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14 | <title>Catherine Howard: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</title>
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23 | </td>
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24 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="1"><p></td>
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25 | <td width="25%" height="1"><br>
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30 | </td>
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31 | <td width="50%" height="3">
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32 | <p align="center"><font size="4">'The King's affection was so
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33 | marvelously set upon that gentlewoman [Catherine], as it was never
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34 | known that he had the like to any woman.'</font><br>
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35 | <i><font size="-1">Thomas Cranmer's secretary, Ralph Morice, in a
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36 | letter to his master, 1540</font></i></p>
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37 | </td>
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38 | <td width="25%" height="3"><br>
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39 | </td>
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40 | </tr>
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41 | <tr>
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42 | <td width="25%" height="610"><br>
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43 | </td>
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44 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="610">
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45 | <p align="center"> </p>
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46 | <p align="center"><img height="95" alt="Catherine Howard"
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47 | src="howardcardinal.gif" width="389"></p>
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48 | <p align="center">
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49 | <img height="252"
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50 | alt="portrait of Catherine Howard by Holbein, on the back of a playing-card"
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51 | src="howard-crop.jpg"
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52 | width="250"></p>
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53 | <p align="center"> <i><font size="2">miniature portrait of Catherine
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54 | Howard by Hans Holbein the Younger</font></i></p>
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55 | <p align="left"> <b><br>Catherine Howard was a cousin of Henry
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56 | VIII's ill-fated second queen, Anne Boleyn; and like Anne, Catherine
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57 | would die on the scaffold at Tower Green. Her birthdate is
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58 | unknown, but her father was the younger brother of the duke of
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59 | Norfolk. Though personally impoverished, Catherine had a powerful
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60 | family name and thus secured an appointment as lady-in-waiting to
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61 | Henry's fourth queen, Anne of Cleves. While at court, she caught
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62 | the eye of the middle-aged king and became a political pawn of her
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63 | family and its Catholic allies. Catherine's greatest crime was
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64 | her silliness. Raised in the far too permissive household of her
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65 | grandmother, she was a flirtatious and emotional girl who rarely
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66 | understood the consequences of her actions. She made the mistake
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67 | of continuing her girlish indiscretions as queen. Henry was
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68 | besotted with her, calling her his 'Rose without a Thorn' and showering
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69 | her with gifts and public affection. Catherine was understandably
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70 | more attracted to men her own age and, after just seventeen months of
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71 | marriage to the king, she was arrested for adultery. The
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72 | distraught king at first refused to believe the evidence but it was
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73 | persuasive. Unlike Anne Boleyn, Catherine had betrayed the
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74 | king. She was beheaded on 13 February 1542, only nineteen or
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75 | twenty years old. <font face="Times New Roman,Times"
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76 | color="#000000">The drama of her execution lends gravity to a brief
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77 | life which would otherwise pass unnoticed.</font></b></p>
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78 | <blockquote>
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79 | <p> </p>
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80 | <p><a
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81 | href="howard.html#Biography">
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82 | <font size="4"><br>
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83 | Read the biography of Catherine Howard.</font></a></p>
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84 | <p><br>
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85 | <b>Primary Sources</b> <br>
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86 | Read <a href="../letter13.html">Catherine's
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87 | letter to Thomas Culpeper</a>. <br>
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88 | <a href="../pricath.html">The fall
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89 | of Catherine Howard</a>, 1540</p>
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90 | <p>Visit <a href="http://www.marileecody.com/images.html">Tudor
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91 | England: Images</a> to view the only known portrait of Catherine. </p>
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92 | <p>Test your knowledge of Catherine's life at <a
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93 | href="../tudor1.html">Tudor Quizzes</a>.</p>
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94 | <p><font size="2"><b><br>
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95 | Interact<br>
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96 | </b> Meet other Six Wives enthusiasts at <a
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97 | href="http://ladiesallfanlist.cjb.net/">Ladies All: A Fanlisting for
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98 | the Six Wives of Henry VIII</a>.<br>
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99 | <a href="http://tudorhistory.org/lists/list.html"> Tudor Talk </a> This
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100 | email discussion list is sponsored by Tudorhistory.org.<br>
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101 | <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Reign_of_the_Tudors_rpg/">Reign
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102 | of the Tudors</a> This is a role-playing game set in 16th century
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103 | England. If you would like to 'play' Jane Grey or Anne Boleyn or
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104 | other Tudors, click the link to join.</font></p>
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105 | <p align="left"> </p>
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106 | </blockquote>
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107 | </td>
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108 | <td width="25%" height="610"><br>
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109 | </td>
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110 | </tr>
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111 | </tbody>
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112 | </table>
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113 | <blockquote>
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114 | <blockquote>
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115 | <blockquote>
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116 | <p><b><a name="Biography"></a></b><font size="4">'I found her in
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117 | such lamentation and heaviness, as I never saw no creature, so that it
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118 | would have pitied any man's heart in the world, to have looked upon
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119 | her.'</font> <i><font size="-1">Thomas Cranmer describes
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120 | visiting Catherine after her arrest, 1542</font></i> </p>
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121 | </blockquote>
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122 | </blockquote>
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123 | <p> </p>
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124 | <p><b>Biography</b> <br>
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125 | Catherine Howard's short life is one of the great cautionary tales of
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126 | Henry VIII's reign; there is about it something strangely pathetic and
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127 | small, but also powerful and moving. Catherine was neither
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128 | particularly beautiful or intelligent, but she was a charming,
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129 | flirtatious girl who rose, virtually overnight, from obscurity to
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130 | become queen of England. </p>
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131 | <p>She was the daughter of the 2d duke of Norfolk's youngest son,
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132 | Edmund, and his wife, Jocasta (Joyce) Culpeper. She was one of
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133 | too many children for her impoverished parents and the date of her
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134 | birth was not recorded; most historians believe it was 1521.
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135 | Edmund was not an auspicious individual and, like most younger sons,
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136 | spent most of his life in constant need of money. He complained
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137 | to the king's chief minister <a
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138 | href="../citizens/cromwell.html">Thomas
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139 | Cromwell</a> that he wished to be a poor man's son for at least then he
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140 | could work without shame. But he was an aristocrat, a member of
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141 | one of the greatest noble families of England, and he could do little
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142 | but beg for help from one relation to another. He sent his
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143 | daughter to live with her grandmother, the dowager duchess of Norfolk,
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144 | and thus avoided responsibility for Catherine's upbringing. This
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145 | should not reflect badly upon him since it was typical of the times;
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146 | and though Catherine's grandmother complained ceaselessly about the
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147 | expense of supporting numerous grandchildren, she did provide a
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148 | comfortable home. She did not, however, provide strict
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149 | supervision - a fact which would have dire consequences for the entire
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150 | Norfolk family after Catherine became queen. </p>
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151 | <p>Catherine was raised in a type of dormitory at Lambeth Palace,
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152 | crowded in with other young girls (some were servants to her
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153 | grandmother) and her education was not intellectual. Rather, her
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154 | days were spent passing the time in the most pleasant manner
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155 | possible. The duchess's household was not wealthy and Catherine
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156 | understandably chafed at her constricted lifestyle. There was
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157 | within her a strong love of luxury and inability to control her
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158 | desires; this was a lack of self-control, a realization that certain
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159 | things should not be done, must not be risked, no matter how much she
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160 | wanted something. While she was simply one of many daughters of
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161 | an impoverished lord, this immaturity did not matter. But when
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162 | she became queen, it remained and past indiscretions also returned to
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163 | haunt her. </p>
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164 | <p>Catherine grew into a merry and vivacious girl, not conventionally
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165 | beautiful but graceful and charming. She possessed all the
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166 | vitality of youth, something which proved irresistible to her aged
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167 | king. The only part of her sporadic education which she seemed to
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168 | enjoy were her music lessons; in particular, she enjoyed the attentions
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169 | of her music teacher, a man named Henry Mannox. They first met in
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170 | 1536, when Catherine was just fifteen years old. Hired to teach
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171 | her the virginal and lute, Mannox soon began a practiced seduction of
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172 | his young pupil. </p>
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173 | <p>Catherine later swore the relationship was not consummated.
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174 | 'At the flattering and fair persuasions of Mannox being but a young
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175 | girl I suffered him at sundry times to handle and touch the secret
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176 | parts of my body which neither became me with honesty to permit nor him
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177 | to require,' she later told interrogators. Mannox admitted the
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178 | same. Since Catherine later confessed to more serious
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179 | transgressions, there was no reason for her to lie in this
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180 | instance. And one can certainly condemn Mannox for taking
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181 | advantage of his young student. </p>
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182 | <p>As a mere music teacher, Mannox was too far below her in social
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183 | status for a serious relationship to develop. Though he followed
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184 | the duchess's household to London in 1538, Catherine's attentions soon
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185 | turned elsewhere. She fell in love with a gentleman-pensioner in
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186 | her grandmother's household named Francis Dereham. This
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187 | relationship was far more serious and undoubtedly consummated.
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188 | There is much evidence on this point, including Catherine's own
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189 | confession: 'Francis Dereham by many persuasions procured me to his
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190 | vicious purpose and obtained first to lie upon my bed with his doublet
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191 | and hose and after within the bed and finally he lay with me naked and
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192 | used me in such sort as a man doth his wife many and sundry times but
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193 | how often I know not.' </p>
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194 | <p>Their affair continued throughout 1538. They addressed one
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195 | another as 'husband' and 'wife' and when Dereham was sent to Ireland on
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196 | business, he left 100 pds in Catherine's keeping. </p>
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197 | <p>But Mannox, still with the household, was infuriated; his
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198 | attraction to Catherine continued while she spurned his company for
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199 | Dereham's. In revenge, he sent an anonymous note to the dowager
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200 | duchess. She then discovered Catherine and Dereham together and
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201 | there was a frightful scene. But a physical relationship between
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202 | a betrothed couple was not uncommon by sixteenth-century standards and
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203 | Catherine and Dereham parted with some understanding of marriage when
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204 | he returned from Ireland. </p>
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205 | <p>But, unluckily for Dereham, Catherine's heart cooled towards him
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206 | while he was away. And in 1539, having moved closer to court and
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207 | staying at her uncle's house, she met Thomas Culpeper. A
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208 | gentleman of the king's Privy Chamber and cousin of Catherine's mother
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209 | Joyce Culpeper, he was a handsome and charming young man; his position
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210 | in court was considered important since it allowed personal access to
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211 | the king. Catherine fell in love with him, though Culpeper's own
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212 | feelings are not known. Catherine's family was powerful and she
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213 | was an attractive girl. It is likely that he was at least
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214 | interested in her, if not immediately infatuated. </p>
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215 | <p>But then the great event occurred which was to change Catherine's
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216 | life forever. She arrived at court in late 1539 or early 1540 as
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217 | a lady-in-waiting to <a
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218 | href="cleves.html">Anne of
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219 | Cleves</a> and Henry VIII fell in love with her. </p>
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220 | <p>It is clear from Catherine's life before meeting the king that she
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221 | was a flirtatious and emotional girl. It is also clear that she
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222 | possessed the charm and sexual allure to attract men. These were
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223 | to be her greatest strengths and weaknesses, for while they attracted
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224 | the king, they also led her into increasingly reckless behavior.
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225 | If she had married Dereham or Culpeper, or any other social-climber,
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226 | she would have remained a gossip and flirt, perhaps she would have
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227 | succumbed to adultery. But behavior that could be tolerated in a
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228 | poor niece of a duke was treason in a queen of England. </p>
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229 | <p>Catherine's family was torn between elation and trepidation with
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230 | regard to Henry's infatuation. T<font face="Times New Roman,Times"
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231 | color="#000000">he Norfolk name was one of the oldest in
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232 | England. They had supported Richard III against the first Tudor
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233 | king, Henry VII, but managed to win favor with their military prowess
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234 | and servile devotion to the new dynasty. But Henry VIII never
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235 | fully trusted Thomas Howard, the 3d duke of Norfolk, though he wed two
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236 | of Norfolk's nieces. Their grand name, then, was both blessing
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237 | and curse. As an old family in a court of upstarts and fond of
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238 | feudal prerogative, Catherine's relatives had made wary friends and
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239 | bitter enemies at court. And the divisive reign of Anne Boleyn,
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240 | herself no friend of her Norfolk relations (the duke presided over her
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241 | trial), had taught them all to tread carefully about the king.
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242 | And Catherine's personality worried them. Could she sustain the
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243 | king's attraction? And, if so, could she become a mature and
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244 | successful queen?</font> </p>
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245 | <p><font face="Times New Roman,Times" color="#000000">It is important
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246 | to remember that Henry's previous English queens, <a
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247 | href="boleyn.html">Anne Boleyn</a>
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248 | and <a href="seymour.html">Jane
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249 | Seymour</a>, had spent years in royal service before marrying their
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250 | king. They were veterans of the English court and knew the
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251 | intricacies and dangers of their position. Catherine was a mere
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252 | child by contrast, barely literate, and born in a later
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253 | generation. But for the conservative faction at Henry's court,
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254 | those dedicated to the restoration of the Catholic faith as practiced
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255 | before the Reformation, she was their last, best hope. Unlike
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256 | Anne Boleyn, Catherine's personal and political success was not tied to
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257 | the Protestant faith. She had been raised Catholic by her Norfolk
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258 | grandmother and, despite her personal lapses, she represented the
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259 | conservative faith to others.</font> </p>
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260 | <p><font face="Times New Roman,Times" color="#000000">Catherine's
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261 | relatives questioned her maturity, but they were not willing to risk
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262 | the king's wrath by pointing it out. Henry VIII was mercurial and
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263 | dangerous, and his latest marriage was a bitter disappointment.
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264 | Woe to the courtier who spoke ill of his latest attraction! It
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265 | was left to the Norfolk clan to coach Catherine as best they could and
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266 | hope their triumph would last. </font> </p>
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267 | <p><font face="Times New Roman,Times" color="#000000">The king soon
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268 | publicly favored young Mistress Howard. On 24 April she was given
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269 | lands seized from a felon; a few weeks later, she received an expensive
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270 | gift of quilted sarcanet. It is possible their relationship was
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271 | consummated around this time for there was a sudden urgency to annul
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272 | the ill-fated marriage to Anne of Cleves. The king's advisors
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273 | soon found a valid impediment to the fourth marriage and, on 13 July
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274 | 1540, it was officially ended by Parliament. Meanwhile, the
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275 | French ambassador reported rumors that Catherine was pregnant.
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276 | The king had one son and heir but the vagaries of life in the 16th
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277 | century made another heir necessary. Henry had just turned
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278 | forty-nine years old and half his subjects were eighteen or
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279 | younger. The security of his realm was his greatest concern and
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280 | it could only be guaranteed by legitimate heirs; as a second son
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281 | himself, he knew the life of young <a
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282 | href="edward6.html">Prince
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283 | Edward</a> was a slender thread upon which to balance a dynasty.</font>
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284 | </p>
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285 | <p><font face="Times New Roman,Times" color="#000000">Henry married
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286 | Catherine on 28 July 1540 at Oatlands Palace in Surrey. The
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287 | ceremony was a success, albeit lacking in the usual pomp and display of
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288 | royal unions. Catherine was never crowned queen of England.
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289 | Henry VIII simply couldn't afford the ceremony; perhaps, too, he wished
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290 | to wait until the marriage proved successful in the most important way
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291 | and Catherine bore him a son. The king consulted his council on
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292 | creating a new succession should the blessed event occur, pushing his
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293 | daughters Mary and Elizabeth even further from the throne.</font> </p>
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294 | <p><font face="Times New Roman,Times" color="#000000">The next year
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295 | was an Indian summer in the king's life. Catherine chose as her
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296 | motto 'Non autre volonte que la sienne' ('No other wish but his' or 'No
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297 | other will than his') and did her best to amuse and distract him.
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298 | The waste of lives and exorbitant money fighting France had depressed
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299 | the English treasury and the king's spirits. And the Reformation
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300 | had cost him the love of the common people. Henry also
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301 | increasingly suffered from the ailments which would kill him a few
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302 | years later. He had severe headaches and pains throughout his
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303 | body; he found it difficult to sleep and was often impotent. </font>
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304 | </p>
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305 | <p><font face="Times New Roman,Times" color="#000000">English
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306 | politics had become another headache for the king. His great
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307 | advisor and friend, Thomas Cromwell, had championed the Protestant
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308 | cause and the union with Anne of Cleves. The king's
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309 | disappointment - and the endless conniving of Cromwell's enemies - led
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310 | to his arrest and execution on the very day Henry and Catherine
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311 | married. Within a few months, the king openly lamented the loss
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312 | of his 'most faithful servant'. </font> </p>
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313 | <p><font face="Times New Roman,Times" color="#000000">Chief among
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314 | Cromwell's enemies were Catherine's uncle Norfolk and his close friend,
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315 | Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester. Norfolk had always chafed
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316 | at the power Henry granted the 'commoner' Cromwell; Gardiner was a
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317 | Catholic who despised Cromwell's legislative destruction of the papacy
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318 | in England. They used Catherine and the king's own impatience and
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319 | cupidity to destroy Cromwell. But it was only a brief triumph.</font>
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320 | </p>
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321 | <p><font face="Times New Roman,Times" color="#000000">Catherine was
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322 | not pregnant in the summer of 1540, nor did she become so. But
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323 | the king was so physically affectionate with her in public that none
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324 | doubted the happy event would occur. Still, warning signs about
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325 | this hasty marriage had already begun. Catherine's relationship
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326 | with Dereham had never been kept secret, though Henry was perhaps
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327 | unaware of it. His courtiers gossiped and wondered. Joan
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328 | Bulmer, a young woman who had lived with Catherine at Lambeth,
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329 | requested that Catherine bring her to court to share in her 'great
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330 | destiny'; it was a subtle blackmail. In August 1541, Dereham was
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331 | made her secretary, perhaps as a bribe to keep quiet about their former
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332 | relationship. So even as she collected rich gifts of gowns,
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333 | jewels, fur cloaks, and golden clocks, Catherine knew her indecorous
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334 | past lurked in the background. Was she worried? As her
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335 | later behavior showed, she was not. </font> </p>
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336 | <p>She was not merely collecting personal finery, but also lands and
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337 | manors that had once belonged to Jane Seymour and even Thomas
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338 | Cromwell. And she began to explore the traditional role of the
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339 | queen as patroness. She also took great care to ensure her aged
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340 | husband's happiness. Many biographers have speculated on
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341 | Catherine's true feelings for Henry VIII. She probably did not
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342 | love him in the most romantic sense of the word, but she did love him
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343 | for the affection and generosity he showed her. And she also
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344 | approached him with something of an awed reverence, for he was the king
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345 | and thus a quasi-mystical figure, all-knowing and all-powerful. </p>
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346 | <p>But he was not immune to illness and in the spring of 1541, the
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347 | king fell low with a serious fever and Catherine was sent away for her
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348 | own safety. It was around this time that she began her affair
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349 | with Culpeper, the handsome young man who had caught her fancy two
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350 | years before; as evidence, we need only <a
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351 | href="../letter13.html">read her only
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352 | surviving letter</a>, written to Culpeper in April 1541. When the
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353 | king recovered, he took Catherine on a royal progress through the north
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354 | of England and again the French ambassador reported rumors of her
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355 | pregnancy. It was even suggested that, should the condition be
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356 | confirmed, Catherine would be crowned at York Minster. These
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357 | rumors prove that Henry still made love to his wife on a somewhat
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358 | regular basis. And for her part, Catherine was confident she
|
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359 | could 'meddle with a man' without pregnancy, which made her
|
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360 | relationship with Culpeper safe. He and Dereham both traveled in
|
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361 | the progress as members of the royal household. </p>
|
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362 | <p>In Catherine's rather simple view of marriage, as long as she and
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363 | the king were happy, nothing else mattered. And since the king
|
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364 | would be happy as long as he was ignorant, all would be well. </p>
|
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365 | <p>And the king was ignorant for a surprisingly long time. For
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366 | his part, Culpeper was using Catherine's infatuation to further his own
|
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367 | ambitions. He was not a particularly 'gentlemanly'
|
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368 | gentleman. In fact, he had brutally raped a park-keeper's wife,
|
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369 | ordering three of his servants to hold her down during the attack; he
|
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370 | also murdered a villager who tried to save her. He had been
|
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371 | pardoned by the king, but it is one of the few facts we know about
|
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372 | Culpeper and not a pleasant one. His ambitions regarding
|
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373 | Catherine undoubtedly stemmed from Henry VIII's ill health. If
|
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374 | the king died, then the queen dowager would maintain some influence and
|
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375 | power at court. Before that inevitable day, she could give him as
|
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376 | many expensive gifts as he desired. </p>
|
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377 | <p>Did Catherine love Culpeper? She undoubtedly did, at least
|
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378 | as much as her immature view of love allowed. He was handsome,
|
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379 | very charming, if only in a superficial manner, and he complemented and
|
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380 | cajoled her. She became increasingly open in her affection,
|
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381 | enough to worry Culpeper himself. As a gentleman of the privy
|
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382 | chamber, he knew the king's moods better than anyone and had no desire
|
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383 | to risk much for Catherine. </p>
|
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384 | <p>But there were others at court who knew of the relationship, and
|
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385 | they would not keep quiet. When the northern progress finally
|
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386 | ended on 1 November, and the royal couple settled at Hampton Court
|
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387 | Palace, Catherine's past and present indiscretions caught up with
|
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388 | her. She had been safe enough during the northern progress, for a
|
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389 | traveling court was not nearly as gossip-ridden as a settled one; there
|
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390 | were, after all, far more practical matters to attend to as the king
|
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391 | moved from city to city. But once they were home, other matters
|
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392 | could take precedence - matters like the queen's infidelity. </p>
|
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393 | <p>Catherine's fall from grace was so rapid that foreign ambassadors
|
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394 | were at a loss to explain it. The man behind it was John
|
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395 | Lascelles, the brother of Mary Hall, herself a chambermaid to the
|
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396 | dowager duchess of Norfolk and thus privy to Catherine's past.
|
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397 | However, the past was not necessarily a danger to the queen; most young
|
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398 | women could not withstand scrutiny of their early flirtations.
|
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399 | They were perhaps not serious enough to warrant her execution.
|
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400 | Lascelles, who was a 'convinced reformer', was motivated by his
|
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401 | religious convictions and not personal animosity towards
|
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402 | Catherine. But she represented the conservative Catholic faction
|
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403 | and, with her influence, they were growing more powerful and
|
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404 | reactionary. Lascelles went to Thomas Cranmer, Henry's close
|
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405 | friend and archbishop of Canterbury. Cranmer recognized the
|
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406 | dangers to Catherine, namely the precontract with Dereham that would
|
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407 | invalidate her marriage to Henry VIII. The precontract, of
|
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408 | course, while ending her marriage, also excused her intimacy with
|
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409 | Dereham. </p>
|
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410 | <p>On 2 November, while Henry attended a Mass for All Souls' Day,
|
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411 | Cranmer passed him a letter with the charges. The king was
|
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412 | immediately 'perplexed' and believed the letter was a forgery.
|
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413 | This was his first and thoroughly honest reaction; Catherine had
|
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414 | deceived him well. He ordered Cranmer to keep the matter private
|
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415 | and began an investigation. It took but a few days for
|
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416 | Catherine's house of cards to come tumbling down. </p>
|
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417 | <p>An assortment of female servants were arrested and sent to the
|
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418 | Tower, as was Dereham. He was tortured; he confessed his earlier
|
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419 | relationship and named Culpeper as the queen's current lover.
|
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420 | Culpeper was then arrested, tortured, and confessed. </p>
|
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421 | <p>When confronted with the confessions, Henry's confusion gave way
|
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422 | to great anger and self-pity. He managed to blame everyone but
|
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423 | himself for this latest marital catastrophe. He wished for a
|
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424 | sword to slay Catherine himself - a not uncommon reaction for a
|
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425 | cuckolded husband, particularly one who had been so generous and
|
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426 | trusting. He left Hampton Court on 5 November, sailing to
|
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427 | Whitehall Palace. Catherine was arrested on 12 November and her
|
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428 | tearful pleas to see the king were ignored; she was locked in her
|
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429 | rooms. Two days later, she was taken to Syon House. She
|
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430 | would never see Henry again. </p>
|
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431 | <p>Cranmer was given the distasteful task of interrogating the
|
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432 | terrified girl. She was hysterical, convinced she would be
|
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433 | executed like her cousin; even the archbishop felt pity for her
|
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434 | condition. Perhaps he suggested an option to Henry VIII that he
|
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435 | had first proposed for Anne Boleyn - let Catherine admit her sins,
|
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436 | annul the marriage, and send her away. The Dereham precontract
|
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437 | was the perfect excuse. Catherine need only admit its existence
|
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438 | and her life would be spared. It was the king's 'most gracious
|
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439 | mercy' and her only possible chance for survival. </p>
|
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440 | <p>But Catherine, frightened and lacking any counsel, did not realize
|
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441 | that the precontract would save her life. Instead, she was
|
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442 | convinced it would be used to condemn her. And so, even as she
|
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443 | admitted to 'carnal copulation' with Dereham, she stressed his
|
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444 | 'importune forcement' and 'violence'. She and Cranmer wanted the
|
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445 | same end but talked at odds. And it was possible, too, that Henry
|
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446 | VIII had never intended to spare her life. </p>
|
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447 | <p>Indeed, with each day that passed, the king was less inclined to
|
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448 | show mercy. The floodgates had opened and ever more scurrilous
|
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449 | rumors were heard about his 'Rose without a thorn'. </p>
|
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450 | <p>Catherine was demoted from her position as Queen on 22 November
|
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451 | and formally indicted two days later for leading an 'abominable, base,
|
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452 | carnal, voluptuous and vicious life'. She remained at Syon House
|
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453 | for the next two months. On 10 December, Dereham paid a horrific
|
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454 | penalty for his 'crimes'; he was hung, drawn, and quartered
|
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455 | (disemboweled and castrated while still conscious) as a traitor.
|
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456 | Culpeper was also executed that day, though he suffered a more merciful
|
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457 | beheading; this was ordered by the king, perhaps because of Culpeper's
|
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458 | higher rank and personal service in his household. Their heads
|
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459 | were fixed on spears atop London Bridge and remained there as late as
|
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460 | 1546. </p>
|
---|
461 | <p>Catherine, meanwhile, continued in a state of suspended
|
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462 | hysteria. Her various relatives were sent to the Tower, including
|
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463 | the elderly dowager duchess. Only the duke survived, having
|
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464 | sufficiently humbled himself before Henry. </p>
|
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465 | <p>Perhaps the executions of Dereham and Culpeper had brought a
|
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466 | newfound maturity to Catherine. She was content to remain quietly
|
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467 | at Syon House, though it was clear the king could not allow it.
|
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468 | On 21 January the House of Lords passed an Act of Attainder and it
|
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469 | received the king's approval on 11 February. It was intended to
|
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470 | answer the question vexing them all - of what exactly was Catherine
|
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471 | Howard guilty? If she had been precontracted to Dereham, then she
|
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472 | was never married to the king - and thus not guilty of adultery.
|
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473 | But in a speech on 6 February, Henry made it clear that the new Act
|
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474 | could punish those who <i>intended</i> to commit treason (or adultery,
|
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475 | since adultery in a queen was treason.) It was this intent which
|
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476 | sealed Catherine's fate. </p>
|
---|
477 | <p>On Friday, 10 February 1542, the duke of Suffolk arrived to take
|
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478 | Catherine to the Tower of London. The hysterical frenzy returned;
|
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479 | she struggled and had to be forced aboard the barge. She was
|
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480 | dressed in black velvet and lodged in the Queen's Apartments, though no
|
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481 | longer queen. On Sunday night, she was informed that she would be
|
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482 | executed the next day. Her only request was that the block be
|
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483 | brought to her for she wished to 'know how to place herself.' It
|
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484 | was to be her last act on a grand stage; she would die with all the
|
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485 | dignity and composure possible. </p>
|
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486 | <p>Around seven o'clock on Monday, 13 February, several privy
|
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487 | councilors arrived as escort. Her uncle Norfolk was not among
|
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488 | them, having wisely withdrawn to his country estates. Catherine
|
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489 | was weak and frightened and had to be helped up the steps to the
|
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490 | scaffold. But once there, she made a small, quiet speech
|
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491 | regarding her 'worthy and just punishment'; she prayed for the king's
|
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492 | preservation and for God's forgiveness. The actual execution was
|
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493 | over quickly. Catherine's body was interred at the nearby chapel of St
|
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494 | Peter ad Vincula. </p>
|
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495 | <p>Catherine Howard did not have an impact upon English
|
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496 | history. She is perhaps the most inconsequential of Henry VIII's
|
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497 | six wives, her reign as queen a very brief eighteen months. She
|
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498 | bore no children and made no lasting impression upon those who knew
|
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499 | her. But it should be remembered that she was thirty years
|
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500 | younger than her husband, a silly young girl who never understood the
|
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501 | dangers of royal regard. Her life was over before it had truly
|
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502 | begun; we can only wonder how it might have ended differently.</p>
|
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503 | <p> <br>
|
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504 | </p>
|
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505 | <blockquote>
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506 | <center>
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507 | <p><font size="-1"><a
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508 | href="wives.html">to the Six
|
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509 | Wives main page</a></font> <br>
|
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510 | <font size="2"><a href="http://englishhistory.net/tudor.html">to
|
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511 | Tudor England</a></font></p>
|
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512 | <p><font size="2">The only biography of Catherine Howard is <i>A
|
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513 | Tudor Tragedy</i> by Lacey Baldwin Smith,<br>
|
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514 | which is sadly out-of-print. Catherine is also the subject of
|
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515 | Ford Madox Ford's<br>
|
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516 | <i>The Fifth Queen</i>, one of my favorite works of historical
|
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517 | fiction.</font></p>
|
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518 | </center>
|
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519 | </blockquote>
|
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520 | </blockquote>
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521 | </body>
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