HistoryExtrahttps://www.historyextra.comHome of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast2025-10-31T12:15:18.000Zhourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00From tragic Tudor queens to restless Roman soldiers: Britain's 8 most haunted houseshttps://www.historyextra.com/membership/from-tragic-tudor-queens-to-restless-roman-soldiers-britains-8-most-haunted-houses/2025-10-30T15:00:03.000Z1. Stirling Castle, Scotland

From elusive sea monsters to shrieking banshees, Scotland is home to a host of supernatural beings – including, of course, ghosts. One of their best-known spectral celebrities is the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots, who is said to haunt a staggering 10 properties, making her, perhaps, the best-travelled ghost in the nation. Among her main haunts is Stirling Castle, her childhood home in central Scotland.

Perched atop a volcanic crag, surrounded by cliffs overlooking the River Forth, Stirling Castle was constructed in the early 12th century, originally as a military stronghold, acting as a strategic line of defence during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1357). However, almost from the very beginning, Stirling was also a favourite royal residence. By the time a young Mary Stuart lived there in the 1540s, it was as much a palace as it was a fortress: her father, James V, had transformed it into one of the most opulent homes in Renaissance Britain.

A large brown castle stands on a tree-covered hill, against a dark grey cloudy sky

Whatever happy childhood memories Mary may have had of Stirling would be tainted by the events of 21 April 1567. It was here on this day that the embattled queen would see her infant son (the future King James VI & I) for the last time. Soon after, she was forced to abdicate, flee the country, and eventually, in 1587, she was executed for treason under the orders of her cousin, Elizabeth I.

Perhaps it is for this reason that the melancholy monarch returns to the castle, perpetually searching for her long-lost child, even in the afterlife. She is said to be kept company by a dutiful servant – a young woman in green, who purportedly died in a fire while attempting to save her mistress.

They are also joined by Stirling’s notorious ‘Highland Ghost’ – a mysterious man adorned in full Highland regalia, who is often mistaken for a costumed tour guide.

A black and white photograph of a staircase with a white ghostly figure in the middle

2. Raynham Hall, Norfolk

At its height in the Georgian period, Raynham Hall was nationally renowned for its innovative architecture, priceless art collection and powerful owner. Though originally constructed in the early 1600s, the stately red-brick manor we see today was largely the work of eminent early 18th-century architect William Kent, acting under the direction of Charles, 2nd Viscount Townshend, a leader in the House of Lords.

Like the house he lived in, Townshend was an imposing figure, known for his fiery temper and blustering delivery in parliament. And rumour had it, his aggressiveness was not solely reserved for political opponents. His long-suffering wife, Dorothy, may have also been a target of his ire. The story goes that Lady Dorothy Townshend (née Walpole, sister of prime minister Robert) endured an unhappy marriage. Some say she was unfaithful, while others claim it was her extravagant spending that incurred her husband’s wrath. In any case, she purportedly died under mysterious circumstances and continues to roam Raynham’s halls to this day.

Over the years, there have been numerous reported sightings of Lady Townshend – or ‘The Brown Lady’ as she has come to be known, on account of the colour of her silk brocade dress – but perhaps none so dramatic as the encounter of photographers Hubert Provand and Indre Shira. In the autumn of 1936, while on assignment for Country Life magazine, Provand and Shira prepared to take a photo of Raynham’s main staircase. Just as they were setting up the shot, they suddenly caught sight of an ethereal, veiled form floating down the stairs. Acting fast, they snapped their photo and captured what is widely considered to be one of the most famous examples of ‘spirit photography’ in history.

A black and white photograph of a dark front door. Either side of it are iron railings, and there is an arch over the two steps leading up to it

3. 50 Berkeley Square, Mayfair, Greater London

With its elegant Georgian townhouses, luxury boutiques and Michelin star restaurants, the upscale district of Mayfair in central London may not seem like the natural setting for a ghost story. And yet, it is home to a property once christened the ‘Most Haunted House in London’.  The offending structure can be found on Berkeley Square, a residential block first laid out in the mid-1700s by architect William Kent (the man behind Raynham Hall). From the outside, there’s nothing much to distinguish the townhouse at No 50 from its neighbours – but don’t let its staid, neoclassical façade fool you.

The first reports of unusual activity at No 50 occurred in the mid-1800s. Nearby residents noticed strange sounds and smells, lights flickering in the windows at all hours of the night, and the noticeable signs of decay and abandon. Sceptics chalked this up to the eccentric habits of its owner, Thomas Myers, a recluse left heartbroken by the rejection of his fiancée. Nevertheless, rumours soon swirled that the house was haunted.

View Green Video on the source website

Some believed the ghost was a young woman who had jumped from an upper-storey window. Others claimed it was Myers himself, who had locked himself in the attic and driven himself mad. Still others maintained it was a preexisting entity that had possessed both Myers and the suicidal woman. Whatever the case, most Londoners came to fear and avoid No 50 – all save for a brave and foolhardy few.

One such daredevil was Lord George Lyttleton, a Conservative statesman, who, in 1872, accepted a bet to stay a night alone at the house. Though incredulous of the stories, Lyttleton packed a pistol and was probably quite pleased he had done so, for when a dark, tendrilled apparition advanced towards him, he was able to defend himself. Firing a few rounds, he was certain he’d hit his mark. Yet, when the smoke settled, it revealed only spent shell casings and an empty attic.

A black and white photograph of a large castle with crenellated towers

4. Chillingham Castle, Northumberland

Touted as Britain’s ‘Most Haunted Castle,’ Chillingham has a long and violent history. Once one of nearly 100 fortifications that dotted the bleak borderlands of England and Scotland, this 13th-century fortress served a pivotal role in the centuries-long rift between the two warring kingdoms. It was here, in 1298, that King Edward I launched his attack on William Wallace during the First War of Scottish Independence.

Over the years, hundreds of England’s enemies were killed at Chillingham, many of them by torture in the castle’s dungeon and torture chamber – a cramped windowless pit located in a cellar beneath what is today a public tearoom. Strangely, however, these prisoners are not among the castle’s best-known ghostly residents. Instead, the most familiar phantom faces are those of women and children.

There is the mysterious ‘Radiant Boy’ – an unknown child in blue who materialises before guests in the castle’s ‘Pink Bedroom’. And the legendary ‘Grey Lady’ – believed to be the ghost of Lady Mary Berkeley, whose husband, Ford Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville, reportedly jilted her for her younger sister, leaving her alone and heartbroken in the castle. Modern visitors report the sounds of sobbing, the rustling of a heavy gown dragging along the castle’s corridors, and the faint aroma of rosewater.

A large red brick palace lit up from below by floodlights. Behind it, there are many trees in shadow and the sky is deep blue

5. Blickling Hall, Norfolk

Blickling Hall might be considered the English counterpart to Scotland’s Stirling Castle – though, on the face of it, they would seem to have little in common. Where Stirling is a medieval citadel looming over the gateway to the Scottish Highlands, Blickling is a Jacobean manor nestled in the heart of the Norfolk Broads. Just 20 miles east of Raynham Hall, one would think it would have more in common with its ‘haunted’ East Anglian neighbour. But as the presumed birthplace of Anne Boleyn, Blickling has a far stronger symbolic link to the childhood home of Scotland’s own tragic queen.

The existing structure, built for Sir Henry Hobart in 1616, was erected atop the ruins of a Tudor manor house once belonging to Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire – whose youngest daughter had the unfortunate honour of becoming Henry VIII’s second wife. On 19 May 1536, after just three years of marriage, Anne Boleyn was beheaded for adultery and treason.

Like her Scottish counterpart, Anne is thought to haunt a number of historic properties, including Hever Castle (another childhood home), Windsor Castle (a brief residence), the Tower of London (the site of her death), and, of course, Blickling. Here, she is said to appear every year on the anniversary of her death, in a carriage driven by headless horses.

A black farmhouse stands on a hill, with a single light shining in the middle. The farmhouse has a chimney at either end of the roof and behind it, the sky is dark grey

6. Heol Fanog, Brecon Beacons, Wales

A relatively recent entry into the annals of haunted historic Britain, Heol Fanog farmhouse in South Wales has gained contemporary notoriety thanks to the exposure of the hit BBC Sounds podcast, The Witch Farm (2022). The series focuses on the occupancy of the Rich family, who lived on the farm for a seven-year period from 1989, during which time they claim to have experienced a litany of terrifying events.

From cold spots to disembodied footsteps, inexplicable power surges to noxious odours, and even full-blown apparitions and demonic possessions, the experiences of the Rich family have been likened to that of the Lutz family of Amityville Horror fame.

While these stories are relatively new – and, indeed, the farmhouse itself is less than a hundred years old – legends about the isolated rural property have circulated for well over a century. The area’s strong association with witchcraft, occultism and Celtic mysticism, combined with the dark legacy of a gruesome local murder in the 19th century, have earned the property its nickname: ‘The Witch Farm’ or ‘Hellfire Farm’.

Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, is supposedly one of Hampton Court’s many resident phantoms. Early 20th-century postcards depicted the queen’s ‘ghost’ using a crude double-exposure effect (Image by Alamy)

7. Hampton Court Palace, Greater London

Historic Royal Palaces certainly have their hands full. In addition to managing some of the nation’s highest profile heritage landmarks, catering to some 4 million visitors each year, they also have ghosts to contend with. Several properties in their portfolio – including the Tower of London, Kensington Palace and Kew Palace – are allegedly haunted. And while it’s hard to say which one of them is the most haunted, Hampton Court is definitely a strong contender.

Construction on the iconic Tudor palace began in 1515 under the direction of Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York – Henry VIII’s chief advisor. At the time, Wolsey was one of the kingdom’s richest and most influential figures and he intended to build a home to reflect his position. In this he succeeded; however, within just a few years of his home’s completion, Wolsey had fallen from favour. Shortly before he died in 1530, he was ordered to surrender the palace to the king. Just 15 miles from London, the palace quickly became a favourite royal retreat.

While many monarchs have resided in Hampton Court over the centuries, the palace is indelibly linked with the reign of Henry VIII. As such, it should come as no surprise that the most familiar phantoms are members of the Henrician court.

There’s Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife, who died from complications of childbirth, and allegedly still holds a solemn vigil on the palace’s Silverstick staircase; Catherine Howard, Henry’s fifth wife, whose ghost is said to run screaming down the aptly-named ‘Haunted Gallery’, endlessly replaying a failed attempt to reach  her husband to beg him to spare her from execution; and maybe even Old King Hal himself. Some believe it was the ghost of the king who was captured on the viral CCTV footage that made headlines around the world in the winter of 2003.

A cellar with dirty brick walls. To the left, there is an empty fireplace with a dark tunnel, and on the right, there are two boxes stacked on one another

8. Treasurer's House, York, North Yorkshire

Beneath the soaring spires of York Minster, scores of visitors amble along pedestrian thoroughfares lined with gastropubs, gift shops and historic buildings. The din of casual conversation is occasionally interrupted by the booming oratory of tour guides who lead groups of tourists down winding cobble-stoned lanes and narrow alleyways (idiosyncratically referred to as ‘snickleways’ by the locals). These merry little bands are on the hunt for haunted houses, and in York – reputedly the ‘Most Haunted City in Britain’ – they will not be disappointed.

Dozens of properties compete for the title of ‘Most Haunted House’ in York, and while there is no clear victor, there is one property that can lay claim to what is, perhaps, the best authenticated ghost story in British history. That is the Treasurer’s House – a Grade I listed National Trust property with foundations dating all the way back to the early 12th century. Its best-known ghost story, however, has nothing to do with its medieval history.

In 1953, an 18-year-old apprentice plumber called Harry Martindale was hired to install a boiler in the property’s ancient cellar. Working alone and in silence, Martindale was startled by the distant sound of a trumpet. The sound grew closer, and suddenly, what appeared to be a Roman soldier with a plumed helmet emerged from a wall, followed by a cart horse and a band of other soldiers, all dressed in green and carrying round shields. If this weren’t strange enough, the soldiers appeared to be cut off at the knees.

Though Martindale’s claims were initially dismissed as hallucinations, the subsequent discovery of the Via Decumana, a Roman road lying about 15 inches below the cellar floor, gave credence to his story.  What’s more, his description of the soldiers’ attire – originally deemed inaccurate based on existing historical knowledge – was later confirmed to be consistent with the regiment stationed at the Roman outpost of Eboracum (i.e. modern-day York).

Caitlin Blackwell Baines is an art historian and author who specialises in Georgian art and architecture. She is the author of How to Build a Haunted House: The History of a Cultural Obsession (Profile Books, 2025)

This article was first published in the Apple News October 2025 bonus issue

]]>Queens of bling: the importance of jewellery to Henry VIII's six wiveshttps://www.historyextra.com/membership/queens-of-bling/2023-05-22T07:07:56.000ZListen to a version of this article:

 

Catherine of Aragon: symbols of salvation as a public display of piety

The jewels worn by the first wife of Henry VIII not only say a great deal about her status but, more significantly, her character and values. In keeping with the fashion for low-cut gowns, Catherine’s is lined with pearls and diamonds set in goldsmith’s work. But it was her necklace and brooch set that drew the most interest. Attached to the necklace of gold beads and clusters of pearls is an ornate tau cross – a T-shaped cross symbolic of salvation. Interestingly, Catherine’s daughter, Mary, was later painted wearing a similar cross, as were Jane Seymour and Katherine Parr, reflecting each queen’s piety.

Queens were expected to be pious, but Catherine of Aragon’s faith was personal too. Her jewels reflect a genuine and heartfelt devotion to God, and the tau cross was also associated with her favourite religious order, the Observant Franciscans. Her commitment to the Franciscans was reinforced by her choice of the IHS brooch pinned to her chest (IHS is an abbreviation of the Greek word for Jesus). IHS had been employed as a peace symbol since the 15th century, and by Catherine’s time, it had become an integral marker of Catholic identity.

Catherine is well known for being a principled woman with a strong religious faith. Her choices of jewellery reinforced this image by providing a platform from which she could make her piety public – and enduring.

Anne Boleyn, by an unknown artist, late-16th century (Photo by: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

 

Anne Boleyn: an independent woman at the cutting edge of fashion

This image of Anne Boleyn has etched its way into popular memory. Five centuries after it was painted, it remains a source of fascination – and that fascination is largely the product of her jewels, most specifically the gold “B” pendant hanging from her neck. Anne acquired a reputation for great style and sophistication among her contemporaries, so it’s tempting to imagine that the trend for wearing jewels bearing initials originated with her.

The fashion, however, had begun long before, spreading through Europe during the late 14th century. Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands, was extremely fond of initial jewels. Given that Anne had spent a small amount of time at Margaret’s cosmopolitan court in Mechelen in her youth, it is feasible that she was influenced by the trend there. Anne was fascinated by fashion, so it is unsurprising that she set and expressed the latest trends through her choice of jewellery.

She was certainly enthusiastic about initial pieces, for in addition to her “B” pendant she owned an “AB” and an “A”, which her daughter, Elizabeth, can be seen wearing in a portrait. Anne also had a ring which displayed her motto: “The most happy.” Such jewels provided a neat way of showcasing Anne’s pride in her Boleyn roots and her individuality, and at least two of her successors, Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr, owned similar items.

Initial jewellery is a style that has retained its popularity, and Anne’s image is immediately conjured when considering its history. The trend may not have begun or ended with her, but she has doubtless contributed to the fascination and is certainly worthy of the title of fashionista.

Jane Seymour, by Hans Holbein the Younger (Photo by Volgi archive / Alamy Stock Photo)

 

Jane Seymour: projecting power, glory and her magnificence

The imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys described her as “no great beauty”, but what Jane Seymour may have lacked in looks she certainly made up for in jewels. In her portrait by the great master Hans Holbein, Jane is adorned in some of the most splendid pieces from the queen’s jewel collection. It is possible that some were inherited from her predecessors, and certainly, many of Jane’s items later came into the possession of Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr.

Painted in exquisite detail, the rich pearls and diamonds studded in gold that adorn Jane’s headdress – known as a habillement – form a matching set with those around her neck, waist and the border of her dress, known as a square. Jane’s inventory lists numerous jewelled buttons, so it is unsurprising that the sleeves of her gown show some of the practical jewels that pinned them together. She also owned more than 50 pairs of beads, and several descriptions match those that hang from her waist that were elaborately decorated, probably with enamel.

Jane’s most impressive jewel, however, is the spectacular ouche – a pendant set with jewels – that is suspended from her necklace. Catherine Howard also wore this while sitting for her portrait, revealing not just a link between the two queens but also that this was a high value piece that made a statement of splendour. Jane’s portrait reveals a queen consort who clearly wanted to impress with her magnificence.

Anne of Cleves, by Hans Holbein (Photo by Bridgeman Images)

 

Anne of Cleves: a determination to carve out her own identity in a new home

Henry’s marriage to Anne of Cleves may only have lasted for six months in 1540, but she was determined to make the most of queenship – and the material trappings that came with it. This contemporary portrait shows her dressed in the style popular in the Duchy of Cleves: pearls adorning both her costume and her jewelled coif (a close-fitting cap). Yet the jewels that she bought on becoming Henry’s fourth wife paint a more impressive picture.

As a foreign queen (born in Dusseldorf) yet to make friends and allies in her new country, jewels were glamorous tools that allowed Anne to carve out her own identity. By spending more than £400 in a matter of months – an exorbitant sum – Anne recognised the value of splendour when it came to fashioning a role for herself at court. Her jewels came from several goldsmiths employed by the other wives as well as the king, and her purchases included diamonds, a gold chain and rings that were perhaps similar to those worn in her portrait.

There was also a brooch “garnished with diamonds”, which told the story of Samson (and, as such, could be viewed as a sign of strength, or even romantic betrayal). A similar piece later appeared in Henry’s inventory: could it have been the same? Perhaps most importantly, money was outlaid for “the engraving and making of the queen’s grace’s great seal”, a sign that Anne took her duties seriously. Her jewels served to boost not only her confidence but also her status.

Catherine Howard, a 1540 miniature by Hans Holbein (Photo by CBW / Alamy Stock Photo)

 

Catherine Howard: luxurious objects of desire for Henry’s young bride

When Henry married Catherine Howard in the summer of 1540 at Oatlands Palace, he was infatuated with his new, young bride. So enamoured was he that he showered Catherine with gifts of jewels in tangible signs of his love and affection. A number of these were given “at the time of the solemnisation of their marriage”, but there were many more to follow. At new year 1541, Henry gave his wife eight pieces of jewellery. In a gesture of kindness, Catherine then presented a ring (which Henry had given her) to her predecessor, Anne of Cleves.

Catherine’s opulent jewels are reflected in Hans Holbein’s miniature, which is widely thought to depict Henry’s fifth wife. One of the strongest clues of the sitter’s identity comes from her jewels; an inventory compiled at the time of Catherine’s fall and execution (1541–42) lists 175 items, many of which had probably been owned by Henry’s previous queens. It includes the same diamond and ruby ouche that was worn by Jane Seymour.

Similar rings to those worn in the miniature also appear in the inventory, and the same is true of the jewels attached to Catherine’s rich hood. These pieces were so valuable that it is easy to understand why a contemporary chronicler believed that “the king had no wife who made him spend so much money in dresses and jewels as she did”.

Katherine Parr, attributed to Master John (Photo by © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

 

Katherine Parr: a sumptuous costume to secure the royal seal of approval

Almost certainly painted to mark Katherine Parr’s regency in the summer of 1544, Master John’s likeness of Henry VIII’s fashion-conscious sixth queen displays some of Katherine’s costliest jewels. The beads suspended from her waist are decorated with antique faces in keeping with the latest trends, while a dazzling ouche is attached to her beautiful necklace.

This was perhaps a favourite, given that Katherine wore it while sitting for another portrait. One of Katherine’s jewels is particularly striking, for it exemplifies the common theme in her collection: grandeur. Pinned to her dress is an opulent crown brooch, which may have been commissioned on the queen’s orders. Hailing as she did from a non-royal background, throughout her reign Katherine did her utmost to project an image of majesty, and her jewels provided her with rich tools that enabled her to do so.

Several pieces in her collection reflected her interest in royalty, including a brooch featuring her image and that of her royal husband. This symbolised loyalty to Henry VIII. Katherine’s iconic crown brooch passed into the hands of Henry’s daughter Mary I, and it was later owned by both Queen Elizabeth I – who learned much about fashioning a royal image from Katherine – and Anne of Denmark (wife of James VI and I), on whose orders it was broken down.

Dripping in jewels, Katherine’s portrait is undoubtedly one of the most powerful images of a queen consort, and one in which, as intended, she exudes majesty.

This article was first published in the December 2022 issue of BBC History Magazine

]]>Pontefract Castle: the beginning of Catherine Howard’s downfallhttps://www.historyextra.com/membership/six-wives-explorer-catherine-howard/2023-04-25T12:45:03.000ZThe heritage space I would recommend that is connected to Catherine Howard is Pontefract Castle. It sits just below Leeds in the north of England, and it's one of the great English castles throughout our history. Catherine first visited Pontefract in the summer of 1541 when she was a part of the very successful Northern Progress with her husband, Henry VIII.

Before Catherine visited, Pontefract had a rich medieval history. King Edward I once called it “the key to the north”. Catherine stayed at Pontefract Castle for 12 nights, which was one of the longest times that she spent in any one place throughout her Northern Progress.

Crucially, for us, it was where she began to see Thomas Culpeper, who was one of the gentlemen of the Privy Chamber of Henry VIII and soon became her supposed lover. Culpeper would visit Catherine in her rooms at Pontefract almost every night that she stayed there, before escaping back to the king's chambers to help him get ready for bed.

Today, Pontefract is mainly just beautiful ruins, but it also has fantastic and terrifying dungeons that you can walk around that were there in Katherine's time and during the civil wars as well.

Another important point that links Catherine to Pontefract is that while she was staying there, Francis Dereham, her manipulative and jealous ex-lover, came to visit her unannounced and demanded to be a part of her household. Catherine felt obliged to say yes. He knew too much about her past, and when she made him a part of her household as a gentleman usher, the rest of the household raised their eyebrows. So, unbeknown to Culpeper, Catherine, Lady Rochford and Dereham, Pontefract was really the beginning of the end for them all.

Related content

Now watch Henry VIII’s six wives: Secrets of the Tudor queens

Six Wives WL words

In our six-part series Henry VIII’s six wives: Secrets of the Tudor queens, leading Tudor historians explore each queen's heady rise to power, peeling back the myths surrounding these six women to reveal their true natures. Watch all episodes now.

Kate McCaffrey is the Assistant Curator at Hever Castle

]]>Six wives: Catherine Howardhttps://www.historyextra.com/membership/six-wives-podcast-series-catherine-howard/2023-03-25T08:06:23.000ZCatherine Howard was a teenaged bride who captivated King Henry VIII, but was brought down by secrets from her past that refused to remain buried. In episode five of our new series on the dramatic marital history of England’s most notorious monarch, Ellie Cawthorne is joined by Kate McCaffrey and Dr Tracy Borman to rehabilitate the executed queen’s image.

Related content

On the podcast | Explore the full Six Wives series

The story of King Henry VIII’s six wives is a tale of political crisis and personal tragedy, sacrifice and survival, sex and death, scandal, love and betrayal. But, after centuries of myth have built up around this story, has it clouded our view of the real women involved? We’ll be peeling back the layers of mythmaking to take another look at these fascinating women, who shaped the course of Henry’s reign – and the history of England.

In video | Discover the secrets of the Tudor queens

Six Wives banners WL

In our accompanying six-part video series, leading Tudor historians delve into the fascinating lives of each of Henry VIII’s iconic queens. Could Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard have avoided the executioner’s block? Why can Anne of Cleves be seen as the true survivor? And who was the queen whom Henry loved most?

Find out in this video series exclusively available to HistoryExtra subscribers. All episodes are available to watch now:

Want to learn more about the queens?

]]>Catherine Howard: Victim of the patriarchyhttps://www.historyextra.com/membership/catherine-howard-six-wives-video-series/2023-03-25T08:05:57.000ZBest remembered for her tragic fate, Henry VIII’s fifth wife was perhaps as young as 18 when she met her end on the executioner’s block. Rhiannon Davies speaks to historian Kate McCaffrey to discover the events that led to Catherine’s tragic end – and considers whether there was any way the young queen could have avoided the axe.

View Green Video on the source website

Related content

Kate McCaffrey is the Assistant Curator at Hever Castle

Explore the full video series

Six Wives banners WL

In our accompanying six-part video series, leading Tudor historians delve into the fascinating lives of each of Henry VIII’s iconic queens. Could Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard have avoided the executioner’s block? Why can Anne of Cleves be seen as the true survivor? And who was the queen whom Henry loved most?

Find out in this video series exclusively available to HistoryExtra subscribers. All episodes are available to watch now:

On the podcast | Explore the full Six Wives audio series

The story of King Henry VIII’s six wives is a tale of political crisis and personal tragedy, sacrifice and survival, sex and death, scandal, love and betrayal. But, after centuries of myth have built up around this story, has it clouded our view of the real women involved? In our accompanying six-part podcast series, we’ll be peeling back the layers of mythmaking to take another look at these fascinating women, who shaped the course of Henry’s reign – and the history of England.

Want to learn more about the queens?

]]>11 facts about Catherine Howardhttps://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/catherine-howard-facts-life-death-marriage-henry-viii-execution-ghost/2020-07-20T15:30:26.000ZCatherine Howard was the fifth wife of Henry VIII. They married on 28 July 1540, just three weeks after the king’s brief marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled.

The union between Henry and Catherine ended in tragedy when Henry discovered Catherine’s sexual past – and she was charged with treason. She was executed at the Tower of London on 13 February 1542.

So how much do you know about Catherine Howard ? We bring you the facts about Henry VIII's fifth wife – and the truth about her adultery and death...

 

When was Catherine Howard born?

Catherine Howard is thought to have been born sometime between 1518 and 1524, but the exact date is unknown.

Born into an aristocratic family, Catherine Howard was the daughter of a younger brother of the 3rd Duke of Norfolk and was first cousin to Anne Boleyn. Little is known about Catherine’s early life, but historian David Starkey describes it as “a scrabbled childhood, with a dominant, providing mother, and a weak debt-ridden and… hen-pecked father”.

Catherine’s mother died when she was a child, so at the age of around 10 or 12 Catherine was sent to live with her step-grandmother, Agnes, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, in the countryside near Horsham in West Sussex. The young Catherine “had few prospects”, says historian Josephine Wilkinson.

Catherine Howard: a brief guide

When was she born? Unknown When did she die? 13 February 1542 When did she marry Henry VIII? 28 July 1540 Why was she executed? Catherine was accused of adultery and treason

 

What was Catherine of Howard's childhood like?

Historical novelist Philippa Gregory describes the Dowager Duchess’s household as being “full of her young wards and companions” and says “they received little supervision”. Catherine and her friends were allowed to entertain male admirers in their large shared dormitory – Catherine herself was “young, merry and vivacious” and “was not scholarly or devout”.

The household has been likened by David Starkey to “a slackly run boarding school”.

Catherine Howard

 

Was Catherine Howard sexually abused?

When Catherine was around 13 years old, she is said to have had a relationship with her music teacher, Henry Mannock (aka Manox or Mannox), who had been employed to teach her to play the virginals, a keyboard instrument. When later questioned about it (in 1541, when Catherine was charged with treason), both denied ever having had intercourse.

Catherine had a longer, sexual relationship with a young noble, Francis Dereham, who was a secretary in her grandmother’s household, between 1537 and 1539. The pair “almost certainly became lovers, addressing each other as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’; Francis even entrusted her with his money whilst he was travelling,” says Philippa Gregory. But the jealous Mannock informed the Dowager Duchess, who quickly put an end to the relationship.

Writing for BBC History Magazine in 2016, the academic historian Josephine Wilkinson claimed that Catherine Howard’s relationships with Mannock and Dereham had been non-consensual.

“While living with the duchess [of Norfolk], Catherine was sexually exploited by two men of the household,” she said. “Both men took advantage of their position of authority in the household – and Catherine had no means of defending herself.”

The historian Lucy Worsley echoed Wilkinson’s claims. Writing in The Telegraph, Worsley highlighted the “queasy fact that the girl at the centre of [this] was quite possibly still in her early teens.”

Historian Lucy Worsley

She added: “It’s all very well to describe [Catherine’s] ‘easy charm’ and her ‘abundant store of good nature’, but it is questionable to do so about a girl who, from the age of 11 or 12 onwards, had older men coming into her bedroom. Especially when Mannock was placed in a position of responsibility towards Catherine as her music teacher.”

 

How did Henry and Catherine meet, and why did Henry marry her?

Catherine met Henry through his wife, Anne of Cleves. The young and reportedly beautiful Catherine Howard was maid of honour to Henry’s new queen, Anne of Cleves. Henry and Anne were married for just six months, making her the shortest reigning of all his queens. Henry had only entertained the idea of a match with Anne because “he desperately needed new allies,” says Tracy Borman. “An alliance with Cleves would provide a major boost to the Reformation in England, and it was for this reason that Henry’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, championed it so enthusiastically.”

After the collapse of the relationship, Henry was adamant he would choose his next bride for himself. Historian Josephine Wilkinson explains: "Henry fell head over heels with [Anne's] new maiden of honour. Within a matter of weeks – in what was a truly spectacular rise from obscurity to the seat of power – Catherine Howard had become his fifth queen."

Did you know?

Catherine Howard might otherwise have been 'Mrs Culpeper'

While at court Catherine Howard had a relationship with a Thomas Culpeper, a gentleman of the king’s privy chamber, and rumours abounded that the pair were to be married. But it was Henry who secured Catherine’s hand: having fallen in love with Catherine and sent her gifts and love letters, on 28 July 1540 –  just three weeks after the king’s marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled – he married Catherine at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, making her his fifth queen. For Catherine it was “a truly spectacular rise from obscurity to the seat of power,” says Josephine Wilkinson.

A portrait of Anne of Cleves

 

What was Henry VIII and Catherine Howards age gap?

Henry was nearly 50 years old when he married the teenage Catherine – at least 30 years older than her – and he was in failing health. “Incapacitated by an ulcerated jousting wound in his leg, Henry’s girth had increased at an alarming rate,” says historian Tracy Borman. “When he became king he had been a trim 32 inches around the waist; by the time he met Anne of Cleves it was closer to 52 inches.”

But, Wilkinson explains, Catherine “restored to [Henry] the youth and vitality he thought he’d lost. After an extended honeymoon they settled into married life and Catherine showed every sign of becoming a good queen.”

Henry VIII, from a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

 

Did Catherine Howard have a child?

Catherine had been married to Henry for just 18 months when she was executed at the Tower of London on 13 February 1542, and in that time did not bear Henry any children.

It has been speculated that Henry, who was nearly 50 years old when he married Catherine, was impotent. Examining Henry’s marriage to his previous wife, Anne of Cleves**,** Tracy Borman writes**: “**Henry’s inability to consummate the marriage to Anne of Cleves has been traditionally assigned to his revulsion at his new bride. But it is at least equally possible that he was impotent. He was nearly twice his young bride’s age and had become increasingly immobile in recent years. There had been no talk of a mistress for some time.”

But while Catherine had no children of her own, she was, however, stepmother to Mary Tudor and the future Elizabeth I…

Six Wives: A HistoryExtra podcast series

Member exclusive | In this six-part podcast series, we’ll be peeling back the layers of mythmaking to take another look at these fascinating women, who shaped the course of Henry’s reign – and the history of England.

Listen to all episodes now

Six Wives NL sq button

 

Did Catherine Howard have a relationship with Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I?

Catherine, who was at least two and possibly even seven years younger than Henry’s elder daughter, Mary, found the role of stepmother difficult.

According to historian Anna Whitelock, relations between the two “were initially fraught”. In her 2010 book Mary Tudor: England's First Queen, Whitelock details how, on 5 December 1540, Eustace Chapuys [Spanish ambassador to Henry VIII’s court from 1529 to 1545] told the emperor Charles V’s sister that the young queen Catherine “had tried to remove two of Mary’s attendants because she believed that the princess was showing less respect to her than to her predecessors.”

A portrait of Mary Tudor, c1530

But relations between the two women eventually began to settle down, and they treated one another cordially. In May 1541, Chapuys reported that Catherine had “countenanced… with good grace” her husband’s decision to allow Mary to reside at court. The queen later gave Mary a gold pomander bejewelled with rubies and pearls as a gift.

Meanwhile, Catherine found herself a fan in her younger stepdaughter, the Princess Elizabeth, who is thought to have been seven years old when Catherine married Henry VIII. Related by blood (Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, was Catherine’s first cousin), the pair are said to have enjoyed one another’s company during the few occasions on which they met.

Illustration of Princess Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I

 

Did Catherine Howard have an affair?

Catherine Howard’s biggest mistake, many have argued, was continuing her affair with Thomas Culpeper after she had married Henry VIII. It is thought that Catherine’s maid – Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, (who had previously testified against her husband, George Boleyn, and her sister-in-law, Anne Boleyn) – helped Catherine to meet Culpeper in secret while the king was away from court.

But it was Catherine’s earlier liaisons that ultimately sealed her fate. In the summer of 1541, as Henry’s court embarked upon a royal progress to the north country, “rumours of Catherine’s previous indiscretions continued to haunt her and she was forced to give favours and positions in return for silence,” says Philippa Gregory.

News of Catherine’s indiscretions eventually reached Thomas Cranmer – Archbishop of Canterbury and close friend of Henry VIII. Cranmer was told that Catherine’s music teacher, Henry Mannock, had boasted that he knew Catherine’s “privates from all others by a privy mark”, while Francis Dereham was so familiar with Catherine “afore her marriage to the king that he did lie with her a hundred nights in the year in his doublet and hose abed between the sheets.”

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

Catherine’s relationship with Francis Dereham, whom she had supposedly called ‘husband’ and had sex with, would have invalidated her marriage to the king, because Catherine and Francis would technically have been married according to the canon law enforced by the church.

Knowing this, Cranmer detailed the allegations in a letter addressed to Henry. It is thought that when the court returned from progress, Cranmer left the letter in Henry’s pew in the Chapel Royal for him to find.

Investigations into Catherine’s past quickly followed: Dereham, who was arrested and tortured, confessed and named Culpeper, who was also arrested and confessed under torture, says Philippa Gregory. Mannock, meanwhile, was released.

Did you know?

Catherine’s ghost is said to haunt Hampton Court Palace

When Catherine Howard was arrested at Hampton Court Palace in November 1541, it is thought she broke free from her guards and ran, screaming, down the corridor to the private Chapel Royal, where Henry was believed to be at Mass. “She screamed to the king for mercy, to no avail,” says the Historic Royal Palaces website.  Today it is said that Catherine’s ghost can be seen – and heard – running and screaming along what is now known as the ‘Haunted Gallery’. The palace’s chief curator, Lucy Worsley, says: “I have never see the ‘ghost’, but there genuinely is one peculiar spot at the turn in the gallery where, with no obvious explanation, you can feel the temperature drop.”

 

Why was Catherine Howard charged with treason?

Catherine – who always denied a pre-contract of marriage with Dereham – was charged with treason and was exiled to Syon House (formerly Syon Abbey), which is now in West London (then, it was within the parish of Isleworth, in the county of Middlesex). The former lovers found themselves accused of malicious intent under the 1534 Treason Act, “under which anyone could be judged a traitor”, says Josephine Wilkinson. “It was thought Catherine had intended to commit adultery with Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpeper – so while she was innocent of any actual crime, the terms of the 1534 Treasons Act allowed Henry to condemn her for presumptive treason.”

Both Dereham and Culpeper were tried and, their guilt being predicated on the presumption of Catherine’s, they were condemned to death for treason. Dereham was hung, drawn and quartered, while Culpeper was beheaded. The heads of both men were displayed on pikes on London Bridge.

Illustration of Catherine Howard

Catherine, meanwhile, would not face trial, but instead would be “condemned to death by an Act of Attainder, signed by her own husband’s hand,” says Wilkinson. Catherine was beheaded at the Tower of London at 9am on Monday 13 February 1542 along with Lady Jane Rochford. Catherine had been married to Henry for just 18 months.

 

How old was Catherine Howard when she was executed?

“Received opinion – inspired by the guesswork of the French ambassador Charles de Marillac – has it that [Catherine] was born in 1521, and so was 21 when she went to the block,” says Josephine Wilkinson.

“While it isn’t possible to pinpoint Catherine’s exact age, the wills of two of her relatives place her year of birth between 1523 and 1527, suggesting that she was significantly younger than 21. The Spanish Chronicle goes further, asserting that Catherine was born in 1525, which would have made her no more than 17 when she died.”

Catherine Howard is buried in the Chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula at the Tower of London.

Catherine Howard is buried in the chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula at the Tower of London

 

What were Catherine Howard's last words?

According to legend, Catherine's last words as she stood on the scaffold at the Tower of London on 13 February 1542 were: “I die a queen, but I would rather die the wife of Thomas Culpeper.”

But is this true?

Historical novelist Susan Higginbotham explains: "The story that Katherine Howard said the words above comes from the anonymous Chronicle of King Henry VIII, better known to us as the Spanish Chronicle, which was translated from Spanish and edited by Martin Hume.

"As John Schofield notes in The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell, however, the Spanish Chronicle 'is far too cavalier with facts, dates and details to be a credible witness'... The words the chronicler attributes to the queen, then, have to be viewed with great skepticism."

Meanwhile Claire Ridgway, creator of The Anne Boleyn Files website, says: "Contrary to legend and The Tudors, Catherine did not utter the words ‘I die a Queen, but I would rather die the wife of Culpeper’, although I so wish she had!"

More from us

HistoryExtra members can explore this topic further with exclusive content from our archives

Emma Mason is the Digital Editor at HistoryExtra

To find out more about Henry VIII and his six wives, click here.

]]>8 places associated with Henry VIII’s wiveshttps://www.historyextra.com/membership/places-linked-associated-henry-viii-wives-catherine-aragon-born-anne-boleyn-jane-seymour-cleves-howard/2019-05-08T14:25:15.000ZHere, the co-authors of In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII explore eight places associated with the king's queen consorts...

 

Archbishop's Palace, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid

To truly know Catherine of Aragon, to understand why she fought until her dying day and never once doubted the legitimacy of her marriage to Henry – even when it meant virtual exile and separation from her beloved daughter, Mary – we must follow her into her past and walk by her side from the very beginning. What better place to start than in the palace where this mightiest of queens took her first breath…

Catherine was born in the Archbishop’s Palace of Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid, on 15 or 16 December 1485, just four months after a Welshman by the name of Henry Tudor seized the English crown. She was the youngest child of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon – ‘the Catholic monarchs’, an appellation formally conferred on them by Pope Alexander VI in 1494 in recognition of their reconquest of Granada from the Moors.

The Infanta, as Spanish princesses are known, was named Catalina (Catherine), possibly after her English great-grandmother, Catherine of Lancaster. The baby was the last of seven children born to Isabella and her husband, Ferdinand, one of which was a miscarriage and one stillborn. Catherine’s seven-year-old brother John, or Juan, was the royal family’s only surviving male heir.

Most of what we know about Catherine’s infancy comes from the meticulous records of Isabella’s treasurer, Gonzalo de Baeza, from whom we learn that Elena de Carmona was one of baby Catherine’s first maids. She watched over the princess as she slept in her crib, on a newly-made mattress stuffed with fresh cotton and fitted with sheets of fine linen from Holland, which was also used to make her nightshirts and bibs. Catherine was bathed in a small brass basin and dressed in beautiful tunics, including ones made of scarlet Florentine cloth. Other expenses recorded by Baeza include Catherine’s exquisite christening gown made of white brocade, lined with green velvet and edged with gold lace.

By the time of Catherine’s birth, the palace, which had begun its life in the 13th century as a fortress built to house temporarily the archbishops of Toledo, was the residence of Cardinal Mendoza. It was a vast complex of buildings, gardens and courtyards, and the crux of political and religious life in the city, where Christians, Moors and Jews lived harmoniously. This was reflected in the palace’s architecture, which combined different styles, from Gothic to Mudéjar (a fusion of Christian and Islamic styles of architecture, decoration, building materials and techniques, prevalent in Spain in the 12th to 15th centuries) and later Renaissance.

Tragically, on the afternoon of 11 August 1939, a fire swept through the palace buildings, destroying virtually the entire complex, with the exception of a small section of the facade, which was later incorporated into a new building, today home to the Bishropric of Alcalá. In a matter of hours, around 800 years of history, including the chamber where Catherine of Aragon’s story began, was lost.

While the home of the Bishopric of Alcalá is not open to the public, it is possible to arrange a guided tour (in Spanish) of two of the medieval towers that formed part of the defensive wall surrounding the palace. As part of this tour, arranged through the Tourism Office in nearby Santos Niños Square, visitors also gain access to an open air exhibition area called ‘Antiquarian’, where archaeological remains of the old palace are on display.

 

The Alhambra, Spain

Perched high above the city of Granada and set against the backdrop of the Sierra Nevada, the Alhambra is a sprawling and breathtaking palace and fortress complex built by the Nasrid kings (the last Arab Muslim dynasty in Spain ) between 1238 and 1492 and added to in later centuries by subsequent rulers, including Charles V.

With the exception of a couple of sojourns in Seville, the last two years of Catherine of Aragon’s life in Spain were spent within the Alhambra’s rust-coloured walls, from where she penned love letters to her betrothed, Prince Arthur. The detailed travel diaries of Hieronymus Münzer, a Austrian who travelled through Spain and Portugal in 1494–5, tell us that the Alhambra was a walled city of palaces, parks and gardens that covered an approximate area of 104,000 square metres – the equivalent of about 14 football pitches!

After spending the Christmas festivities of 1499 in Seville, Catherine’s family returned to Granada, the city they’d conquered eight years earlier. The formal surrender had taken place on 2 January 1492, in a staged ceremony that saw Boabdil, the last Nasrid ruler of Granada, hand over the keys to the opulent city to the triumphant ‘Catholic monarchs’. With the banners of Castile and Leon flying high above the Tower of Comares, a jubilant Isabella and Ferdinand entered the Alhambra for the first time. They had often gazed at it from afar and marveled at its magnificence, and now it was theirs. After a short stay the court resumed its travels, not returning to Granada until the summer of 1499.

By this time, Catherine’s parents had endured great heartache and suffering. In October 1497 they lost their only son and heir, Prince John, and then in August 1498 their eldest daughter, Isabella, perished within hours of giving birth to her only child, Miguel, on whose tiny shoulders now rested Isabella and Ferdinand’s hopes for a united Iberia.

As heir to the crowns of Castile, Aragon and Portugal, Miguel was raised at the court of his maternal grandparents alongside his teenaged aunts Catherine and Maria. Tragically, on 19 July 1500, Miguel too succumbed to illness, dying in the arms of his grandmother. The chronicler Andrés Bernáldez wrote, “it was the third stab of pain to pierce the queen’s soul”, and it was one that she found difficult to bear. The normally equanimous Queen Isabella fell into a dark abyss. From this moment, as Bernáldez noted, she “lived without joy”.

In October 1500, Catherine’s sister Maria left her family to travel to Portugal to wed little Miguel’s father, Manuel I. Only Catherine now remained with her parents at the Alhambra, and they were in no rush to say goodbye to their youngest daughter. However, in the spring of 1501 they were forced to part with her too. Catherine was leaving Spain to begin her new life in England, as the wife of Prince Arthur Tudor. With her departure, what spark remained in Isabella’s eyes vanished. She would never see her beloved daughter again.

Today, the Alhambra welcomes visitors from all over the world. When planning your visit, be sure to pre-book tickets online well ahead of time, and don’t forget to book a time slot to tour the Nasrid Palaces, as these fill up quickly.

The Alhambra, Spain. (Photo by Paul Almasy/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

 

Hunsdon House, Hertfordshire

In June 1528, a love-struck Henry VIII penned a moving letter to his “entirely beloved” Anne Boleyn, from his chamber at Hunsdon House, where he and his wife of 19 years, Queen Catherine of Aragon, had sought temporary refuge following an outbreak of the ‘sweat’ in London:

"The uneasiness my doubts about your health gave me, disturbed and alarmed me exceedingly, and I should not have had any quiet without hearing certain tidings. But now, since you have as yet felt nothing, I hope, and am assured that it will spare you, as I hope it is doing with us. For when we were at Walton [Waltham Abbey], two ushers, two valets de chambres and your brother, master-treasurer, fell ill, but are now quite well; and since we have returned to our house at Hunsdon, we have been perfectly well, and have not, at present, one sick person, God be praised; and I think, if you would retire from Surrey, as we did, you would escape all danger.

There is another thing that may comfort you, which is, that, in truth in this distemper few or no women have been taken ill, and what is more, no person of our court, and few elsewhere, have died of it. For which reason I beg you, my entirely beloved, not to frighten yourself nor be too uneasy at our absence; for wherever I am, I am yours, and yet we must sometimes submit to our misfortunes, for whoever will struggle against fate is generally but so much the farther from gaining his end: wherefore comfort yourself, and take courage and avoid the pestilence as much as you can, for I hope shortly to make you sing, la renvoyé. No more at present, from lack of time, but that I wish you in my arms, that I might a little dispel your unreasonable thoughts.

Written by the hand of him who is and always will be yours,

Im-H.R-mutable"

The king signed off his uncharacteristically handwritten letter, penned in a slanting, anxious hand, with his customary decorative monogram. However, on the left of the signature, in tiny writing, are the letters im and on the right of the signature muable, meaning immuable, or unshakeable. Henry was concerned about Anne’s health but comforted by the fact that she’d not yet shown any signs of having contracted the sweating sickness.

Henry’s relief, though, was short-lived: within days a messenger arrived at Hunsdon in the dead of night with the “most afflicting news”; Anne had fallen ill with the sweating sickness.

The devastating news left Henry in shock. He penned a frantic letter of support to Anne, who was presumably now in quarantine at Hever Castle, stating that he “would gladly bear half your illness to make you well”. The king lamented that his best physician, “in whom I have most confidence”, was absent at the time, “when he might do me the greatest pleasure; for I should hope, by him and his means, to obtain one of my chief joys on earth – that is the care of my mistress”. Instead, Henry sent Anne his second-best doctor, William Butts, and implored her to listen to his advice. He closed by saying that he hoped to see her again soon, “which will be to me a greater comfort than all the precious jewels in the world”.

Henry’s prayers were answered. On 23 June, Brian Tuke, the king’s secretary, reported to Cardinal Wolsey that both Anne and her brother George had fallen ill but that thanks to the ministrations of Dr Butts had made a “perfect recovery”.

The king returned to Hunsdon in 1530, 1531 and 1532, but unlike his earlier visit, on these occasions Anne Boleyn was by his side. Like all grand Tudor houses, in addition to well-appointed lodgings Hunsdon also boasted an orchard, fishponds, gardens and a deer park. Henry and Anne made the most of all the diversions on offer, namely hunting, shooting, hawking and fishing. In September 1532 Henry conferred on Anne the title of Marquess of Pembroke and granted her lands worth £1,000 a year, including the Manor of Hunsdon. Over the next few years Henry and Anne made several visits to Hunsdon, the royal couple clearly drawn to the beauty of this airy, rural retreat.

Today, what remains of Hunsdon House is privately owned and not open to the public.

View oEmbed on the source website

 

Wolf Hall, Wiltshire

Standing atop a plateau of land in the heart of rural Wiltshire, surrounded by green fields, cow sheds and a rather run-down looking farmhouse, it should be nigh on impossible to tap into any sense that you are amid the remains of a building that has passed into immortality. Yet strangely, we found quite the opposite was true.

Popularised in recent literature, Wolf Hall was once the provincial country home of the Seymour family. It was most likely here that Jane Seymour, the future third wife of Henry VIII, was born in around 1508/9. At the time, Wolf Hall stood as a double courtyard, part-timber framed manor house on the edge of Savernake Forest, of which Jane’s father was warden. The Seymours’ villa splendid (as it was described by the contemporary 16th-century chronicler John Leland) was set in 2.5 acres of orchards and gardens, surrounded by barns and outbuildings. The house itself is known to have had a hall, kitchen, two galleries, a board chamber, a great chamber, the king’s chamber, a chapel, treasury house and armoury. Delightfully, the names of some of the gardens have also survived; the Primrose Garden, the Box Garden, My Young Lady’s Garden and my old Lady’s Garden being among them.

Jane’s mother, Margery Wentworth, was a mature 30 years old when she gave birth to Jane, her first daughter and fifth child. She herself was described by John Skelton as “benign, courteous and meek” – sentiments that would be applied to Jane by her apologists nearly 30 years later. Understanding Jane’s stable upbringing at Wolf Hall by Catholic parents, far away from the reformist ideas inveigling their way into Henry’s court at the time, helps us understand the mindset of the woman who would so lightly step over the bloodied corpse of “the putain” and former mistress, Anne Boleyn, in 1536.

Indeed, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII stayed as guests of Sir John and Lady Seymour for a week during the summer progress of 1535. Infamously, it is said that it was here that Henry first laid eyes on Jane. We are deeply sceptical of this legend, as Jane had long been in service at court by that time.

There is little left of the original manor with perhaps only some remnants of the Seymours’ lost house incorporated into the modern day farmhouse. Yet, if you visit this haunting place, which refuses to pass into obscurity, it is hard to forget that Anne Boleyn strolled through one of its many, now lost, gardens, while her time as Henry’s “most beloved wife” was fast running out.

In writing In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII we liaised extensively with local historian Graham Bathe, who has devoted much of his life to studying the Seymours and Wolf Hall. We would like to give credit to Graham for all his knowledge and assistance.

 

Schloss Burg an der Wupper (Burg Castle), Solingen, Germany

Burg Castle is one of the key locations associated with Anne of Cleve’s early years, before she travelled to England to become Henry VIII’s fourth wife. It lies 30 miles or so east of Anne’s birthplace of Düsseldorf, then, as now, appearing as a grand medieval hunting lodge, perched upon a rocky plateau and surrounded by the wooded valleys of the Rhine.

Contemporary records tell us that Anne was famously brought up “very straightly” by the Lady Duchess, Anne’s mother, and “never far from her elbow”. Here, Anne and her siblings, Sybille and Amelia, were schooled in the values deemed suitable for an aristocratic lady of the ducal court, with modesty, subtlety, devotion to faith and purity being first among them.

It is easy to visualise the young girl alongside her sisters, practising their needlework in the castle’s Kemenate, the room that acted as the family privy chamber. It was a place where Anne would have spent a good deal of her time during daylight hours. The nearby grand hall, in which great public ceremonies were held, (including the feast to celebrate the imminent nuptials of Anne’s elder sister Sybille in 1526), makes it easy to see through the veil of time and recreate Anne’s aristocratic past.

Although almost in ruins, painstaking reconstruction around the turn of the 20th century recreated the castle to reflect its appearance at the zenith of the renaissance, a time when it served as one of the principal lodgings for the ducal family, alongside Düsseldorf, Kleve and Düren. Murals painted following the rebuilding of the castle tell the story of the Dukes of Cleve and the key events of the castle’s history, including the betrothal of Anne’s parents when they were just young children aged five and six. It seems that their marriage was sustained by love; letters exchanged between the couple bear testament to their mutual devotion. It is interesting to think about how this may have influenced Anne’s ideas on matrimony – and how dreadfully disappointed she must have been by the reality of the husband who awaited her in England.

Today the castle is a popular visitor destination and fully intact, albeit reconstructed.

Burg Castle. (© Premium Stock Photography GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo)

 

Lincoln, Lincolnshire

In April 1541, it was confirmed that the king and his young wife Catherine Howard would make a royal progress to the north of England in the hope of meeting Henry’s nephew, James V of Scotland. The aim was to reassert the king’s authority in the parts of his realm that had recently been torn by rebellion, hence the 1,000-strong armed contingent that accompanied the progress. It was to be one of the longest and most magnificent progresses of Henry VIII’s reign, with the king intent on impressing his subjects who’d never seen him in person.

Around 500 members of Henry and Catherine’s households accompanied the royal couple on their journey north including Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford, the queen’s chief lady-in-waiting and Thomas Culpeper, a gentleman of the Privy Chamber, whom it appears Catherine had begun seeing privately before the progress commenced.

On Tuesday 9 August 1541, after more than a month of travelling, Henry and Catherine arrived in Lincoln. Church bells pealed and crowds gathered to watch the royal procession make its way through the decorated town. Catherine and Henry alighted at the west end of Lincoln Cathedral, where there was “a carpet and stools and cushions of cloth of gold, with crucifixes laid thereon for the King and Queen”. There, the royal couple dismounted and knelt down.

The Bishop of Lincoln, John Longland, handed them each a crucifix, which they reverently kissed, before proceeding into the church “under the canopy to the Sacrament”, where they prayed while the choir sang “melodiously” Te Deum. The formal proceedings over, “his grace went straight to his lodging, and in like case all the train for that night”.

His Grace’s lodging was almost certainly the grandiose palace of the Bishops of Lincoln, which boasted spectacular views over the city and surrounding countryside from its commanding hillside position, adjacent to the cathedral. It was built in the mid-12th century by Bishop Robert de Chesney, as a residence for himself and his large household of officials and servants, and later enlarged and altered by subsequent bishops.

As the administrative centre for one of the largest diocese in medieval England, the palace was impressive, and reflected the enormous power and wealth of the bishops. It was therefore perfectly suited to host a royal visit.

Henry and Catherine remained for three nights as guests of Bishop Longland, who honoured and entertained his royal visitors by holding great feasts in the west hall, the palace’s public and ceremonial heart.

It’s likely that the king stayed in the bishop’s great chamber. Where the queen and her ladies slept is unknown. However, we can safely assume that she did not share the king’s bedchamber, as one of Catherine’s indiscretions with Thomas Culpeper is said to have taken place at Lincoln.

Under interrogation, Culpeper stated that at Lincoln he and Catherine engaged in nothing more than talk. He claimed to have spent the long nights talking to Catherine, and confessed that he’d professed he loved her “above all creatures”, but – more dangerously – he also admitted that he’d “intended to do ill with her”. Talk and intent were just as damning as action. Under the Treasons Act of 1534, traitors were those who “do maliciously wish, will, or desire by words or writing, or by craft imagine” the king’s death or harm. Catherine and Culpeper had sealed their fates.

 

Rye House, Hertfordshire

Rye House in Hertfordshire became the Parr family home in 1517, when Katherine was around five years old. Within months of the move from London, Katherine’s father was dead, struck down by the dreaded sweating sickness. While Katherine must have barely remembered Lord Parr, her mother Lady Maud was a constant and much-loved presence in her life, particularly during Katherine’s years at Rye.

It was at Rye that Henry VIII’s future, and final, wife received an avant-garde education alongside her siblings, Anne and William, and a number of her Vaux and Parr cousins. Katherine’s schooling was second-to-none for a woman of the age; her sister, Anne, would later recall how the humanist curriculum was based on that prescribed by Sir Thomas More and included languages such as Latin, French and Italian, mathematics and even basic medical lore.

The manor itself was a moated house, noted today as a particularly fine example of early brickwork in England. Only the gatehouse remains. However, thanks to a late 17th-century plot to assassinate the then king Charles II, known as ‘the Rye House plot’, a fulsome description, plan and elevation of the house Katherine would have known survive.

Surrounded by a 20-foot-wide moat, the internal, rectangular enclosure measured some 230 feet by 160 feet. This enclosure was surrounded by a high wall, set back some 16 feet from the moat on three sides. Only the gatehouse range abutted the water’s edge.

Inside the walls, the house itself was modest in size, occupying only the south-east corner, with around four-fifths laid to garden. Today, the imprint of the chambers making up the house are laid out in the grass; a small courtyard measuring 40-feet by 25-feet, surrounded by buildings on three sides comprising a gatehouse, offices, kitchen, great hall, great parlour and little parlour.

This compact and bijoux family home must have indeed provided a tight-knit environment in which a well-balanced, intellectual and enquiring woman of the renaissance would finally emerge. Katherine left Rye in 1529, when she travelled north to marry her first husband, Sir Edward Borough of Gainsborough Hall in Lincolnshire. However, we can reflect on the fact that, small as it may have been, Katherine’s rise to the pinnacle of Tudor society is due in no small part to the accomplishments acquired and the character forged at Rye House.

Today members of the public can visit the remains of Rye House.

 

Charterhouse Square, London

Once lying just outside the ancient city walls of London, Charterhouse Square was a desirable spot for the Tudor elite including, at various times, the French and Spanish ambassadors; William Parr, brother of Katherine; the then-Lady Latimer and the antiquarian and topographer John Leland. In a letter to Thomas Cromwell, Katherine’s second husband, Sir John Latimer, explains why it was so highly treasured by the family: the Yard (as it was then known) stood “in good air, out of press of the city”. Indeed, it was the Latimers’ favoured London residence.

Charterhouse Square, London. (© Simon Montgomery/Alamy Stock Photo)

Here, we can track down Katherine Parr at one of the most interesting junctures of her life. Sir John and Lady Latimer lived in Charterhouse Yard during the fall of Catherine Howard; the scandalous break-up of Katherine’s brother’s marriage to the adulterous Anne Bourchier, and the death of Lord Latimer himself.

At the time, the Latimer’s home occupied the far northeastern corner of the yard. The Agas map of 1560 clearly shows it was the largest residence, adjoining the priory of the Charterhouse to the north and with large gardens backing onto Aldersgate Street to the east. Interestingly, immediately to the north of the house, as part of the priory, was the residence of the Bassano brothers, musicians from Venice who would all ultimately be appointed by Katherine into her royal household.

The house probably remained reasonably intact until the end of the 17th century, when it was acquired by Peter Ward of St Botolph, who demolished a number of houses on the site, erecting six new residences in their place. In the 1930s, a brick-vaulted basement was discovered under No10. A large 18-ft fireplace was also uncovered. It is recorded that this was similar to those in Hampton Court’s kitchens. This fireplace survived the Blitz but was subsequently demolished in 1942.

Today, the imprint of the Square is little changed from its medieval origins; an irregular pentagon with its central green looked onto in the north by the remains of The Charterhouse itself, with imposing buildings lining its remaining edges. Although the medieval/Tudor houses are mostly gone, it retains a sense of being a veritable time capsule, little visited by tourists.

Natalie Grueninger and Sarah Morris are the co-authors of In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII (Amberley Publishing, 2016).

This article was first published by HistoryExtra in June 2016

]]>Did Catherine Howard commit adultery?https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/did-catherine-katherine-howard-henry-viii-fifth-wife-commit-adultery-guilty-execution/2019-04-05T09:34:30.000ZCatherine Howard is one of Henry VIII’s lesser-known wives. The most common things known about her are, firstly, that she was beheaded; and secondly (unlike Henry’s second wife Anne Boleyn) she was allegedly guilty of the charges for which she died.

This perception of Catherine’s guilt – as the wife who cheated on Henry and paid for it with her life – has dominated modern interpretations of her brief life. When I examined how Catherine has been written about in the years since her execution, what struck me perhaps most of all was the language that has been used by historians to characterise her. In the last half-century she has been described as a “juvenile delinquent”, “a natural tart”, “an empty-headed wanton”, “a whore”, and “stupid and oversexed”. This demonstrates the two dominant perceptions of her in historical writing: that she was stupid and promiscuous.

Read more:

Hans Holbein [Misc.];Catherine Howard [RF: England RF];Francesco Bartolozzi [RF: England RF]

Even Catherine’s most outspoken defenders have defined her by her sexuality. Feminist writer Karen Lindsey praised Catherine in a 1996 account for seeking “admiration” from her lovers, for she was “a woman who enjoyed sex” and “listened to her body’s yearnings”. Joanna Denny, whose 2005 biography of Catherine is extremely sympathetic, wrote that Catherine was a “precocious and knowing girl with an attractive figure”, thus explaining how she attracted Henry Manox and Francis Dereham. Antonia Fraser concluded in 1992 that Catherine was “sexually awakened” by the time she married Henry VIII.

However,the fragmentary evidence indicates that it is problematic to interpret Catherine as “a woman who enjoyed sex”, and even more problematic to view her as an adulteress or as “the wife who cheated on Henry VIII”.

It is problematic to view Catherine Howard as an adulteress or as “the wife who cheated on Henry VIII”, writes Conor Byrne. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images)

Born most likely in the second half of 1523, Catherine was placed in the household of her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, between 1531 and 1536. There she was involved in two pre-marital relationships with Manox and Dereham, both of whom were her social inferiors. Henry Manox was instructed to teach Catherine to learn musical instruments, and the two became sexually involved – although both denied having sexual intercourse. Catherine’s testimony proves that she refused to surrender her virginity to the musician, although she did permit him to fondle her secretly, perhaps after being coerced at the age of 13 or so. As a member of the proud and ambitious Howard family, she was undoubtedly aware that marriage to Manox would have been unthinkable.

Likewise, she could never have considered the possibility of marrying Francis Dereham, although he certainly seemed to assume that Catherine actually was his wife, perhaps because he believed that she had consented to his sexual advances in 1538–9. However, contemporaries believed that both parties had to, firstly, consent to sexual relations and secondly to enjoy the experience – that is, both the male and the female partner had to release seed in order for the woman to conceive a child. If she did not conceive after sexual intercourse, it might be assumed that she had not enjoyed the experience. (For this reason, a woman who was raped and subsequently became pregnant was unlikely to be viewed sympathetically by others.)

Read more:

Katherine-Parr-3-72b1b3b

When Catherine’s pre-marital past later came to light in 1541, she denied that she had consented to, or enjoyed Dereham’s sexual advances and for this reason believed that she had never been his lawful wife. The 16th-century church required that both parties freely and voluntarily consent to their marriage. From this perspective, Catherine was, to all intents and purposes, an unmarried woman when she was placed in the household of Henry VIII’s fourth wife Anne of Cleves in 1539. Undoubtedly she had a pre-marital sexual past, but from her perspective it was not necessarily one that she had consented to or welcomed.

Catherine, Henry VIII and Thomas Culpeper

Once placed in the household of Anne of Cleves, Catherine speedily attracted the attention of the amorous king and they married on 28 July 1540, when he was 49 and she was probably 16 or 17. After a relatively successful first few months as queen, in which she effectively adopted the role of intercessor on a number of occasions and also established amicable relations with Henry’s family, Catherine became involved in a secret relationship with Thomas Culpeper, a gentleman of the king’s privy chamber.

Culpeper had an undesirable reputation as a rapist and possible murderer, although it is uncertain whether allegations of his criminal past related to himself or to his older brother – confusingly also named Thomas – or whether these allegations were invented. Catherine and Culpeper met on a handful of occasions, beginning in April 1541 and then during the court’s progress to the north of England between June and October of that same year.

Read more:

This portrait of Anne of Cleves, painted by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1539, delighted Henry VIII. Unfortunately, the king was far less impressed with his new bride when he met her in the flesh. (Photo by © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

It is typically assumed that they were involved in a sexual relationship, or that they were at least in love – but actually very little is known about the nature of their conversations during the spring and summer of 1541. It is difficult to characterise their meetings with each other, but very little evidence supports the popular assumption that theirs was a passionate love affair, as depicted in the television series The Tudors. Catherine’s attitude to Culpeper was essentially dismissive, as when, for example, she instructed Lady Rochford (who arranged the meetings) to inform Culpeper – described by the queen as “a little sweet fool” – that she would not meet with him again. Previously, she had insisted that Lady Rochford chaperone the meetings by standing close by.

An alternative interpretation of their relationship, which places it in a broader dynastic and political context, suggests that Culpeper had learned of Catherine’s pre-marital sexual past. “Unfitting” rumours had circulated a year before, in the summer of 1540, questioning Catherine’s “moral integrity”, and when Dereham arrived at court in the summer of 1541 – and persuaded the queen to grant him a position in her household – he began openly boasting of their former relationship. Dereham’s reckless behaviour endangered both himself and Catherine, especially when he proclaimed that “and he [Henry VIII] were dead, I am sure I might marry her [Catherine]”. Speaking of the king’s death was treason, as defined in the 1534 Treasons Act.

Read more:

A 19th-century depiction of the first meeting of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

In this environment, Culpeper easily could have learned of Catherine’s sexual history before marriage. An ambitious and apparently unscrupulous courtier, he may well have pressured the queen to grant him favours and attention in reward for maintaining silence about her affair with Dereham. Catherine certainly gave him gifts and her letter to him, most likely written in the summer of 1541, repeatedly asks that he will be as he had “promised” her. The letter, which is essentially ambiguous in tone, has very little to recommend it as a love letter, for the ending “yours as long as life endures” was a variation of a standard phrase utilised by other 16th-century correspondents.

View oEmbed on the source website

Resident ambassadors at court –including the French ambassador Marillac and the imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys – documented the queen’s disgrace in late 1541 and early 1542, but their reports do not suggest that Catherine was guilty of adultery. However, it was assumed by Henry’s government that she had intended to commit adultery, while she was also accused of having concealed her pre-marital sexual past from the king. Marillac, for example, noted that Catherine was condemned on the basis of “what she had done with Durans [Dereham] before marriage”, and for her conversations with Culpeper. Interestingly, he did not specify what the queen and Culpeper had discussed in their private meetings – but he did record that Culpeper “had not passed beyond words” (although he may have intended to go further than conversation).

Writing in the following century, John Weever suggested that “neither this Queen Katherine [Howard], nor Queen Anne [Boleyn], were any way guilty of the breach of matrimony, whereof they were accused”. Indeed, Henry VIII “did cut them off upon false suggestions”. Clearly, it remained uncertain in the immediate decades after her death whether Catherine actually was guilty of adultery.

Read more:

A portrait of Anne Boleyn. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Despite the caution of some early modern authors, including Weever, modern historians have overwhelmingly concluded that Catherine was guilty of adultery during her brief marriage to Henry VIII. Although some early historians such as Agnes Strickland voiced doubts about whether Catherine was an adulteress, only in the last 15 years have more authors questioned whether she really was “the wife who cheated on Henry VIII”. Usually biographers such as David Starkey, who have doubted Catherine’s label as an adulteress, have still maintained that she was in love with Culpeper.

It is time for the still-widespread perception of Catherine as an adulteress to be challenged. No convincing evidence proves without a doubt that she had a sexual relationship with Culpeper, and indeed, much of the evidence cited to prove her love for him does not indicate that she was infatuated or romantically involved with him.

Catherine was sexually involved with both Manox and Dereham, but neither liaison was a love affair and she evidently attempted to distance herself from Dereham, especially when he arrived at court and openly boasted of his former relationship with her. Then, surely to the surprise of her family, Catherine caught the king’s eye in the spring of 1540 and was presented with the glittering prospect of becoming queen of England. With the benefit of hindsight, she should have confessed her pre-marital past to Henry VIII, for she was later condemned for concealing it from him on the advice of her family. The ambitious Culpeper may well have learned of this dubious past and used it to obtain favour from the insecure queen, who was ultimately unable to silence those who knew of her past. Henry VIII never forgave her for keeping her past a secret from him – and it was this alleged deceit on Catherine’s part, and not her supposed adultery with Culpeper, that led to her execution in 1542.

Conor Byrne is a historian of late medieval and early modern English queenship and the author of Katherine Howard: Henry VIII's Slandered Queen (The History Press, 2019)

This article was first published by HistoryExtra in 2019

]]>History quiz: Christmas with Henry VIII and his wiveshttps://www.historyextra.com/membership/history-quiz-christmas-henry-viii-six-wives-alison-weir/2017-12-11T11:11:13.000ZView Riddle on the source website

Read more about Henry VIII's six wives

The second in Alison Weir’s Six Tudor Queens series, Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession, is available now in hardback, ebook and paperback.

]]>Suzannah Lipscomb & Dan Jones discuss Henry VIII's final two wives: Catherine Howard & Katherine Parrhttps://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/suzannah-lipscomb-dan-jones-discuss-henry-viiis-final-two-wives-catherine-howard-katherine-parr/2016-05-05T10:51:47.000ZIn Henry VIII And His Six Wives, Dan and Suzannah lead us through the web of intrigue, scandal, romance, lust, betrayal and tragedy that characterised Henry’s six marriages, viewing the dramatic events of each union from the perspectives of both king and queen.

The final episode, which airs on Channel 5 tonight at 8pm, looks at Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard. Henry's marriage to the much younger woman quickly turned out to be an unsuitable match with disastrous consequences...

The series concludes with a look at Henry's final wife, Katherine Parr, whose religious devotion proved problematic...

Find out more about the series here.

]]>