Catherine Howard was a pretty and charming girl of unexceptional intellect who was born into one of the most powerful families in the court of King Henry VIII of England. Catherine first arrived at the royal court as a teenager in 1539, where she became a lady-in-waiting to the new queen, Anne of Cleves, who had traveled from Germany to marry the king. However, Henry found his new bride unattractive. King Henry was no longer the strapping athlete of his youth, but he was still very proud and longed for a young and beautiful queen. He found what he was looking for in the young lady-in-waiting, Catherine Howard. [Portrait-miniature of Catherine Howard by Hans Holbein the younger.]

King Henry VIII was a powerful king, but is infamous for having had six wives during his reign as king—two of which he divorced, and two others he had executed by beheading.

King Henry married his first wife—the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon—in 1509. Catherine gave birth to Princess Mary in 1516. In spite of numerous pregnancies, Mary was their only child who survived. In 1533, the king divorced Catherine against her will. He was desperate to produce a male heir for the throne, and also eager to marry his fascinating mistress, Anne Boleyn. Anne produced another daughter for Henry, the Princess Elizabeth, in 1533. Five years after placing Anne upon the throne, Henry was still without a son. In 1536, just three years after her coronation, Anne was tried and convicted of high treason, accused of having intimate relations with other men during her marriage to the king. She was executed for her crimes on Tower Green. [Portrait of King Henry c.1536 by Hans Holbein the younger.]

Immediately after Anne Boleyn’s beheading, Henry married Jane Seymour. Jane gave birth to Prince Edward in 1537, but died of a fever a few days after the prince’s birth. In 1539, Henry made a betrothal contract with Anne of Cleves. When the German princess did not live up to his expectations, he noticed the new lady-in-waiting in the queen’s household: Catherine Howard.

The king secured a divorce from Anne of Cleves and he married Catherine Howard in the summer of 1540. Catherine was youthful, pretty and vivacious, and the king was instantly enchanted by her. It is likely that others at court were not quite so enchanted by the frivolous young girl suddenly propped upon the royal throne. In fall of 1541, Catherine was arrested in her apartments at Hampton Court. Like Anne Boleyn (who was, incidentally, her cousin) she was accused of having committed adultery while married to the king. Catherine was not tried for her crimes, but was executed by beheading on February 13, 1542.

In the year after Catherine’s execution Henry married his sixth, and final, bride. Catherine Parr was a widow, and did not provide him with an heir. King Henry died on January 28, 1547.

King Henry had a long and colorful career at court—this very brief summation doesn’t give you all the juicy details, so I urge you to read more about Henry and all of his wives. These were dangerous times that the Tudors lived in, made all the more uncertain by a king who was invested with “divine right”—treated like the representation of God upon earth.

To read more about my adventures in researching and writing The King's Rose, visit my travel blog:

England – Windsor
England – Hampton Court
England – Tower of London

If you would like to read more about King Henry and his wives, I highly recommend:
The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser

Non-fiction about Catherine Howard:
A Tudor Tragedy, the Life and Times of Catherine Howard by Lacey Baldwin Smith
Katherine Howard by Joanna Denny

Interesting resources about the Tudor era:
Birth, Marriage, and Death: Ritual, Religion and the Life Cycle in Tudor and Stuart England by David Cressy
All the King's Cooks: the Tudor Kitchens of King Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace by Peter Brears
All Goodly Sports: Music of King Henry VIII (CD) by King Henry VIII of England, Sirinu, and Hugh Wilson