28 July 1540 - Henry VIII Marries Catherine Howard, his Rose without a Thorn - The Anne Boleyn Files July 28, 2014 at 11:33 am Ah, Claire, I see now why you wanted to know what became of Norfolk House!! Good luck to both you and Conor – I’m still working intermittently on Katherine and Norfolk House myself, but so much else is going on, they are having to take a back seat right now. I have been privileged to have worked for Alison Weir on some of her marvellous tours ( and am proud to call her a friend. I had an invitation to the Tower of London last Friday evening to the Historic Royal Palaces event/book launch of ‘The Marriage Game’ Alison’s new novel. A wonderful experience and lovely company, with drinks on the lawn in front of the White Tower at sunset, and Tower Bridge and the Shard sparkling like beacons in the background, while Yeoman Warders were standing by with umbrellas, in case the Heavens decided to open. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Why I’m sharing this with the Anne Boleyn Files is that the lecture Alison then delivered was in the church of St Peter ad Vincula, the first time such an event has been held there. Afterwards people stood by the altar to pay their respects to Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard and the other unfortunates, and Alison said that for her it had been an exceptionally moving experience to stand a few feet from Anne’s memorial tile while extolling the virtues, and some not quite so virtuous tales, of her only child. I have to admit I was a bit emotional myself, and had to wipe away a little tear. July 28, 2014 at 12:12 pm Hi Marilyn, It’s lovely to hear from you. No, that was for a section I was doing on Lambeth for The Anne Boleyn Collection II but, yes, it will come in useful for the Catherine book too. I know what you mean, I’ve had the Catherine book on a back-burner since I wrote the one on Anne’s fall and I keep letting other projects take me from it. I heard about Alison’s talk from Lucy Churchill who attended, it sounds wonderful.

St Peter ad Vincula has such an atmosphere, doesn’t it. I will neer forget the time I was allowed past the rope and got to stand next to Anne’s tile, and then look under the altar cloth for Catherine’s. I got emotional too! Katherine Howard - Was she really Henry VIII's "rose without a thorn"? - The Anne Boleyn Files Posted By Claire on August 19, 2014 Katherine Howard’s badge, designed by Weidenfeld and Nicolson Thank you to Lauryn Poe for inspiring this post and to Conor Byrne, Marilyn Roberts and Judith Loriente for the subsequent discussions on this issue. Lauryn contacted me last month to ask me whether I knew of a primary source for Henry VIII referring to Katherine Howard as his “rose without a thorn”. I was already researching Katherine myself and hadn’t come across a source during my research, just historians saying that Henry referred to her as such. I decided to do some digging into it as that’s what I like best, a mystery, something to get to the bottom of. I consulted the secondary sources on my bookshelf.

In The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Alison Weir wrote that “Henry was so besotted with Katherine that he ordered a medal to be struck in commemoration of their marriage. It was of gold, embossed with Tudor roses and true lovers’ knots entwined, and it carried the inscription: HENRICUS VIII: RUTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA, a pretty reference to the King’s rose without a thorn, his perfect bride”,1 but there was no reference cited. Fortunately, I had better luck with Antonia Fraser’s The Six Wives of Henry VIII.

In her book, Fraser wrote that “To Henry VIII, Katherine Howard was his ‘blushing rose without a thorn’.” and in her notes she gave the Latin motto, RUTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA (blushing rose without a thorn) and cited Agnes Strickland, the Victorian historian, as her source.2 I have Strickland’s The Lives of the Queens of England: Volume II so I checked and Strickland wrote: “He could neither afford to honour Katherine Howard with a public bridal nor a coronation, but he paid her the compliment of causing gold coins to be struck in commemoration of their marriage, bearing the royal arms of England, flanked with H R, and surmounted with the royal diadem. On the reverse is a rose, crowned, in allusion to his bride, flanked by the initiala K R, with the following legend:- HENRICUS VIII. RUTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA.”3 Strickland did not give any more details on the coin struck for Katherine so I then went digging into Tudor coins.

In Dye’s Coin Encylopaedia, I found that Henry VIII “introduced the ‘Gold Crown’ into the English series of coinage” and that this coin had “upon its obverse a double rose, crowned between the letters ‘H.R.’ (Henry Rex). ‘H.A.’ (Henry and Anne). ‘H.J.’ (Henry and Jane). ‘H.K.’ (Henry and Katherine)”. It bore the legend “HENRIC. VIII. RUTILANS ROSA SIE SPIA”, or Henricus VIII., Rutilans rosa sine spina, meaning “Henry VIII, the shining/dazzling rose without a thorn. So, this encyclopaedia was stating that the legend actually described Henry, not Katherine.4 I then consulted other coin books and websites. In Coins of England and Great Britain, Tony Clayton stated that the “Crown of the Rose” coin was “an extremely rare coin struck during the second coinage of Henry VIII for a few months in 1526” and explained that there were “two types, both of which feature a large rose on the reverse.

One has the inscription HENRIC RUTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA, meaning ‘Henry a dazzling rose without a thorn’, and the other DNS HIB RUTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA, meaning ‘Lord of Ireland a dazzling rose without a thorn’.”5 Henry VIII was still married to Katherine of Aragon in 1526 so this coin was not a medal struck in celebration of his marriage to Katherine Howard. Thomas Snelling’s A View of the Silver Coin and Coinage of England from the Norman Conquest gave exactly the same information as Dye’s Coin Encylopaedia.6 In Henfrey’s Guide to English Coins, it said: “Crown. Obv. a double rose crowned, between the letters H.K. (for Henry, and Katherine his 1st wife); or H.A. (for Henry, and Anne his 2nd wife); or H.I. (for Henry, and Jane his 3rd wife); or the letters H.R. (for Henricus Rex). All these letters are crowned. HENRIC VIII. RVTILANS ROSA SIE SPIA.”7 It also described the half-crown as being similar but with uncrowned letters next to the legend.

On the Portable Antiquities Scheme website, which records archaeological finds, I found a photo of a gold crown from Henry VIII’s reign which was dated 1509-1526 and bore a crowned H and R with the legend “HENRIC VIII RUTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA”.8 On / , there are photographs of each side of “the Crown of the Double Rose” which has the crowned initials H and I (I was for Jane) either side of the Tudor rose on one side and Henry VIII’s arms on the other. It also bears the legend HENRIC VIII. RVTILANS ROSA SIE SPIA, which is proof that the legend was being used before Henry had even met Katherine Howard. Gold crown of Henry VIII, c. Bristol City Council When I spoke to Conor Byrne, author of Katherine Howard: A New History, about my doubts over the coin being struck for Katherine Howard he pointed out that David Starkey had pointed this out in his book on the six wives – “why hadn’t I looked at that book first?”, I asked myself. In his notes on his chapter on Katherine.

Starkey writes that the motto “originates with Agnes Strickland” and that the coin in question, the Crown of the Double Rose, “had been issued since Wolsey’s recoinage of 1536.”9 He went on to explain that after Jane Seymour’s death the coin bore the cipher “HR” and remained that way from 1537 until the end of Henry’s reign. He also stated, as I’d found out, that the motto/legend referred to Henry. Starkey concluded that the rose badge and motto had nothing to do with Katherine and that “this reading of the evidence is confirmed by M. Siddons, Heraldic Badges of England and Wales. Dr Siddons finds that Catherine, unlike Henry’s other wives, seems to have displayed no personal badge.” That would explain why the only image of Katherine’s rose badge I’ve been able to find is the one from the Weidenfeld & Nicolson archive (a publisher established in 1948). I have not been able to find any mention of Katherine’s “rose” badge in any primary sources or any images of it from any historic houses.

The badges or “arms” Antonia Fraser writes of being inserted by Galyon Hone, the King’s glazier, at Rochester, and quickly removed in 1542 after Katherine’s fall, may well have been a cipher like the “HA” ciphers (Henry and Anne) that Henry tried to get removed from Hampton Court Palace after Anne Boleyn’s fall.10 If anyone knows of any badges depicting a rose for Katherine then please do share in the comments below. David Starkey writes of how Agnes Strickland’s “rose without a thorn” story “has been repeated, with less excuse, by her many successors” and it’s true. I am one of those “successors”, I have been guilty of writing of Henry VIII referring to Katherine as his “rose without a thorn” and also “a perfect jewel of womanhood”,11 which were actually his privy council’s words and not his own. Henry VIII may well have believed Katherine to be unblemished and perfect, but the romantic motto and badge seem to be fiction. What a shame!

So, we go from Katherine being Henry VIII’s “blushing rose without a thorn” to Henry VIII being the “dazzling rose without a thorn”, interesting… You can read more about Katherine Howard in Conor Byrne’s new biography Katherine Howard: A New History . Coin image – Gold crown of Henry VIII, Bristol City Council, from finds.org.uk/database/images/image/id/334156 and used under Creative Commons licence . Notes and Sources The Face of Catherine Howard (Artistic Reconstruction) - YouTube The Face of Catherine Howard (Artistic Reconstruction) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Oct 8, 2013 (b. 1523 - February 13, 1542) The fifth wife of King Henry VIII. Known by Henry as his "Rose without a thorn".

Catherine enjoyed being Queen for its many perks, but to her, Henry was just a sickly, fat, 49-year-old man and she preferred the company of younger men for her passions, which unfortunately were not well-hidden from servants and officials. Once a love letter was found in the possession of Henry's main gentleman of the Privy chamber, Thomas Culpeper, Catherine was removed of her title as Queen, and she and her two lovers were executed less than two years after her marriage to Henry. PRINTS NOW AVAILABLE! "Catherine Howard" 2013 Original Art © M.A. Ludwig ARTIST NOTES: There are very few portraits of Catherine Howard, and the ones that exist leave a lot to question about how she actually looked. It seems to be fair to say that as some described her, she was not "conventionally beautiful", but she was fair enough not to be considered ugly. Historical accounts describe her as having auburn hair, pale skin, dark eyes and eyebrows, and a "rather fetching" beggining of a double-chin.

Comparisons of her various portraits seemed to betray a tendency toward a slightly "pinched" face with notable cheekbones as well as eyes that were bordering between seductive and drooping. It's probably fair to say that much of her appeal was in her vivaciousness and ravenous appetite for life and adventure. Henry VIII was a shrewd man who probably took Catherine's zest for living as a good indicator of her health and ability to bear healthy children and more importantly, to bear healthy MALE children. Category Henry's Wives - The Tudor Enthusiast The Tudor Enthusiast The Many Wives of King Henry VIII Katherine of Aragon (16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) Katherine began her life of English Royalty in 1501 as the wife of King Henry VIII's older brother, Arthur. As his wife, she was known as the Princess of Wales. However, her husband died only five months after their wedding, and she married his younger brother, Henry VIII seven years later - (She was 23 and he was almost 18). Their marriage started out happily, and it is said that they were very much in love for the first years.

However, Katherine proved unable to produce a male heir for her husband. She was pregnant six times, and only one of those pregnancies resulted in a child that survived infancy - Mary Tudor, later known as Queen Mary I, or "Bloody Mary." In 1525, King Henry took an interest in one of Queen Katherine's ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn. The King believed his marriage to Katherine was "cursed" and they would never be given a son, because he had married his brother's wife. When the Catholic church refused to annul the marriage, Henry broke with the church, dissolved the marriage, and sent Katherine to Kimbolton Castle, where she died. She was buried in Peterborough Cathedral - King Henry VIII did not attend the funeral, and he did not allow their daughter, Mary, to either. Anne Boleyn (1501/1507 - 19 May 1536) Referred to by many as a "witch" and "concubine," Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII, and many consider her to be his one true love.

She spent much of her childhood being educated in France, spending time as a maid of honor for Claude of France. She came to the English court as a lady-in-waiting for Queen Katherine as a young teenager, but soon caught the eye of the King. After her sister, Mary, acted as mistress for Henry (and had his child), he turned his attention to Anne. She resisted his attempts at seducing her, refusing to become his mistress. At his time, Henry made it his goal to annul his marriage to Katherine, so that he could marry Anne. It is said that Anne helped convince Henry that breaking with the Catholic church would be the best for him, and once it was done, they married on 25 January 1533. She was the only wife (other than Katherine) to be crowned Queen of England in an official coronation ceremony. She gave birth to their only child, a daughter - Elizabeth, (later known as Queen Elizabeth I), but she, too, failed to produce a male heir. After three miscarriages, Henry was already courting his next wife, and had Anne investigated for treason, arresting her and sending her to the Tower of London.

She was beheaded on Tower Green on 19 May 1536 under convictions of incest and adultery, which is still controversial. Jane Seymour (1508 – 24 October 1537) Jane Seymour was being courted by King Henry VIII while his marriage to Anne Boleyn was proving to be a failure. As with Anne, it is rumored that Jane was Henry's only true love. (Well, which one is it?!) Jane proved to be a faithful and simple wife, without causing Henry any reason to doubt her. She is the only one of his wives to provide him with a male heir - She gave birth to their son and future King, Edward, on 12 October 1537. After her difficult labor (two days and three nights long, to be exact), Jane became very ill, possibly suffering from an infection due to Edward's birth. Jane died on 24 October 1537 at Hampton Court Palace, and she is the only one of Henry's wives that received a proper Queen's funeral. She is also buried next to her husband in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

After her death, Henry wore black for three months to show his mourning, and did not remarry for three years. Anne of Cleves (22 September 1515 – 16 July 1557) A German noblewoman, Anne of Cleves proved to be less appealing than King Henry's first three wives. Upon seeing a painting of Anne of Cleves, Henry became interested in making her his wife, but was made disappointed when he met her. She was not as educated and sophisticated as Henry liked, and she could only read and write in her native German language.However, she was docile and and virtuous, which made her a fine candidate for Henry. The marriage was never consummated, as the King is said to have not been attracted to her. She was asked to leave court only months after their wedding, and the marriage was annulled. However, she did receive a generous settlement and she and the King remained good friends for the rest of her life - being considered his honorary "beloved sister." Anne died just after her forty-second birthday, most likely as a result of cancer, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Catherine Howard (1518-1524 – 13 February 1542) Known as his "rose without a thorn" and "Kitty Howard," she is the fifth wife of the notorious ladies man. She married Henry almost immediately after his annulment with Anne of Cleves (for whom she served as lady-in-waiting). The nearly fifty-year-old King showered his teenage bride with lavish gifts and jewels. At this point, Henry was roughly 300 pounds and had a "foul-smelling, festering ulcer in his thigh that had to be drained daily." In 1541, Catherine embarked on a fresh and risky romance with a courtier, Thomas Culpeper, which led to her being charged with treason, and consequently being arrested and sent to the Tower of London. The night before her execution, Catherine apparently spent several hours practicing how to lay her head on the block. She and her lover, Culpeper, were both beheaded, and she was buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, where the bodies of her cousins, Anne and George Boleyn also rest.

Katherine Parr (1512 - 5 September 1548) King Henry's third "Katherine," she is his final wife, the only one to survive him. She married the King on 12 July 1543, and took an interest in his three children, becoming very involved in their education and care. When King Henry died in 1547, she became Princess Elizabeth's primary guardian. Katherine married four times during her life, and her final marriage took place six months after the King's death, to Sir Thomas Seymour. She passed away soon after, in 1548, probably due to complications in childbirth. She was buried at St. Mary's Chapel at Sudeley Castle. Create a free website Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: The Six Wives of Henry VIII The Six Wives of Henry VIII 4.6 out of 5 stars 554 416 people found this helpful 5.0 out of 5 starsA fascinating, engaging account of the Queens of Henry VIII.

ByMonikaon March 11, 2004 I have always had a soft spot for King Henry VIII's wives and enjoyed reading about them, but never have I come across such a detailed, colorful, and engaging biography of them as this. Alison Weir has done a phenomenal amount of research in compiling this book. She provides us with countless details of the lives of these women, including excerpts from letters written by, addressed to, or about them. She also dispells many of the myths that have grown up around the six Queens. For instance, Anne Boleyn was not the promiscuous wanton she has often been described as, and Jane Seymour may not have been quite as sweet and innocent in nature as most people believed her to be. Coupled with her easy, fluid writing style, this factual detail brings each of the women to life. We get to know them intimately as Weir unlocks their widely varied personalities. Katherine of Aragon (mother of Queen 'Bloody' Mary) was a loving and devoted wife to Henry for 24 years.

When he ultimately cast her aside in hopes of finding a more fruitful wife (one who would provide him with a male heir, which Katherine had failed to do), she firmly maintained that she was the King's true wife, the Queen, and always would be. For the rest of her life, she never permitted anyone to call her anything but 'Queen', even though she lived out her last miserable years in a dank, unhealthy estate, with insufficient resources. Anne Boleyn (mother of Queen Elizabeth I) was an outspoken and ambitious young woman, originally one of Katherine's waiting women. She caught the King's attention and Henry developed an overwhelming passion for her. His desire to rid himself of Katherine and marry Anne ultimately led the King to break with the Roman Catholic Church, something scandalous and unthinkable to most of his contemporaries. Unfortunately for her, Anne lacked sufficient discretion, and her political oponents found it all too easy to lay upon her false accusations that would result in her execution. Henry once said that he loved Jane Seymour best of all his wives, perhaps because she succeeded where his other wives had failed - she gave Henry his heir, Edward VI. But Jane, much loved by many Englanders, did not occupy the position of Queen for long.

Shortly after the birth of her son, she succumbed to infection and died. Henry remembered her as his favorite for the rest of his life, and ordered that he be buried at her side when he died. Anne of Cleves, the shortest-lasting of Henry's Queens, was ultimately the most successful of the six women. Henry arranged to marry the German princess based solely on seeing one portrait of her. This portrait, however, had exaggerated her appearance, and when the King saw his new wife he was repulsed. He immediately sought a way out of the marriage. Anne could have faced a grimmer fate, except that she was cheerfully compliant where Katherine had been stubborn. The marriage was annulled with ease and the King, grateful for her cooperation, provided Anne with property, funds, and a title as his honorary sister. Henry's next wife was not so fortunate. Katherine Howard was was only a young girl when she married the King, who thought of her as 'a rose without a thorn.' In Katherine, he found a way to recapture his youth. But Katherine was young and silly, and worst of all, sexually promiscuous.

When the king found out, he was shattered, and Katherine soon followed in the footsteps of her predecessor and cousin, Anne Boleyn, and was executed before the age of 17. Katherine Parr, Henry's sixth and final wife, served a different function than those who had come before her. By this time the aging King was in failing health and exceedingly fat. Katherine became more of a nursemaid for him, as well as a companion with whom he could converse. Within a few years, the King died, leaving Katherine a widow, free and in charge of her own fate. She re-married and had a daughter by her new husband, but died shortly afterward. The book is long, but well worth the read. Weir has done an extraordinary job of introducing us to these vibrant, diverse women. The book is full of information, facts, quotes - but the writing is very digestible and flows smoothly. Henry's first two wives are given the most attention - Katherine because she lasted the longest, and Anne because she has been saddled with such an infamous reputation. The other wives are not described in so much detail, but we still get to know them quite well.

Weir takes us through the entire lives of these women, from their childhood and time before marrying the king, through the ends of their lives (which, in the cases of Anne of Cleves and Katherine Parr, extended beyond the King's own death). Included in the book are several black and white images - mostly paintings of Henry, his family, his advisors, and of course, his wives. I would have liked to see these printed in color, but they are nice enough as is. At the back of the book, Weir has included genealogical tables of England's royal dynasties, the Tudor family, and each of Henry's wives. This is an extremely helpful reference for keeping track of the connections between various nobles that involved in the lives of the King and the women he married. 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' was a great read, and I would highly recommend it. 34 people found this helpful 3.0 out of 5 starsNot a bad book ByA customeron February 17, 2002 First I want to applaud Ms. Weir on her research and attention to detail.

It was nice to read a more detailed description of Henry VIII than what you usually get in this type book. So much of the book was spent on Katherine of Aragon and so little on the other 5 wives that I was somewhat dissapointed. There seems to be more information available on Katherine of Aragon, however I question the attention paid to some of the sources Ms. Weir has used. Not the validity of them but the obvious bias of the sources. And Ms. Weir continued her unfortunate habit of losing her objectivity part way through the book. I found this thoroughly frustrating in her book "The Princes in the Tower" and almost as frustrating in this book. Still, this is an interesting book if you can overlook the obvious bias she has when writing of Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.

King Henry VIII and His Six Wives—Love, Marriage, and Children | Owlcation King Henry VIII and His Six Wives—Love, Marriage, and Children King Henry VIII and His Six Wives—Love, Marriage, and Children Updated on July 22, 2016 Joined: 8 years agoFollowers: 1,006Articles: 47 Henry VIII of England, King 1509-1547 King Henry VIII was, quite probably, the most significant English political and religious figure since William the Conqueror set sail from Normandy in 1066 AD. This article is about Henry the man - his loves, his wives, his children. Famous for having six wives, Henry VIII is said to be the only English King to have had more wives than mistresses. Every English schoolchild knows the rhyme, "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived", about, in turn, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Even in his own lifetime, when his revenge could be swift and cruel, his marital history was made fun of.

The beautiful 16 year old Duchess Christina of Denmark is supposed to have said in 1538 that if she had had two heads, Henry was welcome to one of them. She declined to marry him. Henry himself died thinking that he had had only two marriages - to Jane Seymour, and Catherine Parr. The rest were not valid, in his view. That meant, also, that King Henry VIII only considered one of his children, the future King Edward VI, to be legitimate. He did not regard his daughters, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth Tudor, as being born within marriage. Advertisement Portraits of Catherine of Aragon Click thumbnail to view full-size Catherine of Aragon in c. 1503, as the widowed Princess of Wales Catherine of Aragon as Queen of England, in c. 1520s Advertisement Family and Childhood of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's wife 1509-1533 Catherine of Aragon was born in Spain on 16th December 1485. She was the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. Both were monarchs of their own countries. Catherine was therefore an infanta, a Spanish princess.

Her title as a child was Infanta Caterina. Catherine was named after her maternal grandmother, the English daughter of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster. As you can see from the portrait to the right of this text, she looked English as well, with fair hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. Ferdinand and Isabella were important monarchs in Europe. They were relentlessly pious and Catholic, and were awarded the titles of, “the Catholic Kings”. Catherine had several older siblings. The eldest was called Isabella, then came Juan, and then Juana, Maria and then the baby of the family, Catherine. Catherine had an active childhood. Ferdinand and Isabella were busy with the reconquista. They were dedicated to expelling the last remaining Muslim Moors from Spain, and the Queen was head of her own armies. Isabella took her daughters as well as her son to the siege of Granada in 1491. Historical Fiction on This Topic Catherine of Aragon's Marriage to Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales At the age of 3, Catherine was betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales. The couple were married before they even met, by proxy.

They married firstly in Wales in May 1499, where Arthur married the Spanish Ambassador to England, De Puebla. There was a second proxy marriage in December 1500, and the Ambassador played the part of Catherine of Aragon at a wedding feast after the proxy marriage. Catherine arrived in England in October 1500, at Plymouth, Devon. Catherine and Arthur married in St Paul’s Cathedral on 14th November 1500. The young couple moved to the Welsh Marches, but their married life together was short. Prince Arthur, Prince of Wales, died on 2nd April 1502, leaving Catherine a young teenage widow. It was almost immediately proposed by Catherine’s parents, Ferdinand and Isabella, that Catherine marry Arthur’s younger brother, Prince Henry. Henry the VII was far from sure that the marriage remained to his advantage. And Henry the VII therefore delayed it as long as possible, and in fact it was delayed until after he died in 1509.

Advertisement Click thumbnail to view full-size Henry VIII in about 1520 Henry VIII in old age Advertisement Henry VIII's Marriage to Catherine of Aragon Henry VII died on 21st April 1509. Catherine married Henry VIII on 24th June 1509 in a very private ceremony. Henry appeared to want to marry Catherine. He had come to know her over the years that she lived in London as his brother’s widow, and appeared to find her attractive and interesting. Catherine was a little older than Henry. She was 24 in 1509 when they married, and Henry was 18. She was, however, universally regarded as attractive. It must have seemed like a miracle to Catherine - from impoverished, disregarded and ignored widowhood, to wife and Queen in a matter of weeks. Catherine became pregnant quickly, but miscarried in early 1510. She became pregnant again almost immediately, and on 31st December 1510 her first living child, a son, was born. He was named Prince Henry, and was baptised and given his own royal household. Jousts and ceremonies were held all over England to celebrate.

At the age of 22 days, Prince Henry died. In 1513, Henry the VIII set sail for France in order to fight, allied with the Spanish, on French soil. He appointed Catherine as Regent of the country while he was away, a signal honour and a sign of his confidence in her. While Henry fought battles abroad, encouraged by affectionate and admiring letters from Catherine back in England, the Scottish army led by James IV invaded England. Catherine organised the military defence. She marched out at the head of an army from Richmond, near London, and appears to have worn some form of armour. Obviously she didn’t exactly fight, but was nearby when the English and Scots armies clashed at the Battle of Flodden. The Scots lost badly. In the Scottish armour, the King himself was killed, there was an Archbishop, a Bishop, 2 Abbots, 12 Earls, 14 Lords and 10,000 common soldiers. Casualties on the English side were only about 1,500. Catherine further wrote to Henry a couple of months later to inform him that she was pregnant again. This pregnancy also ended in a miscarriage.

She suffered from another stillbirth in 1514. She appears to have miscarried again in early 1515. In January 1516 Catherine was once again in childbed. At the age of 31 she gave birth to the only child which would live to adulthood. Wonderful though a living child was, the celebrations were hugely muted because the child, Mary, was a girl and not the son everybody wanted. In 1518, in November, Catherine gave birth to another live daughter, who died a few days later. Advertisement A video About the Inventory Made in 1547, on the Death of Henry VIII Bessie Blount—Henry VIII's Mistress c. 1519-20 Henry the VIII’s only confirmed mistresses were Elizabeth Blount and Mary Boleyn. By Elizabeth Blount, Henry had a bastard son, Henry Fitzroy. In 1525 he was formally recognised as the King’s son, created Earl of Nottingham, Duke of Richmond, Duke of Somerset, a Knight of the Garter, and Lord Admiral and Warden General of the Marches against Scotland.

The 6 year old was given a formal household, based at Sheriff Hutton Castle, Yorkshire, and altogether set up as a royal figure. Henry died before he reached adulthood. At one stage, bizarrely, King Henry VIII appeared to be considering a marriage between Henry Fitzroy and his half-sister, Mary Tudor, daughter of Catherine of Aragon. Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn and mistress of Henry VIII Mary Boleyn—Henry VIII's Mistress c. 1520 to 1523 When Mary Boleyn, Anne’s older sister, became Henry’s mistress, she was already married to William Carey. That marriage had taken place in February 1520. Carey was bribed, and given grants of land, titles and other offices. Mary remained his mistress for some time. She had a son, Henry Carey, in 1525. It is generally thought very unlikely that this child was also Henry’s. Firstly, the affair had probably ended by then. Secondly, Henry was all too eager to recognise Henry Fitzroy as his bastard son, in order to show that his marriage was the problem not his virility.

"Greensleeves," Supposed to Have Been Written by Henry VIII for Anne Boleyn The Failing Marriage in the 1520s Catherine was very short, probably only about 4 feet 9 or 10 in height. She was pregnant 7 out of the 9 years from her marriage in 1509 to 1518, and by the age of 35 she was really very large. Henry VIII no longer found her attractive. In losing her looks, and failing to produce a male heir, Catherine also lost a great deal of her power over the King. By 1525, Henry VIII was referring to himself as childless, despite his healthy living heir, Mary. In 1525 also, Mary’s household was reorganised to be formally the heir’s household. She was given stewards and chamberlains who were barons, a Lord President of the Council, who was a Bishop, and 300 assorted servants. Her household cost £5000 a year to run. As Princess of Wales, Mary was based in the Welsh Marches.

By 1527, however, Henry VIII had decided that the solution to the problem of the succession was to obtain a new wife. The King's Great Matter Henry VIII convinced himself that the words in Leviticus Chapter 20 showed that his marriage was unlawful: If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an impurity; he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness: they shall be childless Henry came to believe fervently that the papal disposition for the marriage was not sufficient to make it lawful, and that the Pope could not set aside the laws of nature and God. Henry was therefore determined that the marriage should be set aside. Henry thought it would be easy. Generally speaking, Popes were sympathetic to Kings who lacked sons and whose wives were unable to provide them. Ways out of marriage contracts were often found. For example, Eleanor of Aquitaine’s first marriage to Louis of France was dissolved as they had only daughters. In the King's Great Matter, however, things were different. Amongst other problems, the Pope was under the practical and military control of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. And, of course, Charles V was not just the Holy Roman Emperor, he was Catherine of Aragon’s nephew.

Woodcut showing the coronation of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, from Stephen Hawes, "A Joyfull Medytacvon to All Englande" published 1509 The End of Catherine of Aragon's Marriage, and Her Life Thereafter In May 1533, Cranmer declared that Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon had been unlawful, and declared Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn valid. In July 1533, Henry issued a proclamation stripping Catherine of Aragon of her title as Queen, and saying from thenceforth should she be known as the Princess Dowager of Wales, as Prince Arthur’s widow. She was given a greatly reduced household and sent off to the country. Catherine moved in the spring of 1534 to Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire, and lived there as a semi-prisoner. Henry had not allowed Catherine to see her daughter for some years. In March 1534, the Pope finally declared that Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon was valid in Canon Law, and that the marriage could not be challenged. This was now, in England, an irrelevancy.

Catherine died early in January 1536 at Kimbolton. She was buried as the Princess Dowager of Wales. Mary had to be dealt with. She was put under enormous pressure from after the birth of Elizabeth to swear an oath that her parents had not been married and that she was illegitimate. Anne Boleyn as Queen of England, painted about 1534. Hever Castle, Home of the Boleyn family Anne Boleyn's Family and Childhood Anne Boleyn did not come from one of the top families in the land. Her father’s family were merchants who had ascended into the landed classes. Her great-grandfather, Geoffrey Boleyn, was a London merchant who bought land in Norfolk and in Kent. Anne’s grandfather and father, Thomas Boleyn, married well, into increasingly aristocratic families. Thomas Boleyn’s wife was the daughter of the second Duke of Norfolk and sister of the third. Thomas and Elizabeth married in about 1500, and had 3 children who lived to adulthood; Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn, and George Boleyn. The exact dates of birth of all 3 children are not known.

It is likely that Mary Boleyn was the oldest (contrary to what Philippa Gregory says in the “Other Boleyn Girl”) Anne was the second, born between 1502 and 1507, and George was the youngest. Anne was well educated, attractive, and had all the courtly skills. As a child she went to live in the Archduchess Margaret’s household in Burgundy. Margaret’s court was intellectual and cultured, and Anne Boleyn received an extremely good education there. When Henry VIII’s sister, Mary Tudor, married the King of France in 1514, Anne Boleyn joined Mary’s household in Paris. Mary Tudor was quickly widowed, in 1515, but Anne Boleyn stayed at the French Court. Anne became perfectly fluent in French, had a very good singing voice and played a number of instruments. She did not look like a classic ideal of English beauty. She was dark-haired and had very dark eyes. She was nevertheless regarded as extremely attractive, skilled, and interesting. In the early 1520s, Anne returned to England and entered the royal household as one of Catherine of Aragon’s Ladies in Waiting.

It is likely Henry VIII became interested in Anne in late 1524 or 1525. Original parchment record of the trial of Anne Boleyn and her brother, George Boleyn, for incest, adultery, and treason. Anne Boleyn's Relationship With Henry VIII In 1525 and 1526, Henry VIII chased Anne Boleyn vigorously. He no doubt thought it would be easier enough to make her his mistress. But she held out. A good number of Henry’s love letters to Anne have survived. Many of them were stolen and they are now in the Vatican library. They became engaged on New Year’s Day, 1527. Anne was, by 1528, already supporting religious dissenters, Lutherans, and Protestants. She did her best to protect them against persecution by the Catholic establishment. Instead, Anne favoured her Chamberlain and Chaplain Thomas Cranmer. He was a reformist priest from Cambridge. Anne brought Cranmer to Henry VIII’s attention, and he rose steadily in Tudor circles, eventually becoming Archbishop of Canterbury.

Anne adopted a new motto from the Burgundian Court in 1531, “Thus it will be, grumble who will”. For a couple of years, bizarrely, King Henry VIII, Queen Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn had travelled together in a royal court. Henry VIII's Children Click thumbnail to view full-size Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, son of Henry VIII and Elizabeth Blount The Marriage of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII nry VIII and Anne Boleyn became lovers in November or December 1532. They had a secret marriage at the end of 1532, although Henry was still married to Catherine of Aragon. By early December, Anne was pregnant, and the expected heir made the marriage even more urgent. The Act of Succession 1534, passed at the end of March, cited Thomas Cranmer’s verdict that the marriage to Catherine was unlawful, and affirmed the lawfulness of the marriage between Henry and Anne Boleyn.

The succession to the throne was to go to Henry’s heirs male by Anne or any subsequent wife, and if no such sons were born, the throne was to pass to Elizabeth. Mary I was not mentioned at all. On 7th September 1533, Anne gave birth to a healthy child. This heir is exactly what was wanted, apart from one terrible error. The baby, Elizabeth, was a girl and not the son for which Henry had risked everything. More Acts were passed setting out the reformation, the Act of Supremacy 1534 appointed the King as Supreme Head of the Church of England, and the Act of Obedience 1534 made any attribution of power to the Pope treason. In January 1536, Anne Boleyn was pregnant again. In a jousting event, Henry had an accident and fell badly. Anne Boleyn was not there, but was badly shocked when told. On the day of Catherine of Aragon’s funeral, 5 days after the accident in jousting, Anne miscarried a male foetus. This was the third pregnancy for Anne.

She’d had the healthy Elizabeth I in 1533, a miscarriage in 1534 (or possibly a stillbirth) and a further male miscarriage in early 1536. By the time of this miscarriage, Henry’s eye already seems to have turned to Jane Seymour. In early May, Anne Boleyn was arrested and was taken to the Tower of London. Her chief prosecutor and interrogator was her Uncle, the Duke of Norfolk. Anne was accused of adultery with numerous gentlemen at the Court, and of incest with her brother. The 5 men, including George Boleyn, were executed on Tower Hill near the Tower of London on 17th May. Anne Boleyn’s marriage to the King was annulled on the 18th May, and Anne Boleyn herself was executed on the 19th May. She was buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. After the execution, the 2 year old Princess Elizabeth joined her sister Mary in a state of legally-proclaimed bastardy. Queen Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII Jane Seymour Jane Seymour was a complete contrast to Anne Boleyn.

She spoke very little, and when she did she was extremely meek, submissive and calm. After the exciting and rollercoaster relationship with Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII appears to have been attracted to a woman who was frankly seen as pretty dull. The day after Anne Boleyn’s execution on 19th May, Henry VIII and Jane Seymour were betrothed, and they married on 30th May at York Place, now Whitehall, in Central London. Not much is known about how Jane Seymour formed a relationship with Henry VIII. Jane was a member of Anne Boleyn’s household, just as Anne Boleyn had been a member of Catherine of Aragon’s household. The relationship appears to have started in about February 1536. Like Anne Boleyn, Jane was from a good but not top-notch aristocratic family. Jane soon became pregnant, and on the 12th October 1537, gave birth to a healthy son, named Edward. After a long and difficult labour, Jane appeared to be recovering, but then became infected with childbed fever, and died late on the 24th October. It appears that Henry was absent.

Anne of Cleves, in the portrait seen by Henry VIII before they met Anne of Cleves King Henry’s fourth marriage was an arranged marriage of State. With the reformation in full swing in England, fiercely Catholic princesses could not be considered, nor would they consider Henry. The Duchy of Cleves was in present day Northern Germany, and had its capital at Düsseldorf. The Duke had 2 unmarried younger sisters, Anne and Amelia. Anne was 25 when the marriage took place, and Henry was nearly 50. The famous portrait of Anne of Cleves was painted by Hans Holbein, in order that Henry could see what she looked like before they married. Anne was not well educated. She came from a suitably non Catholic country, but could only speak and understand her own language, a type of German, and could not speak English, French or even Latin. Anne arrived in England right at the end of December 1539, and first met Henry by surprise on New Year’s Day. Anne of Cleves failed to recognise Henry VIII, who was offended by this. His type of humiliation set him against her from the beginning. In addition, he decided that she was unattractive and unsuitable.

However, in terms of arranged royal marriages it was impossible for him to reject her now. The couple married on 6th January 1540, greatly against Henry’s will. The day after the marriage, Henry declared he’d been unable to consummate it and was not impotent but unable to rise to the occasion with Anne. By early July 1540, Henry was already talking about divorce. Anne of Cleves was distinctly upset by this, but was wise enough to realise that opposing the King in such matters was bad for her health. She therefore wrote to the King accepting that the marriage should be tried and found invalid, and signing the letter, “Your Majesty’s most humble sister and servant, Anne, daughter of Cleves.” As Anne had been so accommodating, Henry VIII was generous to her and gave her an income of £4000 a year and 2 houses, Richmond and Bletchingley, both near London. She was to be considered an honoured member of the royal court. Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII Catherine Howard's Family and Childhood Catherine Howard was English, from the same family as Anne Boleyn.

The Duke of Norfolk, the man who had prosecuted and supervised the execution of Anne Boleyn, was Catherine’s Uncle as well as Anne’s. Catherine was one of the younger children of Edmund Howard, a younger son. There was not a great deal of money. Edmund Howard married Jocasta Culpepper, who already had several children. She and Edmund Howard were married for about 15 years and had 10 more children. No-one is sure exactly when Catherine Howard was born. The earliest possible date of birth is about 1520, and the latest about 1525. When she married Henry, therefore, she was almost certainly aged between about 14 and 19. Catherine spent a lot of her childhood in the household of her step grandmother, the powerful Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. She formed a relationship as a very young teenager with a music master, but this relationship does not appear to have been consummated. Later, she formed another relationship with Francis Dereham, also a member of the Howard clan and a gentleman. It appears very likely that they had a sexual relationship when Catherine was about 13 or 14.

In late 1539 Catherine Howard was appointed as a Lady of Waiting for the future Queen Anne of Cleves. Clip of the Clash Between Henry VIII and His Chancellor, Sir Thomas More The Tower of London, showing Traitors' Gate. Copyright Viki Male St. Peter ad Vincula chapel in the Tower of London. This is the burial place of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. The Marriage Between Henry VIII and Catherine Howard By spring 1540, there was a fully fledged love affair between Catherine Howard and Henry VIII. The relationship was heavily pushed and encouraged by Catherine’s Uncle, the Duke of Norfolk. Catherine appears to have had red hair, pale skin, and dark eyes. They married on 8th August 1540 at Hampton Court, Henry’s second marriage in 8 months. Henry was besotted with Catherine. He described her as his, “rose without a thorn”. In 1541, Henry VIII undertook a progress to the north of England. A progress was a royal journey around all or part of a King’s kingdom. The Court arrived after the progress at Hampton Court at the end of October.

Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, had received allegations against Catherine, and told the King. Henry did not believe a single one of the allegations. He did agree that the matter should be investigated, but said it should be utterly confidential to protect Catherine’s reputation. A number of members of Catherine’s step grandmother’s household were interviewed, and confirmed Catherine’s earlier relationships. On 5th November, Henry summoned his councillors, including Catherine’s Uncle the Duke of Norfolk. He then left secretly for London and never saw Catherine again. On 7th November, the Archbishop Cranmer arrested and interrogated Catherine, who appears to have fallen apart when confronted with the evidence. She made a full written confession, and begged for the King's Mercy. The punishment for Catherine’s pre-marital relationships was, Henry decided a couple of days later, that she be banished to a former Nunnery, at Syon, but was still to be treated as a Queen. A more dangerous allegation then came about. Catherine had been unwise enough to appoint Francis Dereham to her household, and the Council suspected the love affair might have continued after she married Henry.

Dereham was tortured, but did not admit it, although he did go on to say that Thomas Culpepper and Catherine Howard had formed a relationship. Thomas Culpepper was arrested the following day. He was taken to the Tower and tortured. Catherine actually wrote to him, a letter which survived and was used against her, in which she said, I have never longed for so much for a thing as I do to see you and speak with you, the which I trust shall be shortly now … it makes my heart to die to think what fortune I have that I cannot always be in your company …Yours as long as life endures, Catherine. Catherine and Culpepper both admitted to meeting secretly late at night on the northern progress. Neither admitted actually committing adultery, but both admitted that there was an intention to do so. Dereham and Culpepper were both tried for treason. Culpepper was beheaded on 10th December, and Dereham was dragged to Tyburn, hanged, castrated, disembowelled, beheaded and quartered ,all because he had slept with a teenage girl who had that point had not even met her future husband, the King.

Catherine herself was not even tried. An Act of Parliament was passed in early 1542 with retrospective clauses saying that a loose-living woman who married the King without declaring it was guilty of treason, as were people who knew that she was not a virgin and allowed her to marry the King anyway. Catherine was executed on 13th February 1542, and buried next to her cousin, Anne Boleyn. Catherine Parr, sixth and last wife of Henry VIII Catherine Parr Future wives were going to be quite to come by. The Act of Attainment meant that any woman who had not been married was greatly at risk if she married the King. As were her relatives, in case the King later discovered something about her past that he didn’t like. Fortunately, Henry VIII’s eye lit on a widow. Catherine Parr was born as the first child of Thomas Parr and Maud Green, in 1512. Catherine of Aragon was her Godmother. In 1517, Catherine’s father died of the plague, leaving Catherine’s mother a widow at 22 and Catherine fatherless at the age of 5.

Catherine was married at some time before 1529, when she was 17. She married Sir Edward Burgh, son and heir to Lord Burgh of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. Edward died in 1533 leaving Catherine a childless 21 year old widow. Her mother had also died during her brief marriage. Within months, Catherine Parr married again, to John Neville, Lord Latimer, again a much older man, 20 years older than her, who had had 2 previous wives and 2 young adult children. Catherine, and her husband Lord Latimer, were both reformists. They did their best to encourage the reformation and the downfall of Catholicism. Lord Latimer was in increasing ill health in 1542 and 1543. He died in early March 1543, leaving his wife well provided for, and once again a widow. She was still only 31 years old. She formed a relationship with Sir Thomas Seymour, younger brother of Queen Jane Seymour and Prince Edward’s Uncle. But the King was interested in her, and offered to marry her just after her husband died.

She agreed, although she did not appear to want to be Queen. The marriage took place on 12th July 1543. Catherine Parr did her best to bring together Henry’s disparate family, and brought Mary, Elizabeth and Edward together in the royal household with herself and Henry VIII. Catherine got on particularly well with Mary I. Catherine also formed a close relationship with Elizabeth I, and Elizabeth lived with Catherine after Henry’s death. Like Henry’s first wife but unlike any of the others, Catherine Parr was appointed Regent when Henry journeyed abroad to supervise war in France. She appears to have done a good job as Regent, and was admired by Henry for it. Catherine was well-educated, pious in reformist religion, and interested in religious and social affairs. She wrote a book, published in June 1545, called, “Prayers or Meditations” For a New Year’s present, in 1546, Elizabeth decided to flatter both her parents by sending to Henry VIII a copy of Prayers or Meditations by Queen Catherine. Elizabeth translated it into Latin, French and Italian and dedicated it to her father, and impressive feat for a 12 year old.

Henry appears to have been a little bit irritated by this, and appears to have thought that Catherine Parr was getting above herself in terms of religion. Catherine narrowly escaped being arrested and executed for heresy by some clever work. After Henry VIII died, Catherine was finally able to marry Thomas Seymour, and to have Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s cousin, Lady Jane Grey, to live with her. She married Thomas Seymour very shortly after Henry VIII died on 28th January 1547, and became pregnant for the first time in 4 marriages. Catherine Parr survived Henry VIII, but not for long. Her child, a girl named Mary, was born in 1548, and Catherine Parr died of childbirth fever. Her husband was then accused of treason and executed. Sir Thomas Seymour, Catherine Parr's fourth husband. They married in 1547, and Henry VIII's death The Henry VIII exhibition presents a selection of key documents from Henry VIII’s reign to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his accession to the throne. The documents are arranged into three themes: Power, Passion and Parchment.

Advertisement Catherine Howard - History Learning Site Catherine Howard Citation: C N Trueman "Catherine Howard" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 16 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016. Catherine Howard was born into one of the most famous of noble families – Catherine’s father was the younger brother of the Duke of Norfolk. Catherine became Henry VIII’s fifth wife. She was Anne Boleyn’s cousin and in the social circle in which she lived, it would have been expected that she would have been seen by Henry, who after the divorce from Anne of Cleves, was once again looking for a wife. By 1540, Henry had become fat and he had lost the muscular physique he had when he was younger. He was now 49 and his lifestyle was starting to catch up with him. Catherine was just 15 or 16 when Henry asked for her hand in marriage. She was considered to be very beautiful, lively and kind. Henry described her as a “rose without a thorn”. Why did she marry someone 34 years older than she was?

Simply because she had no choice – Henry was king and Catherine’s family welcomed the opportunity her marriage presented to move closer to the king. What a fifteen to sixteen year old girl thought about marrying a 49 year old man is not recorded. Catherine did commit adultery. Given the age difference and Henry’s character perhaps this was inevitable. Catherine had an affair with Thomas Culpepper of the King’s Privy Chamber. It was soon discovered and Henry showed both of them no mercy. Culpepper was executed in December 1541, as was Francis Dereham who was an earlier love of Catherine’s. She was executed in February 1542 aged seventeen or eighteen. This experience of marital betrayal did not put off Henry and one year later he married his last wife Catherine Parr. His ‘Rose without a Thorn’ | Period Wardrobe His ‘Rose without a Thorn’ Replicating a gown for Queen Catherine Howard Queen Catherine Howard. Photograph © John Bennett.

In 2009 I was asked to re-create a Tudor gown fit for Queen Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, for display at Gainsborough Old Hall to commemorate Henry and Catherine’s visit made as part of Henry’s Northern Progress in 1541. Queen Catherine Howard’s apparel consisted of a French gown in silver silk damask, with a French hood, kirtle and foresleeves of cloth of silver. They are decorated with pearls and black diamond ouches. Although the costume was to be on permanent display on a static model, I was keen that it could also be taken off the stand and worn and so all the layers, including chemise, stays, petticoat and even the linen under-cap, were created as well. However, Catherine Howard was by reputation petite and possibly under five foot in height, so I made the gown to reflect that. Her apparel was recreated from a number of contemporary sources, including portrait and documentary, but principally the following: · A miniature portrait thought to be of Queen Catherine Howard by Hans Holbein the Younger.

The sitter is wearing jewels similar to those worn by both Jane Seymour and later Katherine Parr, and the neckline of her gown is decorated with an unusually wide band of pearls and jewels. · In 1541, when King Henry and Queen Catherine visited Lincoln the Queen is described as wearing cloth of silver: ‘The King and Queen came riding into their tent, which was pitched at the furthest end of the liberty of Lincoln and there shifted their apparrel from green and crimson velvet respectively to cloth of gold and silver. Behind that tent was one for the ladies, and some distance off, a “hayle” where the six children of honour dressed in cloth of gold and crimson velvet and the horses of estate were prepared’.* In spring 2010, the filmmaking group WAG Screen (that I belong to) was asked to make a film for Gainsborough Old Hall. As this is a building of many dates and with multiple histories – many of which have a national dimension, it required an individual approach. It was to meet this challenge that the director of WAG Screen films and Crow’s Eye Productions, Nick Loven, came up with the device of having a visitor to the Hall with the gift of seeing the past.

Bryony Roberts as Catherine Howard followed by Su Toogood as her Lady in Waiting and Violet, the visitor gifted with the ability to witness the past (Abigail Griffin). Photograph © Patrick Kay. Amongst the many histories we wanted to include was that of Queen Catherine Howard. However, finding an actress to fit that petite-sized gown was going to be a challenge. We opened up auditions at Gainsborough Old Hall for an afternoon in order to find some extras and in walked a petite red-haired girl who had power-walked from school at the end of the day to try and catch us. She, Bryony Roberts, was just perfect and we couldn’t believe our luck. The gown was an almost perfect fit, the only problem being the shift which was a bit small across the shoulders, so we couldn’t tuck it away under the gown completely. We have now filmed the scenes with Bryony and her Lady in Waiting, played by Su Toogood, and they look superb. Bryony Roberts as Catherine Howard with Su Toogood as her Lady in Waiting. Photograph © John Bennett.

For more on the making of this short film head to this BBC article The film is being made by Crow’s Eye Productions and WAG Screen. You can follow Crow’s Eye Productions on Facebook: Crow’s Eye Productions Facebook Fan Page or click here for Crow’s Eye Productions web page * I am indebted to my friend Claire Malyon who did the following research in the British Library for me : Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, British Library. Volume 16, Document 1088. ‘On the King’s entry into Lincoln on Tuesday the 9th Day of August’ ” When it was known that the king was to come to Temple Brewer 7 miles off, to dinner, the mayor, burgesses and commoners prepared themselves towards the height as also did the gentlemen and yeomen of Lynsey, near to the King’s tents, the gentlemen and their servants on one side on horseback, and the mayor and citizens on foot. The archdeacon, dean and clergy rode a mile beyond the city liberties to the King’s tent and there made a proposition in Latin, presented a gift of victuals and then passed the nearest way to the Minister.

The King and Queen came riding into their tent, which was pitched at the furthest end of the liberty of Lincoln and there shifted their apparrel from green and crimson velvet respectively to cloth of gold and silver. Behind that tent was one for the ladies, and some distance off, a “hayle” where the six children of honour dressed in cloth of gold and crimson velvet and the horses of estate were prepared. On Friday the King and Queen departed for Gainsborough in like order that they arrived save that the mayor, henchmen and horses of estate were not there and the earl of Derby bare the sword.” 12th August, 1541. French Ambassador Marillac writes to Francis I. ‘The King’s fashion of proceeding in this progress is, wherever there are deer numerous, to enclose two to three hundred and then send in many greyhounds to kill them, that he may share them among the gentlemen of the country and of his court.

When he passes any town in which he as not been during his reign, without any other solemnity other than having the streets decorated and the inhabitants going before him on their little geldings in their ordinary clothes, he himself (mounted on a great horse with all the notable lords of England in front two and two, and sixty to eighty archers with drawn bows behind) goes, with the Queen, Lady Mary his daughter and some other ladies to the lodging prepared for them.’ The Privy Council sat at Gainsborough on the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th of August. Present were the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, the Great Chamberlain, the Great Admiral, the Treasurer and the Comptroller of the Household, Lord Durham, the Master of Horse, the Vice-Chamberlain, Lord Wrothesley and the Chancellor of Augmentations.

In addition to various academic references and portraiture I consulted the following books in the making of these dresses: Patterns of Fashion by Janet Arnold, Period Costumes for Stage and Screen 1500-1800 by Jean Hunnisett and The Tudor Tailor by Jane Malcolm-Davies and Ninya Mikhaila Post Script 10/08/2010 On Saturday 7th August 2010, a group of re-enactors spent the night at Gainsborough Old Hall. One of the re-enactors spent the night in the Tower Bedroom where Catherine Howard was reputed to have slept and where the above gown was on display. During the night the re-enactor ran downstairs complaining that he couldn’t sleep because ‘the gown was glowing’ and refused to go back into the room until daylight! Share this:

Question: Henry VIII described which teenage wife as his ‘Rose without a thorn’?
Answer: Catherine Howard