Katherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, was executed at 17 for adultery and treason. Scholars have criticized her, but her short life shows a loving child who couldn’t handle the English court or the king’s jealousy. Her family’s ambition for power enabled her to marry Henry, but evidence of her past affairs led to her downfall. She was tried and convicted of adultery and beheaded. Her legacy brought suspicion to the Boleyn and Howard families, but she was a kind-hearted person whose death was caused by political betrayal and youthful mistakes.
Katherine Howard was the fifth wife of King Henry VIII of England and a cousin of Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife. She is believed to have been born in 1521 and lived to be 17, when she was executed for adultery and treason against the king. Scholars have generally not been kind to Katherine about her, calling her vain, silly, and empty-headed. But her short life shows evidence of a sunny, loving child who couldn’t handle the political life of the English court or the attentions of the jealous king.
As the tenth child of a poor but prominent family, 10-year-old Katherine Howard was sent to live with a distant relative, the Duchess of Norfolk. While there, Katherine began a series of romances, one with the Duchess’s secretary Francis Dereham. Her affair with Dereham caused Katherine’s subsequent downfall, as the two may have entered into an engagement or a “pre-contract,” considered by the church to be equal to marriage. According to some, Katherine Howard was already married when she entered the court of King Henry VIII.
Although Katherine Howard was considered a beautiful and glamorous girl, it was her family’s ambition for power that enabled her to attract the king. The Howard family were strictly Catholic and eager to distance Henry VIII from his Protestant conversion and return him to the Catholic fold. She was placed as lady in waiting for Queen Anne of Cleves, from whom the king was trying to divorce her. After meeting pretty 15-year-old Katherine, 49-year-old Henry is said to have fallen in love with her instantly.
Almost immediately after Henry’s current marriage was annulled, Henry and Katherine Howard were married. Katherine spent much of her time holding elaborate balls, masques and entertainment for the court. Yet the Protestant faction of the court, terrified of losing influence to the Catholic queen, began a desperate search for a way to bring her down. Evidence of Katherine’s romantic adventures as a girl quickly came to light, but the Archbishop of Cranmer, the head of the Protestant faction, found a letter from the Queen suggesting that Katherine was carrying on an ongoing illicit affair.
While the letter Cranmer gave to the king is believed not to have been forged, one wonders whether or not it actually indicates a physical relationship. Henry, prone to jealousy and anger, accepted the letter and the tales of his past novels as proof. During Cranmer’s cross-examination of her past, the frantic Katherine made a silly mistake of her by trying to gain sympathy, insisting that Dereham had forced himself on her. Had she simply conceded her pre-contract, her marriage to the King would have been declared null and void, saving her life.
Katherine Howard was tried and convicted of adultery, which in a marriage to the king constituted high treason. There is some evidence to suggest that she was falsely accused, as the confessions of her alleged lovers were only given under torture. She was beheaded on February 13, 1542.
Henry VIII’s fifth queen did not bequeath much, as Katherine Howard reigned for only 18 months. As Anne Boleyn’s cousin, her fate brought suspicion of witchcraft and “bad blood” to the Boleyn and Howard families, a legacy that would influence Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Elizabeth, throughout her childhood and reign. as queen. However, evidence suggests that Katherine Howard was a kind-hearted and kind person whose death was brought about by political betrayal and her own youthful mistakes.
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