Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard (b. 1523? 1525?; d. 1542), Henry VIII's fifth wife, was Anne Boleyn's first cousin, and shared with her the unfortunate distinction of being beheaded on questionable charges of treasonable adultery. Ironically, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, another first cousin of these two unfortunate women, was also beheaded on spurious charges of treason. Surrey was, in fact, the last person to be executed during Henry VIII's reign, for Henry died before the order of execution could be carried out against Surrey's father, the third Duke of Norfolk. The fate of these three cousins suggests how easily King Henry's favor could turn to disfavor, and how dangerous it was to earn the displeasure of that volatile, fickle monarch.

The year of Catherine's birth is not certain, though it was probably either 1523 or 1525. Thus, when she married the almost fifty-year-old king, she was either fifteen or seventeen years old, and at the time of her execution she was perhaps as young as seventeen, and no older than nineteen.

Her first involvement was with Henry Mannox, a hired musician, perhaps even Catherine's music teacher. Next she became involved with Francis Dereham, and it seems they actually swore vows before witnesses and called each other "husband" and "wife." These early adventures would one day come back to haunt the girl, when she was married to the king of England.

Catherine first attracted Henry's notice when he saw her among the ladies in the household of Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife. After that short marriage was annulled, Henry quickly married Catherine ,who had undoubtedly been coached by her powerful and ambitious relatives to keep Henry interested without surrendering to him, so that she could become his next queen rather than just another of his mistresses.

Catherine's relatives, especially her ruthless uncle Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk, were leaders of the conservative Catholic faction at Henry's court. Thomas Cromwell, Henry's chief councilor and architect of the English Church's break with Rome, had earned the king's displeasure for having arranged the king's ill-fated marriage to Anne of Cleves and, thereby, an embarrassing alliance with the Lutheran states of western Germany. Norfolk and his allies used Cromwell's misstep to bring him down, and Norfolk took his place as Henry's chief advisor, helped no doubt by the fact that the king had decided to marry Norfolk's young niece.

Henry doted on his young bride, showering her with expensive gifts and making an effort to satisfy her every whim. Being queen was a heady experience for this giddy young girl, who had been without status, and who had never even had any money of her own. She was as demanding as a spoiled child, but Henry thought her perfect, dubbing her his "rose without a thorn." Despite her new rank, however, Catherine was a naive, a lamb among the wolves at King Henry's factious court.

Henry's Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was staunchly, though secretly, Protestant. He was not pleased at the ascendancy of the Catholic Howard faction. When he received information about Catherine's early sexual involvements, he took the news to the king, whose initial reaction was to dismiss it as malicious rumor and to imprison those who had informed Cranmer. But he also authorized further investigation, probably expecting that the queen's reputation would be cleared.

Meanwhile, Catherine had unwisely given employment to two of the women who had been a party to her early adventures, and had also appointed her erstwhile "husband," Francis Dereham, as her private secretary. In both cases, perhaps, she acted more from fear than from foolishness, since any of them could have revealed her past had she not placed them comfortably in her household. Dereham especially took advantage of Catherine's situation, speaking familiarly and even disrespectfully to her in front of others.

Catherine also began to keep company with her distant relative, Sir Thomas Culpepper, and even to spend time alone with him in private. It is unlikely that Catherine committed adultery after her marriage to King Henry. Probably she just enjoyed the company of younger men, as her husband was enormously fat, prematurely old, and horribly temperamental. She liked being queen, but she probably barely tolerated her adoring husband.

Cranmer saw in Catherine's flirtatiousness and her carelessness about appearances an opportunity to bring about her downfall. When the stories about her early life were confirmed beyond doubt, it took very little to persuade the king that her behavior since their marriage implied continued promiscuity. After all, what she had done before marrying the king could not be considered adultery. Certainly it was a grave error to hide her past from King Henry, but the penalty for that would not be death. Instead, the marriage would have been annulled and she would have retired to the country in disgrace, and with all further marriage prospects ruined.

But adultery in a queen was treason, and for that Catherine would be executed. When Cranmer laid his findings, including his speculation about her continued adultery, before the king, Henry wept inconsolably. Then, instead of confronting his wife and giving her a chance to explain her side of the story, Henry removed himself altogether. Like his advisors, he feared his resolve would soften if he allowed her to see him and beg him for mercy.

When Catherine was first arrested, in fact, she did attempt to see the king, but she was dragged, screaming, away from his door. She never again saw her husband.

Throughout her questioning Catherine denied that her "arrangement" with Dereham had been a formal betrothal. Perhaps she did not understand that if she acknowledged a prior betrothal, she could not be held guilty of adultery, for then she would never truly have been Henry's wife. The two men who were accused of being her lovers, Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpepper, confessed under torture, and it is almost certain that much--if not all--of the other evidence for her adultery since marrying the king was equally suspect. She was probably guilty of nothing worse than flirtatiousness and naivete in her interactions with men other than the king. Because she had behaved indiscreetly, she had given plenty of ammunition to those who wished to make it seem she was carrying on adulterous affairs.

Catherine was beheaded on 13 February 1542, less than two years after marrying the king. She died on the same block where her cousin Anne had lost her head six years earlier. Executed with her was Lady Rochford, the wife of Anne Boleyn's brother George. It was Lady Rochford who had instigated the false charges of incest against her husband and his sister Anne. Perhaps it was fitting that she herself should be executed on false charges of aiding and abetting Catherine's supposed affairs.