Catherine Howard
Here are some articles and resources on Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife and the one he called his “rose without a thorn”:-
- Catherine Howard – The Material Girl?
- Catherine Howard – An article written by author Alisa Libby who wrote “The King’s Rose”.
- The Fall of Catherine Howard
- The Execution of Catherine Howard
- Video about Catherine Howard by Historic Royal Palaces – see below.
I have always felt very sorry for Henry’s fifth wife and Queen. Catherine was deprived of maternal love and advice by the early death of her mother. Her upbringing in the crowded confines of her grandmother’s house was haphazard and ill-supervised; all sorts of shenanigans took place there, and Catherine probably lost her virtue at an early age. Then she drew the interest of the lecherous Henry VIII from which she was in no position to turn away. She may have been pre-contracted to one of her lovers before it was her fate to draw the king’s notice. She was very young and had never been taught any kind of judgement. It must have been very difficult to have to marry a man old enough to be her father.
She was a wh*re and will always be a wh*re ; Durham, Mannix, and Culpepper all names of the people she bed. I would have loved to be with the Archbishop of Canterbury myself, questioning that wench. Bah, she was at least 15 when those affairs happened and she was a willing participant regardless , girls her age were considered women by the age of 13. So she was a “woman” when this happened no sympathies for her and no sympathies for a manipulative woman like Anne Boleyn either.
Her birthdate was around 1523/4 so she was about 12 or 13 when she had a flirtation with Henry Manox. It was not a full sexual relationship, but a romance, and it didn’t last long. She then went on to have a relationship with Francis Dereham when she was about 14. This was a full sexual relationship and they referred to each other as husband and wife, so could actually be seen by the church to be married. Dereham was under the impression that they would marry, but he ended up going to Ireland and Catherine went to court to serve Anne of Cleves. I don’t think Catherine was any different to some of the other girls in the Dowager Duchess’s household, who were having relationships with men of the household and sneaking them into the “dormitory” at night. She could not have known that she was going to marry the king.
Once she was at court, she fell in love with Thomas Culpeper, but it appears that he broke up with her and then she married the king. Their romance was resurrected later and they had secret meetings. They both denied having sex, but they appear to have been in love and perhaps thought they could be together properly once the king died. This was all reckless and silly, and treasonous.
It tells me more about you than them that you have no sympathy for these women who both lost their lives in a very brutal way. One a girl of 18/19 who was not brought up to be queen, and one a woman whose only crime was not giving her husband a living son.
If it wasn’t for men like Manox Dereham and Culpeper, Catherine and women all over the world since time began would not be ‘wh*res’!
Ummm I mean she was mostly raped, and was also 13 with Mannix. That’s not old enough to give consent as her cerebral cortex was not fully formed. Even 15 isn’t old enough to give consent. Plus its very uncomfortable to call a 13/15 year old a wh*re.
I love reading about all the wives and I just recently read a biography of Katherine Howard by Conor Byrne and it confirmed a lot of what I suspected. I always hated the way she was portrayed so nasty and ridiculously in the Tudors and many other shows, including Henry VIII which I think Hirst also produced. I never believed she was the happy-free-teen that behaved so recklessly and made fun of others or “she had it coming to her”. I always thought there was something more to her than met the eye and that biography is really an eye opener for everyone that still thinks the worst of her and after reading that I have more sympathy for her. I really enjoy the articles you have of her Claire. Keep them coming!
My mother told me her grandmother, Mary Bush Bullen, was somehow related to the Boleyns; that the name, over time, had developed into Bullen. Does anyone know about this?
I think Bullen was the English version of Boleyn, same name.
I really like Catherine Howard, the king’s “Rose without a thorns”.
I really love readings about her – books, articles, novels… I think that she had to be very nice person.
I read about her “love affairs”. Henry Mannox – the innocent love with nice words and kisses, but no more. Then the passion and deeper love with Francis Dereham (sometimes I’m thinking about them, what could happen if they be married couple)… and the last, Thomas Culpeper. I really believe that they had no affair during Catherine’s marriage with the king, but I believe that they loved each other and believed that they will be happy married couple one day. What a pity that they died, both so young…
I’m Catherine’s admiror, I love books and movies where she was portrayed. Also I really like TV show The Tudors (especially Natalie Dormer in the role of Anne Boleyn, she was perfect), but I don’t like Catherine’s appeareance in this series. I believe that she loved fun, nice dress and jewels… but I will never believe that she was so reckless…
I think Catherine was very unlucky I mean see lost her virginity at 13 to a 24 year old (even if she consented, he came on to her first) and yeah she slept with over 4 men *ohh she is such a wh*re *sarcastic* the men probably slept with over 20 women and they don’t get a name or get called “man wh*res” only women do, she thought she liked them all and thought they were the ones but only Tom (Henry’s friend) was her true love and she loved him and got killed at 17 Henry had 6 wives and Catherine get called a wh*re why ain’t there a name for male wh*res -man wh*re- or just not a flipping name at all if she wants to sleep with 4 men she can but that would mean half my family/friends would be wh*res oh no, but only the girls because even 2021 people are still that sexist.