HENRY VIII AND HIS SIX WIVES. PART 6: KATHERINE PARR

6. KATHERINE PARR

BORN: 1512
MARRIED: 12 JULY 1543
WIDOWED: 28 JANUARY 1547
DIED: 5 SEPTEMBER 1548

TO BE USEFUL IN ALL I DO
Katherine Parr was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Parr and his wife Maud Green, both of whom were at the court of Henry VIII in hisearlyreign.Maudwasalady-in-waitingtoQueenCatherineofAragonandnamedherdaughter,bornin1512,afterher. So,Henry VIII’s last wife was named after his first.
Thomas Parr died in November 1517, leaving his three children, William, Katherine and Anne in the care of their mother. Maud managed the children’s education and the family estates and must have left an impression on her daughter of the greater role an independent woman could have in society. The education that Maud arranged for the children was similar to that of other noble figures of the time and at least in the case of Katherine, it ignited a life-long passion for learning. She was fluent in French, Latin and Italian and began learning Spanish when she was Queen.
Katherine Parr was the most-married English queen, as she had four husbands. Her first marriage was to Edward Borough when she was 17 years old. Edward died only a few years later, probably in early 1533. It was during this marriage that Katherine’s mother Maud died.
Katherine’s second marriage was to John Neville, whom she married in the summer of 1534 when he was 41 and she was 22. Latimer had two children from his previous marriages so Katherine also became a stepmother for the first time Katherine’s ailing husband died in March 1543, leaving her a widow for the second time, now at the age of 31.
It was around this time that Katherine was noticed by not only the King, but also Thomas Seymour, brother of the late Queen Jane Seymour. Katherine expressed her desire to marry Thomas Seymour after Latimer’s death, but the King’s request for her hand was one that Katherine felt it was her duty to accept.
Katherine and Henry VIII were married on July 12th in a small ceremony attended by about 20 people.
Katherine was interested in the reformed faith, making her enemies with the conservatives of Henry’s court. It was her influence with the King and the Henry’s failing health that led to a plot against her in 1546 by the conservative fraction. Katherine and her ladies were known to have had banned books which was grounds for arrest and execution on charges of heresy. The warrant was accidentally dropped and someone loyal to the Queen saw it and then quickly told her about it. After learning of the arrest warrant, Katherine was said to be very ill, either as a ruse to stall or from a genuine panic attack. Henry went to see her and chastised her for her outspokenness about the reformed religion and his feeling that she was forgetting her place by instructing him on such matters. Katherine’s response in her defense was that she was only arguing with him on these issues so she could be instructed by him, and to take his mind off other troubles. Playing to Henry’s ego no doubt helped and Katherine was forgiven.
Katherine was close with all three of her stepchildren as Henry’s wife and was personally involved in the educational program of the younger two, Elizabeth and Edward. It is thought that her actions as regent, together with her strength of character and noted dignity, and later religious convictions, greatly influenced her stepdaughter Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth I).
She was also a patron of the arts and music. Katherine’s own learning and academic achievements, as alluded to previously, were impressive, and in 1545, her book “Prayers or Meditations” became the first work published by an English Queen under her own name. Another book, “The Lamentation of a Sinner”, was published after Henry VIII’s death.
Henry VIII died in January 1547 and Katherine had probably expected to play some role in the regency for the new nine-year-old king, Edward VI, but this was not to be. Only a few months after Henry’s death, Katherine secretly married Thomas Seymour, but the quickness and secret nature of the union caused a scandal. Katherine was still able to take guardianship of Princess Elizabeth and Seymour purchased the wardship of the king’s cousin, Lady Jane Grey.
Afterthreepreviousmarriagesandattheageof37,Katherinewaspregnantforthefirsttimeand onAugust30thshegavebirthtoa daughter named Mary. Katherine soon fell ill with puerperal fever, which was to claim her life in the morning hours of September 5th. Katherine was buried, with Lady Jane Grey as the chief mourner, in the chapel at Sudeley Castle, where the tomb can still be visited today.

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FASHION: SARAH COBB
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TEXT: LARA E. EAKINS

VIDEO EDITING: THALIA DE JONG
TEXT: LARA E. EAKINS
SOUND: "If Love Now Reigned as it Hath Been" by King Henry VIII


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