who was also a courtier of Henry. After Henry and Catherine returned from their progress through the north of the country, the rumors about Catherine's infidelity eventually reached Henry.

During his investigations, Henry learned about Catherine's former engagement with Francis Dereham, a man in her grandmother's household she had fallen in love with around 1538. Dereham also confirmed that Catherine had an affair with Culpeper. Following these confessions, Catherine was arrested on 12 November and on November 22, she lost her title as Queen. On 10 December, Dereham and Culpeper were executed. Catherine was executed on February 13, 1542 on the Tower Green within the Tower of London after being queen for only eighteen months and having no children with Henry.

Sources

• Baldwin Smith, Lacey. Catherine Howard: The Queen Whose Adulteries Made a Fool of Henry VIII. Chalford: Amberley, 2009.

• Eakins, Lara E. "Kathryn Howard." Kathryn Howard. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://tudorhistory.org/howard/>.

• Englishhistory.net. "Catherine Howard: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources." Catherine Howard: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/howard.html>.

• Loades, David M. The Tudor Queens of England. London: Continuum, 2009.

• Weir, Alison. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991.