Happy Halloween! I’m honoured to be the last stop on Conor Byrne’s virtual book tour for his new book, Katherine Howard: A New History.
Be sure to leave a comment after Conor’s guest post, for your chance to win a copy of ‘Katherine Howard: A New History‘.
Conditions of Entry
For your chance to win a copy of Katherine Howard: A New History you must be subscribed to On the Tudor Trail’s newsletter (if you are not already, sign up on our homepage).
Then simply leave a comment after this post between now and 7 November 2014. Don’t forget to leave your name and a contact email.
This giveaway is open internationally.
A winner will be randomly selected and contacted by email once the competition has ended. Please ensure you’ve added natalie@onthetudortrail.com to your address book to avoid missing my email.
Good luck!
Power and Control: Katherine Howard’s Relationships
By Conor Byrne
It seems safe to say that Katherine Howard was, and remains, best known for her relationships with men. The Catholic chronicler Nicholas Harpsfield, writing during the reign of Mary I, scarcely mentioned her in his history, but did recount her ‘pain and shame’ at being found ‘an harlot before he [Henry VIII] married her, and an adulteress after he married her’. Nicholas Sander, a recusant priest notorious for his attack of Anne Boleyn, like Harpsfield ignored Katherine, but remarked: ‘as the king was faithful neither to God nor to his first wife, so also his wives were not faithful to him’. George Cavendish characterised the queen’s affair with Thomas Culpeper as a romantic liaison. He imagined the queen’s thoughts: ‘Culpeper yong, and I, God wott, but fraylle, we bothe to feeble our lusts for to resist’. All of these writers, as well as resident ambassadors at Henry VIII’s court, viewed Katherine as adulterous, believing that she had sinned both before and after her royal marriage.
None of these writers, however, explored the queen’s liaisons in any great detail, perhaps because they viewed it as a subject too immoral to discuss, or perhaps because they regarded the queen as too insignificant to merit notice. Those who included some study of Katherine’s affairs in their works, including Cavendish and the anonymous Spanish chronicler, believed that her affairs had been romantic, perhaps idyllic; leading to her ruin and that of the men involved with her. The legal documents, including depositions, produced in the wake of the queen’s downfall dealt with her childhood affairs. A range of individuals who had resided in the household of the dowager duchess of Norfolk, including the queen’s former lovers Henry Manox and Francis Dereham, were examined.
Chronicles and literary works provide no detailed discussion of Katherine’s affairs, but the legal records provide some detail, although they need to be examined with care and caution since details were manufactured, embroidered and, perhaps in some cases, invented. Those who were interrogated were aware of the seriousness of the punishments potentially awaiting them, while they knew they were expected to provide convincing evidence. They may have struggled to remember events from as long ago as up to five years before. Some may have feared torture. It has usually been conjectured that Dereham, and perhaps Culpeper, was tortured during his interrogations.
Historians have usually assumed that Katherine’s relationships were consensual. They have differed in the degree of blame they apportion to the queen, although some, including Lacey Baldwin Smith and Tracy Borman, have suggested that Katherine was the motivator in her relationships. Others, including Retha Warnicke, have essentially argued that she was more of a passive participant whose responses were reactionary, motivated by fear or anxiety rather than by love or ambition. Before proceeding to analysis of these relationships, some historical context is essential.
Details of Katherine’s date of birth and childhood are few, although it is possible that she was the fifth child, and second daughter, of Edmund Howard by his first wife Jocasta (or Joyce). I have suggested elsewhere that she was probably born in 1523, most likely in November. It is usually assumed that Katherine was impoverished, but she belonged to one of the premier families in the kingdom. Her grandfather was and her uncle was an earl and, later, duke of Norfolk. When she was an infant, her mother died, and she was shortly afterwards sent to reside with her step-grandmother, the dowager duchess of Norfolk. These facts are well known. In about 1536, when she may have turned thirteen, her step-grandmother arranged for Henry Manox to begin instructing her on the lute and virginals. Possibly the dowager duchess was grooming her relative for a career at court as attendant to the queen.
Historians have often interpreted the relationship with Manox as consensual, but this is problematic. As Warnicke clarified in her 2012 study, Manox was in a position of authority, although Katherine was of higher birth. He was her instructor, while she was his pupil. Early modern society privileged the male sex above the female sex in all areas of life, explaining why interrogators later chose to believe Katherine’s lovers. Perhaps Manox was ambitious and hoped to use his favour with Katherine to seek material advantage. He entreated her to meet with him in dark, secluded areas of the dowager duchess’ establishment at Horsham, and continued at Lambeth. Manox asked Katherine if he could fondle her, which she tentatively agreed to. Later, Mary Lascelles, an attendant of the dowager duchess, confronted Manox. She seems to have believed that he was inappropriately and aggressively seducing the young relative of her mistress. As such she may have been seeking to protect Katherine. Katherine was later to recall Manox’s ‘flattering and fair persuasions’. She did not provide details of their other conversations, but when her step-grandmother found her alone with Manox, the dowager duchess punished her by beating her. Significantly, this noblewoman did not expel Manox from the household, a fact which might indicate that she believed that her step-granddaughter, rather than the musician, was to blame. In her eyes, this would have been a reasonable and justifiable belief. As hinted earlier, early modern society characterised women as frail, sexually voracious beings who tended to exercised power in carnal relationships. Young though she was, Katherine may have been, in the eyes of the dowager duchess, the motivator in her affair with Manox.
The Manox affair was significant, but Katherine’s liaison with Francis Dereham was, in her life story, far more important. It is unclear when the two became involved, but by Katherine’s admission, their sexual relationship commenced in late 1538 when she would probably have been approaching her fifteenth birthday. Although girls could legally wed at twelve, Tudor gentlewomen tended to marry in their early twenties. In any analysis of Katherine’s affairs, or that of any early modern female more generally, modern attitudes should not be applied to the past. Martin Ingram, a historian of early modern England, explained in a study that early modern girls aged between eight and fifteen were particularly vulnerable to abuse and manipulation. Surviving fragments of evidence hint at Katherine’s frailty and vulnerability. Aside from her youth when she was initiated into sex, there is some evidence that she had not yet begun menstruation. A comment she made in relation to the Dereham affair has often been interpreted as a snide admission of the use of contraception on her part, but given early modern attitudes to pregnancy and conception, it seems more likely that she was explaining that she would not have fallen pregnant by Dereham because she did not enjoy his sexual advances. It was believed that, for a female to conceive, she should enjoy the sexual act.
Dereham may have been hoping to marry Katherine, perhaps motivated by ambition. He presented her with gifts and called her wife. It has usually been assumed that Katherine consented to his advances, but as Warnicke noted, her interrogators never did ask her if she had consented, most likely because they had assumed she had. She asserted that Dereham, through his many ‘persuasions’, had forced himself upon her. She beseeched her examiners to take into account her ‘youth, ignorance and frailty’. When Katherine was appointed maid of honour in late 1539, she happily left for court. But Dereham continued to pursue her even after she became queen. In the spring of 1541, he openly boasted of his claims on her, and remarked that, were the king to die, he would be sure to marry her. Although it is impossible to understand Dereham’s psychological motives, the impression is less of a tender-hearted, loyal lover than it is of an aggressive and forceful suitor seeking to control the young queen.
Most attention has focused on the queen’s affair with Culpeper. Accounts have usually interpreted her affairs with Manox and Dereham as consensual. An examination of the evidence of these liaisons in a cultural and social context suggests that Katherine’s responses to both men’s advances, given her youth, naivety and inexperience, were essentially reactionary and passive. She did not wield power or control in her affairs. The men did, instead.
Sad to say, centuries of courts and kingdoms governed and maintained by males, has led to so many horrible and fateful decisions of the those in power to accuse women, try and execute the females… For as long as the female had name, means and power she stood in the way of winning the hearts of the rulers people.
When a woman becomes a means of bribery for lust and control, the male given a chance from hundreds of years of influence, the female is fatefully ruined. I always feel angered at the many bright spots women could have played in changing the males’ cruel laws, what remains as a question: could or would Katherine Howard have been able to perform a higher duty than the scam foisted on her by the tawdriness of powerful destructive males?
I will read this book, since it plays into an area of study and thought concerning the aims and ambitions of those behind the lives of the women who unfortunately fell to the muse and love of this ruthless and brilliant Henry III. Wonder, where did the English dump Catherine Howard after the execution. Did Henry every extol her virtues like he did with Anne Bolleyn-Queen of England for so little time? ATK
If you mean where was she buried, St Peter ad Vincula the chapel in the Tower of London near her cousin Ann Boleyn. In the 1880sall the remains were exhumed when the floor was replaced. It was not easy to ascertain which was which person though the remains of Ann Boleyn were in the arrow box. Archaeologia printed a con temporary article on this. Pity it is not today as we might then know more precisely about their facial appearance. I recall telling the late Prof. Eric Ives about this article which he had not read. I used to ‘waste’ time as an undergraduate reading articles in these old magazines for pleasure.
LIke Dr David Starkey I have read the depositions connected with her trial in the National Archives. Why should we think she was sexually experienced at 12? More likely Mannox took advantage of her youth. I am not so sure about Dereham. Had she reallyconsidered he was her hand fasted husband she could have said so. IN that she refused. I think she fell in love with Culpepper her distant relative. Had no meetings taken place with him surely Jane Boleyn would have escaped the axe?
This little known wife of Henry VIII lived a fascinating life and I would love to read more about her!
This is fascinating! A most interesting story of a woman seemingly in a powerful position, but still a pawn in the games powerful men play.
An absolutely fascinating read!! Katherine Howard’s ordeals and so called affairs have never received the amount of attention that it should. Unfortunately because she was a woman and one labeled as adulterous we may never be able to know the truth. Hopefully though enough questionable evidence can continue to be put out in the hopes of defending her situation in those times. As a side note, I will definitely buy this book if I don’t win the raffle because it needs to be a part of my collection.
I’m in love with anything concerning the Tudor’s times, I’m so fond of all the books I’ve read about Henry VIII and his wifes, above all on Ann Boleyn who admire so much because she was so modern for those times, I really hope I can win this book about Henry’s “rose without a thorn”. Poor Catherine Howard, she wasn’t even 21 when she died. Probably she was too naive to understand how to overlive by such and old, bad and unacctractive husband.This queen is still quite unknown and I’d like to know her better…
What a fascinating article. I’d love to win this book. Thanks for the opportunity.
I will enjoy this book. Thank you Conor Byrne for digging deep to uncover the information available. Clearly Katherine Howard was groomed by today’s standards but that is not how it was interpreted during the her era.
Great article. She was just a child and being so, was foolish to even marry the king.
I am delighted that finally an author is pursuing a much more comprehensive and in depth study on this unfortunate and much maligned young woman. I am looking forward to reading the book and hope some new and previously unearthed evidence has come to light. I have always thought that the accepted version of Katherine’s character and her story was unacceptable.
What a great read this book is going to be. So interesting. A must on my to read list.
This cousin of Anne Boleyn and fifth wife of Henry VIII has always been fascinating to me. I always enjoy learning more about her.
I left one. Where did it go? No more time now
I love to read about the Tudors and this book sounds wonderful!
can’t wait for the book. interesting history!
What a fascinating read. I am guilty of not knowing much about this particular wife, but I look forward to learning more.
What a wonderful opportunity to learn more about this interesting topic. I look forward to reading this book, win or no win!
How enlightening! This would be a fantastic addition to my small but much-loved collection on tudor history. Thanks!
I’ve always been so saddened by Katherine’s story, such a young, bewildered and scared girl she must have been! My own daughter is 20, three years older than Katherine was at her execution, which is quite frankly unfathomable to me. Thank you for looking into this young woman’s story more fully, I look forward to reading more about her!
Katherine had to suffer so that Henry kept face surely? He refused to believe the stories initially when Cranmer told him and ordered a review but the reality soon emerged and he never saw her again. Henry had a habit of avoiding anything unpleasant and withdrew to another palace. E can assume he was badly shaken in his own poor judgment as well as losing his ‘Rose without a thorn’ When I was 11 my form First Year in a grammar school put on a play about this! I wonder now what we actually explained.
I forgot to add a member of my own family was one of 2 witnesses to Katherine’s execution who wrote about it in a letter to his brother and family. I have often wondered what he said in private because you could so easily get into trouble from higher authorities .I imagine Katherine was pushed into her royal marriage. It was not something over which she had any control. Just imagine the Howards would think their chance of preferment and patronage would be re-established having lost out re Anne Boleyn.
Ah, poor little mite. I agree with the earlier poster that today, we would say she had been groomed to be a victim. Sadly, that wasn’t altogether uncommon at the time. I look forward to adding this book to my shelf.
If Katherine was indeed, manipulated by older men when she was young, and intimidated into having a relationship with them, she really didn’t stand a chance with Henry, who was much older and on top of that the king, who had to be obeyed.The sounds like a very informative biography with new insights.
I have always been fascinated by the Tudor period, and especially Katherine Howard. It seems like most of the books about her are fiction and when I did find a biography of her, it was mostly about Henry and his other wives. I would prefer to know about Katherine. Thank you so much for this article. I really enjoyed it.
I’ve heard that there is no official portrait of Catherine Howard. Who painted the portrait posted here, and are you sure it is authentic?
If they ever make a movie about Katherine Howard, the perfect actress to play her would be Scarlet Johannsen. They look so much alike.
I enjoyed the article! I would love to read this book! I’m very fascinated by Katherine and her story but all of the books main talk of her relationships with the men in her life. Most making her out to be a bad person and wild. I want to know more about her life and personality. I want to know the good that she did when she was queen. I think Conor’s book is really going to change people’s perspectives about her!
I think that the real reason that Henry was so angry/upset/gutted at what he found out about Catherine Howard is that after the discoveries about her past liaisons, she forced him to confront the truth about himself – that he was no longer young, no longer desirable, no longer the golden prince he imagined himself to still be in his mind. There was no running away from the fact that his best days were behind him, in an odd way, she caused a loss of innocence in Henry, rocked his belief system that after Anne Boleyn’s trial and judicial murder, Jane Seymour’s untimely death and the disappointment of Anne of Cleves he somehow deserved some ‘good luck’. He might well have forgiven Catherine’s ‘pre-contract’ or looked the other way but what he couldn’t run away from was himself and his feelings about himself. She had held a mirror up and shown him for an old man and that was absolutely unforgiveable.
So refreshing to read something in depth about Katherine Howard. I really enjoyed it. A new perspective, well done!
A big congratulations to Doreen, who has been selected as the winner of our giveaway! Please check your inbox. Thank you to everyone that entered, more great giveaways coming your way soon. 🙂