Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr had been closely linked to the royals long before she became one: her father was a close advisor and companion to Henry VIII and was rewarded with many positions as a result, and her mother was attendant and friend to Catherine of Aragon, who was actually her godmother and potentially the woman who inspired her name. Her relationship with Henry VIII came about in 1542, when she held a position in Princess Mary’s household, which she’d secured for herself after her second husband’s death, using her mother’s relationship with Catherine of Aragon to restore her latent friendship with Mary.
Most accounts characterise her as “vivacious, attractive, and a scholar”, and she was 30 years old by the time Henry picked her out, a stark contrast to Katherine Howard, and a sensible choice for a very sick King who needed a doting wife, able to nurse him as well as fulfill the duties of a queen. She’d also already been married and widowed twice by this time, so was far more experienced in the sometimes complicated expectations and dynamics of Tudor marriage. Her two previous husbands and her marriage to Henry and then Thomas Seymour after his death leaves her the most-married English queen.
It’s fairly well known that Catherine gave up the man she was truly in love with — Thomas Seymour — to marry Henry, viewing it as her duty. She was a devout Christian and saw it as God’s will, but she probably also recognised that Henry would not be alive many years longer, so ultimately accepted his proposal over Thomas’. Subsequently, they were married on the 12th July 1543 at Hampton Court.
Catherine was the first English queen to write and publish her own books, and she was eagerly involved in the arts. In 1543, she published ‘Prayers and Psalms’, her first book, anonymously. Later, her book Prayers or Meditations was published, becoming the first book published by an English queen with no pen name: it proudly professed that it was written by Catherine Parr.
She’s also fairly well known as having dearly loved her step-children, reportedly bringing unity to the fractured family. She was absolutely instrumental in the passing of the Third Succession Act in 1543 that restored Henry’s daughters to the line of succession, and after his death, Catherine took custody of Lady Elizabeth, with whom she was particularly close and would grow up to become the incredibly famous queen. Catherine was once appointed regent while Henry was away and handled it with as much grace and dignity as Catherine of Aragon did decades earlier. She handled the finances and provisions for Henry’s campaign in France and handled the complex Scottish situation well, too. Her examples of female leadership — these actions as regent combined with her strength of character and religious influence — are said to have shaped Elizabeth’s future role as queen.
Catherine was an avid supporter of the English Reformation and was described as a Protestant sympathiser, potentially strengthened by the Catholic Rebellions of 1536/7 in which her then-husband was dragged away and she lived alone with her step-children, once held hostage and frequently threatened with death and other violence. She promoted the concept of justification by faith alone, not by works as per the Catholic doctrine, and sympathised with Anne Askew, a famous Protestant martyr who was persecuted by Henry VIII himself, potentially indicating she was more than just ‘sympathetic’ to the cause. She saw her influential role as queen as a gift from God, designed to allow her to impose her views on the King, but she pushed him too far occasionally and those who opposed her both politically and religiously ended up beginning a plot against her, attempting to persuade the King that she was a dangerous religious radical. She was almost arrested but she was warned of the plot and begged for Henry’s mercy and forgiveness, and managed to successfully convince him.
Catherine was a loyal and devoted wife, much like his first queen Catherine of Aragon, but he died five years into their marriage. He clearly loved and respected her: he ordered an allowance of £7000 a year for her to support herself following his death and demanded that she be given the respect the Queen of England would deserve, even if she was simply a queen dowager after his death.
After Edward VI’s coronation, she retired from court and married her true love, Thomas Seymour, in secret just months later. When the union became public knowledge, it caused quite the scandal: they had not informed the King’s Council as they knew it would not grant them license to marry so soon after Henry’s death. Her relationships with Mary and Edward were permanently damaged and she warred with the Lord Protector, Thomas’ brother, and his wife over who should wear the jewellery of the wife of the King, severing the Seymours’ relationship, also. During this tumultuous period, she published another book: Lamentations of a Sinner.
She became pregnant at 35, a surprise as she had not conceived in any previous marriage, but Seymour reportedly had a scandalous affair with Catherine’s step-daughter and future Queen of England, Lady Elizabeth. It was reported that he was molesting her, and originally Catherine was not overly concerned, despite the lady’s governess Kat Ashley feeling scandalised and helpless.
He was later arrested and beheaded for treason after attempting to break into the King’s palace and shooting one of his pet spaniels, desperate for a high position of power. His relationship with Elizabeth was then called into question and he was eventually charged with 33 counts of treason. This was the following year after Catherine’s death, when she had contracted puerperal fever after delivering her healthy baby girl, and died in early September 1548, meeting the same fate as Henry’s third — and arguably favourite — queen, Jane Seymour.
Her daughter, Mary Seymour, was brought up by the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, a close friend of Catherine’s. A fitting tribute to her staunch religious views, her funeral was the first UK Protestant funeral to be held in English and she is currently at rest in the canopied tomb of Lord Chandos.
