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This portrait is not Catherine Howard as the sitter is described as being twenty-one yeas old and Catherine was definitely dead before she turned twenty-one. This portrait is probably Jane Seymour's sisters, Elizabeth Cromwell.
It is hard to say precisely when Catherine was born, although it seems fair to say that it was about 1520, 1521. She was the niece of the Duke of NorfolkThomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk ( 1473- 25 August, 1555), was a prominent Tudor politician. He was the son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. He was called Earl of Surrey before his succession to his father's dukedom in 1514. His eldest son was the and a first cousin of Anne BoleynHans Holbein the Younger. Legend has it that this image is the basis for the queens in a deck of cards, but the actual inspiration was Anne's mother-in-law Elizabeth of York Anne Boleyn, Marchioness of Pembroke (about 1507 May 19, 1536) was the second wif. Catherine's father was Lord Edmund Howard, but he was constantly in debt and begging for handouts. His powerful niece, Anne Boleyn, got him a government job working for the king in CalaisThis article is about the French city. Alternate meanings: Boreads (mythical), Calais, Maine, Calais, Vermont Calais is a city in northern France, located at 50°57N 1°52E. It is in the departement of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sous-prefecture''. in 1531Events January 26 Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake thousands die October 1 Battle of Kappel The forces of Zurich are defeated by the Catholic cantons. Huldreich Zwingli, the Swiss religious reformer, is killed. Our Lady of Guadeloupe: The Virgin M. At this point, young Catherine was sent to live with her grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.
The Dowager Duchess ran a large household, and she had numerous female and male attendants. The Dowager was often at Court and took little interest in her wards. Thus, Catherine soon became involved in the numerous romances that existed in the house. At the age of eleven or twelve she became a romance with her music teacher, Henry Mannox. Although the two did not go so far as to become lovers, they did participate in some far-reaching foreplay. This affair came to an end when Catherine fell for a handsome young secretary, Francis Dereham. They did become lovers, and many of Catherine's room-mates knew of the affair. It ended in 1539 when Catherine's uncle found her a place as lady-in-waiting to Henry VIII's new German wife, Queen Anne of Cleves.
As a young and very attractive teenager, Catherine soon caught the eye of Anne's disenchanted husband, King Henry. Henry divorced Anne in July 1540 and married Catherine, who had been his mistress for the last few months. Henry was almost fifty, Catherine was about fifteen.
Henry, old and obese, showered his young bride with wealth, jewels and many more fantastically-expensive gifts. Of course, he was unaware of her past and Catherine was praised throughout court as a young, virtuous queen.
However, despite her wealth and power, Catherine found her marital relations unappealing. She was repulsed by her husband's grotesque body, and sought romantic amusement elsewhere. She embarked upon a light-hearted romance with Henry's favourite male courtier, Thomas Culpeper. Their meetings were arranged by one of Catherine's older ladies-in-waiting, Lady Jane Rochford. It is unclear whether Catherine or Thomas were ever lovers in the full sense of the word, but it is certainly possible.
As Catherine's liaison with Culpeper progressed, she was contacted by people who had lived with her at her grandmother's. In order to buy their silence, she appointed many of them to her household. Most disastrously, she took the monumentally stupid decision of appointing Henry Mannox as one of her musicians and Francis Dereham as her private secretary.
In 1541, rumours began to grow about the queen's conduct. Protestant courtiers who resented her family's power were delighted when one of Catherine's old companions revealed the truth about Francis Dereham. The King refused to believe the charges at first, but there was too much evidence to ignore them.
Catherine was placed under close guard in her chambers, accompanied only by Lady Rochford. She was interrogated by the King's councillors many times. There was talk that she would be divorced and exiled, until someone discovered a love letter she had written Culpeper. The charge now changed to adultery which, in a queen, meant treason.
Catherine was imprisoned in an abbey in Middlesex through the winter of 1541 and stripped of her title as queen. Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were executed at Tyburn on December 8th 1541. The Queen's case was brought before parliament in January.
She was taken to the Tower of London on the 10th February 1542. The night before her execution, Catherine spent many hours practising how to lay her head upon the block. She died with dignity, but looked pale and terrified. Her speech asked for mercy for her family and prayers for her soul. Her death was extremely quick and she was buried in the nearby chapel where her cousin, Anne Boleyn, also lay.
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