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Catherine Parr Historical Profile
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INTERESTING FACTS:
 This portrait was previously thought to be Lady Jane Grey, but has now been identified as Catherine  | 'Lord, hearken to my words. Consider the thought of mine heart. Behold, how loud I cry unto thee. Let my just prayer enter into thine ears, which unfeignedly cometh from mine heart. Hear me, Lord, for I am poor and destitute of man's help. Take care for my soul. Save me, thy servant, which wholly trust in thee. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I will never cease crying to thee for help.' a prayer written by Catherine Parr  Copy of a Sketch by Hans Holbein of Catherine as a young wife, "Lady Borow" Four Marriages 1. Edward Borough, Burgh (Borow) c. 1529 - 1532 At age 17, Catherine's first marriage, arranged by her mother, was to Edward Borough. There is controversy about which Edward Borough, exactly, married Catherine. Some sources state that he was the second Lord Borough , a man in his late fifties. Still others say that she married the eldest son of Thomas, 3rd Lord Borough ( Burgh of Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire), so he was not old - and he never became Lord Borough either. This young Edward Borough died in 1529. 2. John Neville, Lord Latimer married c. 1531/3 - March 1543 (his death) Catherine is certain to have met her second husband at court functions at 22 years old, after Anne Boleyn had married Henry VIII. John Neville, Lord Latimer had already been married twice. He had two children, aged seven and ten, when he married Catherine. He was 42. She now became the lady of the huge household of Snape Hall in Yorkshire. Although Lord Latimer preferred to remain at Snape Hall, he and Catherine became embroiled in the intrigue of the Boleyn family's downfall. In fact, after Anne Boleyn was executed, they came very close to losing their own lives. They returned to London in 1536, when Queen Jane Seymour was three months pregnant. This had put the King in an exceptionally good mood, and for the moment the political nightmare came to an end for Catherine. 3. King Henry VIII married in 1543 (She was aged 31 and he was 52 and ailing) - till Henry's death in January1547  4. Thomas Seymour (Above) March 1547 - till her death in September 1548 (aged 36) a love match. It was later suggested, he tried to initiate an affair with the young Princess Elizabeth Tudor. (see Controversies of the Tudors) Elizabeth was eventually sent away, to prevent Seymour from further temptation. After Catherine's death of childbed fever, Thomas Seymour was beheaded for treason less than a year later, and Mary was taken to live with Catherine Brandon, Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, a close friend of Catherine's. After a year and a half, Mary's property was restored to her by an Act of Parliament easing the burden of the infant's household on the Duchess. The last mention of Mary Seymour on record is on her second birthday, and although stories circulated that she eventually married and had children, most historians believe she died as a child. |
 Stained Glass window in Hampton Court Palace showing Catherine Parr's arms As Queen Regnant For three months, from July to September 1544, Catherine was appointed Queen Regent by Henry as he went on his last, unsuccessful, campaign in France. Thanks to her uncle having been appointed as member of her regency council, and to the sympathies of fellow appointed councillors Thomas Cranmer and Edward Seymour, Catherine obtained effective control and was able to rule as she saw fit. She handled provision, finances and musters for Henry's French campaign, signed five Royal proclamations, and maintained constant contact with her lieutenant in the northern Marches, the Earl of Shrewsbury, over the complex and unstable situation with Scotland. 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 Princess Elizabeth Tudor. | Her Greatest Challenge came in the Summer of 1545: Some courtiers who were jealous of her influence over the King tried to link her with heresy. Bishop Stephen Gardiner warned Henry against harboring "a serpent within his own bosom." A list of charges had, in fact, been drawn up by early July 1545, and the stage was set for the Queen's arrest. Henry had become sufficiently irritated lately by some of his wife's freely expressed progressive views. She had on one recent occasion been unwise enough to forget that in any debate, especially one of a theological nature, the King had always to win hands down. Unfortunately, Henry had at that point been willing to listen to hints being dropped about Kate's dangerous opinions, so 'stiffly maintained.' Ultimately, however, he evidently decided that matters had gone far enough. At that point, he allowed Catherine to be warned of what was being prepared for her. Henry steered the conversation to religion, commenting that "ye are become a doctor, Kate, to instruct us . . .," but Catherine had the perfect response: "I am but a woman, with all the imperfections natural to the weakness of my sex; therefore in all matters of doubt and difficulty I must refer myself to your Majesty's better judgment, as to my lord and head." She had quickly seized her chance to explain that she had only been bold enough to seem to engage in argument with her lord and master, in order to distract him from the pain of his ulcerated leg. She also claimed that through this surface-only 'debate,' she herself might profit from hearing the King's learned discourse. When Wriothesley arrived with 40 yeomen of the guard and a warrant for the Queen's arrest in his pocket, he was greeted with a tirade of royal abuse from the King, who shouted: "Knave!," "Fool," and "Beast!," and sent Wriothesley packing with his tail between his legs. Henry 'made it up to' Catherine with a set of gorgeous new jewels. |
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 Catherine's younger sister Anne Parr Countess of Pembroke (c.1514 - 20 February 1552) Sometime in 1528, Lady Parr secured her daughter, Anne, a post at Court as maid-of-honour to Catherine of Aragon. Anne was then made a ward of King Henry. When Anne Boleyn was crowned queen in 1533, Anne Parr continued in the same capacity as maid-of-honour . She quickly succumbed to the spell of Queen Anne's charismatic personality and following the Queen's example, she became an ardent supporter of the New Faith. After Anne Boleyn's fall from power and subsequent execution, Anne remained at Court in the service of the new queen, Jane Seymour. She was one of the few present at the baptism of Prince Edward Tudor on 15 October 1537. In February 1538,Anne married William Herbert (c.1506-March 17,1570). As Lady Herbert, she was keeper of the queen’s jewels to Katherine Howard, although she left court briefly to give birth to her first child, Henry (d.January 19,1601), in 1540. She was back at court in time to attend the disgraced queen at Syon House and in the Tower. Anne Parr was a witness to the wedding ceremony performed at Hampton Court Palace on 12 July, 1543, when King Henry married her sister Catherine. In September 1544, William Herbert was knighted on the battlefield at the Siege of Boulogne during the King's campaign against the French. Anne, now Lady Herbert, was her sister's principal lady-in-waiting and the sisters were close. Anne was also part of the circle of Protestants who surrounded the new QueenIn 1546, when Anne Askew was arrested for heresy. Queen Catherine and some of her closest friends had previously shown favour to the arrested woman. Bishop Stephen Gardiner,Thomas Wriothesley, and Richard Rich were involved in torturing Anne Askew and interrogating her about her connections to the ladies at court who were suspected to be Protestants, in particular, Anne Parr, the Queen,Katherine Willoughby (Catherine Brandon in the series) and Anne Stanhope. They obtained the King’s permission to arrest and question the Queen about her religious beliefs. Fortunately, Catherine visited the King in his bedchamber and adroitly managed to persuade the King that her interest in the new religion had been undertaken solely as a means to provide stimulating conversation to distract the King from the pain caused by his ulcerous leg. In 1551, William Herbert was created earl of Pembroke. They had two more children, Edward and Anne (1545-before January 11, 1593) and used Baynard’s Castle as their London residence. At the time of her death, Anne Parr was one of Princess Mary Tudor's ladies. She died quite unexpectedly at the age of 38 at Baynard's Castle and was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral next to the tomb of John of Gaunt. Her memorial there reads: "a most faithful wife, a woman of the greatest piety and discretion." William married as his second wife, Anne Talbot, but the marriage produced no children. Through her sons, Anne has many descendants, including the earls of Pembroke. It is the opinion of Susan E. James, Katherine Parr’s biographer, that Anne is the subject of the “unidentified” lady in the Holbein sketch shown above |  Catherine's brother William Parr by Hans Holbein Marquis of Northampton (1513-1571) - knighted on 18 Oct. 1537, took part against the northern rebels, was one of those who tried the Lincolnshire prisoners in 1538, and was created Baron Parr and Ros of Kendal on 9 March 1539. - in March 1543 he became a privy councillor, and lord warden and keeper of the marches after his sister Catherine became favoured by the King -on 23rd December, 1543 he was created Earl of Essex, this title being chosen because it had, in 1539, become extinct on the death of his father-in-law, Henry Bourchier, second earl of Essex. Thomas Cromwell had been created Earl of Essex in April 1540, but was executed three months later - He was one of the commissioners for the trial of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey on 13th January, 1546-7. - He married, first, in 1541, Anne, daughter of Henry Bourchier, second earl of Essex. In 1547 he divorced her, and, apparently before the proceedings were properly completed, he married Elizabeth Brook, daughter of Lord Cobham ( not to be confused with her aunt Elizabeth Brooke, estranged wife of Thomas Wyatt). He had to separate from her for a time in order to get an act of parliament passed, in 1548, to make any children of his first wife illegitimate. In 1552 he procured another act to secure the legality of his second marriage. - The second marchioness was influential at court, and helped to bring about the marriage of Lord Guilford Dudley and Lady Jane Grey. One of the earliest acts of parliament in Queen Mary's reign repealed the act of 1552, so that the position of the marchioness was one of some uncertainty. On her death in 1565, Northampton married, thirdly, Helena, daughter of Wolfgang Suavenberg, who was either a German or a Swede. - He was Prince Edward Tudor's 'beloved uncle' and one of the most important men at Edward's court, especially during the time of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland's time as leader of the government. Parr, and especially his wife, were leaders in the plot to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne after Edward's death. - He was stripped of all his titles by Mary I in 1553, but they were restored by her sister Elizabeth I in 1559. He was made a privy councillor on 25 Dec. 1558, and was one of those whom Queen Elizabeth I consulted respecting the prayer-book. - Elizabeth seems to have liked him. She stopped to inquire about his health, when he was ill with an ague, on her way into London both in November 1558 and on July 1561. When he died, on 28 Oct. 1571, at Warwick, she paid for his funeral at St. Mary's Church there. In spite of considerable traffic in abbey lands and of grants made to him at his sister's marriage and later, he did not die rich. - On his death at age 58, he left no issue, the titles became extinct and what property he had passed to his nephew Henry Herbert, second earl of Pembroke, son of his sister Anne |
| In 1782, a gentleman by the name of John Locust discovered the coffin of Queen Catherine in the ruins of the chapel at Sudeley Castle. He opened the coffin and observed that the body, after 234 years, was in a surprisingly good condition. Reportedly the flesh on one of her arms was still white and moist. After taking a few locks of her hair, he closed the coffin and returned it to the grave. The coffin was opened a few more times over the next ten years, and in 1792 some drunken men buried it upside down in a rough way. When the coffin was officially reopened in 1817, nothing but a skeleton remained. Her remains were then moved to the tomb of Lord Chandos, whose family owned the castle at that time. In later years the chapel was rebuilt by Sir John Scott, and a proper altar-tomb was erected for Queen Catherine. |  Close-up of Catherine's effigy |
 A Piece of fabric said to be from the dress Catherine Parr was wearing in her coffin. |  A lock of Catherine's hair. [Source: Nasim Tadghighi] |
 Catherine (center) with her third (right) and fourth (left) husbands | LITERATURE: Non-Fiction
Fiction
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 Tomb of Catherine Parr in St. Mary's Church, Sudeley Castle |  |
 Stained glass window showing Catherine's badge in Hampton Court |  Another lock of hair believed to belong to Catherine. The inscription reads "Hair of Queen Catherine Parr, last consort of Henry, the night she dyed September 5th 1548 was in the Chapel of Sudeley Castle, near Winchcombe." |
Freewillsue |
Latest page update: made by Freewillsue
, Jan 17 2010, 4:29 PM EST
(about this update
About This Update
The family name is Burgh.Catherine was married into this family of Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire.
- Freewillsue
10 words added 1 word deleted view changes - complete history) |
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| LNor19 | Catherine Parr's pregnancy | 3 | Jan 17 2009, 4:44 PM EST by Anne'sCurls | ||
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Thread started: Jan 17 2009, 4:12 AM EST
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Catherine Parr had one child, a daughter named Anne with Thomas Seymour. However Cate had been married three times before, we know why she and Henry didn't produce any children, but is there any explanation why she didn't have any children during her first two marriages? I've always found that odd.
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