Women's History Month,Day Three

Kathrine Parr

(Unknown Author, National Portrait Gallery)

Katherine Parr was the final wife of Henry VIII, famous for being the one wife who “survived” and was not divorced or beheaded. Many give her the label of a nursemaid, step mother, and boring last wife but Katherine was so much more than that. She loved fine clothes, music, dancing, and most importantly education and religion. She is the first woman and Queen in England to write a book under her own name. In many ways I think she is a perfect mixture of qualities that Henry’s first two wives, Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn had. She was smart, strong, and kind her great tragedy is that when she could finally marry the man of her dreams he betrayed her and when she could finally have a child of her own, it cost her life.  I think Katherine’s unyielding compassion, patience, and kindness for others cannot be understated and it is something I greatly admire her for. She was a happy, optimistic person who for a short time gave kindness and joy to a family that had beforehand endured so many hardships and strain.

Biography:

Katherine Parr was the last wife of King Henry VIII, who was actually her third husband. She was named after Henry’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon, who was also her godmother (Holt). She born sometime in 1512 and was probably in her early thirties when she married Henry.  Her first marriage had taken place 1529 when she was probably around 17. She married Edward Borough but the marriage would only last until 1532 when Edward died of an illness. A year later in 1533 Katherine married John Neville a man who was twice her age and already had two children, Katherine’s previous marriage had been childless. Through her marriage to John Neville she gained two step-children and had the opportunity to be a step-mother, a role that she would also perform gladly when she married Henry VIII. Unfortunately her husband fell ill in the late 1530s and throughout the rest of his life Katherine would spend a great amount of time trying to nurse her husband back to health. During this time though she did visit her sister Anne at court and there we must assume is where she developed her love for finery and theological debate. By the time that her second husband died in 1543, Katherine was left a very wealthy woman. She was in a unique position as a woman in this time period because finally she could make her own choice when it came to whom she would marry.

Katherine’s eye had settled on Thomas Seymour not long before Neville died, he was around her age, charming, and handsome. In a marriage with Thomas, Katherine could finally enjoy a passionate union with someone her age and in good health. But it was not to be quite yet for Katherine had caught the eye of another suitor that no one could say no too, Henry VIII. Katherine at this point was working in the household of Henry’s eldest daughter, Mary, which is where he likely noticed her. It’s easy to understand why Henry had fallen for her; she was attractive, patient, kind, and intelligent, she loved fine clothes and court life; she was someone that Henry could have theological debates with. Before the death of her husband Henry had already started sending her gifts, the first one came almost a year to the date after he had had his fifth Queen executed, which must have been awkward (Hanson). When John Neville died on the 2^nd of March, Katherine must have desperately wished she could marry Seymour, but he had already noticed the King’s interest in Katherine and had wisely backed off.  

(The Melton Constable or Hastings portrait of Queen Catherine)

Henry VIII then asked her to marry him, something Katherine would not have been incredibly excited about. Henry had already had five wives, four of whom were dead, and two beheaded at the King’s command.  She loved Thomas Seymour but she knew they would have to wait, she wrote him “As truly as God is God, my mind was fully bent…. to marry you before any man I know (Hanson).” Katherine also sought God in her decision and believed that it was his will that she should marry Henry VIII, so on the 12 of July in 1543 that is exactly what she did.

Katherine and Henry got along quite well; Katherine was used to having to nurse her husband, something that came in handy during Henry’s final years. The two also enjoyed many of the same activities “from hunting and archery to music, masques and books (Did Henry VIII love..).” The two patronized the Bassano brothers, Venetian musicians and Katherine was a fine dancer (Did Henry VIII love..). Katherine was intelligent and could hold her own when talking to ambassadors much like Henry’s first two wives Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn could. Katherine and Henry also loved to have theological debates and discuss religion, something he had only previously done with Anne Boleyn. Both the King and the Queen loved learning and both were talented in Latin.

Katherine also published several books; the first was anonymously in 1544 it was called Psalms or Prayers. The second book, Prayers and Meditations, made her famous as the first book written by a woman in England and she became the first English Queen to publish a book under her own name when it came out in 1545. The King’s printers were even the ones who printed it (Did Henry VIII love..). After the death of Henry VIII she would go on to publish The Lamentations of a Sinner in 1547, in this book Katherine’s strong religious belief in the protestant faith can be seen. Henry would go on to further proof his trust in her by making her regent. She was made the Regent of England and Ireland in 1544 from July to September when Henry launched a military campaign against France, and in the event of the King’s death in France she would be regent until Edward was old enough. During this time her work became useful too, when a bit from her book Psalms or Prayers was used with Thomas Tallis’ music to rally London behind there King before he went off to war (Katz). In this work Katherine shows she isn’t afraid to stand her ground and call out those who she believed were wicked, see the quote section below.

Much to everyone’s delight once again Katherine took on the role of step-mother to her new husband’s children; unlike Queen’s before her, she was kind and gracious to all three of her step-children having a successful relationship with all of them. She took great care in becoming involved with both the education of Edward VI and Elizabeth I both of which would benefit from her protestant influence. We know Elizabeth and Katherine were very fond of each other for after the death of Henry VIII, Elizabeth would come to live with Katherine. Katherine is even said to have influenced her husband to include Mary and Elizabeth in the Third Succession Act of 1543, which put them both back in line for the throne.

In 1546, Katherine would be tested. As the King’s health began to decline and Katherine’s fierce protestant belief grew the court was in factions. Henry had not completely gone through in his reformation of the church so you had sides that pushed the Protestant faith and then you had the Catholic side that desperately wanted to return to the old ways. The two sides were always fighting for control in the court and during the summer of 1546, the Catholic side was working to eliminate some leading members of the Protestant faith. In May of that year Anne Askew, a Protestant Reformist was illegal tortured with the hopes of her confessing other reformers, she didn’t and she was then burned at the stake in July.  

Regardless of all that was going on the King and Katherine still keep up with their theological talks, and one night when she was dressing the King’s leg she began to tell the King that he needed to finish the work he had done with the Reformation (Holt). Henry did not take kindly to this and it wasn’t long before his council members who wanted Katherine’s influence out of the way jumped on the opportunity. Plans began to be drawn up to have the Queen arrested on charges of heresy and an arrest warrant was made. Luckily for Katherine someone was kind enough to tip her off and feeling terrified for her life she immediately went to her husband, who then brought up religion. He began to test her on religion hoping she would say something damning but Katherine already knew what she had to do. She agreed with anything Henry said and told him that “women by their first creation were made subject to men”….that “men ought to instruct their wives, who would do all their learning from them”… and that Henry was “a prince of such excellent learning and wisdom (Hanson).”  Henry then responded by saying that “you are become a doctor able to instruct us and not to be instructed by us (Hanson).”  Katherine, to save her life, played the role of the obedient wife by telling Henry “that he had ‘much mistaken the freedom she had taken to argue with him” that she was simply trying to learn from him and distract him from the pain in his leg (Hanson). Henry took this news gladly saying “And is it even so?  Then Kate, we are friends again (Hanson).” Katherine had saved her own life. When the guards came the next day to carry out the order of arrest against the Queen, Henry reportedly beat them and called them names.

All was well again but during the Christmas time of 1546 Henry VIII retreated to solitude as he began to prepare for his death. On January 28^th, 1547 Henry VIII died.  Katherine was left a widow again and this time she finally got to marry the man of she loved, Thomas Seymour, within months of Henry’s death. The two set up a household outside of London and took in Princess Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey. The marriage that Katherine had so hoped for and final achieved would not be all it was supposed to be. After the couple took in the Princess Elizabeth it became clear that Thomas Seymour had his sights set on her as well. He would sneak into Elizabeth’s rooms at odd hours and often openly flirted with her. Katherine did soon become pregnant but the pregnancy was difficult made worse when one day she found Thomas and Elizabeth in an embrace. She was forced to send her beloved step-daughter away, the smartest thing for Katherine to have done since she would soon be confined to her rooms for the last part of her pregnancy and unable to protect Elizabeth.

( The title page of The Lamentation of a Sinner by Katherine Parr)

At Sudeley Castle, Katherine went into labor and on the 30^th of August, 1548 she gave birth to her only child, a daughter named Mary. Lady Jane Grey was made the godmother of little Mary and all seemed well until Katherine, like Jane Seymour, fell sick with childbed fever or its medical name puerperal sepsis. Katherine reportedly suffered from delusions but was eventually in a fit enough state to dictate her last will (Hanson). On the 5^th of September at the age of just 36, Katherine Parr died and was buried in St. Mary’s Church in Sudeley Castle. The chief mourner at her funeral was Lady Jane Grey. Not long after, Thomas Seymour was arrested and beheaded for treason in 1549 for planning to try to marry Elizabeth and overthrow the King. Their daughter Mary’s life is clouded in mystery with some believing she grew up, married, and had children and others believing she died as a child. Katherine Parr’s books still exist to this day and are on display at Sudeley Castle.

 Bad-ass

Quotes:

-As part of a prayer believed to have been collaborated with Thomas Tallis’ music

“[C]ast them down hedlonge…. for they are treatours & raybels agaynst me … let the wicked sinners returne in to hell”

 “Methinks that love maketh men like angels.”

Books to Read:

Katherine Parr: Complete Works and Correspondence by Katherine Parr

The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir

Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII by David Starkey

The Anne Boleyn Files website by Claire Ridgeway

Documentaries to Watch:

Henry VIII and His Six Wives, Suzannah Lipscomb and Dan Jones

Secrets of the Six Wives, Lucy Worsley

The Six Wives of Henry VIII, David Starkey

Works Cited:

“Did Henry VIII love his last wife Katherine Parr?” History Extra, 20 Feb. 2018, www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/did-henry-viii-love-his-last-wife-katherine-parr/

‘Hall. (n.d.). Hall's chronicle : Containing the history of England, during the reign of Henry the Fourth, and the succeeding monarchs, to the end of the reign of Henry the Eighth, in which are particularly described the manners and customs of those periods. Carefully collated with the editions of 1548 and 1550. Web. January 23, 2015. http://www.archive.org/stream/hallschronicleco00halluoft#page/630/mode/2up

Holt, Chris. The Six Queens of Henry VIII Episode 4. Perf. Suzannah Lipscomb, Dan Jones. Oxford Film & Television, 2016. Film.

Hanson, Marilee. "Katherine Parr – Facts, Information, Biography & Portraits" <a href="https://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/katharine-parr/">https://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/katharine-parr/</a>, January 31, 2015

Katz, Brigit. “Did Catherine Parr Write a Propaganda Song for Henry VIII?” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 17 Mar. 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/did-katherine-parr-write-propaganda-song-henry-viii-180962552/.

Weir, Alison. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York: Grove, 2007. Print.