Kathryn Howard
The Fifth Wife of Henry VIII
Kathryn Howard was born c. 1521. She was the fourth child of Lord Edmund Howard, the younger brother of the Duke of Norfolk, and Joyce Culpepper. She was a first cousin of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife. In 1531, Kathryn was sent to Lambeth Palace to live with her great-aunt, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. The Duchess’s household was large and supervision was often lax. As a result, Kathryn was the least educated of Henry’s wives.
The relaxed atmosphere at Lambeth allowed Kathryn to start a sexual relationship with her music teacher, Henry Manox, in 1536. The affair ended in 1538 when Kathryn began pursuing a relationship with Francis Dereham, a secretary in the Duchess’s household. The two addressed each other as “husband” and “wife” and agreed to a pre-contract of marriage. Their relationship ended in 1539 when the Duchess learned of it.
Queen of England
Kathryn came to court in 1540 as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of Cleves, Henry’s fourth wife. Kathryn’s vivacious manner quickly caught the king’s eye. He divorced Anne in July 1540. Sixteen days later, Henry and Kathryn were married at Hampton Court. Henry was 49 and Kathryn was no more than 19. Henry was besotted with his new wife and he showered her with gifts. He called her his “rose without a thorn.”
Kathryn, however, was not content with her married life. In early 1541, she began an affair with Thomas Culpepper, Henry’s favorite courtier. Affairs were dangerous for queens. As the affair progressed, those who had witnessed Kathryn’s indiscretions at Lambeth began to ask Kathryn for favors. She appointed her former lovers to positions in her household. Henry Manox became a musician and Francis Dereham was her personal secretary.
The Affair is Discovered
By late 1541, the queen’s affair with Thomas Culpepper was common knowledge. On November 2, 1541, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, gave Henry a letter which detailed the queen’s indiscretions. Henry instructed Cranmer to investigate further. Both Dereham and Culpepper admitted their affairs. Kathryn was charged with treason and imprisoned in Syon House in Middlesex. On December 10, 1541, Dereham and Culpepper were executed for treason.
Kathryn’s future remained uncertain until January 1542 when Parliament passed a bill that made the intent to commit treason punishable by death. Kathryn was transferred to the Tower of London on February 10, 1542. She was executed on February 13. She is buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London next to her cousin, Anne Boleyn.
Sources:
Fraser, Antonia. The Wives of Henry VIII. London: Random House, 1993.
Smith, Lacey Baldwin. Catherine Howard: The Queen Whose Adulteries Made a Fool of Henry VIII. Goucestershire: Amberley, 2009.
Starkey, David. Six Wives: The Queen of Henry VIII. New York: Harper Perennial, 2004.
Weir, Alison. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York: Grove Press, 1991.
Kathryn Howard
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