Catherine Howard

Katherine Howard was the fifth wife of Henry VIII.  Her story is short and tragic.  She was Queen for only eighteen months before her life ended at a very early age.     Katherine Howard was in her teens when she married King Henry.  He was enchanted with the pretty, good-natured young girl, and lavished love and gifts upon her. Henry thought of her as pure and innocent, which her family assured Henry she was when they brought her to Henry's notice.  Unfortunately for all concerned, Katherine had had love affairs in her early teens with two men, and had even promised to marry one of them.  This happened before her marriage to Henry, when no could have predicted that she would one day be Queen.      Although she had other redeeming qualities, Katherine was not noted for her good sense.  Not long into her marriage, she became romantically involved with Thomas Culpeper, a member of the King's household. This was a very dangerous course of action, and amounted to High Treason.  She also made the foolish move of appointing a former lover, Frances Derham, as her private secretary.     Within a year of Katherine's marriage, the Archbishop of Canterbury learned of Katherine's past relationships, and King Henry was told the truth about his bride.  Henry was devastated, as predicted, and a full-scale investigation of the Queen's activities was launched.  It came to light that not only did Katherine have lovers before marrying the King, but during the marriage as well.     Katherine, Culpeper and Derham were arrested, along with others who knew about her love affairs.  The King refused to see Katherine and allow her to plead her case.  Various attempts were made to get her to confess to a formal betrothal to Derham, which would have allowed Henry to have the marriage annulled.  This could have saved her life, but, for some reason, she denied any formal betrothal.  She also denied committing adultery with Culpeper.  In January of 1542, she was found guilty of High Treason, and executed along with two of her lovers.  She was not more than twenty years old.    To read more information about Catherine Howard click here